PS3 and Xbox 360 games: On which LCD look better? 720p or 1080P?

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DG25

Gawd
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Dec 15, 2006
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I know a lot of current next gen games (ps3 and xbox360) are 720P only (as in native resolution, non-scaled), so i wonder on what LCD do they look better: on a HD LCD (720P) or on a FullHD LCD (1080P)? Let say for a 42" inch lcd.
I know that current consoles have the ability to upscale 720P games to 1080P resolution, but i've read that it doesn't look so sharp. Wouldn't they look more sharp in a native resolution on a hd lcd, then upscaled to 1080P on a full hd lcd?
 
i have my ps3 on a 47" 1080p and it look great. It all depend on the tv.
 
I thought the upscaling is done by the console, and not the TV. So the TV is getting 1080P signal, so in this case i don't think it depends all that much on the tv.

Currently i have a 32" 720P and a PS3 and i can say that games look ok (the lack of AA bugs me though), but that's because i haven't compared it to a full hd screen yet. ;) That's why i was asking if any of you have done the comparison...
 
For 360 the upscaling can be done by the console, but this is more for compatibility then IQ.
The PS3 does not upscale PS3 games so if it was connected to a 1080p TV and the game only supports 720p like 98% of them do then the TV will do the upscaling. Quality of upscaling depends on the TV.

In general I would say that a 720p LCD TV would actually look better with a 720p source then a 1080p TV with a 720p source, because there is no upscaling and LCD's look best at native resolution period. Upscaling is not perfect and definitely not perfect when done by consoles or the vast majority of TV's. This is assuming your using an HDMI connection.

I was thinking of getting a nice AV receiver to upscale my games from 720p to 1080p, but the relatively affordable ones I've seen only upscale analog sources to 1080p.
 
DG25 said:
I thought the upscaling is done by the console, and not the TV. So the TV is getting 1080P signal, so in this case i don't think it depends all that much on the tv.

Currently i have a 32" 720P and a PS3 and i can say that games look ok (the lack of AA bugs me though), but that's because i haven't compared it to a full hd screen yet. ;) That's why i was asking if any of you have done the comparison...
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the point is that the ps3 doesn't upscale games rendered at 720p to 1080i or 1080p. so yes, the tv can make a difference in how the game will look.

i'd be interested to see some test results with a ps3 outputting to a 1080p tv versus a native 720p set. i don't think there'd be much of a difference but i guess it would depend on the 1080p tv's scaling capability
 
I have a 720 tv and a 1080, and a ps3 and a 360, and frankly there's no noticeable difference. Other than bigger tv = more awesome in general.
 
Hmmm, i didn't know the PS3 doesn't upscale...:\

Anyway, i was thinking that on a big tv, 42" or more, the pixels would start to show up in a 720P native LCD, when sitting up close (~4 feet).

Technoob, i see in your sig that you have a 32" HD lcd and a 52" Full hd LCD. If this is correct, i think is hard to draw a conclusion in this case, because the difference in the diagonal size.
It will be better if someone compared the two resolutions on 2 LCDs, with same diagonal size and at same viewing distance, one 1080P and one 720P.

Personally i want a 42" lcd (4 feet viewing distance), for gaming only, but i don't know what resolution to choose, Full HD or only HD? HD only is cheaper offcourse, but i'm afraid it will not be sharp enough in games. Maybe the upscaling done in a FullHD LCD will blur a little bit of the jaggies in games?
 
definitely go for the bigger tv with more resolution. if anything, compromise size for resolution.

4' on a 42" tv is a little tight too. but since you say it's strictly for gaming, no worries.
 
Listen, the only reasons to buy a 720p HDTV at this point are either because a) you're buying a small TV (under 30") or b) you're trying to save money (the latter could be a very good reason depending on the deal). Since you're planning on sitting close, getting something big and apparently have the funds, get the 1080p. You're not going to be in any way disappointed with 360/PS3 visuals on a 1080p TV unless you decide to compare to a high-end gaming PC at the same resolution.

I suppose I could add a "c)" above, and note that if you plan on buying yet another TV within the next couple years you could theoretically go 720p in some [IMHO misguided] attempt to make an ideal match of internal rendering to display resolution. Even then, though, true 720p HDTVs are actually quite rare (unless you go DLP). Most are 1366x768 and automatically convert 720p signals to use the extra pixels, so you're not truly native anyway.

