Will Dolby Vision Gaming Support Ever Arrive For Xbox One
The Xbox Series X and S consoles support Dolby Vision for gaming.
Since Microsoft has a pretty cordial business relationship with Dolby, Dolby Vision support for the Xbox One S and X through a software update is not out of the question.
Having said that, the One S and X are relatively older devices.
The hardware they pack may not facilitate the best 4K Dolby Vision HDR gaming experience possible, certainly nowhere close to the more capable Series X and S gaming devices.
Xbox One S A Fine Uhd Blu
- One of the cheapest ways to pick up a 4K blu-ray player
The Xbox One S doubles as a UHD Blu-ray player. As far as Im concerned, thats the real reason to consider getting one.
Its a far more affordable option than the two dedicated UHD Blu-ray players currently on the market. The Samsung UBD-K8500 costs £430 and the Panasonic DMP-UB900 costs £600. Sony has one on the way, which is nice because the PS4 Pro doesnt do 4K Blu-rays. As for the Xbox One S? The base 500GB model costs £250, while the 2TB model costs £350.
It isnt simply a price thing either, since the performance is more than respectable for the money. The Xbox One S does a fine job handling 4K Blu-rays. Load times are fast and it produced decent pictures across all three of my test discs .
The console shows off the advantages of 4K: remarkable clarity, minute details and lifelike textures. I could make out the consistency of the motor oil Charlize Theron smears across her face as war paint.
You also get a noticeably higher dynamic range. It isnt just about fierce bright areas and inky blacks: the fine increments between are subtly drawn too, and you get plenty of shadow detail. You also get the wider colour gamut that HDR promises. Theres a part in Mad Max: Fury Road where somebody gets shot with a flare gun. When the reddish-orange smoke explodes, its hard not to marvel.
How Do I Set Up Hdr On Xbox One
The Xbox One, released in 2013, doesnt support HDR. But the upgraded version of it, the Xbox One S, launched in 2016, does.
So, if your Xbox One is the original model, you are not playing HDR games on it. Lets get that clear first.
If, however, your Xbox One is the S or X version, keep reading.
Before setting up HDR on your Xbox One, make sure the HDR feature on your TV is enabled.
If you dont know how to enable HDR in your TVs settings, heres a video demonstrating the same on a TCL TV :
See also
If your TV supports HDR, but the option doesnt show, you may have to update the firmware or get in touch with support.
Kindly note, the process to enable HDR on a TV for console gaming varies across brands.
Samsung, Sony, LG, Vizio, Philips, Panasonic, etc., might require a unique set of steps to turn HDR on them.
If the steps to enable HDR on your TV arent very similar to whats shown in the video above, go through the user manual or contact support.
Since there are just too many TV brands out there, well not be putting out the steps to enable HDR gaming on any of them.
Doing so would not just be beyond the scope of this piece but add unnecessary length to it.
Once the TV side of HDR is taken care of, here are things to do to enable HDR on your Xbox:
Heres a video showing how to enable HDR on your Xbox One X:
A few things to note:
Your television must be 4K and support the refresh rate you intend to game in.
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Will An Xbox One X Make Games Look Better In 1080p
While you won’t obviously get 4K on a 1080p screen, you will still see some benefits thanks to a fancy graphical technique known as supersampling. This is a process whereby the Xbox One X renders an initial image in 4K, then downsizes it to 1080p. Because the original image was a much higher resolution, the 1080p results retain much more detail and appear a lot sharper as a result. For games where aliasing is a problem on the base Xbox One, like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, playing at Full HD on an X with supersampling will radically reduce jaggies, leading do a significantly smoother image. Take a look at these two images to see what we mean. Note: the benefits of supersampling are a lot easier to spot in motion
How To Play 4k On Xbox One S And One X
Your Xbox One S and One X will support 4K Blu-ray Disc playback, because they were updated with the necessary hardware for that. To play 4K Blu-ray Discs on your Xbox One S or One X console, you will need to download a free separate app called Blu-ray Player, from the Microsoft Store. This is a media player developed by Microsoft, which will let you play Blu-ray movies, DVDs and all sorts of supported media. Here is how to do it
Step 1: Sign into your Xbox account, then open the Microsoft Store on your device.Step 2: Click on Search then type in Blu-ray Player into the search box.Step 3: When you see the Blu-ray Player application as illustrated above, click Get to download it to your Xbox.Step 4: Insert the corresponding 4K Blu-ray Disc into your Xbox Series X disc drive then launch the Blu-ray Player app to begin the playback.
