Halo Infinite's New Performance Mode Features Some Serious Cutbacks On Xbox Series S

This is quite a negative spin on a great addition.

The 120fps mode is really more beneficial in the multiplayer mode, where it's quite stable, it's just a bonus for the campaign. 540p does not look like 540p due to the good quality reconstruction, watch the video to see that. It has a nice reconstruction to 1080p.

Anyway, anyone able to play a 120fps mode is most likely also able to utilise VRR too, so it's most certainly ok to play at 90fps, it's a nice bonus and will feel better than 60fps. I am aware that this game has had issues with VRR, but it is the exception and I am sure it will be fixed if it hasn't already been sorted in this patch.

For me personally I welcome 120fps modes on both Series consoles (and PS5) even with compromises, that is an obvious side effect.

I am just surprised by the negative tone of this article, especially on (my favourite) an Xbox site.

@JetmanUK I tried to be balanced to be honest! I said the turnout is pretty good where intense combat is likely to take place, indoors etc.
I can't put too positive a spin on a 540p game in 2022. To me, it looks very blurry and while the option is appreciated, I can't see why you'd pick this mode over a solid 60.

I think that 540p was too extreme of a cutback to get to that 120hz. Then again, if FSR was used, then it should't be that noticeable. If I were you, don't try to run it on a 4k 120hz display but instead on a 1080p 120hz display.

@Kezelpaso But it isn't a 540p game. It's a game with a dynamic res which bottoms out at 540p, it does not stay at the res all the time, also it's never displayed at 540p, it's a reconstructed 1080p from 540p on your screen. Your 540p comment in your article and reply is very misleading.

Here's some of the comments from the author of the video you linked in your article.
Remember this is the guy who performed the analysis:

'Xbox Series S in the 120fps mode uses a dynamic resolution with the highest native resolution found being approximately 1536x1080 and the lowest resolution found being 960x540. Xbox Series S in the 120fps mode uses a form of temporal upsampling to reconstruct a 1920x1080 resolution.

The native rendering resolution seems to usually be below 1280x720 on Xbox Series S when in the 120fps mode and seems to often be 960x540 in demanding scenes such as the open world part of the campaign. Note though that a 1920x1080 pixel count can be resolved due to the temporal reconstruction used'.

At least we have the choice , when developers don’t give choices to the players it’s annoying, I have a series s and I really like to play at 1080p 60fps and it’s doable on a lot of games but when the developers just give us a 1440p 30fps option it’s dull like cyberpunk I tried the demo and didn’t buy the game cause I want 60fps.At least here people have the choice.

Let's be real, if you're the kind of gamer that really cares about 120fps gameplay, you're probably not the kind of gamer that buys a Series S to begin with. It's debatable that you're the kind of gamer that even buys consoles.

This fills a niche of a budget gamer that wants to not miss out on any competitive edge online even on cheap hardware, and it looks like it fills that niche very well.

The issue isn't so much the 540p or reconstruction, its that if you want to use VRR/120hz, you need a 4k TV (I don't think any HD TV's actually have a 120hz option as they weren't expected to receive anything more than a 60hz signal.

Therefore you have a 'low' resolution image with far less detail due to a lack of pixels, being upscaled/reconstructed etc to '1080p' (4x) with any artefacts that incurs, then that image is then 'upscaled' to fit the 4k screen resolution thus amplifying the artefacts/blur etc. If it drops to 540p internally, that means it has to be 'upscaled' by a factor of 16 to fit on a 4k screen. In other words, there are 16 pixels for every 1 of the 540p pixels, 16x more information/data/detail. Its not so important in a 'flat' colour area (like sky which could be all the same shade of Blue for example) but for more detailed areas, gradients, edges etc, where every single pixel is a different colour, that's a lot of information 'lost'.

In my opinion, you don't want to 'upscale' a reconstructed/upscaled image so I would only play 120hz mode on a HD 120hz monitor for the 'best' visual look at 120hz. Its already been upscaled once to have 1:1 pixel mapping with that display.

For every pixel at 720p, if that is the 'highest' internal resolution the game reaches, there are 9 pixels at 1080p

1x1 pixel at 540p is equivalent to 2x2 (4) pixels at 1080p or 4x4 (16) pixels at 2160p (or 3x3 (9) at 1620p)
1x1 pixel at 720p is equivalent to 2x2 (4) pixels at 1440p or 3x3 (9) pixels at 2160p

I honestly don’t see the difference between 60fps and 120fps, 60fps is more than enough for a buttery smooth gameplay. Plus sacrificing graphical fidelity for 120fps is not worth it imo when you can have 4K at 60fps, at least on the Series X that is.

@MaccaMUFC Law of diminishing returns is at play once you breach 60fps. Only pros will really notice a difference, and at that point they’re probably on PC or Series X. Gotta give credit to the devs though that they are supporting the game like this on the Series S.

Well yeah, Series S definitely shouldn't be the aim for devs. Maximize performance for the SX, and make cuts to performance for SS. Def don't want games developed for the SS and leave the potential wasted.

I own a SS and SX, my SX is connected to my 4k UHD TV with 120hz, love it. My SS is connected to my 7 year old 1080p.

Either way, I hardly notice, but I'm also not trying to see the difference.