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Forums - Microsoft - Digital Foundry: Has Microsoft fixed the Xbox One scaler?

For all these guys that said that the crushed sharper filter makes the imagem better... MS finally fixed it... overall image os the upscaled games seems better now.

That was by far the biggest updated in February firmware.

Quotes...

Microsoft hasn't made things easy for itself. For a console with so many sub-1080p games, the quality of its internal hardware scaler has been deeply unsatisfactory up to now, resulting in poorer-than-expected image quality in a lot of key exclusives and multi-platform titles. The good news is that this weekend's Xbox One system update, which followed hot on the heels of the Titanfall beta, has seen Microsoft take positive steps in resolving the issue.

First things first, though: what went wrong with the pre-patch scaler? Well, most notably, image quality was compromised by a poorly judged sharpening filter that actually emphasised jagged edges, while a distinct gamma shift was also visible on several games, resulting in unnaturally high contrasts that didn't exactly complement the artificially enhanced edges and upscaling artefacts. Ultimately, rather than helping titles such as Call of Duty: Ghosts and Assassin's Creed 4 better stand up to PS4 equivalents running at native 1080p, the scaler made them look significantly worse.

So, how much of a difference does the new Xbox One firmware make? Is the sharpening effect gone, and what changes if any have been made to the scaling algorithm and the existing gamma set-up? In the run-up to the Xbox One launch, Microsoft promised us a quality upscaling solution, so we couldn't help wonder whether this update would finally deliver...

First up, the 1600x900 Assassin's Creed 4 is definitely improved - the sharpening effect has gone, removing the halos around detail. What we have now is an image very similar to the launch version on PS4 prior to its 1080p patch. The removal of the sharpening filter is also evident in titles rendering natively in 720p, resulting in a similar boost in overall picture quality. As with AC4, there's less harshness to fine detail across the games previously affected by the destructive sharpening effect. The improvement really stands out in Killer Instinct, with characters and scenery now completely free from the processed look that previously characterised the artwork.

Overall, then, the new Xbox One firmware update has changed things for the better, but you shouldn't expect an enormous boost in the quality of the final image. The unsightly sharpening filter has been consigned to the scrapheap of technological history, removing a 'feature' that really shouldn't have been there in the first place, but while the resulting improvement to picture quality is considerable and mostly positive, colour balance is still an issue, and the quality of the scaling itself is unchanged.

There is certainly room for improvement, then, but for now, with the sharpening filter completely gone, results will be good enough for most gamers. While improved scaling can rarely match a palpable boost in raw resolution, overall picture quality is a significant step up from what we were dealing with before, which is a definite win for owners of Microsoft's system.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-has-microsoft-fixed-the-xbox-one-scaler



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KI and DR3 look so much better now, glad they did this.



 

 

 



I haven't turned my Xbox on for days now. I will download the update and see if I can tell the difference, I can't really see much of a difference on the pics.

Maybe it's just something I have to see on my screen in motion to really tell the difference.... DR3 here I come.



I'm looking at those graphics and I'm having a hard time seeing the difference between the launch scaler and updated scaler.

Guess I'll be happy regardless when I one day pick up and Xbox One.



Author of science fiction and other genres, I write under the pen name Desmond Shepherd. The second season of my series The Permanent Man premieres on November 11, 2014. Pre-order the season premiere The Walls Have Ears on Amazon today!

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looks like there still is a lot of black crush going on in KI though

dreamcast210 said:
I'm looking at those graphics and I'm having a hard time seeing the difference between the launch scaler and updated scaler.

Guess I'll be happy regardless when I one day pick up and Xbox One.

the difference is barely visible in screenshots (might even look worse in these, as the image is softer) and most videos (due to compression), but when playing the console on your TV oversharpening makes aliasing and other pixel artefacts/noise really stand out



On TV I noticed way less artifacts... the image is clean now even if the aliasing get more perceptible.



So, how I do get this update? I turned on my Xbox One, but I'm pretty sure it didn't update.

 

Edit: Nevermind, got the update. Playing DR3 now, it does look better. What was even more noticeable for me was the controls, much better feel to it now. I thought the controls were too jerky before. 



cannonballZ said:
So, how I do get this update? I turned on my Xbox One, but I'm pretty sure it didn't update.

From what I understand, if you keep your Xbox One in standby mode instead of completely powering it down, the update happens automatically overnight.



Author of science fiction and other genres, I write under the pen name Desmond Shepherd. The second season of my series The Permanent Man premieres on November 11, 2014. Pre-order the season premiere The Walls Have Ears on Amazon today!

Yes but it comes at the price of detail textures, that's why native 1080p resolution ( or at least 900p) will always be better

http://www.dualshockers.com/2014/02/16/the-removal-of-the-hated-xbox-one-sharpening-filter-comes-at-the-price-of-texture-detail/



Predictions for end of 2014 HW sales:

 PS4: 17m   XB1: 10m    WiiU: 10m   Vita: 10m