The Video Game Thread

[TimeForGuinness]

1080i to 1080p should be noticeable to anyone

I doubt that is the case.

I have no idea why interlacing, an ancient hack to make TVs work with slow vacuum tube technology, has been preserved in HDTV standards, but I doubt it makes any difference in this case. The console is almost certainly natively generating progressive frames with an effective resolution much less than 1080p. Sending them as 1080i may in fact be fully equivalent to 1080p if the native frame rate is 30 fps, anyway.

This whole deal with 720p, 1080i, 1080p, and so on is mostly a marketing scam, imo. Most video is compressed and this, among other factors, limits quality far more than the signal output resolution.

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I originally thought the only reason for interlacing was for OTA bandwidth considerations...but it all gets compressed anyways to fit into the channel, so my guess is it has to do with the compression ratio (1080i is less than 720p, I think)...but I don't know if that's going to matter all that much. The more likely explanation is ease of implementing in hardware for a small benefit that can be largely marketed as "more lines are better". I don't remember and I'm too tired to look it up.

[AdmiralKird]

Interlacing exists because old HDTVs were CRTs, and the only HD content you could get was through broadcast or Digital VHS.

And telecom companies only had to send half the bandwidth for HD content if they went with an interlaced signal, so it remained a standard.

I originally thought the only reason for interlacing was for OTA bandwidth considerations...but it all gets compressed anyways to fit into the channel, so my guess is it has to do with the compression ratio (1080i is less than 720p, I think)...but I don't know if that's going to matter all that much. The more likely explanation is ease of implementing in hardware for a small benefit that can be largely marketed as "more lines are better". I don't remember and I'm too tired to look it up.

1080i is more:

720p = 1280x720x60 frames/second = 55,296,000 pixels/sec
1080i = 1920x1080x30 = 62,208,000 pixels/sec

but yeah, it does mostly depend on the bitrate, which is why bluray actually will always have a market outside of downloadable content for the foreseeable future. This HD stuff on netflix and such is about 1/15th of a 1080p bluray.

And if you consider this:

http://forums.comcast.com/t5/Customer-S ... -p/1021793

A 250gb dl cap means a family can download about 9 standard blu-ray quality movies a month at maximum.

[TimeForGuinness]

Interlacing exists because old HDTVs were CRTs, and the only HD content you could get was through broadcast or Digital VHS.

And telecom companies only had to send half the bandwidth for HD content if they went with an interlaced signal, so it remained a standard.

I originally thought the only reason for interlacing was for OTA bandwidth considerations...but it all gets compressed anyways to fit into the channel, so my guess is it has to do with the compression ratio (1080i is less than 720p, I think)...but I don't know if that's going to matter all that much. The more likely explanation is ease of implementing in hardware for a small benefit that can be largely marketed as "more lines are better". I don't remember and I'm too tired to look it up.

1080i is more:

720p = 1280x720x60 frames/second = 55,296,000 pixels/sec
1080i = 1920x1080x30 = 62,208,000 pixels/sec

but yeah, it does mostly depend on the bitrate, which is why bluray actually will always have a market outside of downloadable content for the foreseeable future. This HD stuff on netflix and such is about 1/15th of a 1080p bluray.

And if you consider this:

http://forums.comcast.com/t5/Customer-S ... -p/1021793

A 250gb dl cap means a family can download about 9 standard blu-ray quality movies a month at maximum.

Your 1080i calculation is how it's defined, not how it's practiced/implemented.

http://alvyray.com/DigitalTV/default.htm

But like I said, it's all compressed to the same size...so compression artifacts start to play into the quality with larger ratios. I doubt there any difference with 1080i/720p...depending on the size of the TV and the distance from the TV. You make a good point about the original CRT HDTVs, I had forgotten about that.

[TheoSqua]

I'm 25 hours into Skyrim. This game is awesome. I lost Lydia though......she's not dead, she's not at home, and she's not following me anymore. She's likely stuck on a rock somewhere or something. I've spent a few hours looking for her to no avail.

[TimeForGuinness]

I'm 25 hours into Skyrim. This game is awesome. I lost Lydia though......she's not dead, she's not at home, and she's not following me anymore. She's likely stuck on a rock somewhere or something. I've spent a few hours looking for her to no avail.

She'll probably show up sometime...I don't know how far I'm into Skyrim...100 hours? Amazing game.

[Maclowery]

I'm trying out the 7 day trial of Rift. So far it's got me really hooked. Always was a sucker for MMO mechanics, and this basically took hilariously everything from WoW's UI, controls, quest setup, etc. And add onto it super entertaining (at least the first night, it probably gets old) Rift invasions that basically force you to stop soloing, get in big groups, and stave off massive invasions that'll totally wreck your whole questing zone otherwise.

Then again, the first day I had Age of Conan, I thought it would be totally badass forever, and I was thoroughly bored by level 20 or so.

[cpebbles]

Uncharted 3 was pretty awesome despite that 720p [expletive]. I nearly broke a controller a few times when the developers forced you into taking routes that weren't intuitive and punished you with a game over if you tried anything else, and the criticisms over the plot are warranted, but it's the best action game I've played in years. Combat is fantastic no matter what your playstyle, the acting is top-notch, and the level design is awe-inspiring.

EDIT: BTW, anyone playing multiplayer? I suck horribly, seeing as I haven't played a shooter really since Doom, but I'm still enjoying spending half my matches eating dust so far.

[JackofDiamonds]

I was playing U3 multiplayer, but switched to Battlefield.

What's your PSN name? I'd be happy to shoot at you.

[cpebbles]

cpebbles. I should be on tonight. Was going to be out, but then got a foot of snow dumped on us so I suspect plans have changed.

[TimeForGuinness]

I was playing U3 multiplayer, but switched to Battlefield.

What's your PSN name? I'd be happy to shoot at you.

I still need to pick up Battlefield 3...so I can shoot you in the face