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Now we're really there: in a few days the next-gen consoles will arrive on store shelves for a quick passage before finding their natural location in the living rooms and bedrooms of our homes. The first game machine starting from the starting blocks, chronologically speaking, will be the Xbox Series X (accompanied by the little sister Xbox Series S): the new Microsoft hardware will make its debut on November 10th and will bring with it a series of innovations that will accompany us throughout the next videogame era, and that will extend to the consumer market some of the concepts already known (and so dear to) PC world goers. In addition to the speed of the new SSDs and the advantages brought by the Xbox Velocity Architecture (as you will know if you follow us closely, in the last few weeks we have tried the Xbox Series X ), the new RDNA2 architecture and the brute power resulting from the combination CPU / GPU will allow the Redmond monolith of reaching resolutions beyond 4K and touching framerates up to 120 FPS .
The 12 TeraFLOPs of Xbox Series X will be able, in certain
cases, to push games beyond the 60 FPS wall, bringing the "living
room" videogame experience to areas still unexplored by traditional TVs
and multiplying the doubts of users less accustomed to technicalities. But what
does it take to fully enjoy all the potential of next-gen consoles? Are our TVs
ready to welcome Xbox Series X? And is HDMI 2.1 a key requirement? What is the
framerate and how does it differ from the refresh rate? What impact do FPS have
on gameplay and graphics in general? We will try to take stock of the situation
in the next few lines.
Xbox Series X and 120 FPS:
features and requirements
Before listing the requirements necessary to fully enjoy the
high number of frames and analyzing the impact they have on the gameplay and
graphic quality, it is necessary to define once and for all the terminological
(and technological) perimeter within which the next-gen. In fact, in the gaming
world framerate (FPS) and refresh rate (Hz) are often confused and
misinterpreted.
FPS is the amount of frame per second sent from the console
to the TV, while Hz measures the refresh rate of the panel image. While both
terms indicate completion rates, the two units of measurement refer to
different components of the system. To put it simply, the FPS is the speed with
which the console, and in particular the GPU, completes (processes) the frames,
while Hz is the speed with which the display shows the previously processed
frames. While the framerate quantified in FPS depends on the power and
computing capacity of the console, the refresh rate indicated in Hz is a fixed
number determined by the characteristics of the TV or monitor: the number of
FPS rendered by the GPU are therefore linked to the complexity of a given scene
while the Hz remain constant over time. Simplifying again, this means that a 60
Hz monitor will always update 60 times per second, a 120 Hz monitor always 120
times per second, and so on, regardless of the FPS actually sent by the GPU.
When these two values differ significantly, graphic
artifacts such as tearing or ghosting occur that can compromise the overall
quality and enjoyment of a game. If, on the other hand, the console and TV (or
monitor) are synchronized, the magic happens and the images are smoother,
cleaner and the gameplay reactivity much more immediate.
In order to take advantage of all the advantages brought by
the 120 fps of the Xbox Series X, therefore, you need a TV that has a display
capable of reaching 120 Hz. One of the hottest issues of the last few weeks,
however, concerns the requirement of the new HDMI 2.1 standard.and related
cables. To play in 4K and 120 fps (perhaps with HDR active) the console must in
fact send a huge stream of data to the TV that the normal HDMI 2.0 port is
unable to receive.
However, it must be said that this particular situation is
limited, at least for the moment, to a rather small number of titles,
especially minor or independent productions, in short, games that do not
require great efforts on the part of the console's GPU. In most cases, and with
the most famous triple A titles, the situation changes: in order to reach 120
frames even the latest generation consoles will have to compromise with details
and resolution.
As tests on early Xbox Series X titles that support 120fps
(such as Dirt 5, which we'll come back to later) have shown, the resolution is
lowered to 1080p and the amount of on-screen objects drastically reduced. In
these cases, by setting the console to Full HD resolution, without using
upscaling in 4K, it is possible to play at 120 fps even with a TV equipped with
HDMI 2.0 (the presence of a 120 Hz panel remains essential).
Xbox Series X combined with a TV with HDMI 2.1 will then
offer support for VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), a technology that has been
declined in the form of different implementations such as AMD Freesync or
NVIDIA G-Sync, able to synchronize the number of frames with the display update
frequency, so as to completely eliminate any type of graphic artifact.