Good luck and enjoy! :)
 
ganesh21 said:
It all depend on the tv.
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This.

Buy a cheap and nasty 1080p tv and it will most likely look worse than a decent 720p tv.

Decide on a budget and do a fat wedge of research.....don't buy cheap shitty makes.

LCD/Plasma PQ doesn't stand close to HD RPTV from what I've seen tho....unless you pay for it....big time.
 
Technoob said:
Who would waste money on a 32 inch at 1080p?
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Anyone sitting close. 32" 1080p LCDTV makes a pretty good all in one PC+Console+TV display as the resolution is good enough for most.

The OP also said he wants a 42" LCD for a 4' view distance. It would be best to go 1080p at that distance and its more future proof.
 
Very few games render at 1080p on either console. Those that render at 720p (or lower) and upscale the image to 1080p look about the same.

I use my 360 at 1080p on my 24" monitor. Who says 1080p is useless at small sizes?! I could press my face up against the screen and the picture would still look awesome =)
 
Unless you're using the LCD as a PC monitor as well just get the best panel you can, 1080p vs 720p is just about the last thing that matters, usually. Some people with very sharp vision can detect SDE on larger 720 panels, you'll have to discover this for yourself.
 
Technoob said:
Who would waste money on a 32 inch at 1080p?
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My answer to that? Anyone who's pricing 720p versus 1080p and finding the gap to be narrowing at an alarming pace. This time next year, you'll probably only be able to find 32" 720p sets on clearance or in outlet stores.
 
Babbster said:
My answer to that? Anyone who's pricing 720p versus 1080p and finding the gap to be narrowing at an alarming pace. This time next year, you'll probably only be able to find 32" 720p sets on clearance or in outlet stores.
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I'd be happy to wager money that that isn't true. December 09 I highly doubt finding a 720p set will be like finding a 17 inch crt computer monitor...exaggerate much?
 
idividebyzero said:
1080p now so you dont have to buy another tv when everything is 1080p later...
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When will that be? Currently a small small number of video games are 1080p, blu rays are, and a small small small percentage of broadcasts. About the only thing that comes close is OTA hd broadcasts which aren't compressed like shitty "hd cable" and directv.

Higher resolution = awesome, but unless we're talking pc's, blu rays, or a handful of games, it's about as mainstream as 7.1 sound. Which means it kicks ass for the 1% of consumers who actually use it, and the rest have no clue.
 
Next gen consoles will likely require 1080p for all games the same way MS requires 720p. Plus 1080p is getting more popular anyways, by the end of the generation around half of the games that come out will probably be 1080p.
 
idividebyzero said:
Next gen consoles will likely require 1080p for all games the same way MS requires 720p. Plus 1080p is getting more popular anyways, by the end of the generation around half of the games that come out will probably be 1080p.
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How does MS "require" 720? Reading your post one might think that the console won't play on an sdtv....it does.

1080 is certainly superior to 720, but there are higher resolutions than that, and as I've pointed out, hardly anything even takes advantage of it now. And this idea now that you soon won't be able to use things on your 720 screen is just silly as hell.
 
1:1 pixel mapping is always best. There can be no arguement here!

For this generation of console gaming a 720P display is best. (no scaling) But Blu-Rays will obviously look better in 1080p because that is what they were made to be - without rescaling the image.

Scaling no matter how good the scaler can never be as good as 1:1.
 
Technoob said:
How does MS "require" 720? Reading your post one might think that the console won't play on an sdtv....it does.

1080 is certainly superior to 720, but there are higher resolutions than that, and as I've pointed out, hardly anything even takes advantage of it now. And this idea now that you soon won't be able to use things on your 720 screen is just silly as hell.
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I was talking about requiring developers to make games in 1080p. Microsoft has a list of requirements if developers want to make a 360 game, like 720p, achievements, and Live support. Sony also has certain requirements games must meet but they arent as strict. It wouldnt be surprising at all if MS required games to be 1080p on their next console.
 
idividebyzero said:
I was talking about requiring developers to make games in 1080p. Microsoft has a list of requirements if developers want to make a 360 game, like 720p, achievements, and Live support. Sony also has certain requirements games must meet but they arent as strict.
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Many of MS's biggest hits like halo 3 don't even run at 720, they're upscaled from lower resolutions. Just about anything can upscale to an hd resolution on these consoles, so I'm not sure that it's any kind of a burden on developers.
 
