Reality Check - 64% of People CAN'T Tell the Difference Between PS4, PC, and XONE

Cameron Robinson reveals the results of his graphics test, and it appears that we might not be so great at identifying PC, PS4, and Xbox One based on looks alone.

[T2X]

Most likely true. Considering Most people I know aren't sitting there with three displays on three platforms open and running the same program to nitpick the differences. LOL!

[Genuine-User]

I can tell if there's a difference in resolution but I don't expect everyone to notice or even care.

[T2X]

I think they all look pretty nice.

[decrypt]

A video like this from a site like gamespot is no surprise. Anything to provide lip service to console makers, its obvious they are in bed with these corporations. I wouldnt be surprised if the numbers are massaged in console favor.

Despite however oblivious most people are to simple things like Frame rate or resolution, most of them can easily tell when frame rates are going down into the teens. Sure they dont know its the frame rate that is tanking most of them refer to it as "lag".

Its very easy for the naked eye to see the difference between a game running at 30fps dipping down to teens and a game thats running at 60fps (dips dont matter here because it still stays very fluid).

What makes matters worse is when these sites make comparisons(sometimes they dont even run the PC version at max settings) by posting compressed videos running at 30fps. Its obvious most people wont be able to spot much difference in such comparisons again these sort of comparisons are biased in the consoles favor.

There is a reason why developers almost always choose to show the PC version when it comes to promoting a game. I would recommend people explore all platforms to really see the differences, comparisons done on websites that are known to be cheerleaders for consoles or youtube videos dont do much justice.

@Mega24

I completely agree and thats exactly the reason why i think both these consoles are going down to 720 to 900p gameplay going forward. Reason being most people on console cant tell the difference betweeen Resolution, Frame rate, AA, Shadows etc.

Hence developers will try to sell their games based on screen shots taken from PC versions (same happened with the last gen). As more and more taxing games start rolling out (games which are not designed for last consoles), inevitably these new consoles with their weak hardware will be dragged down to 720 to 900p level.

[ShinMaster]

@ decrypt

Regardless of frame rate or resolutions. They all look the same or have the same "look". That doesn't mean that people can't tell the difference between low and high res shadows, low frame rate or lack of AA, etc.

Gamestop, IGN, Gamersyde and even YouTube have 60fps video players and the almost always show the PC versions running at their highest settings.

But you're probably right. There's a big conspiracy to downplay PCs and those poor PC elitists. /s

"weak hardware"? Have you seen their size? PCs are at least 5 times in size. Only laptops come close but at double the price.

And if all console games this gen end up being 900p, gamers will still be enjoying them, while you're busy being a fanboy. Because even if all console games ran at 1080 and 60fps, you'd still find reasons to hate. And that's the truth.

[T900]

The title of the video is misleading. Watch the Video 58% of the people identified the PC version correctly as it was superior. Even if you ignore the better graphics you cant ignore the smoother frame rate.

Where people got it wrong was mixing up the console versions.

Hence we get the title 64% of the people cant tell the difference.

So again bottom line many people could distinguish the PC version, people just mixed up the console versions.

I think putting a title as "64% of the people cant tell the difference" is misleading as if it makes all platforms look equal or close, when in truth many people identified the superior PC version correctly, just getting confused between the lower console versions.

@ShinMaster

Like it or not the title is very misleading indeed, it does its best to show all platform performing very closely. Some food for thought:

PC is the only platform Developers or some corporation doesnt have a hold off.

Cant charge PC gamers to go online,
Game prices fall too fast,
The only platform that actually allows Mods (this is a developers nightmare as it gives games extra life, hence no rush to the next release),
Pc is also the only platform that gives almost unlimited BC meaning HD remakes cant be sold.

PC just holds cards that scream consumerism and choice of freedom. If i was a Console maker, developer or a paid website of course i would do everything in my power to bash the PC and show consoles in a better light.

[blackmagic]

More significantly, only 36% were able to identify all three correctly but 58% were able to identify the pc correctly from the consoles. Additionally, pc was limited to 1080p 60fps.

Edit:T900 beat me to it...

[livininsin]

@shinmaster

None of those sites stream anything above 1080p 60fps and most people won't even see anything above 1080p 30fps that you get through a regular browser viewing youtube on a 1080p monitor. Some stream at higher resolutions but only 30fps and highly compressed. Show me a 1440p 120fps or a 1600p 60fps stream posted on any of those sites. Show me a triple monitor stream. I personally own a 21:9 3440x1440 ultra widscreen monitor. Go ahead and show me 3440x1440 60fps stream because that's what I game at.

[cemelc]

@T900

Or perhaps you have eyes that surpass humanity and can tell minor differences and overblow them to epic proportions?

This study while not perfect it tells A LOT on what i knew for a while, those heaven to earth differences never existed in the first place.

They still are present but not in any way should push anyone to pick one over the other. same game, same gameplay, moderate graphic differences.

[MysticStrummer]

I can see the difference, that's all that matters to me, but this experiment is flawed in several ways and as such it's results are pretty worthless.

[LordMaim]

If 42% of the people couldn't spot the PC version, then either the test was bad, the respondents were idiots, or they outright lied.

I'm no PC master race guy, far from it, but its blindingly obvious which was the PC. This test was terribly set up, and I strongly doubt that all, or even a statistically significant portion of those who participated viewed the uncompressed footage.

[mikeslemonade]

This only prooves parity between the three platforms.

You idiots who support multiplats early on.. Now we are stuck with multiplats in the current gen.

[Dee_91]

Of the 36% that can tell the difference, how many of them actually care? What ever the percentage, i'm in that percentile.I see the difference between 720p and 1080p, and 30fps, and 60fps, but I just don't care.I can live blissfully playing games at 720p 30fps.Graphical technicalities like draw distance,occlusion, and shader materials are things I care more about.

http://i.imgur.com/na2UnMD....

