Among Us Will Be Releasing on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 Soon

Among Us developer InnerSloth and Sony confirmed that the game will be releasing on PlayStation consoles soon. However, there is no information regarding the release date. PlayStation players will get exclusive Ratchet and Clank-themed skins for their character sprites.

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Sonys State of Play event shows off tons of gameplay from Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart for the PS5

Since the launch of the PS5, the one thing gamers had been asking for is more games. In fact, as we’ve reported earlier, the console has already sold 7.8 million units since it was launched in November last year. Sure, we’ve got the excellent Demon’s Souls remake, Spider-Man: Miles Morales (review), Returnal (review) and a few more. But it’s been six months since the console’s release and we have not seen any new games yet. But that’s about to change as Sony announced Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart for the PS5 at the latest State of Play event. The showcase was mostly centred around the exclusive PS5 title, showing off the world, graphics and a bit of gameplay. You can check out the presentation and gameplay below. 

And, right off the bat, you’ll notice that the way the game looks is absolutely stunning. The world-building and all the crazy detail everywhere is just astounding. We really have come such a long way in terms of visual fidelity in games, it’s crazy. The game still captures the feel and emotion of the earlier games but has had a shiny, slick coat of visual paint slapped over it. The combat also looked great with new mechanics combining with old ones, to create something visually and tactically new. One such feature being the Rift Tears, which you can use to teleport all over the battlefield. If the showcase is anything to go by, the game is going to be great. 

Sony also showed off a bit of Subnautica: Below Zero, an expansion of the original game as well as the announcement that Among US will be coming to PlayStation. There wasn't much else really as Sony decided to really show off Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. It looks like Sony is banking on the game to be a hit on the PlayStation 5. Stay tuned to Digit.in for more gaming news and reviews. 

 

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Redmi Smart TV X65 Review: Does size matter

Xiaomi has an interesting offering with the Redmi TV X65 for Rs 57,999. What it brings with it is support for eARC for home theatres, ALLM for gaming and support for a variety of HDR formats. While the overall picture quality is good for the price, HDR 10+ content still has some issues. SDR content playback is good. The HDMI 2.1 setting is switched off by default and getting to it involves jumping through some hoops when connecting the PS5. 

Xiaomi launched the Redmi Smart TV X Series back in March 2021. The Redmi Smart TVs are available in three screen sizes - 50-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch, priced at Rs Rs 32,999, Rs 38,999 and Rs 57,999, respectively. The TVs bring almost all the features found on the Mi QLED TV 55-inch (review) we saw launch back in December 2020. The most significant difference, of course, is the backlighting. While the Mi QLED TV has a Quantum Dot layer between the backlighting and the panel, the Redmi TV has the traditional direct LED backlighting. It also has three HDMI 2.1 ports with support for eARC and ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) for gaming. 

The 65-inch variant of the TV brings with it a pretty large screen size of 58K. But the 58K price point is a decent budget to get a 50 or even 55-inch TV with different features. So, the question remains, should you consider the 65-inch Redmi TV or consider a 50-inch or 55-inch TV at the same price point with better features?

Redmi Smart TV X65 specs at a glance

Panel Size: 65-inch (available in 55 and 50-inches as well)  Panel Type: VA and IPS options available with D-LED backlighting Panel Resolution: 3840 x 2160 - 4K Panel Refresh Rate: 60Hz HDR 10 support: Yes HDR 10+ support: Yes Dolby Vision Support: Yes Weight: 18 kgs HDMI Ports: 3 USB Ports: 2 Bluetooth: Yes Wi-Fi: Yes Ethernet: Yes Speakers: 30W Built-in storage: 16GB Price: MRP: 57,999

Redmi Smart TV X65: Display Panel and Picture Quality

Kicking things off with the display, the Redmi Smart TV X65 comes with an IPS and VA panel option, but there is no way of choosing one over the other when purchasing the TV. You can check which panel you have by pressing the display with some content on it. If you see rainbow-like colours where you press the display, it is a VA panel. If you don't, then it's an IPS panel. 

The Redmi Smart TV X65 has D-LED backlighting, and Xiaomi has not disclosed the brightness of the TV in nits nor the contrast ratio. The TV does not have any dimming zones. The TV has a 4K resolution with support for all popular HDR formats, including HDR 10, HDR 10+, HLG and Dolby Vision. It also supports Dolby Atmos via the eARC port. 

