Poll: Games Made for HDTVs

[Epona]

Most games on consoles do not use HD level resolutions. While your tv may have a 1920x1200 resolution, your game will probably have a much lower resolution and will be stretched to a 16x10 aspect ratio to match the screen size.

I was under the impression that both the 360 and the PS3 render games at 720p and upscale or downscale them depending on your tv.

Now, last time I checked 720p is HD.

BTW, I checked earlier tonight.

 

[Shadu]

I have an old SD TV. It's really sad because one of my roommates has a tiny HD TV, smaller than mine. I can read text on that screen in our kitchen, which is a fairly significant distance away, but I can't read text on my screen when I'm sitting on my bed half the distance away.

 

[octafish]

I have a decent, if old PAL 4:3 CRT TV. It is 48cm (about 18 to 19 inches). I have a 24" True HD monitor for my PC that I watch films, TV and play games on. I'm thinking about upgrading to a 120hz monitor though. I don't own a console.

 

[TheFinalFantasyWolf]

I was dissapointed when I realised some games would only be comfortable to watch and play on my HDTV. I have one HDTV in my lounge, however the tv in my room is still digital. When I first played FFXIII using the tv in my room, I was so dissapointed to see the cutscenes lagging so much.

 

[Captain_Fantastic]

the only game ive really had a problem with is way of the samurai 3 and thats partially because the tv i use is so old i have to use a vcr as a medium between the ps3 and the tv
but i just learned to adapt to it

 

[Hummmy]

Nearly all my friends who own an Xbox have at least a 42" HDTV.
I bought my 50" for about $700 a year ago. If you're going to spend your money on the console and all the games made for HD, you may aswell just save up and get a decent TV or else you're not "really" getting the most out of the game you paid for.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

No console game currently exists that runs in true HD.

Really, then what is true HD?

I think he's following some marketing claim about how it's not "true HD" unless it's full 1080P -- which is just as much of a lie as stereo sales people claiming Prologic wasn't "true surround" about a decade ago. Prologic absolutely was real surround; it just wasn't discrete surround. Same thing with 720P and 1080i; they're both HD standards, they're just lower resolution than the highest res stuff that is marketed as HD. If you want to claim that it has to be the highest res available to be true HD, then even 1080P isn't true HD, because consumer computer monitors go higher, to say nothing of professional projection equipment, which can go up to 4K res or higher.

Edit: Although I just realized, he could be talking about how a lot of the prettier games on the HD consoles (notably Halo 3) actually run at 1024X600, which technically is sub-HD.

720p is HD ready. Its not just a marketing ploy, its just technology, although obviously technology caters to marketing so the whole thing goes in a circle. Still, 1080p is HD while 720p is technically not. But dont get me wrong, while I am typing this on a new 1080p monitor I am loving (the difference between 1090x1080 and 1400x900 is like night and day) I have a 720p TV and while 1080p obviously beats it in quality, the picture is great and xbox games (back when I had one) looked cracking.

Anyhow, OT, I thought about this whole thing a while back and while I dont like saying this because I know what its like to be left behind technology wise due to a lack of funds, but I dont think developers should spend time on optimizing games for SD resolution. Its old, outdated technology. The vast majority of people have moved on. Theres a good reason new PC games arent compatible with Windows 95 and the same reason holds true for the SDTV argument.

See, it is a marketing ploy; 720P isn't just HD ready, it's an HD standard in and of itself, and a current one, which stands alongside 1080i and 1080P as three different forms of the same thing. If you really want to look into it, Japan had an analogue HDTV standard back in the 80's. HD isn't quite as specific of a term as you seem to think it is. It's similar to my example of surround sound formats; Dolby Stereo, Dolby Digital, DTS, and multichannel PCM are all different surround sound formats, and all of them are types of surround sound. However, around the time Dolby Digital and DTS first made it to the consumer marketplace, marketers started claiming that Prologic (the home format of Dolby Stereo) wasn't "true" surround sound -- an almost literal example of the "no true Scotsman" fallacy, that was actually convincing enough that you'll still occasionally see people parroting it today. The truth is, while Prologic wasn't discrete surround (it was a matrixed system), it was still a form of surround sound, and it was actually quite effective. The "720P isn't real HD" thing is just another example of the same marketing ploy.

 

[Epona]

No console game currently exists that runs in true HD.

Really, then what is true HD?

I think he's following some marketing claim about how it's not "true HD" unless it's full 1080P -- which is just as much of a lie as stereo sales people claiming Prologic wasn't "true surround" about a decade ago. Prologic absolutely was real surround; it just wasn't discrete surround. Same thing with 720P and 1080i; they're both HD standards, they're just lower resolution than the highest res stuff that is marketed as HD. If you want to claim that it has to be the highest res available to be true HD, then even 1080P isn't true HD, because consumer computer monitors go higher, to say nothing of professional projection equipment, which can go up to 4K res or higher.

Edit: Although I just realized, he could be talking about how a lot of the prettier games on the HD consoles (notably Halo 3) actually run at 1024X600, which technically is sub-HD.