[cayleee]

So another way of putting it 58% of the people guessed the PC version correctly, since its obviously ahead of the other 2. This is with keeping in mind the PC was running at 1080p which is now an aging standard on the PC, Graphics hardware today can easily run games in 1440p. 4k should be a reality in the next few years. Running a PC at 1080p today is like running a PC at 720p last gen. So really really 1080p is the lowest end standard for PC these days i doubt most sites even consider bench marking anything below 1080p now a days.

However majority of the people couldnt tell a difference between XB1 and PS4, Since both of them run at 25-30fps and the resolutions / graphical settings are similar too.

I suppose people on N4G should stop nitpicking over the console versions since both are very similar as per this result.

[Name Last Name]

Is this national tl;dr day?

[dantesparda]

Wait a sec? The test was done by having people watch Youtube videos? WHAT!? How about a real test where they set up some TVs at a mall or something and have people see the games in real life and not on some crappy Youtube videos. Also, why pick games that are closer (these games res and framerate is close)? If fanboys are right, pick games where the difference is bigger than lets see if the masses really cant tell.

This test is pure garbage and just further muddies the waters and just fullfills their agenda.

[LamerTamer]

@T900 "PC just holds cards that scream consumerism and choice of freedom".

That is only if you pirate everything. Otherwise PC games have more restrictions on when and where you can play the games as they are almost all DRM filled digital download and always online these days. Most big PC releases you can't even load up unless you are constantly connected to the internet even if playing in SP. You r beloved Steam is also filled with DRM restrictions on what PC you can or can't play a game on. That doesn't sound like a consumer friendly utopia to me.

[fr0sty]

When it comes to visuals, none of us see the same thing the exact same way. Some have poor vision, others are colorblind, etc... Some see razor sharp and can easily tell the differences.

So, while buying the PS4 or PC version of a game may make playing that game better for YOU if it runs at a higher resolution, has better AA, etc... it doesn't make it universally better. Someone with poorer eyesight might not even be able to tell, or someone with a worse quality TV. To them, the gameplay and controls are where it's at.

Nothing wrong with either camp, until one tries forcing their opinions on others.

[T900]

@LamerTamer

On the contrary, console DRM is a lot worse. Can you play PS1, PS2, PS3 games on the PS4? no you cant. You are forced to buy HD remakes or completely give up on your old games. Unless you are willing to maintain all your old hardware and are willing to rebuy it every time it fails and are willing to put up playing a PS2 on your new HD 1080p TV, or a PS3 on your New 4k TV. Have fun with the Jaggies.

Yes you can bad mouth PC DRM, however its still the PC that can actually play decades old games, not consoles.

So dont play the DRM card. Console hardware itself is the DRM. The ability to play old games is an arguement thats in PC favor by landslide. Specially now that we have services like Steam we dont even feel the DRM, most games can be installed, uninstalled with no consequences.

When it comes to consumer friendly:

Go on i challenge you to not pay to go online on your console and see how that turns out. Try asking them for mods or BC. You will fail on all fronts. Consoles are controlled environment, where consumers have no rights and dare not voice their concerns. The corporations always win and every time it happens we have fans on this site blatantly try defend what their favorite company just did.

[starchild]

First of all, the headline is wrong. The majority of people WERE able to tell the PC version from the console versions.

Second of all, who are these imperceptive people that couldn't tell the difference? I hope these people don't drive.

Seriously, though, in this day and age of rampant fanboyism, I would never take ANY kind of gaming-related poll seriously. Many people will just answer according to their biases. Console fanboys, for example, will claim they can't see the difference, even though they really can.

But I'm sure a few of them really are just extremely imperceptive people. After all, there were people that claimed they couldn't tell the difference between standard def and high def televisions. Haha.

In any case, if people really want to latch onto this in some desperate attempt to downplay the PC, then we better not EVER see any discussions between console gamers about which console hardware is superior. Because there's no difference, remember? If people can't see the large difference between games on PC and consoles then they sure as hell won't see the much smaller difference between the PS4 and XB1.

[Str8Chaos74]

What a joke of an article. My friends that don't even game can tell the difference. I play Titanfall on PC, insane textures and everything else cranked with not a jaggy in site. It looks like a different game compared to the console version lol.

[Utalkin2me]

Its fairly easy to see the difference if you play one for a while then switch to the other. But lucky for me, i don't have to be bothered to do so.

[SilentNegotiator]

Less than half of all people have 20/20 vision, too...

[Cueil]

not to mention this is Ubisoft we are talking about

[Dannycr]

Hey, it's true, but, it's true because consoles have been holding back the technological advancements that PC's bring to the table. I bet the PC would be 5 or 6 years ahead if it were not for the companies behind the consoles.

[Mega24]

That's because the 64% of those people are casuals, they can't tell the diference between an apple or an orange, of if the dress was white/gold or black/blue.

I can easily see the difference in Texture resolution, AA, Shadow Quality and lighting. People that don't see it either have eye problems or are just blind by their fanatic mentality.

[Shinuz]

Most people won't notice if you don't explain it to them or show them the difference. At first my girlfriend didn't the diffenrence between a dvd and blueray and stereo and 5.1 surround until I made her see a couple of comparaisons.

[UnHoly_One]

First off, the word "casual" is just a way for someone like you to feel superior to someone else. All gamers are gamers. There doesn't have to be a lower class gamer for you to lord over. We should all stick together.

Second, the type of person you are calling a "casual gamer" wouldn't be on gamespot watching comparisons and answering poll questions like this.

Sorry to have to break it to you, but the only people that ever would have found and taken that test were just as "hardcore" as you.

And most people, even the mighty "hardcore", simply can't tell the difference in normal gameplay.

