Battlefield 1 PS4 vs. Xbox One Resolution and Frame Rate Compared

If you're looking to pick up Battlefield 1 on console but not sure which platform to go with, Digital Foundry has now posted its analysis of the game's performance on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Starting with resolution, the site reports that both PS4 and Xbox One use a "dynamic framebuffer" that adjusts the resolution depending on the intensity of what's happening on screen. Under normal load, the PS4 version outputs at around 1000p, falling to 900p during heavy load. The Xbox One version, meanwhile, has a baseline resolution of 900p that dips to 720p during certain scenes.

"This leads to a consistently sharper image on PS4, where intricate texture details resolve more cleanly. In fact, at 1000p the presentation often looks very similar to a native 1080p image," Digital Foundry said.

However, the Xbox One version of Battlefield 1 can in some cases reach 1000p, which puts it right next to the PS4 version. This is something of a rare occurrence, however, and only happens during scenes with short draw distances and lower levels of detail.

As for frame rate, Battlefield 1's campaign targets 60fps, but falls on both platforms during heavy load. "It's not a major problem, though it does mean that the action doesn't always appear silky smooth," Digital Foundry said. The Xbox One has the edge in terms of campaign frame rate, with the PS4 edition lagging around 14fps behind in some cases. This isn't a deal-breaker, however. "The PS4 version doesn't feel overly compromised during the campaign, and the game remains very playable throughout," the site said.

In terms of multiplayer, Digital Foundry found that the PS4 version lags behind here as well in terms of frame rate. It comes in at around 40-45fps most of the time, dropping into the 30fps range when a lot is going on. By comparison, though performance can vary on Xbox One as well, the frame rate dips are less significant. "As a result the experience when playing online is definitely smoother [on Xbox One]," the site said.

"Overall, from a console perspective, the experience is certainly smoother on the Xbox One, though this does come at the expense of image sharpness due to the game running at a lower resolution much of the time," Digital Foundry said. "In this case, it's a worthy tradeoff, as online matches ideally require high frame rates for consistent competitive gameplay, although the situation isn't ideal on either platform. It's a different story in the impressive campaign though--performance is much more consistent here and Xbox One's frame rate advantage isn't as pronounced as PS4's persistently higher resolution."

Of course, the PC version of Battlefield 1 is likely the best-looking and best-performing of all, provided your computer is strong enough.

Battlefield 1 came out on October 21 behind strong reviews, including a 9/10 from GameSpot.

"With Battlefield 1, EA and DICE have proven the viability of World War I as a time period worth revisiting in first-person shooters," reviewer Miguel Concepcion said. "It brings into focus countries and nationalities that do not exist today while also shedding light on how the outcome of that war has shaped our lives. As World War II shooters proved many years ago, no game can truly capture the entirety of a global conflict. This is why the focused structure of the War Stories anthology works well. Moreover, Operations succeeds as an effective educational primer on the battles that this gripping adversarial mode are based on. Battlefield 1 is just an introduction to one of the deadliest world events in history, but it is an outstanding, feature-rich package in both its emotional stories and strong multiplayer."

For more on the critical reception of Battlefield 1, check out what other critics are saying.