The TV claims to cover over 85% of the NTSC colour space and 92% DCI-P3 colour space. In addition to traditional picture modes and picture controls like brightness, contrast, hue, colour temperature, gamma, etc., it also lets you choose colour space such as DCI-P3, BT 2020, BT709, etc. allowing you to customise your content consumption experience. Let's dive deep into the performance of the TV. 

Redmi Smart TV X65: 4K and HDR performance

We played our usual slew of Dolby Vision and HDR 10, 10+ content on the TV and found the overall experience good. In Dolby Vision content from Netflix, we have shows like Altered Carbon, Our Planet and more, and the colour reproduction in these scenes was good. The unit we received has an IPS panel with good viewing angles but compromises on the black levels. Consuming content in a room with biased lighting should help with the greyish blacks in some sequences. While the TV can get decently bright, it lacks the punchy brightness one would expect when we see an explosion on-screen or when Gandalf reveals himself in the Two Towers. You have two settings for Dolby Vision - Bright and Dark, and I recommend keeping the setting at Dolby Vision bright all the time. This may lead to blacks looking quite grey in some dark sequences, but the details are retained, making the content easier to consume. 

With HDR 10+ content, we played a bunch of shows from Amazon Prime Video. In a show like the Grand Tour, we have many cars whizzing in a bright desert. There are some sequences where the camera is looking at the driver, and from the driver's window, we can see other cars. Some of the cars here were merged with the background or looked burnt. This isn't something you’ll notice if you haven't seen the same sequence on another TV. You will see a bright desert thinking it's the sun, and that's ok, especially since these sequences are no more than a few seconds at a time. 

In a show like Jack Ryan, there is a slight green tint to the colour, and we’ve noticed this on other TVs like the Mi QLED TV and playing HDR 10+ content. Sadly, there is no different “picture mode” you can switch to when playing HDR 10+ content via the native apps on the TV. Changing the colour temperature to cool or 'user' removed the green tint. Still, it also loses the natural colour effect which comes with the “Warm” colour temperature when consuming HDR content. 

When playing HDR 10 content from YouTube, you have access to picture presets like HDR Standard, HDR Movie and HDR Vivid and in our experience, the HDR Standard preset was the best for consuming content. 

Overall, considering the price of the TV, the Dolby Vision and HDR 10 content looks good on this TV, with some room for improvement with HDR 10+ content. The brightness in some HDR scenes doesn’t have the same impact we saw on the Philips 50-inch (50PUT8215/94) (review), but considering the price point, the performance is good. 

Redmi Smart TV X65: SDR performance

The SDR playback from streaming services like Netflix and Prime Video is also good. We saw a bunch of content from Spider-Man Homecoming to Mission Impossible and even Young Sheldon. While the content looks crisp and good, the performance isn't at par with, say, the Philips 50-inch (50PUT8215/94). 

When switching between the Standard and Vivid mode on the Redmi TV, people's skin tones also get accentuated along with the other colours making them appear too yellow. When using the Vivid mode on the Philips TV, we saw that while the colours and the environments were highlighted, skin tones look natural. 

You should know that for the price of the 65-inch Redmi TV, you get the 50-inch Philips TV. So, while this isn't an apple-to-apple comparison, it should give you some idea of content reproduction. 

Overall, for SDR playback, the Standard and Movie presets gets the job done quite well. 

Redmi Smart TV X65: Gaming

This is where things get interesting. The Redmi Smart TV X65 supports HDMI 2.1, but it can only run games at 60Hz. The feature it offers is ALLM, and while we don't have any way of measuring the actual input lag, Xiaomi claims an impressive 5ms input lag on the TV. 

We played a bunch of games using a PS5 (review), and the results are interesting, to say the least. A game like Returnal (review) has a lot of fast-paced action where every millisecond counts, and from a gameplay perspective, the game was quite enjoyable. The first environment in the game is a dark forest with the enemies shooting many glowing projectiles at you. On an OLED TV, the contrast this brings is absolutely incredible. But on the Redmi TV, the dark black environments have a grey tint to them, and this is because the panel doesn't have local dimming and is trying to simulate the colour black. Nonetheless, considering the price, you can still get it by playing Returnal. At least it doesn't look dark and low lit. 

In a game like Spider-Man Miles Morales (review), Spider-Man's black outfit has a hint of grey in it, but the rest of the environments look good. The soft winter sun looks warm and inviting in the game, and once you get into the heat of the action, you will be hooked—the same for a game like Dirt 5 (review). 

