Topic: a relative had their Xbox Series X console set at 1080@60 on a 4K, 120hz TV

Their console was set to a non-native resolution and refresh rate with the then-new LG C2. It is very unlikely that this person has changed any settings since all the default power-saving and interpolation were enabled on the television — I believe that they only signed in to the wireless network.

I immediately noted that the menus didn't look sharp and switched to the optimal defaults. I didn't bother telling this person, and they only had been playing for a couple of months.

How can this ever happen on a current console and HDMI 2.1 display? My assumption is that Xbox restored the former display settings configuration from the cloud (in the past the guy played Xbox on a basic 1080p monitor, but purchased their own XSX console alongside the TV).

This occurred during the first half of the current console generation (I could have posted earlier elsewhere, but didn't).

Odd indeed. Possibly a HDMI CEC thing, where if that box isn't checked in the settings menu, the console and TV no longer communicate properly?

HDMI CEC was disabled on the console as well. I potentially enabled the feature immediately — when inquiring later on that day the relative saw all the CEC sub-settings but the "turn the console on with the TV" as useful.