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Why Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart’s 40fps Fidelity Mode Is A Big Deal For Consoles

Lunatic_Gamer

Gold Member



From Digital Foundry:

30fps? Try 40fps! Ratchet and Clank has beefed up its fidelity mode when you switch your PS5 to 120Hz output. Instead of updating every 33.3ms (30fps) on a 60Hz screen, Ratchet updates every 25ms (40fps) at 120Hz, the same consistency but smoother. In fact, it's like a midway point between 30fps and 60fps - and you keep all of the graphical advantages of the full-fat fidelity mode. The implications here are fascinating, as John and Rich discuss.
 

elliot5

Member
Would love to see how it feels and looks in person. As more HDMI 2.1 TVs come out and become standard I'd love for this to be more widely adopted. The more responsive frame times seems like a big deal. A lot of these games seem to have a little extra juice to hit 40 FPS, but get locked down to 30 because of 60hz panels.

Like John said, this could be beneficial to XSS if it can't meet the requirements for 60 FPS in some titles, but would be a much better experience than 30 FPS.
 
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RoadHazard

Gold Member
If you have a 120hz capable TV without VRR, sure. But how common are those? This is assuming the PS5 ever gets VRR support of course... As long as it doesn't have that, this is a nice compromise.
 

jeffyjaixx

Member
40 fps is the new 30 for 120hz/HDMI 2.1 TV owners.

Same consistent fidelity as 30fps but reduced input lag and smoother gaming experience.

GiQl1Nf.png
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
What if your TV doesnt support 120 fps. Does this still work?

No. Updating a game at 40fps on a 60hz display would mean a lot of frame pacing stutter, since you would have the frames displayed for different amounts of time, like: 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 5 6 ...

30fps at 60hz is: 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 ...

40fps at 120hz means each frame is displayed for 3 refreshes: 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 ...

So it's as consistent as 30fps, but 33% smoother.
 
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Dr Bass

Member
Would love to see how it feels and looks in person. As more HDMI 2.1 TVs come out and become standard I'd love for this to be more widely adopted. The more responsive frame times seems like a big deal. A lot of these games seem to have a little extra juice to hit 40 FPS, but get locked down to 30 because of 60hz panels.

Like John said, this could be beneficial to XSS if it can't meet the requirements for 60 FPS in some titles, but would be a much better experience than 30 FPS.
It's definitely noticeably smoother. Almost thought it felt closer to 60 than 30 just in terms of the impression I got, but I only tried it once, and it was the only time I've tried "40 fps" so maybe my impression is wrong and it feels closer to 30 than 60, which would actually make sense. But it was just a noticeable jump. I'm on an 85" Sony 900H.
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
No. Updating a game at 40fps on a 60hz display would mean a lot of frame pacing stutter, since you would have the frames displayed for different amounts of time, like: 1 1 2 3 3 4 5 5 6 ...

30fps at 60hz is: 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 ...

40fps at 120hz means each frame is displayed for 3 refreshes: 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 ...

So it's as consistent as 30fps, but 33% smoother.
it's 1 2 3 4 5 6

ya silly
 
what about that recent hdmi 2.1 bravia, think was like 900x or something, with a seemingly fuxxored 120hz mode. Can it handle 40fps without artifacts?
 
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I've been playing it in this mode actually. Doesn't feel laggy. Preferred this over 60/RT. If they can just push it 45.
Wannah play it that way but I have 900h bravia, which at least in some 120hz games the image looks blurrier according to reviewers. Not sure if it ever got fixed or if it would affect a 40hz game either.
 
Wannah play it that way but I have 900h bravia, which at least in some 120hz games the image looks blurrier according to reviewers. Not sure if it ever got fixed or if it would affect a 40hz game either.
Well then... check it out and let us know if you notice a difference. The difference is clear from what i've seen from reviewers.
It can't really be fixed as it is a limitation of the hdmi chipset.

Bravia users should just stick to 60fps output. Not going to lie it is BS that the currently 2799 a90j can't output the full 4k120hz but the 1500 lg can... But tbh i will always choose 60fps. This is just a nice bonus to those that already prefer fidelity mode.
 

Quezacolt

Member
So I need a 120hz TV to play at 40fps just because of 4K?

Eh... 60fps FullHD is fine
Watch the video so you can see why that is. the reason is not because they couldnt do it, it's because without a tv with that support, it would look and feel wrong because of the unven frames for a normal 60hz tv
 
Well then... check it out and let us know if you notice a difference. The difference is clear from what i've seen from reviewers.
It can't really be fixed as it is a limitation of the hdmi chipset.

