'Quantum Break' Release Date Update and News: Game Runs On 720p Resolution Contrary To the 1080p Claim

By Jenn Loro - 23 Mar '16 06:56AM

Since the 2013 release of Xbox One and PS 4, the two major consoles have been locked in a war on high-resolution-gaming front. In the console wars, a clear and crisp screen resolution is a must-have gaming experience. So far, both of them have ongoing problems sustaining a constant 30 FPS at 1920×1080 (1080p).

Microsoft's Xbox, in particular, are running into some challenges in this area with the console running a lower resolution than its PS4 counterpart. Quantum Break was hoped to rectify this. Developed by Remedy Entertainment, the Max Payne creator previously claimed that the game would run at 1080p native resolution as reported by Extreme Tech.

But new reports emerged revealing that the purported that steady 30 FPS at 1080p resolution is largely an unsupported claim causing uproar among some Xbox One users.

Gaming analysts at Digital Foundry said Quantum Break is running at 720p after their hands-on analysis of the game.

"In every scene tested so far, a native resolution of 720p is the consistent result found in each pixel count test - so while there's every possibility of individual render targets operating at higher resolutions, basic geometry that we're able to measure hands in a 720p result as things stand," wrote David Bierton as quoted in his Digital Foundry article.

However, Xbox chief Phil Spencer advised gamers to experience the games themselves before passing on a judgment. In its defense, Remedy Entertainment issued a statement to explain how the claimed 1080p resolution ended up with 720p resolution as observed by reviewers in their hands-on analysis.

"Quantum Break's 1080p output is a temporal reconstruction from four previous 720p 4xMSAA frames. This approach gets us high pixel quality in combination with complex shading and effects, allowing us to achieve a cinematic look. However, varying sample counts between passes and temporal upscaling makes talking about resolution, as it is traditionally understood, complicated in the case of Quantum Break," the statement reads as quoted by Inquistr.