High Def Option
- Thread starter Fangio
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- Panama City, FL
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- Simcoeace
OK. I've been playing GT4 on a 13" cheapo TV with a regular composite plug & only one audio plug, using headphones & a G25 wheel. The smaller TV makes it easy to set up & does not get in the way (of real life).
I decided to try the regular composite cables with my 37" LCD HDTV & then component cables on 480p setting & 1080i setting.
There's no question that 1080i/component makes the picture sharper, but you still get that weird "flashing" of some of the background elements (white lines, grass etc.) but as it's blown up on a larger scale it's actually more noticeable I think. I'm not sure that the overall effect is superior: the image is sharper, but the sharpness sort of highlights the graphic limitations of GT4 & the PS2 & actually makes it more obvious that it's video & not "real".
I would compare the effect to watching SDTV on an HDTV: it looks worse than SDTV on an SDTV because the higher quality (& larger) TV highlights the limitations of the SDTV input.
It makes me wonder if you're not better off with a SDTV (in a smallish size) rather than bothering with a HDTV - until GT5 comes along, that is.
What does anyone else think of this?
I decided to try the regular composite cables with my 37" LCD HDTV & then component cables on 480p setting & 1080i setting.
There's no question that 1080i/component makes the picture sharper, but you still get that weird "flashing" of some of the background elements (white lines, grass etc.) but as it's blown up on a larger scale it's actually more noticeable I think. I'm not sure that the overall effect is superior: the image is sharper, but the sharpness sort of highlights the graphic limitations of GT4 & the PS2 & actually makes it more obvious that it's video & not "real".
I would compare the effect to watching SDTV on an HDTV: it looks worse than SDTV on an SDTV because the higher quality (& larger) TV highlights the limitations of the SDTV input.
It makes me wonder if you're not better off with a SDTV (in a smallish size) rather than bothering with a HDTV - until GT5 comes along, that is.
What does anyone else think of this?
- 5,080
- Panama City, FL
In other discussions, it apparently depends on the set. In my own experience, the flickering of the cars in a rolling start is much reduced in 1080i, but others have expressed the opposite observation.
I think there's also a potential problem if you use a display that's actually only 720p. It will accept a 1080i input, but downscales it to 720p, which may produce some interlace artifacts like flickering.
I think there's also a potential problem if you use a display that's actually only 720p. It will accept a 1080i input, but downscales it to 720p, which may produce some interlace artifacts like flickering.
- 6,083
- Simcoeace
I think my display is actually 720p. But the point is the flickering effect is the same in all resolutions, it's just more noticeable in the higher resolutions.
I guess what I'm saying is that on the smaller SDTV the picture looks more "real" simply because the resolution is not high enough to draw so much attention to the shortcomings of GT4s graphics. One example of this is the trees on the courses. On a SDTV they look a bit indistinct & blurry but the eye reads them as "realistic", in a higher resolution you can clearly see that they are flat & rendered.
One thing I've noticed in general, is that in video games, less is often more: the eye (or brain) will fill in visual information that is not there, but if there is visual information that is not true to life, the eye (or brain) immediately notices it. That's why HD is a challenge: by providing so much information, it really raises the bar on what needs to be rendered in order to have the illusion of reality be convincing.
I guess what I'm saying is that on the smaller SDTV the picture looks more "real" simply because the resolution is not high enough to draw so much attention to the shortcomings of GT4s graphics. One example of this is the trees on the courses. On a SDTV they look a bit indistinct & blurry but the eye reads them as "realistic", in a higher resolution you can clearly see that they are flat & rendered.
One thing I've noticed in general, is that in video games, less is often more: the eye (or brain) will fill in visual information that is not there, but if there is visual information that is not true to life, the eye (or brain) immediately notices it. That's why HD is a challenge: by providing so much information, it really raises the bar on what needs to be rendered in order to have the illusion of reality be convincing.
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