Frankly I'm surprised even more didn't get it wrong.

[Mega24]

@Unholy_One

The word casuals is a real thing, it's people that aren't fully invested in the gaming hobby, and don't use their time to fully explore the hobby. Gaming is my hobby, the thing that I do with my off time from University stuff and work.

"Sorry to have to break it to you, but the only people that ever would have found and taken that test were just as "hardcore" as you. "

His experiment was flawed from the start for using Youtube and a raw source, which of those 2700 participants used the raw source? In the video he even points out at errors, and people even point out the identical clips, he made it flawed so it would give the results he wanted.

Disagree all you want, his experiment would be considered invalid due to the variables and errors that wasn't fair for the participants. This is them trying to sell off the overprice consoles with tablet apu's.

[UnHoly_One]

I totally agree with you (and with him) that the poll results are not perfect because of the use of YouTube.

I don't, however, think the clips should have all been identical. I agree with his reasoning for choosing this method.

The point was for people to be able to tell a difference during actual gameplay, not just look at two identical things and see a slightly sharper shadow or some extra grass in one image.

It was meant to prove that during normal use, most people can't really notice those tiny details enough to warrant all the bullmess that people spew online when arguing about which looks better.

[Jalva]

Just like how PS4 and Xbox One games looks graphically identical, yet people on this site love to claim that one is more powerful than the other because there is a few extra blades of grass hidden somewhere in the background.

[Spotie]

Except they DON'T look graphically identical. Not in most cases.

In MOST cases, the PS4 version looks better. And there is no need to CLAIM the PS4 is more powerful; it IS.

No need to lie to make yourself feel comfortable about your purchase.

[Jalva]

@Spotie

I only own a PS3, haven't upgraded to current gen yet, but when I do I either plan on buying a PS4 or a PC, all I'm saying is I can't see a difference in graphics between the PS4 and Xbox One, I guess I must be blind but trust me I've tried, maybe if someone tells me there is a difference and I focus really clearly I might be able to notice a slightly clearer texture here and there but for the most part I don't see any difference at all.

[jb227]

I would click to watch this video on High settings but I don't know if I'd be able to tell the difference....not sure why they even give the option. /s

[Eyesoftheraven]

lol I actually have 4 displays and 4 platforms. If you don't care, you are missing out. It's the details folks!

3440x1444p monitors
2560x1440 144Hz monitors
4k

..options like those are what help PC gaming remain viable.

When it comes to multiform, PC stands out with options regarding very high resolutions, fast frame rates, quick frame render times, and superior anti-aliasing techniques that don't soften the higher resolution textures.

With his Farcry 4 test, I wouldn't have been able to tell the differences as a hardcore PC and console gamer unless I thought to look for things like advanced Nvidia fur simulation.

[WCxAlchemist]

@T900 true 58% could tell differnce between PC and consoles It wasnt cause of resolution it was because of the frames ppl could tell pc version cause it ran smoother.

But overall 64% of those 2,700 tested could not tell the difference period the test proves that.

Ironically Sony did there own test with KZ shadowfall. It was said that its MP was native 1080p but in reality it was closer to 720 yet NO Sony fan notice it wasnt 1080p till Euro gamer cameout with its test results. Temporal reprojection = not NATIVE.

The bigger picture here resolution is not as big as certain group makes it out to be since them thenselves cant tell the difference from 900p to 1080p.

Frames now thats an whole other issue and something gamers should worry bout not resolution were talkin bout resolution lol

[showtimefolks]

so true, people see games running on ps4 or xbox one and think they look stunning, while pc gamers shout well we can do 120FPS with 1080P or even 4K and not many know the difference

each have their spot in gaming so whether you are a console gamer or a pc gamer, we are all together as a gaming community

[TheSaint]

Also, 49% of everyone you meet are below average intelligence.

[TruthInsider]

Article brought to you by Microsoft Corp.

[bubblebobble]

pc/butthurt.anyone

[Tdmd]

Pshhh!! You'll offend the master race!

[traumadisaster]

Nah it doesn't offend me that I can tell the difference in a 4kpc, a real meal vs fast food and a corvette and a camrey.

Glad we both can enjoy video games.

[MurDocINC]

There's other reasons beside graphics to get a PC. Like more games, mods, keyboard/mouse, sims, steam sales, emulators, etc...

[DLConspiracy]

Very true. Too many games really.

[Tdmd]

I don't like keyboard/mouse, but steam sales and mods are awesome. And who doesn't like moar games, right? x)
One thing I really miss on consoles are rts games...

[Clunkyd]

Sorry, But i dont mess with that DRM PC BS.
Console gamers dont take that kindly, as it has been proven.
Thats why PC gamers are cheapskates and rather wait for a game to be on sale for the reason that they can't trade, sell, rent the game. And no, Steam Family share is far from a solution. That crap is very limited.

[HammadTheBeast]

@Clunkyd

Consoles are DRM. Anything you buy digitally is basically under DRM. You pay to play online, something that PC gamers told Mircosoft to f*** off with a while back. It's true though, that they do willingly pay subscription fees for MMO's tho.

@LogicalReason

How old are you with the "console kiddies" comment. Relax.

It's gaming. Different people have different tastes. Yes, we all realize that PC gaming is probably better. But a lot of people have niether the time nor the investment for PC gaming, so they stick with consoles, which serve as media hubs for the household.

[LamerTamer]

@HammadTheBeast

That is why I don't buy download console games, DRM. PCs are all filled with it as they are required to be always online. Steam is a DRM fest and they control what PC you are allowed to play a game on.

BTW I HATE KB/M to game with. One analog control only and mashing a keyboard? That has to be the most ergonomically awful way to game, I don't care how "accurate" a mouse is. Being hunched over a desk while punching keys is just not fun for me. Tried it, hated it, never went back.

