Xbox Series X: An overview of Technology Powering the Next Generation

A few months ago, us
the Xbox Series X was revealed, our fastest, most powerful console ever built
the older generation you have, the player, the center of it. When it is released
this holiday season, the Xbox Series X will set a new performance bar, speed
and compatibility, all while allowing you to bring your game legacy
you also play thousands of games in four generations.

Recently, along with tech experts Austin Evans
and Digital Discovery, us
have the opportunity to take a closer look at some of the technologies available
Xbox Series X and talk to the team about the decisions they made when explaining
the next generation of gaming. We spent the whole day talking about everything
from custom console processor and latency solutions to backtrack
compatibility and visual enhancements.

(Editor's note: We'll be using some annotations and chatting
expertise in this post without constant explanation. To that end, we've been here
formed i Xbox
Series X list containing most of these terms and more. We'll connect
where applicable, and you can check full
glossary here, and our features on new
Xbox Wireless Controller and group
it reduces latency.)

The next generation of the Xbox is primarily defined by three
Features: Power, Speed ​​and compatibility. Let's take a look
features and technology of the Xbox Series X to deliver that three-dimensional design.

Xbox Most Powerful

Early in the Xbox Series X design, the team was determined
delivering the most powerful Xbox ever to open a series of conversations about
how to define "power" for the next generation of consoles. In previous generations,
power is defined primarily by graphic images: from transformation
from 8 bit to 16 bit graphics, 2D to 3D, SD to HD and finally 4K.

Today, gamers want more and more games that run to 60
frames per second (fps) with high viewing reliability and accurate, responsive
input. Developers have come up with creative, powerful solutions
resolution rate, maintaining high image quality while not in trouble
frame rate, but this is usually done to work around again
issues of current generation metal. All of that is about to change
Xbox Series X. It's not just about making games look better. It's about
to make games better.

“In time
The Xbox Series X will bring a huge increase in GPU performance as well
go on to explain and develop the state of the art in new paintings
skills like faster hardware deployment, ”says Jason Ronald, Director
Product Management on Xbox Series X, “we don't believe this generation
defined by images or resolution only. ”

The team knew they needed to build the next generation console
you can run games at 4K at 60 fps without the developer limitation. See
they also challenged themselves to bring the level of work imaginable
not possible for the console, including support for up to 120 fps
demanding and competitive sports. While they believe in the alignment and level of the framework
left-handed creative decisions at the hands of title developers, the team
it wanted to ensure that the system was able to support the needs of senior citizens
blockbusters, competing esports, and independent freelance creators.

To support those needs, the group strengthened theirs
a long-standing partnership with chipmaker AMD, which started working with Xbox
Team over 15 years ago on Xbox 360. Sebastien Nussbaum, Corporate Vice
President and Senior Fellow, Semi-Custom Products and Technologies at AMD,
talked a bit about what the team has created to help the Xbox Series X.

With a focus on innovation and energy efficiency, Nussbaum said that, for developers, "the console is finally becoming a playground of technology." This is due in large part to the raw power of the customized processor, powered by the 8 core AMD Zen 2 CPU and RDNA 2-class GPUs.

These structures for the next generation bring a whole new level
a functionality that allows developers to create authentic and engaging experiences
as we've never seen it before, while also allowing the team at AMD to plant a
DirectX's next-generation ecosystem will continue to pressure the industry
forward.

“The Xbox
Series X is a very large SOC (Program on Chip) and API
a design we did with Microsoft, and it's really a privilege for AMD to be
Microsoft's trusted partner for this work, ”says Nussbaum. "Xbox X series
will be the head of innovation leadership in this console
generation and will accelerate innovation in the entire DirectX environment
this year to the next year. ”

Following AMD's presentation, Andrew Fossen the Fani
it took sticks to delve deeper into the technical services and climbers they would like
power the Xbox Series X. We have listed it in full specs below, manually
She links our list of meanings to what most of these words mean:

For more information, I encourage you to look at Digital
Deep deductions get a better idea of ​​what all of these features mean
for developers and games.