If you are still looking for a TV that can accompany you
throughout the next generation no conditionality whatsoever we suggest you take
a look at the review of the LG TV CX , the review of the Samsung Q95T and
review of the Sony XH90 , all with 120 Hz and HDMI 2.1 support.
120 FPS gameplay: next-gen
advantages and trade-offs
Playing with a high number of frames and on a display with a
high refresh rate makes the gaming experience particularly satisfying. But why
is it so important? A high number of FPS / Hz results in smoother and more
"complete" animations , while eliminating graphic artifacts such as
ghosting and tearing. Ghosting is a distracting factor that occurs when the
display updates the image: the time it takes for the panel to change colors on
the screen can leave a sort of trail on moving objects known as a
"ghost". Tearing instead occurs when the display shows several frames
processed by the GPU at the same time, causing a sort of horizontal
"clipping" of the image.
: Latency is reduced to a minimum and the delay between a
certain command and the response of the image on the TV almost zero. In this
way the reactivity of the action becomes immediate and gives players
fundamental milliseconds, especially for those videogame genres such as
shooters and more generally in competitive multiplayer.
As we have already said, generating a large number of FPS
requires a huge effort for the GPU: for this reason the games that will support
the 120 FPS mode will necessarily have to compensate by reducing the resolution
and the amount of details.
The launch of the Xbox Series X will be accompanied by a
series of products capable of supporting 120 FPS and showing the brute force of
the Microsoft console. Among these is Dirt 5 (to learn more, refer to our test
of DiRT 5 on Xbox Series X ), Codemaster's arcade racing that we have had the
opportunity to test and which offers a realistic representation of the
compromises that the developers they will have to field to squeeze the
framerate.
In this case, for example, the title is able to return a
noteworthy sense of speed but in the 120 Hz mode Dirt 5 has a reduced
resolution (1440p dynamic) , fewer objects on the screen with a quality of the
textures and a depth of field such that pop-in phenomena are evident. Obviously
it should be kepts in mind that we are only at the beginning of the generation
and that the optimization work will improve things over time.
Even Gears 5 will enjoy a 120 FPS mode, this time however
limited to the multiplayer component only. Finally, 343 Industries has
announced the 120 FPS mode for all chapters of Halo: The Master Chief
Collection, both for the campaign and for the multiplayer, although at the
moment they do not know the details. Below is a list of all Xbox Series X games
that will receive 120 FPS support at launch:
Dirt 5
Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War
Halo Infinite
Halo The Master Chief Collection
Gears 5
Exomecha
Metal Hellsinger
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
Orphan of the Machine
Second Extinction
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
The Falconeer
To conclude, with the arrival of Xbox Series X the 60 FPS
wall is officially demolished in the console world as well. Obviously, support
for the 120 FPS / Hz mode will be limited to specific titles and modes that
will be declined depending on the genre, and will require optimization work
that will very often affect the graphics quality and game details.
Compromises that in some cases will delight players looking
for greater reactivity, especially in the competitive arena. In any case, the
possibility of choosing between quality, performance and framerate is an
interesting novelty that will increasingly characterize the long-awaited
next-gen.
FAQ
What is the framerate and how does it differ from the
refresh rate?
The framerate measures the amount of frames per second (FPS)
sent by the GPU to the TV, while the refresh rate indicates the refresh rate
(Hz) of a given display.
Why are they important?
A high frame count and a high refresh rate result in
smoother, more complete and detailed images, eliminating graphic artifacts such
as tearing and ghosting.
Do these factors affect
gameplay?
Yes, a high framerate allows for greater responsiveness,
reduced latency, and better supports faster, more dynamic actions. All elements
that make the difference especially in the competitive field.
What do you need to play 120
FPS on Xbox Series X?
To enjoy 120 FPS mode on Xbox Series X, you need a TV that
supports a 120 Hz refresh rate. To play at 4K resolution and 120 FPS, the TV
must be equipped with an HDMI 2.1 port (and its certified cable. ), while at
1080p resolution a normal HDMI 2.0 port is enough.
Will all games support 120
FPS?
No, the 120 FPS mode will only be available for some titles
and in most cases will have to be manually selected in the appropriate menus.
Does 120 FPS mode affect the
graphics quality of a game?
It depends on the type of game: for more complex titles,
which require large resources, developers will have to compromise with the
graphic quality, lowering the resolution and decreasing the details. For
smaller productions or that require less computing power, the 120 FPS mode can
be implemented without special precautions.