PCs have the best graphics but have other annoyances that ruin the experience.

[DLConspiracy]

@clunky

I thought all PC gamers spent thousands of dollars on their PC rigs? Cheapskates? I wouldn't call them cheapskates. Some games you want to play but you don't feel like paying $60 bucks for. Wouldn't renting games be more of the cheapskate way? Besides there are way too many games on PC to buy them all. Its not limited.

[nitus10]

I think most people who post on this form have some sort of PC, however whether they prefer PC gaming to console gaming or vice-versa or a mixture of both is entirely up to the gamer.

I have a gaming laptop which is now starting to get old so I either refurbish it or build my own. As for PC gaming verses console gaming I prefer console gaming although to play retro games (eg: NES, SNES, ...) I run an emulator.

As for mods well that is up to the player. The same for sims which really is a genres choice and is no different from choosing to play RPG's, FPS's, Sports and even Action/Adventure games to name a few.

[AdaptAndOvercome]

Some good points in that video but I'm not entirely convinced.

[psychobabble]

True, except on that GTA V grass thing. That was a pretty big difference.

[thexmanone]

Yea, but if it was not plastered all over the internet.
No one would have noticed.

[SilentNegotiator]

One looks like a crumby video game hill and the other looks somewhat realistic. People noticed because its very noticeable.

[Loktai]

It wouldn't be all over the internet if nobody noticed.

[Balsanoid]

Silly argument. That's like saying we'd all be better off living in caves cut off from all social & media interaction.

I wouldn't know the difference between a BMW and a Kia if I grew up on a deserted island See? I can do it too.

[weirdo]

I don't regret selling my gaming rig, everything I've played on ps4 looks just as good imo.

[traumadisaster]

Kind of like how fast food and a Honda civic is "just as good" as a BMW and a steak. I'll take real food and a 4kpc.

It's good we can both be happy.

[Tapani]

haha

[matt139]

Well a civic type R is better than most BMWs aside from the performance models so your comparison is flawed lol

[MysticStrummer]

I've eaten at the PC gaming steakhouse, and not much on the menu appealed to me.

Honda and BMW are both good cars, but one is more expensive to buy and more expensive to work on so that comparison is funny.

[HammadTheBeast]

Except good luck if anything on the Beamer breaks, cause they're luxury cars with luxury maintenance.

[GamingTruth]

your right cause nothing on pc is "just as good" as driveclub or order 1886 visually

[Soupaman66]

Because the only thing a pc is used for is gaming. Sure.

[Me-Time]

This just in:

Most people DO NOT act and DO NOT do the same things as MOST PEOO-PPLE.

[pyroxxx]

mostly depends of size and closeness of the screen,.. but yeah difference is significant on native resolution,.. not only reso of rendering but 1:1 pixel assets,.. textures etc,..
In any case there are less jaggies,.. and why pay the same (or more) for technically less

[Loktai]

True 1:1 resolution, native resolution, it's always preferable when possible.

[Stapleface]

Definitely not. I'll take downsampled, higher resolutions than a native 1:1 any day. 1440p on a 1080p monitor looks better than 1080p on a 1080p monitor. ;)

[CaptainObvious878]

Good for those 64%.

So do they magically invalidate my ability to be able to see the difference?

Seems like someone else needs a reality check.

[Two-Face]

Yeah, same with people that keep saying they can't tell the difference between 30fps and 60fps. Does not mean that there is no difference. I can also clearly feel the difference between 60fps and 120fps, and I could never go back to 60hz monitor after investing on a 144hz.

[nitus10]

I have a 55" 200HZ 3D HDTV does that count? :-)

[Loktai]

Seriously I'm getting sick of the "you can't see a difference! I'm butthurt so you are wrong about a better resolution being a difference!". It's getting ridiculous and while it's not exactly a deal breaker for some, people should not be going out of their way to try and justify slightly shittier graphics as equal.

[danny818]

Lol so for the Pc you can tell? Your obviously not talking about the ps4 because on multiplats they are about the same. There might be a slight difference

[VJGenova]

Exactly. Also another big reason for pc over xbone/ps4 are load times. With my pci-e ssd, load times are 2-3 seconds, a far cry from the minute it takes TLOU remastered to initially load.

The people that can tell the difference will continue to buy high end hardware and new monitors like the g-sync and freesync ones.

Also I just finished play gears of war 3, and though I enjoyed it, the framerate drops were quite annoying.

I don't get why people try to minimize the difference between consoles and high end pcs. They are completely different classes of machines. It's like, "64% of people don't get why driving a Mercedes is a big deal and like their Kias." Great! Then drive your Kia and STFU!

[JackVagina]

Numbers are likely slightly false, I remember this test video they did a while back and most people only saw the youtube version and not the direct uncompressed video you could download off the site.

http://i5.minus.com/iFERVz8... Heres a image that compares a youtube image (1080p) vs IGN vs high bit rate.

Edit: more comparisons
http://abload.de/img/1a0bxl...
http://abload.de/img/1b29xx...

http://abload.de/img/resogu...
http://abload.de/img/resogu...

[Blackleg-sanji]

This gen is making me laugh we were all about resolution last gen now there's no difference? On a personal lol I really could care less...scratch that I would hope everything was 1080p by now but I jus find the flip flopping hilarious same thing wit remasters

[uth11]

These days you need a magnifying glass, or put them side by side to notice the difference, but we still make such a big deal about them

[sorane]

I've never had a friend NOT notice how much better my games look on PC. They're always blown away when I put games up on my TVs.

[bananaboats]

wow this gen is really gonna be all about resolution and fps.......

[DLConspiracy]

Seems to me like PC gaming is going to blow up if thats the direction gamers focus on most. At least on Res and frames.