Theres probably some rating system they have or loopholes developers are using to get to 720p, but they dont have complete freedom otherwise we'd be seeing a bunch of the shitty games in 480i.
 
idividebyzero said:
Theres probably some rating system they have or loopholes developers are using to get to 720p, but they dont have complete freedom otherwise we'd be seeing a bunch of the shitty games in 480i.
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or maybe people wouldn't buy 32 bit games on a 400 dollar console, unless they are arcade remakes and community games? Even xbox live arcade games are 720 and 1080..old nintendo and genesis era games...it's simply not a tough or even challenging thing for developers that you're trying to portray it as.
 
Archaea said:
Scaling no matter how good the scaler can never be as good as 1:1.
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Theoretically, but I think it all comes down to the quality of the hardware.

A 720P signal upscaled on a 1080p Kuro will likely look better than on a native 720p Panasonic doing 1:1.
 
The misinformation being bandied about here is staggering. I highly suggest anyone actually trying to get some info on what kind of screen to buy visit AVSforums and get some knowledgeable help.
 
i have a 32" samsung lcd 720p, all games seem to look pretty good on either console, some may suffer from aliasing, but they all look great none the less.

720p seems pretty standard for games atm, but upscalling should not look any less better, the differences are almost minimal (unless your tv is as big as your wall).

some people didn't even know the true res of halo3 until the numbers came out.
 
You don't have to be overly technical in this instance. Anyone buying a TV and not interested in having to buy another one in a few years should probably look to a 1080p model. Almost all of the new ones support it, and it's future-proof for at least a generation.
720p is pretty much the standard for the moment, but the 360's upscaling is fine. In most cases you won't notice much difference if any.
For the PS3, there are a couple of 1080p games, plus Blu-Ray movies to consider.
If you hook up your PC, you can play pretty much everything in 1080p, 720p, or at least a very high resolution 4:3 letterbox.
The value of having a 1080p set is worth more than the slight quality increase from having a 720p native set and 720p image.
I've got both a 720p set and a 1080p set and unless your TV's are a lot better than mine (Sony and Samsing)...which is possible, I doubt you'll care.
 
Stereophile said:
A 720P signal upscaled on a 1080p Kuro will likely look better than on a native 720p Panasonic doing 1:1.
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Well, yes. But make that a 720p Kuro instead of a 720p Panasonic, and I will wholeheartedly disagree.
 
tho, it is true that tv brands make all the difference, its basically a study before buy type deal.

many report differences between models, but sometimes can be mimicked with a few adjustments.
 
I got a Sony 46' 1080p close to two years and the thing still looks amazing. The 720/1080 issue for console games is a non issue as some have suggested already as the TV quality is the highest criteria. Whatever is doing the upconvert will look great on a good TV. As for what is the best picture quality vs money TV at this point in time I won't even guess at, just be willing to put up the cash (Save longer if need to, I ended up saying the hell with it and going $1000 over my 'planned' budget lol) and then never go look at new TVs again in case you want to second guess your purchase. :D
 
duuuuuumb said:
some people didn't even know the true res of halo3 until the numbers came out.
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I just heard the latest Tomb Raider game runs at 720p on PS3 but 576p upscaled on X360.

And the PS3 version was the "port" !

Unbelievable. :D
 
Stereophile said:
I just heard the latest Tomb Raider game runs at 720p on PS3 but 576p upscaled on X360.

And the PS3 version was the "port" !

Unbelievable. :D
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Who gives a shit other than number obsessed fanboys though, for either case? I couldn't tell you the native res of any of my current favorite games, but I play them all on my 1080 tv and enjoy them.
 
Technoob said:
Who gives a shit other than number obsessed fanboys though, for either case? I couldn't tell you the native res of any of my current favorite games, but I play them all on my 1080 tv and enjoy them.
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To be fair, this is [H]ardforum, where number obsessions are expected and often embraced. :D
 
Babbster said:
To be fair, this is [H]ardforum, where number obsessions are expected and often embraced. :D
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Do people also have to leave their common sense at the door too? I guess since this is hardforum we all need 200 dollar gaming NIC's too right?
 
Ok TN, brush it off, its no big deal, nothing bad was said, don't take anything personal and out of context, that's how threads close.
 
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