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K Media But No 4k Games
The Xbox One S is based on the original Xbox One from 2013, and doesn’t have the hardware clout to run games at 4K. Sporting roughly 1.4 teraflops of computational power, the Xbox One S is limited to 1080p HD visuals at most, with developers often sacrificing resolution for other visual features, bumping their games down to 900p or even to 720p in some cases. That’s not to say games necessarily look bad on the Xbox One S, they simply don’t shine as much as they do on another console like the Xbox One X.
What the Xbox One S can do is output media in 4K, either from movies sold on the Microsoft Store, like Black Panther , videos on Netflix and YouTube, or even . In order to view movies and media in 4K, you’ll need a TV set that supports 4K of course, and we have a great list of the best 4K sets for the Xbox One S right here.
For 4K games in your living room, you’ll want an Xbox One X. The Xbox One X is over four times more powerful than the Xbox One S, with updated internals that not only support higher resolutions but also offer more power for additional environmental details and special effects. A game outputting in 4K on the Xbox One X not only looks sharper, owing to the boosted resolution, but also more detailed and complex.
Compatibility: Both Consoles Play The Same Games
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Plays most games for all Xbox consoles.
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Supports all Xbox One peripherals.
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Region free when it comes to games.
The Xbox One S and Xbox One X are part of the Xbox One family of consoles. Both play all Xbox One-branded video games in addition to a growing number of backward-compatible titles for Xbox 360 and the original Xbox. Theres no game disparity between the two consoles.
All Xbox One-branded controllers work with the Xbox One S and Xbox One X. The Kinect sensor, the special camera used for games and voice commands on the Xbox One, also works with both consoles. However, a Kinect Adapter is required to connect it properly. Only the original Xbox One console can connect to the Kinect without additional cables.
All Xbox One video games are region-free. This means that an American Xbox One console plays Xbox One games released in other countries. While the Xbox One games are region-free, the physical disk drive isnt, which makes a difference when playing DVDs and Blu-rays. An American Xbox One can only play Region 1 DVDs and Zone A Blu-rays.
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Confirmed: Xbox One Has 4k Output And Does 4k Gaming
It’s confirmed: the new Xbox is fully 4K-capable. This boosts its credentials as a gaming device and of course as a media hub for the best part of the next decade
There was barely a whimper at Microsoft’s launch of the Xbox One about its 4K credentials: a strange omission given that 4K is the next consumer viewing paradigm and also given that when Microsoft gave a detailed demonstration of the Kinect motion and audio sensing peripheral to journalists in a separate room, they were viewing the proceedings on none other than their gaming competitor’s 84″ 4K Bravia TV, although we understand that these demos – and all the video/game footage at the launch were in 1080p
Matt Hickey, a contributor to Forbes website managed to grab an interview with Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Marketing, Strategy and Interactive Entertainment Business Ysuf Mehdi, and asked him “Will the next-gen Xbox work with these next-gen TVs?”
Mehdi responded: The video and interface portions, absolutely. Games developed for 1080p will run at 1080p, obviously. It will support up to 4K at launch for things like Blu-Ray, but what about later? Theres no hardware restriction there at all.”
Performance: Xbox One X Wins Hands Down
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No 4K support for games.
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Plays the same games in a lower resolution.
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Equal performance when it comes to streaming and Blu-ray.
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Higher resolution graphics for games.
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Smoother frame rates.
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Faster load times.
Both the Xbox One S and Xbox One X support HDR for games and videos. Each console comes with a built-in 4K Blu-ray disk drive that plays CDs, DVDs, and 4K HDR Blu-rays. However, only the Xbox One X renders 4K-enabled video games.
While the Xbox One S can play those games at a lower resolution, the games look significantly better on the Xbox One X. The Xbox One S console can also load games and apps significantly faster than the Xbox One X.
Due to their 4K output capability, the Xbox One S and X are also able to stream 4K movies and TV series from services such as Microsoft Movies & TV, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. A 4K TV isnt required to use either console. A regular widescreen TV automatically resizes the video for its display resolution. Viewers will still experience visual improvements when viewing 4K footage on a non-4K TV.
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Difference Between 4k Ultra Hd Hdr And Xbox One X Enhanced Games
- Xbox One X enhanced Games that are said to be Xbox One X Enhanced offer one or more of the following benefits over non-Enhanced editions:
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- Graphic enhancements
- Higher framerate
- Higher resolution
- 4K Ultra HD 4K refers to image resolution, or the number of pixels used for each image. Games described as being 4K offer a resolution of 3840 pixels × 2160 lines, offering substantially higher resolution than 1080p HD. To view 4K games at their native resolution, your TV must be 4K-capable.
- HDR Visual dynamic range refers to the difference between the darkest and brightest information a game can show. As suggested by the term HDR, or high dynamic range, some games offer darker darks and brighter brights than others, depending on the screen you view them on. HDR on Xbox has a 10-bit color range, or wide color gamut, which uses more colors for a richer, more detailed image. On Xbox, this feature also goes by the name Dolby Vision, which is used by some video apps.
