Project Scorpio Dev Kit
Promo image showing Microsoft's development kit for Project Scorpio. Microsoft

It’s now confirmed that the small LCD screen on the Xbox Project Scorpio development kit is for a real-time frame rate counter. The existence of the LCD display has been shown before, but now there’s video showing it in action.

Microsoft first revealed what the Project Scorpio development kit will look like last month, but didn’t give out much information on what the small LCD screen on the front panel was for. A promotional image has shown it displaying a frame rate counter, but at the time its actual function was heavily debated.

Windows Central’s Jez Corden shared on his Twitter page an animated video showing the LCD screen on the Xbox Scorpio dev kit in action. Not only does it display the frame rate, but it also shows the read and write speeds.

To be clear, the video shared by Corden doesn’t actually show a real Project Scorpio dev kit in action, but rather a digital animated render. It’s possible that Corden has already seen the dev kit in person and decided to make an animation of what he saw.

It’s now being debated on whether or not the frame rate counter will stay on the consumer-ready version of the Project Scorpio. Microsoft would be showing a lot of confidence if it did, but there’s a potential that the company might set itself up for complaints if frame rates started dipping below 60 frames per second, as pointed out by IGN.

Adding the real-time frame rate counter on the final version of the Project Scorpio could also greatly benefit Microsoft in the PC gaming crowd. The frame rate counter could be a big selling point to longtime PC gamers who may not be huge fans of home console, according to Polygon. It could also help in making sure that consumers feel secure with their purchase, especially if the rumored $500 price tag turns out to be true.

Last month, Microsoft officially revealed the specifications of the Project Scorpio. It comes with a custom eight-core CPU clocked at 2.3GHz, a 6 teraflop GPU, 326GB/s memory bandwidth, 12GB of GDDR RAM and 1TB of HDD storage. The system is capable of delivering true 4K resolution gaming and supports 4K HDR video content. Support for virtual reality, particularly for Oculus Rift, is also expected but hasn’t been confirmed yet.

The 6 teraflop GPU on the Xbox Project Scorpio comes with 40 customized compute units at 1,172 Mhz. However, the dev kit is slightly more powerful with 44 computer units, according to Gamasutra’s report last month. Other noticeable features on the dev kit includes a navigation button, five additional buttons that are programmable and three front-facing USB ports.

Microsoft is expected to fully reveal the Xbox Project Scorpio on June 11 at 5 p.m. EDT during its E3 2017 press briefing. No Xbox Project Scorpio release date has been given yet, but Microsoft said that it wants to release the console during the 2017 holiday season. IBT predicts it might be released on Nov. 21.

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