Why is it so difficult to achieve 4k resolution at stable or locked 60fps in gaming?
In: Technology
Graphics programmer here. In all the games I’ve shipped, we provide a quality slider so that players who want 60fps gaming can achieve 60fps gaming.
Oddly, the kind of people who are fiercest in their dedication to 60fps, are reluctant to turn the quality settings down below max. I don’t understand why this is, and I don’t know how to help these people.
There’s no complicated reason. 4k 60 fps just takes a huge amount of computational horsepower to deliver, more than you can get right now for the average player’s budget of a few hundred $. Powerful gaming PCs around the $2000 mark and above can do it. Over time, technology improves and we’ll get more powerful computers for the same price, so it’s just a matter of time. In something like 5-10 years/the next console generation, 4k 60 fps will be an easily achievable standard for almost everyone.
It’s not, but I assume your talking about the new consoles which are limited by hardware cost and heat output.
Eli5:
Person is drawing pictures.
They start drawing pictures using lots of dots, let’s say in a grid of 3840×2160.
When there isn’t much on the picture they can do this, let’s say 75 times every second.
But then more details are added to the picture and they have to think more about the shadows that are created by objects and so on.
The person now has to think more so can only draw the picture 45 times a second.
We could hire another person to help, but that would cost more. We could make them try a bit harder but then they might get overworked and too hot.
It takes ~~twice~~ 4 times the processing power compared to 1080p 60fps. So unless your computer is ~~twice~~ 4 times as good as one that can render at 1080p 60fps, it will be more difficult.
The hardware has to be cheap. We haven’t reached the point yet where the hardware demands for high frame rates at 4k have a price point suitable for consoles.
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