If you are on a tight budget and want a TV for gaming, you could consider it. Most of the games we played on this TV worked well, and for the occasional game that felt dimmer, you can change the settings from HDMI 2.1 to 1.4 to play in SDR, which could work well for some games. 

Redmi Smart TV X65: Audio Performance

The Redmi TV comes with 30W of sound output, taken care of by two 15W drivers in the TV. It doesn't have the 6-driver setup we saw on the Mi QLED TV but then again, look at the price point. The TV has decent sound and surprisingly decent performance when watching movies with a lot of mixed audio. Ready Player One is a great example of this. The race at the 13-minute mark is filled with cars whizzing by each other, explosions and King Kong trying to destroy everything. While I have heard better sounding speakers on a budget TV, these get the job done. Sure, there is no bass, but the vocals are clear. Even when gaming, the sound of the guns in Returnal to the thuds of your punches in Spider-Man, it's all clear. 

Redmi Smart TV X65: UI

Like the Mi QLED TV, the Redmi Smart TV offers Android TV 10 and its own PatchWall UI. There are dedicated buttons on the remote control to bring up PatchWall and Android TV to make navigating between the two UIs quite easy.  

PatchWall aims to put content before the service. So, if you see content on the home page, be it The Boys, or the Mandalorian or even Tenet, you don't need to worry about which service provider has this content. As long as you are logged into the streaming service, you can jump straight into the content without navigating the particular streaming app.  

PatchWall also helps with discovering content with lists such as “Dolby Vision”, “HDR 10+”, “Recently added,” “India Top 10 Today”, and more. This UI is great if you are subscribed to many services and consume a lot of content without worrying about navigating the apps.

There are 2 problems I have with the UI. The first is with the Prime Video app. When you enter the picture settings when using Prime Video and press back to exit the settings, you exit the app completely. That can get quite annoying if you tinker with the settings. 

The second is when you connect the PS5. If you have enabled CEC on the TV and the console, pressing the centre OK button on the remote control doesn't bring up the input menu on the TV to change the HDMI format options. It would be best if you disabled CEC to bring up the menu to change the HDMI settings from 1.4 to 2.1. While this isn't a setting you'd change often, it’s still an annoying process to go through to get to the setting. 

The UI is what we’ve seen on previous Xiaomi TVs, and Xiaomi has done a lot to distinguish the UI from the crowd.

Redmi Smart TV X65: Remote control

The remote control you get with the Redmi TV is the same one we’ve seen on other MI TVs and even the Mi Box 4K (review). It's quite a minimalistic remote with a power button, Assistant button, hotkeys for Netflix and Prime Videos and dedicated buttons for Android and PatchWall UI. There is no dedicated mute button on the remote control, but you can double-tap the volume down button to mute the TV quickly. 

Redmi Smart TV X65: Build and design

The TV has a plastic frame and two plastic feet holding it in place. Unlike the Mi QLED TV, which had a premium build, this one has a budget build, and that’s ok, considering the price point. 

Despite having a budget build, the TV has an ingenious arrangement for the ports. Traditionally we’ve seen large screen budget TVs house the ports at the back, in the centre. That isn’t the case here. The ports on the Redmi Smart TV X65 are closer to the edge of the panel at the back, making it easier to reach. We also have the three HDMI ports, two USB ports and the headphones port facing outwards while the other ports face down. The ports facing outwards makes it easy to access. The ports facing down include the AV port, Optical port and ethernet port. There is also a small plastic clasp at the back of the TV to help with cable management, which is nice. 

Redmi Smart TV X65: Bottom Line

Xiaomi has an interesting offering with the Redmi TV X65 for Rs 57,999. It brings support for eARC for home theatres, ALLM for gaming and support for various HDR formats. While the overall picture quality is good for the price, HDR 10+ content still has some issues. SDR content playback is good. The HDMI 2.1 setting is switched off by default, and getting to it involves jumping through some hoops when connecting the PS5. At the end of the day, the question you need to ask yourself is - Does size matter? If you have a budget of 60K for a 65-inch TV, you have a bunch of options to choose from before making your purchase decision. These include the Nokia 65-inch Smart TV with Onkyo speakers and the TCL P615, and more (both of which we haven't reviewed). If your budget is 60K and you don't mind a smaller screen size (say 55-inch), you can check out Xiaomi’s own Mi QLED TV, the TCL P715 QLED (review) and the Philips 55PUT8215, to name a few.

