Diablo 3 HDTV disappointment

[Burticus]

So I did some upgrades to the HTPC recently with a side goal of being able to play Diablo 3 on my 60" 1080p TV. All I could think of was how awesome this is going to be.... and I was very disappointed. The game isn't HDTV friendly... the text is so tiny @ 1920x1080 I can not read anything and items are really hard to spot. I lowered the rez down to 1366x768 (trying to keep the same 16:9 ratio) and that helped a tiny bit with the text, but the detail on the models doesn't look good, blocky and pixelated. I turned all the gfx settings up to high (which basically made it unplayable on my 9600 GT but I wanted to see what it looked like) and it was a little better but not great.

I am buying a GTX 660 the second they come out (rumor mill says 6/25) unless the reviews suck. That will go in my main rig and my GTX 460 will go into the HTPC. The GTX 460 does everything on high settings @ 1920x1200 no issues on my monitor, so it can handle the TV's 1080p rez. But now I am less jazzed about it considering the game doesn't really seem enjoyable on the TV. I wish there was a "big font" or "tv mode" option in the game.

Is anyone else rocking Diablo 3 on their HDTV? What are the thoughts? Maybe there is some buried config options? The 2 main complaints are the text is tiny at 1080p and dropped items are hard to spot. They don't "stick out" (for lack of a better word) like they do when playing on my monitor.

Thoughts?

 

[Chaoticon]

What brand is your tv and what input are you using. I have a 55inch lg and if I'm using dvi/hdmi input I have to set the "mode" manually to pc-dvi. After that it's still not perfect but text becomes readable. When I use analog input everything is perfect by default.

This isnt a diablo 3 issue it has to do with how tv processes signals. Moving this to a different subforum would get you more help.

 

[Burticus]

What brand is your tv and what input are you using. I have a 55inch lg and if I'm using dvi/hdmi input I have to set the "mode" manually to pc-dvi. After that it's still not perfect but text becomes readable. When I use analog input everything is perfect by default.

This isnt a diablo 3 issue it has to do with how tv processes signals. Moving this to a different subforum would get you more help.

Hmmm. Sony 60" LED. DVI to HDMI cable. Win 7 desktop is perfect though. I think on the Sony it's called pixel perfect or something. I will look. But since the desktop is good to go I dunno.

 

[Chaoticon]

Desktop is minimal and not a great comparison. Try some other games. I had to update the firmware on mine to be able to manually type dvi-pc in the mode selection.

You can also try messing with clearfont settings in the windows control panel. I'm sure your desktop is using a different font then diablo3.

If you find a pc mode most of the tv advanced televesion/movie features will be disabled because it will use your video card hardware for all processing.

You can also look at your video cards advanced settings and make sure the correct timing mode and color Pallete is selected.

 

[Zepher]

I play on my friends 47" vizio from about 5' away and everything is fine on it at 1920x1080
Can read the text and it's not hard to play on it at all.

 

[Tol]

I'd say it's "as clear" as the Desktop or web browsing for me. I've had zero problems with reading anything. It doesn't compare to playing on my monitor but for this game I've chosen to almost exclusively play with the 64" screen. 670 gtx, for reference...

 

[Burticus]

I'd say it's "as clear" as the Desktop or web browsing for me. I've had zero problems with reading anything. It doesn't compare to playing on my monitor but for this game I've chosen to almost exclusively play with the 64" screen. 670 gtx, for reference...

I came very, VERY close to buying a 670 GTX. But $400 for a video card is just wrong, even if my CC rewards are paying for half of it. $250 is the limit. I do admit I've migrated from PC gamer into a 360 gamer just because I like to get away from my computer and play on the big screen. I sit in front of a computer all day 5 days a week, my desire to game in front of one is waning. I was hoping a little big screen PC gaming was the answer, or in between solution anyway.

 

[rudy]

Did you try enabling windows scaling? I do not own D3 but I do alot of other games on my 54 inch plasma no problem so long as programs obey windows scaling. GTX 460. I scale windows and have xbox controllers for games that need continuous input (driving / flying games) I sit about 9 feet away on the couch.

Of course you could just have eye problems. Another option is to make sure the video card does scaling for you. Tell the video card to output 1080p at the highest quality then set the game to 768p.

 

[MaelstromOC]

If you want to pc game and get away from the computer, a tv and wireless mouse and keyboard are pretty sweet. There's nothing more comfortable than chilling on the couch and playing on a nice big screen

 

[Burticus]

Did you try enabling windows scaling?

Are you talking about switching "perform scaling on" from "display" to "GPU" under Nvidia control panel / display / adjust desktop size and position?

Tried to past a screenshot but it is not taking it. Hardforum is funky.

If you want to pc game and get away from the computer, a tv and wireless mouse and keyboard are pretty sweet. There's nothing more comfortable than chilling on the couch and playing on a nice big screen

I'm trying to...

 

[DeathPrincess]

TBH diablo is blurry and blocky anyway.

ALso turn on the mode (it's in the options somewhere) that items always have tags.

 

[Chaoticon]

I gave several suggestions. The other posts so far are simply reinforcing my original statement, it's not a diablo 3 issue.

Go to your tvs input selection screen and make sure the mode is specifically pc or dvi-pc. If it just says dvi then look for an options button on that screen.