PS4 to Have Resolution Advantage at Launch vs. Xbox One

By published

The PlayStation 4 will have slightly better looking graphics than the Xbox One at launch.

On the eve of the launch of the two next-generation consoles comes fodder for technical comparisons between the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Infinity Ward executive producer Mark Rubin confirmed that Call of Duty: Ghosts will be running at a higher resolution on the Sony platform.

Hey, been on the road last couple weeks so haven’t had a chance to update, but wanted to confirm that for Xbox One we’re 1080p upscaled from 720p. And, we’re native 1080p on PS4. We optimized each console to hit 60 FPS and the game looks great on both. Still on the road, but glad to see the great reception to Extinction. Can’t wait for next week's launch.

Despite the PS4 and the Xbox One sharing a more similar technology platform than ever before, early analysis concluded that Sony's design has a little more graphical power. Before one jumps to the conclusion that Infinity Ward simply isn't putting in the requisite effort into the Xbox One version, it's worth mentioning that DICE encountered technically challenges between the platforms for Battlefield 4 as well.

According to a Digital Foundry comparison, the Xbox One version of Battlefield 4 runs at 1280x720, while the PS4 version is at 1600x900. Although the Sony hardware has the technical lead, a less than perfect software scaling up to 1080p has handicapped its expected lead over the Xbox One version, which in some cases has it looking slightly crisper, if more aliased.

The PS4 may have a technical lead out the gate, but it's too early to hand it the decisive victory. The PS3 at launch faced a similar deficit against the Xbox 360, but the differences eroded with time.

Besides, those who are truly after the best technical experience out of these games should be playing them on a PC.

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Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
64 Comments Comment from the forums
  • tbake
    "Besides, those who are truly after the best technical experience out of these games should be playing them on a PC."

    NUFF SAID!! PC FTW :-)



    Unfortunately, some of the titles aren't available on PC.
    Reply
  • iam2thecrowe
    Why the hell cant the ps4 run bf4 native 1080p? Would rather slightly reduced visuals and have it run at 1080p. They could optimize it to run at 50fps/hz if need be. But whatever, this rubbish is why i have a PC.
    Reply
  • PraxGTI
    "Unfortunately, some of the titles aren't available on PC. "

    Unfortunately, this is because the people driving the console market want to take away the PC because it is too open. Instead of focusing on making a good game, they focus on DRM and Copyright. Listen up game makers, make good quality games and you won't have to worry about people downloading them illegally. You better believe after the SimCity 5 launch that I would never pay cash for another EA game before having at least 2 weeks to play it and try it out first.

    As a side note, boooooo EA...boooooo...
    Reply
  • basketcase87
    11833226 said:
    Unfortunately, some of the titles aren't available on PC.

    So skip them. Console exclusives are just a scam to make you buy that console. If there weren't a ton of idiots who buy into it, it wouldn't happen.
    Reply
  • garrickaking
    Wow... I went to give tons of praise to this single statement and find I've already been beaten to it.

    "Besides, those who are truly after the best technical experience out of these games should be playing them on a PC."

    This is the smartest thing ever said in any article about any console / game.
    Reply
  • southernshark
    11833301 said:
    "Unfortunately, some of the titles aren't available on PC. "

    Unfortunately, this is because the people driving the console market want to take away the PC because it is too open. Instead of focusing on making a good game, they focus on DRM and Copyright. Listen up game makers, make good quality games and you won't have to worry about people downloading them illegally. You better believe after the SimCity 5 launch that I would never pay cash for another EA game before having at least 2 weeks to play it and try it out first.

    As a side note, boooooo EA...boooooo...

    Not totally true. keep in mind consoles actually predate the PC. My first at home video game experience was on a Sears Pong system. Then I moved to the Atari 2600. A lot of us old guys have fond memories of the console. More importantly though the console is cheaper/ smaller and comes out of the box with controllers which are very ergonomic. Thus it fills a role in the gaming market which would otherwise not be fully serviced.
    Reply
  • soldier44
    So much for so called next gen consoles lol...Try gaming at 2560 x 1600 all ultra in BF4 - thats me.
    Reply
  • heero yuy
    11833566 said:
    11833301 said:
    "Unfortunately, some of the titles aren't available on PC. "

    Unfortunately, this is because the people driving the console market want to take away the PC because it is too open. Instead of focusing on making a good game, they focus on DRM and Copyright. Listen up game makers, make good quality games and you won't have to worry about people downloading them illegally. You better believe after the SimCity 5 launch that I would never pay cash for another EA game before having at least 2 weeks to play it and try it out first.

    As a side note, boooooo EA...boooooo...

    Not totally true. keep in mind consoles actually predate the PC. My first at home video game experience was on a Sears Pong system. Then I moved to the Atari 2600. A lot of us old guys have fond memories of the console. More importantly though the console is cheaper/ smaller and comes out of the box with controllers which are very ergonomic. Thus it fills a role in the gaming market which would otherwise not be fully serviced.

    consoles are pcs...
    consoles do predate the IBM standard (a computer by one company would not work with bits from another company think of it today as being dell computers can only have NVidia cards and HP computers can only have AMD cards)
    Reply
  • jhansonxi
    It will be interesting to see how the Steam Box platforms match up.
    Reply
  • darkchazz
    "Although the Sony hardware has the technical lead, a less than perfect software scaling up to 1080p has handicapped its expected lead over the Xbox One version, which in some cases has it looking slightly crisper, if more aliased."

    IMO, the Xbone seems to apply some sort of sharpness filter. Very clearly seen in the BF4 comparison shots. While the PS4 doesn't.

    Aaaaand, we all know Frostbite 3 is still using the shittiest AA mode in existence: FXAA
    Which applies Vaseline blur on the display. So that might explain the soft PS4 shots.
    Reply