[S2Killinit]

But if you put them side by side i could

[traumadisaster]

Most people like and grill hamburgers and hot dogs all summer. I hate that effing sloop and prefer a filet. So it doesn't matter if 90% of people like hot dogs and hamburgers I'm paying for a good steak.

[bananaboats]

but what if you're having a party? are you gonna serve steaks to everyone?

[Cueil]

if he is I'm going to his cook outs and not yours

[Stapleface]

I use a meat grinder to make my ground beef out of steaks which I then use to make my hamburgers. Where does that leave me? I'll guess at multi platform gamer but I could be wrong. I'm just trying to figure out how to divide steaks by frame per second. This food/game math is confusing.

[Chinkyinc18]

I want high quality in a convenient form factor I'm accustomed to. That's how I see your analogy. That's how I am; love all the options PC games provide along with adjusting the game to suit what YOU, not what the developer, likes when it comes to certain GFX. Yet, I still prefer a gamepad over K+M unless it's a RTS and like Big Picture interface over the regular client. Now, I want a steakburger...

[Stiffler]

My god, the analogies here at N4G are burning my eyes! Make them stop lol

http://www.safetyank.in/ima...

[GribbleGrunger]

But doesn't that meant that 36% can? Is 36% a small amount? Reality check: 36% is a large amount.

[VJGenova]

I'm guessing that of those people that have higher end pcs, 100% can tell the difference. It's also like the statements that "people can't tell the difference between 30 FPS and 60 FPS." Well, I can so I always want 60 ...

[DLConspiracy]

1/3 is smaller than 2/3. Twice as many people got it wrong. 900 out of 2700 got it right. 1800 out of 2700 people got it wrong.

[JasonKCK]

Yeah but how many of that 36% were looking at the PC version which is almost night and day compared to console?

[GundalfDeGrej]

I'm surprised that so few didn't notice the difference in framerate.

[GundalfDeGrej]

So many*

[kingduqc]

Totally cant tell 900p 30fps appart from 1440p 60 fps... lol

[obelix99]

I feel bad for the people preoccupied with resolution & frame rate. This debate is taking away from the enjoyment of a game.

[DLConspiracy]

What are games? I only know sales and resolution.

[LOGICWINS]

I honestly didn't really care for the framerate/resolution fiasco...until I played TLOU in 60fps. I saw a CLEAR difference that benefited visuals and thus my overall experience. Colors look more sharp/vibrant in 1080p.

1080p/60fps DOES matter to me, but only on the PS4. I don't concern myself with the framerate/resolution of games on consoles I don't own...because it doesnt affect me.

[Fro_xoxo]

This is definitely a reality check..

Buy your copy of the game for whatever platform you're on, then shut up ^_^.

[stiggs]

A few months ago I conducted a similar experiment . I posted a series of 10 video clips online. Half of of the clips were native 1080p and the other half were native 720p up-scaled to 1080p. The clips were uploaded to a cloud service which allowed for downloading of the uncompressed video files.

I asked the participants to identify the clips based on their native resolution.

Not one person guessed correctly. The most accurate response came from an individual who correctly identified 4 out of a possible ten.

Needless to say a significant portion the N4G community berated me for conducting such a "blasphemous" experiment.

[ThanatosDMC]

Link?

[Lennoxb63]

I can tell the difference easily when it's 720p vs. 1080p. But resolutions like 900p vs. 1080p, or 720p vs 900p, I can't tell the difference. Its just way to close. Which is why we have to get experts like the people at Digital Foundry to tell us the difference. If it was THAT obvious you wouldn't need experts.

[RealityModeler]

People rarely take into account that the resolution difference is much less noticeable when sitting 2-3 times further away from a 1080P TV than a monitor where the difference is noticeable... most people don't sit 2-4 feet away from their 50"+ TV to be able to clearly see a difference the same way it is noticeable when sitting 1-2 feet away from a 23-27" 1080P monitor while gaming.

I suppose most people play consoles on their couch, possibly with a coffee table in front of them increasing the distance to their TV; however, that really doesn't seem to matter much when arguing the point because the difference is technically noticeable if you look CLOSE and people will claim they notice the difference from far away, even though I think that is wishful thinking unless *maybe* if they have 20/15 or better vision... I think that is more of a "FACT!" than those claiming the difference is that significant (unless getting up close where most people don't play consoles).

Anyone who actually often gets a chair pulled up close to their TV while console gaming (or not), please comment about that. I think all PS4 gamers claiming they value the difference should be pulling up a chair to their TV when they play or else they're a bit hypocritical about the importance.

Edit: @Blackleg-sanji, just FYI, that wasn't me who disagreed... I wouldn't ask for comments then disagree with all of them (though I might disagree for other reasons).

[Blackleg-sanji]

I actually jus got yelled at by my girl couple days ago bout that lol funny u mention it she goes " we got this big a** tv why u so close"

[TWB]

I play my consoles and PC using the same 24" computer monitor so I can see detail pretty well.

On a personal side note... I cant play games that well when sitting on a couch... Cant concentrate and see things as well as with my more traditional "computer desk" setup.

Also to add even more to the "can/t see" debate, my eye has lately become very sensitive to screen tearing. Not that I cant stand it, I just see it very often.

[RealityModeler]

@TWB, I was looking at your comments to try to determine what console you were noticing screen tearing on when I saw your comment about console hardware,

http://n4g.com/news/1655130...

Interesting info.

I think you're right about screen tearing. As for the PS4 being less likely to have screen tearing issues, maybe so though I expect MS will improve (just as they improved RDP performance from 8.1 to 10 for that now full-screen 1080P YouTube streams FAR better on the same hardware), and I prefer XBox features and titles, especially with what's coming up. I am not really fond of PS4 due to the hate against MS... I might be if it wasn't for that. The internal PSU of my original PS3 failed just out of warranty, and I haven't been interested in Sony's consoles since.

