Digital Foundry vs Far Cry 4
Through a rapid pixel-count, it's easy to see the PS4 absolutely delivers on this full 1920x1080 promise - with none of the frame-rate problems seen in its Ubisoft stablemate. For every pixel we a get new line of visual information, letting us soak in every detail of Ubisoft Montreal's ice-peaked terrain from afar. However, by nature Far Cry 4 also boasts a eclectic mix of visual elements; from rock geometry and dangling flag-lines, to broad swathes of foliage and fur shaders. While a 1080p base image is a powerful starting position, image treatment tailored to the each game's visual style is still crucial, and Far Cry 4 deserves extra credit in this department.
Ubisoft delivers a unique solution here. To tackle all of these elements as best it can, a new Hybrid Reconstruction Anti-Aliasing (HRAA) system is in place for the game. As gleaned from developer Michal Drobot's SIggraph 2014 presentation, this takes common wisdom from the best post-processing methods available, matching SMAA for image clarity in static moments, while also attempting to iron out any shimmer artefacts owing to a lack of temporal sampling.
Sony's new hardware clears everything up. Despite its top-grade visual settings, the use of HRAA, plus an ambitious native 1920x1080 output, this game runs at a near faultless 30fps.
Through a rapid pixel-count, it's easy to see the PS4 absolutely delivers on this full 1920x1080 promise - with none of the frame-rate problems seen in its Ubisoft stablemate. For every pixel we a get new line of visual information, letting us soak in every detail of Ubisoft Montreal's ice-peaked terrain from afar. However, by nature Far Cry 4 also boasts a eclectic mix of visual elements; from rock geometry and dangling flag-lines, to broad swathes of foliage and fur shaders. While a 1080p base image is a powerful starting position, image treatment tailored to the each game's visual style is still crucial, and Far Cry 4 deserves extra credit in this department.
Ubisoft delivers a unique solution here. To tackle all of these elements as best it can, a new Hybrid Reconstruction Anti-Aliasing (HRAA) system is in place for the game. As gleaned from developer Michal Drobot's SIggraph 2014 presentation, this takes common wisdom from the best post-processing methods available, matching SMAA for image clarity in static moments, while also attempting to iron out any shimmer artefacts owing to a lack of temporal sampling.
Sony's new hardware clears everything up. Despite its top-grade visual settings, the use of HRAA, plus an ambitious native 1920x1080 output, this game runs at a near faultless 30fps.
