Resolution question

MosquitoSmasher

MosquitoSmasher

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Sep 13, 2013
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For a while now i have been wondering about this. Each time a game is announced to be 900p on Xbox One and 1080p on PS4, i'm gonna be honest, i am annoyed by that. At the moment the X1 is my console of choice, but then again it's the only new gen console i have at the moment too. It's only natural that i'd rather only read positive news about it. Some people say the difference between 720p and 900p is easy to notice, but 900p vs 1080p is much harder to notice and even then apparently it depends on how big the screen is and your seating distance.

Has someone here ever tested two copies of the same game on X1 and PS4 on the exact same tv and exact same settings? If so, was the difference easy to notice or not easy at all? Or actually....no difference? Plenty of people on Youtube in the comments but also some friends of mine make a real big deal out of this, but how big of a deal is it actually? I am just curious and would love to read some experiences.
 
I do it all the time (game on pc/ps4/xbo)720p vs 1080p is huge
Where 720p vs 900p and 900p vs 1080p are noticeable but to a lesser extent.
 
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MosquitoSmasher said:
For a while now i have been wondering about this. Each time a game is announced to be 900p on Xbox One and 1080p on PS4, i'm gonna be honest, i am annoyed by that. At the moment the X1 is my console of choice, but then again it's the only new gen console i have at the moment too. It's only natural that i'd rather only read positive news about it. Some people say the difference between 720p and 900p is easy to notice, but 900p vs 1080p is much harder to notice and even then apparently it depends on how big the screen is and your seating distance.

Has someone here ever tested two copies of the same game on X1 and PS4 on the exact same tv and exact same settings? If so, was the difference easy to notice or not easy at all? Or actually....no difference? Plenty of people on Youtube in the comments but also some friends of mine make a real big deal out of this, but how big of a deal is it actually? I am just curious and would love to read some experiences.
Click to expand...

Not with the two consoles.

I have done it on the PC where all settings are the same except for resolution, I also did this on MY 50" Samsung & my 55" LG TVs ( doing on a PC monitor is not a good idea). My findings....

720P to 1080P is obviously a big difference. 720p to 900p is also a very noticeable difference. 900p to 1080p has subtle differences. The picture is a little softer, and a little bit of detail lost. The detail is only really noticeable if you specifically look for it.

None of that is all to surprising though. The closer you get to the native resolution of your screen(1080p in this case) the closer the picture quality becomes.


Summary: Yes, there is a small difference between 900p & 1080p, but not enough to cause the major crying & bitching we see on forums.
 
It's noticeable if you are looking for it, but not really a big deal. Since you only have one choice, I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about it. Some people like to make a huge deal over it, but that's mostly just nonsense.
 
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I wouldn't put up with that crap and we deserve 4k for < $350....
 
Play games, have fun, ignore the silly console arguments.

Anyone worried that much about resolution and visuals needs to get a PC.
 
I've done it between PS3 and the 360, and the resolution differences back then were smaller, and yes, I noticed the differences.

I've also done it on PC, using higher resolutions to compare against each other, like 1920x1080 compared to 1680x1050....and again, very easy to see the difference, and that's a small difference in pixels.




I do agree though, that sitting far from a TV, it's hard to see the difference....but not seeing it from a distance, vs whether or not there is a difference are 2 different things. Keep in mind, that if you are sitting far enough to not really notice the difference, then you're also losing out on seeing details in the images. This is why PC gamers and some console gamers like gaming on desktop monitors....because you get to appreciate every single little detail on screen.
 
Qbert said:
I've done it between PS3 and the 360, and the resolution differences back then were smaller, and yes, I noticed the differences.

I've also done it on PC, using higher resolutions to compare against each other, like 1920x1080 compared to 1680x1050....and again, very easy to see the difference, and that's a small difference in pixels.




I do agree though, that sitting far from a TV, it's hard to see the difference....but not seeing it from a distance, vs whether or not there is a difference are 2 different things. Keep in mind, that if you are sitting far enough to not really notice the difference, then you're also losing out on seeing details in the images. This is why PC gamers and some console gamers like gaming on desktop monitors....because you get to appreciate every single little detail on screen.
Click to expand...

The reason most people say they don't see a difference is that they are either:

A) sitting far away from their TV
B) their TV is very small
C) both.
D) Are in denial.
E) All of the above.
 
I have MKX on both consoles and can tell the difference. TV only calibrated with the Xbox but both systems are on the same input due to receiver.
 
In a perfect world I would own both a PS4 and X1. I'd buy third party titles on PS4 and save the X1 for exclusives.

In a perfect world...
 
eVo7 said:
The reason most people say they don't see a difference is that they are either:

A) sitting far away from their TV
B) their TV is very small
C) both.
D) Are in denial.
E) All of the above.
Click to expand...

Visual acuity of the person is also a factor. I don't mean that in a derogatory way either. My sight has deteriorated in my thirties and I now need glasses for watching TV or gaming.
 
eVo7 said:
The reason most people say they don't see a difference is that they are either:

A) sitting far away from their TV
B) their TV is very small
C) both.
D) Are in denial.
E) All of the above.
Click to expand...

