Going from 720p to 1440p will use around twice the resources, whereas SeriesX is 3 times more powerful. So if you have a game running at the same fps and graphics settings on Series S and X, you would have drop below 720p (probably 540p) if it's running in 1440p on Series X. 

Going from 720p to 1440p will use around twice the resources, whereas SeriesX is 3 times more powerful. So if you have a game running at the same fps and graphics settings on Series S and X, you would have drop below 720p (probably 540p) if it's running in 1440p on Series X. 

Like I said, if Lockhart is real, all of MS's exclusives will be designed from the ground up so they can run at 1080p on Series S and Series X games will have the exact same games, only running in native 4k/60fps (and 120fps with the X1 cross gen games). It's going to be very interesting to see how a 4k/60fps Xbox exclusive will compare to a ps5 exclusive that's running at 30fps/ 1440p. Ps5 games will simply have more than double the resources left by not going native 4k. All of which they can spend on physics, ai, world simulations and overall fidelity, while still running at a resolution that will look noticeably sharper than what most people are used to on the base current gen consoles.    

Again, a game aiming for 1440p and 30 fps would likely have exceptional visuals. These are scenarios where graphics settings should probably be lowered. Hence, I can respond saying nothing new.

Even if Series S doesen't exist, I don't think 1440p/30 fps is going to be a common goal for MS. Nor will it be for Sony. You keep trying to create extreme scenarios to make Series S seem like a bad idea.

The PS5 can turn God of War into a 4K/60 fps game with maybe half of its GPU power. So God of War 2 doesen't need to be 1440p/30 fps for a massive visual boost.

Ultimately, if the Series S can cost about $150-200 less and plays the same games, then its existence would be justified. A visual downgrade would be expected for the price disparity.

You seem to feel, "physics, AI, world simulation" are important. The Series S would could keep all that, its just visual fidelity taking a hit.

I have a X1X so I already play 4K content. A 1080p game can objectively look more impressive than 4K content. Hence, the quality of the pixels can matter more than the number.

So even if Series S is generally doing 720p-1080p in AAA games, that's fine. Because it will still come with the advancements of 9th gen game design. There will also be improved image reconstruction tecniques, there can still be 4K UIs and the games will still be a noticeable upgrade over 8th gen.

Going from 1280x720 to 2560x1440 will use around 4x the resources, not 2x the resources!

1280x720 x 30 fps = 27.6 million pixels per second

1920x1080 x 30 fps = 62.2 million pixels per second

2560x1440 x 30 fps = 110.6 million pixels per second

So if you have a game running at the same fps and graphics settings on Series S and X, you would have drop below 1080p but stay above 720p if it's running in 1440p on Series X. 

2560x1440 x 30 fps = 110.6 million pixels per second; one third of that = 36.9 million pixels per second

1600x900 x 30 fps = 43.2 million pixels per second

1422x800 x 30 fps = 34.1 million pixels per second

1280x720 x 40 fps = 36.9 million pixels per second

So dynamic 800p - 900p could be theoretically possible in this scenario. Or constant 900p with a bit of tweaking.

Or 720p with 40 fps on a 120 Hz display. Or 800p with 30 - 50 fps VRR...

Again, a game aiming for 1440p and 30 fps would likely have exceptional visuals. These are scenarios where graphics settings should probably be lowered. Hence, I can respond saying nothing new.

Even if Series S doesen't exist, I don't think 1440p/30 fps is going to be a common goal for MS. Nor will it be for Sony. You keep trying to create extreme scenarios to make Series S seem like a bad idea.

The PS5 can turn God of War into a 4K/60 fps game with maybe half of its GPU power. So God of War 2 doesen't need to be 1440p/30 fps for a massive visual boost.

Ultimately, if the Series S can cost about $150-200 less and plays the same games, then its existence would be justified. A visual downgrade would be expected for the price disparity.

You seem to feel, "physics, AI, world simulation" are important. The Series S would could keep all that, its just visual fidelity taking a hit.

I have a X1X so I already play 4K content. A 1080p game can objectively look more impressive than 4K content. Hence, the quality of the pixels can matter more than the number.

So even if Series S is generally doing 720p-1080p in AAA games, that's fine. Because it will still come with the advancements of 9th gen game design. There will also be improved image reconstruction tecniques, there can still be 4K UIs and the games will still be a noticeable upgrade over 8th gen.

If it would be 4x times the resources you would only make my point more obvious. However, for most games you'll see about half the fps if you're going from 1440p to 720p and half the fps going from native 4k to 1440p https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKUqQhSz210

No, it wouldn't make your point more obvious, it is totally contrary to your point.

"Going from 720p to 1440p will use around twice the resources, whereas SeriesX is 3 times more powerful."

Your point was that 1440p only needs 2x the resources of 720p and that 1/3 the performance of the Series X wouldn't be enough since 3 > 2.

But a perfect scaling engine would need 4x the resources for 4x the resolution. With a perfect scaling engine 1/3 the performance of the Series X would be enough since 3 < 4.

We all know that engines don't scale down perfect, but for most games you need around 1/3 performance for 1/4 resolution, not 1/2 performance for 1/4 resolution.

Okay maybe you can help me out here. If a game is pushing Series X to its limits at 1440p/30fps, what resolution would they need to scale down to on Series S (with the same graphics settings) to hit the same framerate? 

Probably 720p/30 fps if they are lazy or 800p to 900p with additional tweaks.

It also depends how much headroom the 1440p/30fps has. If 35 - 40 fps are possible for the Series X unlocked and they lock it down to 30 fps for consistency, 800p/30 fps with the same settings or 900p - 1080p with additional tweaks could be possible.

Probably 720p/30 fps if they are lazy or 800p to 900p with additional tweaks.

It also depends how much headroom the 1440p/30fps has. If 35 - 40 fps are possible for the Series X unlocked and they lock it down to 30 fps for consistency, 800p/30 fps with the same settings or 900p - 1080p with additional tweaks could be possible.