Bravia users should just stick to 60fps output. Not going to lie it is BS that the currently 2799 a90j can't output the full 4k120hz but the 1500 lg can... But tbh i will always choose 60fps. This is just a nice bonus to those that already prefer fidelity mode.
will try, but not sure i'll be able to tell. I'll see if it is indeed fundamental limitation in latest info online, if it is might take it with warranty for false advertising(120hz mode) and ask for money back.
 

rolandss

Member
I wonder how this would work on my Panasonic plasma. It’s a 2015 model and the official specs are listed as 600hz refresh rate. But I’ve never tried anything above 60hz. From some other comments I’m assuming you need hdmi 2.1 to output refresh rates that aren’t 24,30,60,120,240 etc?
 

sn0man

Member
120hz actually enables the framerate everyone always wanted...

24 fps cinematic mode!
You joke but a 120hz screen allows us these new 24fps and 40fps modes with good frame pacing. I do not want developers to target these new frame rates necessarily but there are exciting options.
  • imagine a slow story-driven experience that is about narrative and environmental puzzles and I could see steady 24fps being more enjoyable than janky uneven 30fps.
  • likewise with R&C we are seeing that 40fps with consistent FPS allows for a more enjoyable experience than 30fps while allowing more visuals than 60fps.
This is sort of like dynamic resolution and temporal antialiasing come to frame rate (bad analogy). If an XSX/PS5 game could be created and a particular idea couldn’t be locked 4K/120FPS there are many more options for output resolution (static/temporal) that a creator could use while preserving their vision.

Just fascinating that new options are provided for developers.
 
You joke but a 120hz screen allows us these new 24fps and 40fps modes with good frame pacing. I do not want developers to target these new frame rates necessarily but there are exciting options.
  • imagine a slow story-driven experience that is about narrative and environmental puzzles and I could see steady 24fps being more enjoyable than janky uneven 30fps.
  • likewise with R&C we are seeing that 40fps with consistent FPS allows for a more enjoyable experience than 30fps while allowing more visuals than 60fps.
This is sort of like dynamic resolution and temporal antialiasing come to frame rate (bad analogy). If an XSX/PS5 game could be created and a particular idea couldn’t be locked 4K/120FPS there are many more options for output resolution (static/temporal) that a creator could use while preserving their vision.

Just fascinating that new options are provided for developers.
24fps would be absolutely horrible on modern displays. Esp. oled... maybe if tvs had motion interpolation in game mode ; only samsung does that now.
 

tsumake

Member
You joke but a 120hz screen allows us these new 24fps and 40fps modes with good frame pacing. I do not want developers to target these new frame rates necessarily but there are exciting options.
  • imagine a slow story-driven experience that is about narrative and environmental puzzles and I could see steady 24fps being more enjoyable than janky uneven 30fps.
  • likewise with R&C we are seeing that 40fps with consistent FPS allows for a more enjoyable experience than 30fps while allowing more visuals than 60fps.
This is sort of like dynamic resolution and temporal antialiasing come to frame rate (bad analogy). If an XSX/PS5 game could be created and a particular idea couldn’t be locked 4K/120FPS there are many more options for output resolution (static/temporal) that a creator could use while preserving their vision.

Just fascinating that new options are provided for developers.

Thinking the same thing. 24fps would mean ~42ms lag, but would allow for more graphical bells and whistles. It would be interesting to see a dev make a game with that framerate and see how the input lag would affect the experience.
 

Fbh

Member
That's neat, hopefully most devs enable the option when possible though. If it requires the user to have a 120hz tv it's only going to be useful to a small fraction of the audience.


Pretty sure the same ppl who laughs at this 40fps are prasing steam deck 720p 30fps performance xD
Ok but the Ps5 isn't exactly portable. Hell it's very un-portable even by home console standards

120hz actually enables the framerate everyone always wanted...

24 fps cinematic mode!

Does this scale?
Can we go down to 6fps in cell shaded games to get that authentic netflix original animation feel?
 

GustavoLT

Member
Tested myself and it is the new mode I want to play my games! Keep fidelity mode with a smoother 40fps 120hz... ok, its not 60' smoothness, but it keeps resolution and features at max!
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Tried it on pc with RTSS. Fixing screen to 120hz and capping RTSS at 40.. and it does not feel as good as ratchet
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
This only exists because the PS5 doesn’t have VRR. This will likely be the only game that has a 40fps mode unless the PS5 doesn’t get VRR before insomniacs next game.

That's neat, hopefully most devs enable the option when possible though. If it requires the user to have a 120hz tv it's only going to be useful to a small fraction of the audience.
It does, because 40fps doesn't display well on a 60hz screen. It would be horrendous.

This is sort of like dynamic resolution and temporal antialiasing come to frame rate (bad analogy).

No, that's VRR.
 
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