LCD for PS3 gaming - 1080p or 720p?

[cscs]

For playing PS3 games (or 360 I guess) which LCD would you get?

The reason I'm asking is because practically all console games are currently in 720p, so you'll either be viewing them with lots of black bars (if you're lucky enough to have 1:1) or upscaled 1080p. I'm also wondering what your thoughts are on how good/bad upscaled 1080p looks vs native 720p.

 

[jcll2002]

1080P is a higher res obviously so i would go with that. im on 720p and it looks alright (used to my computer though with a higher res)

btw 720p is 1377(or close i cant remember)x720.

 

[mathesar]

1080P is a higher res obviously so i would go with that. im on 720p and it looks alright (used to my computer though with a higher res)

btw 720p is 1377(or close i cant remember)x720.

1280x720 = 720P
1920x1080 = 1080p

 

[cscs]

My mistake on the resolutions.

 

[artmonkey]

I think jcll2002 is referring to the res that TV's resize everything to (1366x768), which is pretty close to 720p but stupidly enough different to cause a 'non sharp', messed up aliasing looking re-processed image.

As for the original question: I would pick a 1920x1200 monitor (24, 26, 27, 28 inch) because it would support video better but... If you want it on a PC monitor purely capable of supporting console games and don't want the bigger screen size then you might as well save the cash and go for a 1680x1050 one (20, 22 inch wide). Since all the decent games will only be able to afford 720p with good graphics anyway, so you'll be totally safe with that res, probably forever.

 

[ssj3_goku]

You will never notice a differance between 720P to 1080i or 1080P unless you have a HUGE screen i am talking about above 40 inches. also not many games at all for ps3 or even 360 support 1080p because alot of developers do not like using it. the frames drop quite a bit and it overall runs like crap . well the games that are out now like marvel and a few others.


this is one reason why GoW is not 1080i or 1080p and same thing with Motorstorm for PS3.

So honestly for a 22inch gamer screen or eve n24 i would use 720p.

 

[HardwareGuru]

I always want to max out what the hardware can deliver. But then, it really depends upon the individual. Some people notice the smallest things while others are not that anal on things and feel it looks good already. Also, the price they want to spend to get a 1080P lcd display. If one doesn't want to spend money on a 1080P display then a 720P LCD is good already since most PS3 are outputting 720P anyways. Heck, some people have High Def Tvs but still only using composite inputs on that thing!

 

[taylorwilsdon]

Most PS3 games are 1080p, so I'd go that route. I think the PS3 looks WAY better in 1080p on my 40'' then it does in 720p on my 32'' from about the same distance away.

 

[bootstrap]

You will never notice a differance between 720P to 1080i or 1080P unless you have a HUGE screen i am talking about above 40 inches. also not many games at all for ps3 or even 360 support 1080p because alot of developers do not like using it. the frames drop quite a bit and it overall runs like crap . well the games that are out now like marvel and a few others..

It also depends how far away you sit. If your HDTV is across the room, then yes, it's probably hard to tell 720p from 1080p unless it's huge. However, on a 24 inch monitor that was about 2 feet away, I found the difference between 720p and 1080p to be incredibly obvious. That said, 720p doesn't look bad at all, and I think you also have to factor in the game itself -- if everything else were equal, then I'd prefer the higher resolution, but if I had to choose between a jerky frame rate at 1080p or a smooth frame rate at 720p, I'd choose 720p.

 

[mjz_5]

one thing i don't understand is that couldn't they settle on one fuckin widescreen standard. too may different resolutions (two is all that is needed 1920x1080p and 1280x720p). Like, what is whit 16:9 and 16:10 screens!!!! errrrrr

 

[HardwareGuru]

one thing i don't understand is that couldn't they settle on one fuckin widescreen standard. too may different resolutions (two is all that is needed 1920x1080p and 1280x720p). Like, what is whit 16:9 and 16:10 screens!!!! errrrrr

16:10 aspect ratios are normally among WS LCD monitors and to me I feel its good because you get more height in the display. For PC use, the extra height helps with speadsheets. But then, with 16:9 mainly for LCD/TV is because WS movies are at 16:9 aspect ratio and they made WS TVs in general to accomodate that aspect ratio. This is because they view an LCD/TV to be mainly used for watching TV/Movies by most consumers. A 16:10 WS LCD monitor will still be primarily used as a PC monitor. The one thing I do hate is aspect ratios on the DVDs. 1:85 WS, 2:35 WS, 2:40 WS. Now that's too much WS already.

 

[rantanamo]

Those aspect ratios existed before WS tvs, so you can't blame the movies.