One of the biggest (and most notable for players) of the Xbox Series X will be the support of DirectX Raytracing accelerated machines, which provide real-time light and sound structures with far greater accuracy than any other technology ever. To give us a better idea of ​​how this technology directly affects gaming, Clayton Vaught, Technical Director of Minecraft, has passed us on to an icon of how raytracing can affect one of the world's most popular games.

Switching back and forth between current and network views
the apparent acceleration of DirectX Raytraced, the Veda moved around its predecessor
The Minecraft world is to show you ways that virtual reality is completely transforming
a game. Broadcast shadows from objects are soft or hard depending on how far they are
something you are, while the lava emits a warm orange glow that dissolves
it is distant and shows the emergence of minecart trains. Even the moon throws itself
radiation, spreading down through cracks in the walls and showing particles
on the air. Raytraced observations change the way fundamentally Minecraft
he feels, he draws the player inside and immerses him in the most sensible world.

The most impressive feature (at least yours truly) was there
how light now passes through transparent objects such as glass, to choose
the color in the way you will see it. This is best illustrated while traveling
by using the road opened to an uncertain tunnel of colored glass cubes, each
they threw the shadow of different colors down. A big wow moment came
from the most inferior of things: water. With raytracing turned on, water was present
now the most obvious and let the light from the moon pass through her
The player below also truly depicts marine swimming in
current .. It was a really interesting document that brought that computer equipment
the acceleration of DirectX Raytracing in Minecraft can give life to the way I am
I never thought.

To turn off the power part of the Xbox Series X, The
Coalition's technical director, Mike Rayner, came to show us what his party was like
you plan to do well Gears 5 for the Xbox Series X. Team released a
Technical demo of Gears 5, powered by Unreal Engine, for the Xbox Series X
using full PC Ultra Spec settings, including high resolution
the formation and preparation of high volumetric fog, and a 50% higher particle
calculation than PC Ultra Specs allowed. Show them the opening
the cutscene, which now runs 60 FPS at 4K (it was 30 FPS on the Xbox One X), which means
the transition from real-time cutscenes to gameplay is extremely smooth.

There have also been some visible improvements to a few others
locations too. Loading times were very fast, and the team was able to open
some things, while previously done, should have been shut down
Type of Xbox One X. This includes contact shadows (providing extra depth to
objects) and the illumination of plants and grass, making every scene feel
more facts. Rayner also shared that the game is already running over 100
FPS and that the team is investigating using 120 FPS Gameplay for
multiplayer modes, giving players an unprecedented feel on consoles.
Most impressive of all? The fact that the team was able to do all this
and run for weeks.

The group also announced that they will have the Xbox Series X
The Gears 5 variant is available for the launch of the Xbox Series X, in play
they will be free if they own the Xbox One version of Gears 5 and will upgrade
Smart delivery depending on the volume you use.

Improving Reinforcement Speed

The next tenet for the Xbox Series X is speed, which is
can be defined by a large number of different methods. Today's devices have changed
our expectations on how quickly you can navigate between experiences or
applications. Most of us want to be quick to get into a situation
or go right back to where they were left. This had an impact on the design team
system building, as they wanted to make sure they enabled gamers to use more
play time and less waiting time.

A large part of that has to do with solid state integration
drive (SSD). We have reached the upper limits of the traditional circulation performance,
so the team knew that they needed to invest in SSD level I / O speed to deliver
the quality of the experience they wished for the Xbox Series X. This was the place
when the team really wanted to establish, and they knew this could be a game
a new generation convert. But they don't want the I / O system to be right
about your games that load faster.

Enter Xbox Velocity Architecture, which establishes a strong integration between Hardware and software and is a new revolutionary building designed for the distribution of game assets. This will unlock new capabilities never before seen in console development, allowing 100 GB of game assets to be quickly accessible by developers. The elements of the Xbox Velocity Architecture all combine to form an effective multiplier in physical memory that is, in fact, a game changer.

"The CPU is the brain of our new console and the GPU is the heart, but Xbox Velocity Architecture is the soul," said Andrew Goossen, a technologist at Microsoft's Xbox Series X. “Xbox Velocity Architecture is about more than just the last moments. It's one of the newest parts of our new console. It's about changing the way games create a larger, more depressing world. ”

The major benefit of this technological development is huge
open world games where players have the freedom to play and explore their own
by their manner and speed. Similar topics Final concept XV, By Assassin
Fred Odyssey, again Red Redemption 2 reset your expectations
of the living, vibrant world of this generation.