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

On 1080p TV's and Monitors that are less than 32 inches, the differences aren't noticeable. It's only when the screen sizes are 40 inches and up is when the differences in resolution, lighting, shading, and particle effects are readily noticeable.

I have a 42 inch TV and the differences in resolutions are apparent to me.

[JackVagina]

Screen size is only a factor depending on how far away you're sitting.

Distance to screen > Screen size

Like of course im going to see a massive difference on a "small" 23 inch monitor if im sitting at my desk 3-4 feet away from the screen.

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

I actually sit 6 to 10 feet away from my television. On a 42 inch screen, the differences are obvious. The differences become even more apparent on larger screens.

[Nivalis]

Compressed youtube videos used for comparisons? Gimmie a break.

[Psychotica]

I identified the PC one immediately. Just set the PC to use 1440p or 4K and it gets even easier..

[nitus10]

That only works if you have a 1440p or 4K monitor a graphics card to drive them and content that will display at those resolutions.

While I am on the subject of content. If the content has an aspect ratio of say 16:9 (standard side HDTV) then a monitor that displays 1440p will have "letter-boxing" which means you normally will see black bars top and bottom unless you stretch or clip the image which will probably look odd.

[Psychotica]

Yeah, just like you need a card that can display at lower resolutions. I just got a 1440p monitor with a GTX 980 and haven't seen any game that doesn't display at that resolution. Also, I have yet to see a game with letter boxing when viewing at 1440p.

[mochachino]

Do the test in real life and see how many people can tell the difference.

You could do this test with SD,HD, and 4K video and half the people wouldn't be able to see the difference. It's streamed video, and a mediocre quality stream at that. It's hard to tell the difference between even 360/PS3 and PC using these types of videos.

These tests aren't valid, they're useless.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

This thread filled with "I can tell the difference". They need to run this test with the public at the next gamescom or PAX and get a huge sample size and see how it does with the hard core

[magiciandude]

Between Xbox One and PS4, the difference is there, just not some day and night difference. More like a marginal 11am and noon difference in most games. Nothing worth nitpicking over if you ask me. By large, both versions are the same game, be it excellent, great, good, fair, bad, or whatever in between.

Unless you factor in exclusive DLC, features, etc. then yeah one version would likely be better than the other by a significant margin. That is what I find hilarious about this entire generation's console war, it's all 1080p vs. 900p. In the future it will likely turn into 900p vs 720+p lol.

[SouljAx360]

I wonder how many people viewed the comparison while on a smart phone.

[Pablo18474]

No one is saying there isn't a difference, only that the majority of gamers don't notice the difference but of course the people on this website think they are the majority! And fair play to the people who can tell the difference but I still can't believe it's not butter!

[Ulf]

I can tell the differences between PS4 and X1, if I pay close attention, but TBH, the controller (I prefer the X1 controller), and other factors (like framerate) make far more difference. I will take a solid 30 fps/900p over a variable 25-45 fps at 1080p any day of the week. Case in point, I bought the Tomb Raider remaster for the X1 instead of the PS4, because I despise non-vsync'ed gaming, even if the framerate is generally better.

I think that, in general, gamers agree with this sentiment, which explains why games like AC: Unity sold better on X1 than PS4 (framerate).

The big question, for me, is... do people buy a PS4 over a X1 because of hype, or the controller, or some other factor than graphics? Or do they buy into the "graphics are better" hype, and then, ex post facto, they don't really care all that much? I think this is probably the case, and this is the source of much of the disappointment on this site -- people are unhappy with Sony's offerings past the GPU potential. Crippled media playback, Playstation Now pricing, studios being closed down, the few exclusives made basically being stinkers... at least the multiplats are generally good on PS4, unless they are CPU-bound.

What an odd flip-flop from the last gen. People were upset at MS last gen for all the same things, despite the superior GPU of the X360 -- the PS3 was the better platform overall.

[LordMaim]

Aside from your opinions, every "fact" that you've mentioned is incorrect.

[Ulf]

And which facts are those? Crippled media playback? Playstation Now being overpriced? Studios being closed by Sony? Sony exclusives having terrible reviews? Multiplats being generally good on PS4?

Which one of those is "incorrect"? You claim they all are?

Prove it. Do us a favor and actually add to the discussion. Clicking "disagree" accomplishes the same thing as your empty comment.

[LordMaim]

The PS4 version of Tomb Raider isn't just "generally" better, it's demonstrably and obviously better. The PS4 runs it at 1080p/60fps, which is a 30fps gap in performance. Even though the Xbox One runs at a lower resolution of 900p, it only runs it at 30fps, and often dips below that. Digital Foundry did a very good comparison that you can see the PS4 version is significantly better. https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Assassin's Creed Unity sold better on the PS4 to the tune of half a million units at retail, and that's before you factor in digital sales. In fact, per Ubisoft's earning report from February 12th, 2015, the PS4 version of games sell 50% more than the Xbox One versions for their entire catalog of games.

In general, gamers do not agree with this sentiment, because (again) sales favor the PS4 in games, hardware, and performance.

All of your big questions are based on incorrect assumptions, and present a false choice. You present that there is disappointment without any proof or data to support your claim despite increasing sales as a counterpoint, then proceed to set up straw men to knock down to divert attention (also based on your opinions rather than fact).

Out of hundreds of games that have been released this generation, there have been perhaps one or two that performed better on the Xbox One due to programming issues. After patching, I am not aware of *any* multiplatform games that still perform better on Xbox One.

You're also seeing developers being directed to sacrifice *horizontal* resolution in order to still be able to call their game 1080p on the Xbox One. A good recent example would be Dying Light which has to run at 1536x1080 on the Xbox One vs the 1920x1080 on the PS4. And yet Eurogamer still says "Between the two console versions we definitely have to give the nod to the PS4 version with its improved frame-rate and better texture streaming, its higher resolution, and a near complete lack of screen-tear."