 

[big_kel]

The reason those aspect ratios exist was when TV started taking off in the US back in the 50s. The film industry wanted to bring audiences back to the theaters so they used these different aspect ratios to differentiate itself from TV and at the same time provide something that TV couldn't provide at the time: COLOR.

 

[Ferris23]

It also depends how far away you sit. If your HDTV is across the room, then yes, it's probably hard to tell 720p from 1080p unless it's huge. However, on a 24 inch monitor that was about 2 feet away, I found the difference between 720p and 1080p to be incredibly obvious.

Ditto.

 

[5627429]

16:10 aspect ratios are normally among WS LCD monitors and to me I feel its good because you get more height in the display. For PC use, the extra height helps with speadsheets. But then, with 16:9 mainly for LCD/TV is because WS movies are at 16:9 aspect ratio and they made WS TVs in general to accomodate that aspect ratio. This is because they view an LCD/TV to be mainly used for watching TV/Movies by most consumers. A 16:10 WS LCD monitor will still be primarily used as a PC monitor. The one thing I do hate is aspect ratios on the DVDs. 1:85 WS, 2:35 WS, 2:40 WS. Now that's too much WS already.

If I had my way, TVs would be 2.5:1 so as to accommodate even the widest movie made. That way, the old-fashioned, 4:3 content would have huge black bars on the sides. Why should the higher quality 2.35:1 movies get the short end of the screen-real-estate stick when they are usually much higher quality video content than 4:3 material anyway? Another benefit of this would be that stretching 4:3 would finally be so unbearable that people will finally start understanding correct aspect ratios and if they really wanted the image to fill their screen, start demanding more widescreen content.

At least they could have made hdtv 1.85:1 so it would be the same as ONE of the movie standards.

BTW, for multi-use computer/video use, a vertical resolution of at least 768 makes a HUGE difference. If you want to browse the web on your 1280x720 TV, its going to be difficult to see webpages that are made to be viewed in a 1024x768 window....... hiding the start bar and constantly moving the window up as much as possible just to see a line of text hidden just below the bottom of the screen will drive you crazy.

I believe the x360 does have a 1280x768 output mode through vga, which is close to 16:10 (it's actually 5:3) and would look alright on a cheaper 20" 22" 1680x1050 monitor with no 1:1 support. Moreover, I've seen a picture of an xbox360 with an hdmi port on it, which might make me finally buy one if it actually comes out. If you're gonna go ps3, You probably shouldn't even bother with anything less than 1920x1080 or 1920x1200 so that you can get the full benefit of the games that do support and are playable at that resolution AND watch blu-ray movies in all their 1080p glory.

 

[gepetto]

will the tv upconvert to 1080p if its being fed a 720p source ?

 

[-(Xyphox)-]

Go Big or Go Home 1080 all the way

 

[cscs]

Thanks for all the input, but I'm kind of bummed -- I was hoping the consensus would be that you won't really be able to tell the difference between upscaled 1080p and native 720p on a 20-22" LCD. I was going to get the NEC 20" that many people rave about but now you're all forcing me to reconsider.

Is there anything out there in 1080p LCD that has DVI, 1:1, beautiful contrast/brightness for around $5-600? I'll only be using it for PS3 (and maybe 360) so DVI/VGA will do, although if it had HDMI that'd be great too. But I don't need a TV tuner or anything else.

 

[big_kel]

will the tv upconvert to 1080p if its being fed a 720p source ?

No. The TV will display it as is. The console is the one that does the scaling. The 360 can scale but the PS3 can't.

 

[big_kel]

I believe the x360 does have a 1280x768 output mode through vga, which is close to 16:10 (it's actually 5:3)

Actually it's 15:9 not 5:3.

 

[HardwareGuru]

Ditto.

It also depends how far away you sit. If your HDTV is across the room, then yes, it's probably hard to tell 720p from 1080p unless it's huge. However, on a 24 inch monitor that was about 2 feet away, I found the difference between 720p and 1080p to be incredibly obvious.

I aree on that! When I got my 24" and updated the X360 to support 1920 x 1080 and compared it with the Samsung 23" at Gamestop, they have their setup on XBOX 360 or PS3 on component at 1280 x 720P. Before ever having an Xbox360 I thought that their setup was already sharp and clear as it is. But then, after getting an Xbox 360 myself paired with a 24" at 1920 x 1080 through VGA, the displays of the Samsungs on component at 720P look average when I'm up close to it at 2 feet distance. However, 720P or 1080P wouldn't matter though depending on the distance you are at and the size of the screen you have. If I play a DVD, I just stretch it to fill the whole screen on the 24" since I watch it at 8+ feet away, it looks clear at that distance anyways. However, what I am concerned though despite the distance and size of the screen is adjusting the brightness and colors.