You're forgetting:

F) Fully understands resolution but doesn't really care. Wants gameplay and (probably) higher fps. Can live a happy and fulfilled life never reading a Digital Foundry article :)
 
Kerosene31 said:
You're forgetting:

F) Fully understands resolution but doesn't really care. Wants gameplay and (probably) higher fps. Can live a happy and fulfilled life never reading a Digital Foundry article :)
Click to expand...

Do you own any HD remakes?

Because if you do, that really makes your F option hypocritical.
 
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eVo7 said:
Do you own any HD remakes?
Click to expand...

Just Halo MCC, but I bought that mostly for the MP. I did enjoy playing through 1 and 2 again. That was a jump from 720 to 1080 if I remember correctly. Maybe even more?

However say just for fun that they remade Ryse to run at 1080p instead of 900, even if it were free am I going to play through it again just because of that? Naw.
 
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Kerosene31 said:
You're forgetting:

F) Fully understands resolution but doesn't really care. Wants gameplay and (probably) higher fps. Can live a happy and fulfilled life never reading a Digital Foundry article :)
Click to expand...



This is true. What's important to an individual...is what they care about, and many simply don't care about the resolution differences.

With that said, we need to make sure not to confuse "not caring about differences" with "there is barely a noticeable difference".
 
I'm legally deaf but demand the new & sexiest surround format.
 
MosquitoSmasher said:
For a while now i have been wondering about this. Each time a game is announced to be 900p on Xbox One and 1080p on PS4, i'm gonna be honest, i am annoyed by that. At the moment the X1 is my console of choice, but then again it's the only new gen console i have at the moment too. It's only natural that i'd rather only read positive news about it. Some people say the difference between 720p and 900p is easy to notice, but 900p vs 1080p is much harder to notice and even then apparently it depends on how big the screen is and your seating distance.

Has someone here ever tested two copies of the same game on X1 and PS4 on the exact same tv and exact same settings? If so, was the difference easy to notice or not easy at all? Or actually....no difference? Plenty of people on Youtube in the comments but also some friends of mine make a real big deal out of this, but how big of a deal is it actually? I am just curious and would love to read some experiences.
Click to expand...

I've evaluated it extensively. It doesn't matter. People actually over-emphasize the difference between 720p and 1080p as it is... but the difference between 900p and 1080p is irrelevant.

A game running at 900p on X1 will be indiscernibly identical to 1080p in well over 95% of the worlds living rooms.
 
I haven't compared games back to back. But I owned COD AW on PS4 first then on X1. Seems like the same experience to me.
 
Qbert said:
Correct, because of how far people sit.
Click to expand...

Yep. Still, isn't the practical result the most important? That said, I can tell the difference between 1080p and 900p even at distance. It's more of a question of whether or not it's

A) Something to get worked up over
B) Amounts to a "substantial" difference

In my case, I would always like higher resolutions/framerates, but as far as which console I choose, the differences aren't great enough to outweigh my preferences in exclusives and features. That's me.

I have an issue with those who say just get the PS4 because it has better (marginally, imo) versions of multi-plats, regardless of my preferences in exclusives just because the PS4 has its own good exclusives. It's so strange that people try to push others one way or another when it really comes down to which machine has the exclusives you like better as multi-plat advantage is almost completely a non-issue.
 
Flynn said:
I've evaluated it extensively. It doesn't matter. People actually over-emphasize the difference between 720p and 1080p as it is... but the difference between 900p and 1080p is irrelevant.

A game running at 900p on X1 will be indiscernibly identical to 1080p in well over 95% of the worlds living rooms.
Click to expand...

This guy
 
Frozpot said:
Yep. Still, isn't the practical result the most important?
Click to expand...

It depends on who you're asking. Everyone likes better visuals, and some gamers sit up close and notice these differences.
The same way as it doesn't matter to some gamers what the difference is...it matters to others.

Whether or not it matters is subject, I agree. Claiming that there is no difference, well...we all know there is.
 
Even the games that output at 1080P I have to sit far away from the TV or else I'll notice all the jaggies and artifacts.

But that's coming from someone who also games on PC.

I don't mind the odd resolutions in console games if they incorporate some form of AA.
 
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The test would be to give someone an X1 with games that run on various resolutions and ask them to pick out which is which. Without knowing, there's no way I could tell the difference between 900 vs 1080. Is there a difference? Sure, but would I be able to tell you what res a game is just looking at it without a comparison? I highly doubt it. I'm pretty sure I could spot 720p, but even that isn't certain. I sit pretty close to my 40" TV (about 4 feet).
 
I would be upset too if my preferred platform of choice was inferior to the competition.:p But honestly, it sounds like you don't care about resolution. So why care about news not intended for you? 900p being announced for Xbox isn't negative news unless 900p is a negative thing for you. They are just reporting the news on the latest games, and resolution talk is the trend. You can't let yourself be a device to your own predicament. Just don't care. Let the console wars continue without you. That's what I do personally. I like 1080p, but 900p isn't a bad deal either. It's not too with fretting over.
 
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I think we need to clear up the confusion with a simple diagram.

800px-Vector_Video_Standards5.svg.png
 
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