Dev Targeting 1080P for Next-Gen Xbox 720, PlayStation 4 Consoles

Microsoft and Sony remain quiet about speculation and rumors of a new Xbox 720 or PlayStation 4.  But that hasn't stopped developers from voicing their opinions on what they would like to see from the next-gen consoles.

For programming genius and co-founder of id Software, John Carmack, he wants to see pixel perfect resolution.

"Targeting 1080P for next gen consoles brings pixel precision back to relevance. Almost every display screws with 720P," Carmack tweeted yesterday.

The current generation of console games usually aims for 720p resoltion, which is then upscaled via 1080p TVs or the console itself.  In some cases, as with Battlefield 3, it acutally only runs at 704p on consoles.  It makes up for the 16 pixel difference with two 8 pixel black lines on the top and bottom fo the screen.  DICE rendering architect Johan Anderson explained via Twitter that if the image was scaled, it would "just ruin the picture."

Battlefield 3 isn't alone in this upscaling.  Many games, including Halo and Call of Duty run even lower then 720p.  This is mainly due to performance inssues.

RAGE did push the envelope for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 boasting 720p resolution along with 60fps.  Despite the large installation, the game still suffered from texture issues on both consoles.

Carmack's tweet comes after he said that fans shouldn't expect an "epic" leap in graphics with the next-generation of consoles.  According to the interview, Carmack did predict a performance increase by ten-fold, which in turn should allow developers to boost the frame-per-second count and increase the high definition to 1080p.

Currently, id Software is working on Doom 4.