 

[HardwareGuru]

Thanks for all the input, but I'm kind of bummed -- I was hoping the consensus would be that you won't really be able to tell the difference between upscaled 1080p and native 720p on a 20-22" LCD. I was going to get the NEC 20" that many people rave about but now you're all forcing me to reconsider.

Is there anything out there in 1080p LCD that has DVI, 1:1, beautiful contrast/brightness for around $5-600? I'll only be using it for PS3 (and maybe 360) so DVI/VGA will do, although if it had HDMI that'd be great too. But I don't need a TV tuner or anything else.

Your closest thing is a 24" LCD monitor. But, it will be over $600. If you are willing to spend between $500-$600 then just wait for the 24" to go down in price or just go for it and spend a little more. The extra 4" and higher resolution has the advantage over the 20" monitor.

 

[5627429]

Actually it's 15:9 not 5:3.

I guess if you wanted to use bigger numbers to show the difference between 15:9 and 16:9...but my math teacher told me to use the smallest numbers possible for fractions, so it's 5:3. Same reason people don't say "12:9" when they mean 4:3.

 

[LynxFX]

No. The TV will display it as is. The console is the one that does the scaling. The 360 can scale but the PS3 can't.

Yes, the TV will scale it to its native display resolution. Feed a 1080p tv a 720p or 1080i signal and it gets scaled to 1080p unless you are doing 1:1 which it would create a complete windowbox around the image. How well it does it depends on the tv. Some do it very well, some not so well. That's why it is nice if the player can do the scaling for you, which right now the PS3 is crippled at doing.

 

[cscs]

I appreciate all the input, but I think I'm more confused now.

The poll clearly (~40 vote for 1080p, 6 for 720p) indicates that you guys think that getting a 1080p LCD is a better choice for gaming (even though it will mostly be in black bars and I WON'T be using it for anything but console gaming), but many of the verbal opinions in this thread indicate that 720p might be the better choice.

I'm not just asking for my own situation, but can someone sum up why you would want a 1080p LCD that is strictly for console gaming? Most of the time it will be with black bars (if it even supports 1:1), and I have heard nothing but issues with next-gen systems playing back games at 1080p (clipping, dropped frames, etc). So I'm wondering why there's such a clear vote for the 1080p.

 

[5627429]

I'm not just asking for my own situation, but can someone sum up why you would want a 1080p LCD that is strictly for console gaming? Most of the time it will be with black bars (if it even supports 1:1), and I have heard nothing but issues with next-gen systems playing back games at 1080p (clipping, dropped frames, etc). So I'm wondering why there's such a clear vote for the 1080p.

With all the hype Sony is making recently about "1080p FullHD," I dont see how you could go wrong with 1080p. The PS3 was designed to output 1080p perfectly, so just output that to your 1080p display.

Unless you're telling me that when you have your PS3 set to output 1080p, and that the game you're playing only supports 720p, that the ps3 automatically downsizes the physical output resolution to the TV to 720p, and you're going to use 1:1 scaling on your 1080p display so you still have a pixel-perfect image.

II aree on that! When I got my 24" and updated the X360 to support 1920 x 1080 and compared it with the Samsung 23" at Gamestop, they have their setup on XBOX 360 or PS3 on component at 1280 x 720P. Before ever having an Xbox360 I thought that their setup was already sharp and clear as it is. But then, after getting an Xbox 360 myself paired with a 24" at 1920 x 1080 through VGA, the displays of the Samsungs on component at 720P look average when I'm up close to it at 2 feet distance. However, 720P or 1080P wouldn't matter though depending on the distance you are at and the size of the screen you have. If I play a DVD, I just stretch it to fill the whole screen on the 24" since I watch it at 8+ feet away, it looks clear at that distance anyways. However, what I am concerned though despite the distance and size of the screen is adjusting the brightness and colors.

Do all 360 games support 1920x1080? Or do you mean that only games that actually support 1920x1080 resolution look better on your setup than through component on the 23" samsung (which is probably scaled to 1366x768), right? If the game only supports 720p and you're using the x360's scaler that outputs 1080p, then the quality difference would be through the better scaling of the xbox360 internally before it spits out 1080p to your TV, compared to the store kiosk spitting 720p through component and using the samsung's scaler to move it up to its native 1366x768.



Here's another question: So if you get the HD-DVD upgrade and watch 1080p movies, are you going to change your movie seating from 8 feet back to 2 feet away like when you're playing 1080p games so you can see all of the extra detail?