720p is HD ready. Its not just a marketing ploy, its just technology, although obviously technology caters to marketing so the whole thing goes in a circle. Still, 1080p is HD while 720p is technically not.

720p IS HD.

http://reviews.cnet.com/hdtv-resolution/

 

[Watchmacallit]

Go buy a PC Monitor for like $50...Thats $50 in Aus (everything's overpriced here). Make sure it has a HDMI output and play on that, like I did when I moved out.

 

[Epona]

No console game currently exists that runs in true HD.

Really, then what is true HD?

Well, Moonshine is banned permanently....so...not getting an answer out of him.

What he meant, and he was right, is that barely any console game is actually rendered at 1920x1080. They're mostly rendered at 1280x720 or even less (Halo 3 infamously only rendered at 1152x640) and only then is the resulting image upscaled to fit the screen.

720p is HD and if most are rendered at 720p then how could he be right?

 

[Supertegwyn]

I have a 46" Bravia LED, and I love it. I haven't owned a SD television for about 8 years now. Don't know anyone who doesn't have digital, and only a few of those don't have HD.

 

[trollnystan]

I can't afford a new TV. My current one is a big old thing I got for free from friends when they moved to Stockholm. It's probably around 10 years old. No one in my immediate family has a flatscreen either as far as I know.

I do wonder, if my friend had had a HDTV when I played Infinity Undiscovery at her place, would I have liked the game better for being able to see the bloody menus? *thinks about it* Nah. Might not have rage-quit as much though.

 

[Quicksilver_Phoenix]

Yeah, I agree. It's pretty unfair on those without what are still considered to be fairly expensive and new TV's. Annoys me to no end when I can't read anything in a game because of my SD TV.

It's no use saying that HD TV's are the standard and the only ones you can buy anymore. Freeview was a similar situation. They had to force a switch over before it became the standard.

 

[Astoria]

It is annoying but prices for HD TVs are really coming down so I give it a few years and pretty much everyone will have one to game on.

 

[Epona]

It is annoying but prices for HD TVs are really coming down so I give it a few years and pretty much everyone will have one to game on.

Yeah, even Nintendo knows it's time to move away from SD. Microsoft and Sony knew it 6 years ago.

I absolutely hated being forced into DTV by the government (I use antenna only) but I have to say, the signal is so much better and having an onscreen guide is very nice too. Not that I ever watch TV but after seeing the picture quality from an antenna, I was sold. Same with HD, once I bought a 1080p monitor, there was no going back to that blurry, square screen. Take the leap people.

 

[Vancleef]

Everyone in my family exept for dad wants to buy a new tv.
Dad refuses to buy one untill the old one breaks down.

So yes, we have a SD tv. I'm thinking of plugging in the xbox to my 21.5" computer screen instead. Is that possible?

 

[Epona]

Everyone in my family exept for dad wants to buy a new tv.
Dad refuses to buy one untill the old one breaks down.

So yes, we have a SD tv. I'm thinking of plugging in the xbox to my 21.5" computer screen instead. Is that possible?

Yes it is, either via HDMI or VGA.

 

[Saulkar]

Most games on consoles do not use HD level resolutions. While your tv may have a 1920x1200 resolution, your game will probably have a much lower resolution and will be stretched to a 16x10 aspect ratio to match the screen size.

I was under the impression that both the 360 and the PS3 render games at 720p and upscale or downscale them depending on your tv.

Now, last time I checked 720p is HD.

BTW, I checked earlier tonight.

From what I understand you are partially right. Take Halo 3, it had a resolution of 1152×640 (because of two frame buffers for its shaders/lighting) and the 360 would scale that into 720p(1280×720) which could then be stretched into 1080p (1920×1080) at no gain in visual quality.

 

[Epona]

Most games on consoles do not use HD level resolutions. While your tv may have a 1920x1200 resolution, your game will probably have a much lower resolution and will be stretched to a 16x10 aspect ratio to match the screen size.

I was under the impression that both the 360 and the PS3 render games at 720p and upscale or downscale them depending on your tv.

Now, last time I checked 720p is HD.

BTW, I checked earlier tonight.

From what I understand you are partially right. Take Halo 3, it had a resolution of 1152×640 (because of two frame buffers for its shaders/lighting) and the 360 would scale that into 720p(1280×720) which could then be stretched into 1080p (1920×1080) at no gain in visual quality.

Well, not to be an asshole but I am completely correct. This statement:

No console game currently exists that runs in true HD.

is 100% false as there are alot of games that run at 720p native. Halo 3 may need to be upscaled to 720p but that is the exception, not the rule. Still even one game on any console running 720p or higher makes his statement incorrect.

I think I read that Final Fantasy XIII ran at 1080p on the PS3. It doesn't matter though as long as it ran at 720p, it's HD.

 

[Eicha]

I'm one of those poor people that need to borrow games from other people in order to play them. Sadly, bills and student loans get in the way of hobbies.