And it's not the only one. Call of Duty Advanced Warfare ran at 1360 x 1080 on Xbox One, and Far Cry 4 ran at 1400×1080. They can say that they're both 1080p, but that's being blatantly deceptive.

[PersonMan]

Tomb Raider is using V-sync on the PS4, but the max frame rate is set to 60 instead of 30.

That being said, I would have preferred the PS4 version to be capped at 30 just like the Xbox One version.

[Rachel_Alucard]

Why so people don't feel like they bought a weaker console? I'm no fan of any console but if you got the power to run it at higher settings why not use all of it? It's a waste in the budget to equip the console with higher end hardware only to restrict the settings to whatever the Xbox can perform.

[quenomamen]

Yea but ALL people can tell the difference between $1000, 399, & 499 and if the games look the same like this video claims what's the thing people want to save most when buying games ? Money, which is why X1 is where it's at in sales.

[Ulf]

X1 costs $349, bud, and PS4 still sells more at $399. Both cost $100 more with their cameras.

You're working on year-old knowledge here.

[Rachel_Alucard]

The PS4 camera is 59.99 on gamestop's website and is completely optional and there are no dedicated games for it. The only way at this time to get a kinect for the Xbone is to purchase the 499.99 model which might I add based on the current pricing of the kinectless model would be 149.99 just for that camera if sold separately. Not to mention the mediocrity of games released for it *cough* fighter within *cough*

[PersonMan]

People pretend that there's a huge jump in graphics from console to PC when in reality the game looks basically the same. Before you start arguing with me on this, let me say that I know that the textures are better and the draw distances are better and stuff... that's not my point. My point is, if you look at the game as a whole, it's still just average.

For example... if you're looking at Max Payne 3 on console, and then look at it on PC, it's still using outdated tech. You're not going to get a vastly different game with different lighting tech and physically based rendering and such. You're basically going to just get a higher res version of the console game with a few extra bells and whistles like frame rate AF or AA, but to the average person the game still retains it's overall look.

[TheRealCrazedBuffoon]

Sorry bro, but your horrifically wrong.... I cant even touch my PS4 because I notice all the tiny differences in graphics. You have to have a beast graphics card to be able to understand once you crank everything to ultra

[PersonMan]

Yeah, but a last gen game isn't suddenly going to look "next-gen" just because you have a PC. The developer isn't going to use different core assets for each version and create a totally different looking game for each system.

[skratchy]

I'll be the first to admit the difference between 900 and 1080P isn't that drastic. But some of these Xbox One games still being released at 720-780P is ridiculous. And I didn't even know 800P was a thing till that FFXV demo came out.

[Psygnosis333]

46% power difference comfirmd.

[theFAYEsorceress]

only fanboys actually give a s***. the average person either thinks a game looks good or it doesn't. there's no in between. they're not gonna nitpick over textures, anti-aliasing, pop-in, jaggies, and all that other stuff. if they think it looks good when they first see it, then that's the end of it. i'm pretty sure dynasty warriors 8 look great to a normal person.

[n1kki6]

Next on gamespot. 36% of users can tell the difference and those users account for 90% of games sales.

[snoopgg]

Its that 64% of those gamers don't give a fark!!! Life is still good on consoles, we console players know the pc is always going to be better, but we don't care and go on with our lives. If they made a console, that could switch out graphic cards every 4 months, then it would be a pc, not a console. People who buy consoles already know what to expect before buying them. Not every gamer is so anal about just graphics, just the fanboys are!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Izzy408]

And out of that 36%, I wonder what percentage of people were confident in their answer, or just took a guess.

[kraenk12]

Reality check: People are stupid.

Nothing more to add

[angelusbrz]

but 36% of people can already see the difference on a monitor screen so if more people were looking at the same videos on TV, they would have notice it even more...

[RedDeadLB]

It was easy actually. 1st PS4 because 30fps, 2nd PC because 60fps, 3rd Xbone because of the super dark blacks.

[Clown_Syndr0me]

I can usually see a slight difference in PC and console.
As for PS4 and Xbox One comparisons I can see some difference like maybe slightly different shades or shadows, maybe blurs in different spaces or whatever but neither looks better than the other - usually.

[AutoCad]

Played Battlefield on xb1 (ea access) and have the copy on PS4..Honestly,i couldnt even tell you which is which..

However,i do know both versions suffer from the same bugs lol

[clouds5]

Hilarious. The difference between 30 and 60fps is totally apparent. Even my wife notices the difference immediately and she isn't really a gamer. On PC there are games where you can change the fps lock in the settings so it's very easy to compare. And resolution, well if you know where to look (edges and texture sharpness) it's even more easy to see. But resolution is never the full story. With modern filters like various anti aliasing methods you can make 720p look almost as good as 1080p. So it all depends.
If you have the option higher resolution and fps are always preferable.
Depending on the type of gameplay one or the other is more important though. Driving games for example benefit hugely from high fps. Where an adventure like assassins creed benefits more from visual performance because of the immersion. But that's just my personal preference.
One last thing: as a gamer that grew up with early 3D graphics on ps1/n64 and PC modern day games look simply amazing. Totally freaking awesome :-D you can't really appreciate modern graphics if you've never played something like Duke nukem 3D in 240p and software filter :-P

[PiNkFaIrYbOi]

Duh, especially if they don't have the right screen/monitor to take fully advantage of the resolutions of the various games.

[wannabe gamer]

Filthy Casuals

[ShaunCameron]

No-life-having hardcores.

[Neo_Zeed]

Reality check... we wouldn't be getting these articles about perception if Microsoft wasn't getting owned so hard.