To make these things of the world more powerful and feel like
a large, high reliability world requires a large increase in power to operate again
the ability to distribute material very quickly so as not to break the immersion (epics
lifters or high end roads are great examples for developers
Carefully hide the shipment). Developers will also be able to work effectively
remove load times between levels or create the right navigation systems
just to say: fast.

You can't even talk about speed without talking about it
latency.

"Players who have competitions and excellent athletic experiences want good, accountable control," Goossen said. "The Xbox team analyzed every end of the installation pipeline, from the controller to the console and from the display console and challenged ourselves to identify every possibility of reducing latency to provide a better experience for Xbox players."

This included developing new technologies for a brand like Dynamic Latency Input (DLI) and helping to shape the HDMI 2.1 interface by adding new game features such as 120hz support, Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALL). The team has also worked with leading TV producers for the past two years to ensure the visual ecosystem is ready for upcoming features with the Xbox Series X.

While it can be hard to
note the improved transit time from any of these improvements alone, there
it all adds up, making for a great responsive experience.

In the end, there are player experiences that will be greatly enhanced due to the speed created by the Xbox Series X. Most notable in this case load times, which will be significantly reduced due to the Xbox Series X input power.

There is also a new Quick Resume technology that we introduced in our last blog. With the current genre consoles, you can restart the last game you've played. However, since most players play (on average) three to four games a month, the team wanted to give them the option to switch between them easily and quickly. With Quick Start, you can restart many games by pressing a button, quickly jumping to action, right where you left off, to get multiple titles at once.

Since the world game will be
are stored directly on the SSD system, they will persist again after you turn it off
console, uninstall it completely, or take a system update. One of the
team inspectors have unloaded his console throughout the week, taking the update, too
it was still be able to continue where he left off without much a
loading screen.

Game consistency
It continues for the next generation

The third and final pillar of the Xbox Series X is
consistency. With the Xbox One generation, the team has shown theirs
love and commitment to compliance, positioning the player and his / her loved ones
games at the center of everything they do. As sportsmen themselves, they understand
that we all have our favorite memories, franchises or topics we want to make
continue to play as the technology and game development progress.

"The
The public response is Phil's announcement of compatibility with the 360 ​​backstage at E3
2015 was one of the most important tasks for me during my time as part of the Group
Xbox, ”says Ronald.

In the next generation, the team knew from the beginning that they were
he wanted to down the line to agree. That perspective helped influence the construction
program and, with a combination of Hardware and software, they
are committed to ensuring thousands of games on the Xbox One, including
Xbox 360 and original Xbox games, will play much better in the Xbox Series X.

"The team came and told us about the Xbox Series X. They said & # 39; What can you do with great power? & # 39; So, the challenge is set. They gave us the Xbox One X and it was like we had this great gaming space," said Peggy Lo , Principal Program Management, Backward Consensus. "Then we got the Xbox Series X and it was like we had an amusement park that we could all play."

Players will see the benefits of an upgraded computer for
Xbox Series X compatible games back, including boot and load upgrades
Times, frame rates are stable, high resolution and improved image quality.
The Compliance Team continues to develop new strategies as well
new features that we can use to improve the existing game catalog
when running on the Xbox Series X.

The Xbox team is committed to the idea of
the consistency of playing gaming generation, is that it doesn't just go your games
forward with you, but so do your Xbox One accessories, your game saves, too
progress. In fact, your entire gaming legacy is moving forward with you
the next generation.

In addition, the team has come up with a multi-generation empowerment program, and introduced new features such as Smart Delivery, which guarantees that you only have to buy a title once, knowing you will find the best title for whatever Xbox console you choose to play. This will allow players to move seamlessly between multiple consoles and console generations as they see fit. The Xbox Series X is the fastest, most powerful Xbox ever built for the console generation you have at its center. We hope that when you look at some of the design choices and technologies that power the Xbox Series X you answered your questions and gave you a good idea of ​​what to expect when the console is available this holiday season.