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Microsoft to Take Smaller Cut From Video Game Developers: Report

Microsoft will cut its charges for video game developers who publish games in its online store, starting August, the New York Times reported.

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Ace the Search and Destroy mode in Call of Duty: Mobile with these handy tips

Call of Duty: Mobile isn’t lacking when it comes to different game modes. Besides standard deathmatch modes, the game also offers a host of other game modes designed to keep things fresh and interesting. These modes challenge players to think beyond simply running and gunning. One of the trickiest to master is Search and Destroy.

Counter-Strike veterans will be quite familiar with Search and Destroy as the mode is lifted straight out of the game. It sees up to 10 players divided into teams of attackers and defenders. Attackers are given a bomb that they need to plant and subsequently destroy at one of two sites. The defenders need to defend both sides till the clock runs out. The teams can also win by eliminating all of the opposing players as there is no respawn till the round ends. After three rounds, the roles will reverse.

As you can see, Search and Destroy is quite different from other modes. Here are five tips that you can use to achieve victory.

Stick together

The lack of a respawn system means that staying alive is more important than ever. Sticking together, especially as attackers’ is vital for victory. Defenders should also try and break off into teams so that they have one teammate covering them or vice versa. Attacks should also cover the bomb carrier as much as possible.

Play the objective

It’s easy to lose yourself and try to play this mode as you would in a team deathmatch or frontline. However, that’s just asking for trouble. Playing the objective means that more often than not, your opponent will come to you. This means securing bomb sites, planting the bomb, defending dropped bombs and so forth. 

Keep an eye on where your team is dying

Defenders can be on the back foot as they will most likely have to split up to cover the sites. However, they can use the game’s own mechanics to their advantage. The game marks the location where a teammate dies. This can give you a rough idea of where the enemy team is and give you the option to sneak up behind them or flank them. 

DA BOMB!

The bomb is the most important prop in search and destroy. If the defenders manage to kill the bomb carrier, they can camp around the bomb and wait for the remaining attackers to come to them. On the flipside, attackers can designate one player as the bomb carrier and the other players can move to protect that player. But whatever happens, attackers should never let a bot pick up the bomb. 

Don't rely on Scorestreaks or Operator Skills

Another thing to keep in mind is that Scorestreaks are pretty much non-existent in the same way as the Scorestreaks are refreshed with each round. So if you’re good, you might just unlock a low-level scorestreak during a round, but it will only be available for that round only. Operator Skills are also disabled in this game mode. So you can only rely on your weapon and skills to win.

You can also check out our loadout suggestions for Hardpoint and Headquarters modes here. 

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Netflix launches the Play Something feature globally, making sure you almost never leave your couch

We’ve all been there, sitting in the dark just scrolling endlessly through a cascade of movies and TV shows on Netflix. Sometimes, it’s incredibly hard to pick what to watch on a streaming platform. With the endless amount of movies, shows and content on the various platforms, sifting through it all can be a little overwhelming. This is why Netflix has now rolled out its ‘Play Something’ feature for TVs and living room devices, globally. This means that the feature is not yet available for mobile devices or browsers. If it’s actually popular, then we could see it on other platforms. We earlier reported that Netflix was testing out a shuffle feature and this could be the final version of it. 

The feature works by combing through your profile for movies and shows you have watched and then recommends personalized content. If you don’t like what’s been suggested, there’s a ‘Play Something Else” button that will take you to the next show or movie. Think of it like the early days of cable TV where the content was fresh and new and you always landed on something cool while channel flipping. In a blog post, Director of Product Innovation, Cameron Johnson stated that “When finding your next story, let the story find you. Whether you’re in the mood for a new or familiar favourite, just ‘Play Something’ and let Netflix handle the rest. Easy.”. 

The Play Something button can be found on the profile selection screen, under your name. It will also be available on the Navigation menu as well as the tenth row of your personal Netflix homepage. The feature will also support Text-to-Speech functionality and can be set up on Netflix’s Accessibility page. 

 

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PlayStation Plus Free Games Announced for May: Battlefield V, Stranded Deep, Wreckfest

PlayStation Plus subscribers will get their hands on three free games in May — Battlefield V, Stranded Deep, and Wreckfest. While the first two titles will be available for all users, Wreckfest will be a PlayStation 5 exclusive. Check out more details on the free titles.

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