[TheRealCrazedBuffoon]

A very badly done experiment... Stupid decision to pick separate locations in a comparison (I dont care what anyone says, you want to compare graphics? PUT THE SAME AREA)and STUPID AS HELL for including PC in here.... it should be a console comparison. I am a PC gamer and I'm sure I speak for all PC gamers when i say WE could spot the difference.... Most of the people who chose PS4 as the answer is because they are CONSOLE gamers who havent had the chance to experience PC graphics so they automatically think PS4 is the answer because its the "best" of the consoles. For a gamespot "Professional" this was beyond poorly done... stupid really.

[Pablo18474]

Who in this world sits there with 2 consoles, a PC and 3 screens to compare game graphics anyways? My point is normal gamers don't get this opportunity so when they pop the game into thier chosen console they don't usually give 2 hoots what it looks like on any other format, they are just happy to be gaming. I for one don't notice the the differences probably because I don't waste my time staring at screens and screen pics looking for them but if that's your thing good to you.

[acemonkey]

sometimes it could be true but.. these gaming sites will post an xb1 runs on 720p and ps4 900p and have side by side comparing videos on visuals and FPS.. kinda hypocritical

[kevnb]

The test is unbelievably flawed, they asked people which system they thought they were viewing... not what looked best.

[PudgeyBurrito]

36% can tell. That's over 1 third which is a pretty good percentage. Great for sales if you have a beefier system. Trying to justify that 36% is a small number on the other hand is why I do not watch sites like GameSpot.

[B1S25]

you spelled freinds wrong

[WheatBread]

I know some that can't tell the difference between PS3 and PS4.

[bigodon]

well, its hard when we have parity

every one can easily take note when image are blurrier or ran 60/30fps, or have several iq problems like lack or poor aa soluctions

i find this very disgusting, what the point of have a better hardware that can run my games better and devs keep forcing this crap parity? i always hope my pc to over kill my ps4 and seeing my ps4 running things better than xbone

[knickstr]

I can always pick out the xbox one because it always uses darker textures.

[Sy_Wolf]

Reality check, that's quite a small study when you think about how many people play games. You can't say that 64% of people can't tell the difference when in reality it's only 64% of people tested.

[Locknuts]

More than 64% of people aren't core gamers.

[hkgamer]

to be really honest, at this moment in time i think ps4 /xbone graphics is good enough so i do want a good framerate. my expectations is not too high, as long as its not gamebreaking slow or has lots of screen tearing issues then im ok.

the last few years of ps3 i thought that some games were struggling too much and wished i had built a gaming pc. that would probably happen in anfew years time for the ps4.

[WizzroSupreme]

I honestly stopped telling the difference at a simple glance since games went HD. Anything more subtle than that and I really don't care anymore.

[DrumBeat]

Really depends on the size of the TV for me.

I can easily discern 1080p on my 55" LED. On my 32" not so much.

[Jayfatyboombaty]

I remember when Ground Zeroes came out and everyone said that you could easily tell which was which and the PS4 version was far superior to the other versions when really there wasn't that huge of a difference even with previous console versions. I think if you took a game like that or even Destiny and put people in front of a top of the line TV with a generic PC controller and asked them to identify all versions of the game, the results would be even greater in terms of differentiating which was which. If in the example of Ground Zeroes you had the person identify their consoles of preference, the Sony person would probably rate the 360 version as the worst (when technically the PS3 version is) and rate the PS4 version as the best (true) while the Xbox fan would rate the PS3 version as the worst (true) and the Xbox One version as the best (false).

[PurpHerbison]

Lame.

[Phoenix76]

I'll be honest and frank here guys. Its articles like this that really annoy me. They are only put out as a way of dividing the community. Oh look, this game looks so much better on system A than it does on system B, so it must be so much better and play better than that system you have it on!

Isn't about time we just accepted that there is only one thing that really matter's here and that is what really brings us altogether? Gaming and games in general. Rather than trying to fan the flames and make it out that anyone who prefers to play on another format is a so called "fanboy/girl".

[vastolorde666]

Are they trying to tell me its okay to have an xbox?

No thank you whether i can tell the difference or not i feel safer having a capable machine for a cheap buck.

[kainslayer]

difference is on juggies and texture resolution (blurry/clear) thats the 2 major factors to distinguish resolution ,theres a third which includes pixel counting but thats for the pros

[Goku781]

Thats easy, just look for the square button on screen, unless its edited out by MS to show thier game looks just as good. Its happened before. Friends was miss spelled in the video too.

[DARK_SOLDIER101]

Differents clear.... PC win Easily !

[Picnic]

Xbox tends to have slightly more vivid colours- every Xbox has. But it could be argued that PS4 has more naturalistic colours.

PS4 tends to have better detail on vegetation.

It's been pretty much agreed that, whilst the odd Xbox game could look just as good or better (Assassins Creed Unity) that is probably down to a developer deliberately aiming to do so and, overall, the PS4 can probably do everything that the Xbox One can do, graphically because of the PS4s larger and more up to date memory.

That said, if Sunset Overdrive was made for the PS4 instead do I think that it would be ALL just as good or better? Not necessarily. It might be the case that the Xbox One's DDR3 could be faster in some circumstances.
Plus the Xbox has always tended to look slightly more vivid which is ideal for that game.

The controller, interface and past generosity mean a lot to me and, on those scores, Sony is easier for most gamers to get to grips with. Even though the Xbox One controller is no doubt a well made thing, it's designed to give more of a feel of quality than a feel of being at one with the game.

[ARROWFROG]

Your right! I can't tell because I don't own all three versions and I don't have them running at the same time.
Who as a consumer would. But if I had I WOULD be able too your % is wrong.

[DirtyLary]

Everyone above me are the masters of resolution spotting.

[jay2]

I can tell the difference, it annoys me when people cant