- Dolby Atmos The game supports Dolby Atmos surround sound.
Xbox One S Has A Slight Performance Bump
Much like PS4 Pro, the Xbox One S is not the beginning of a new console generation, but an expansion of a platform we already know and love. But it does offer a very slight improvement over its predecessor.
The Coalition head Rod Fergusson revealed to Polygon that his team had taken advantage of additional raw GPU and CPU power for Gears of War 4 , to improve frame rates. Ferguson claimed his engineers have been able to, as Polygon puts it, leverage the additional power to reduce the frequency of the frame rate or resolution penalties.Related: PS4 vs Xbox One
A Microsoft spokesperson then confirmed, via The Verge, We have the same SoC architecture as Xbox One today.
For games that want to take advantage of HDR, we gave developers access to a small amount of additional processing power.
Overall though, dont expect games to look noticeably different on Xbox One S to Xbox One thanks to the additional power, instead only getting minor stability improvements.
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Change Power Mode Settings
If you are using an HDMI splitter and not receiving any signal from the TV then this method might be helpful to you.
Xbox Series X Is Getting A 4k Upgrade But Not How You Might Expect
Microsoft has revealed that it will soon bump the resolution of the Xbox Series X dashboard up to 4K for Xbox Insiders in the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead ring.
In a blog post on Xbox Wire, Microsoft said: Alpha Insiders on Xbox Series X consoles connected to a 4K display can begin flighting an increased resolution UI. This change means Home, Guide, and other areas of the UI will be displayed in a higher native resolution for increased sharpness and text readability.
Unlike the PS5, which outputs its UI at a native 4K resolution, the Xbox Series X dashboard only displays at 1080p, even when connected to a capable display. This was apparently a deliberate decision to save on hardware resources at the time, though Xboxs partner director of program management Jason Ronald has confirmed that the new higher resolution dashboard wont change the amount of memory available to Xbox developers.
No changes to available memory for titles.
The new Xbox Series X dashboard doesnt look like it will receive HDR support just yet, however, which is available for PS5 owners. Its also unclear whether the Xbox Series S which can technically output at 4K will benefit from the dashboard resolution upgrade.
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No The Xbox One S Isn’t A Very Good 4k Blu
When Microsoft announced that its Xbox One S was going to feature an Ultra HD Blu-ray player, we were instantly excited by the prospect of a feature-packed, bargain 4K disc-spinner. And we know we weren’t the only ones.
£250 for a games console and 4K home entertainment hub? Yes please.
Sadly, as our in-depth Xbox One S review revealed, it didn’t quite deliver .
Yes, the picture and sound quality is passable, but the console doesn’t make the most of the new 4K disc format. A comparison with dedicated players from Samsung and Panasonic makes that all too clear.
Of course you get a whole games console, complete with plenty of streaming features, but if you were eyeing-up a full-fat device with which to build a 4K Blu-ray collection, we’d sound a note of caution.
Ultra HD Blu-ray is all about ultimate picture and video performance, and sadly you don’t quite get that here.
Fear not, with Microsoft backing 4K Blu-ray, the company’s next-gen console, codenamed Scorpio, could yet provide the answer. It’s due to launch in time for Christmas 2017, and could finally marry the best of 4K gaming and 4K video.
Of course, you could just wait for a budget 4K Blu-ray player…
Click through to read our full Xbox One S review.
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How To Enable 4k On Xbox One S & X
The world of TV standards is a mixed bag. Some TVs support some standards but not others, so a lot of this is going to depend on what kind of TV you have. You’re going to want your TV to support two things: HDR10 and 4K at a 60Hz refresh rate. Some TVs will only support 4K at 24Hz refresh rate. Most modern TVs will support both. Either way, it’s something to keep in mind as we move through this guide.
Your Xbox can actually tell you what your TV supports in the settings. Here’s how to find that out.
1) Press the Xbox button on your controller. 2) In the Xbox Guide, tap RB three times to get to System.3) Choose Settings.5) Choose Video output.6) Under Setup, choose 4K TV details.
You will see a handy list of features your TV does and does not support. Even better, it breaks the support down into watching movies and TV, gaming and capturing game footage.
Your Xbox is supposed to automatically detect your TV and then configure itself. To make sure this is the case, head back to the Video output section of Settings and tap Video fidelity and overscan. Under Display settings, make sure Auto-detect is chosen. 4K isn’t available if this option isn’t selected.
You do not have to choose 4K UHD as your outputted resolution if you want to play 4K games or apps though. If you choose 1080p or 720p, your system will automatically switch to 4K output if a game or app requires 4K.
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