Early Adopters fucked. Sony wants you to buy a new HDTV for your PS3.

[Vizzys]

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/746/746282p1.html

 

PS3 Downscales 720p on Incapable TVs
If your TV doesn't support a specific resolution, expect to go low-res.
by Jeremy Dunham
November 15, 2006 - As final PlayStation 3 units continue to trickle into more and more hands, additional details about how the system works and what it can and can't do are hitting the web. The latest (rather major) tidbit is how the console treats the upscaling and downscaling of 720p titles on televisions that don't support that resolution -- specifically those that are only 1080i capable.

As it turns out, gamers who own older HD sets that feature only 480i, 480p, and 1080i resolution input capabilities will have to settle for the display quality being downsized as the game boots in its 480p mode rather than upscaling the image from its more desirable 720p mode to the TV's 1080i. We tested this development on older HDTV sets with games designed for 720p but not 1080i -- Resistance: Fall of Man, NHL 2K7, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, and Need for Speed Carbon. Sure enough, the system downshifted all four titles to 480p rather than moving up to 1080i.

The PlayStation 3's competitor, Microsoft's Xbox 360, does upscale 720p games to 1080i if the HD set supports the latter resolution but not the in-between and commonly-employed 720p resolution.

IGN contacted Sony representatives for comment regarding this feature, but SCEA spokespeople have yet to return our phone calls as we went to press (we'll update this story when they do). It is not known yet if this is purely a software issue or a deeper technical problem and whether or not this lack of upscaling might be resolved on launch PS3 systems in future updates of the hardware via downloadable firmware patches.

For the laymen, 720p is a high-definition format that offers a complete 720-pixel line frame on the screen at 24 to 60 frames per second (progressive), while the 1080i signal is presented as two 540-pixel fields that when displayed back to back look like a complete image (interlaced). The difference being that a 720p picture offers quicker refresh rates while 1080i offers more detail with stationary imagery. The maximum resolution of the PlayStation 3 (and currently the maximum for available HDTV sets) is 1080p. It is thus capable of displaying all major standard-definition and high-definition video outputs wherever HD standards are employed (in PS3 games and Blu-Ray Movies, most commonly), but as has already been reported about PS1/PS2 games and DVD playback, it does not currently upscale any lower resolution images to higher image standards.

[MrAngryFace]

Ouch, this is gonna get ugly.










no really, its gonna look ugly

[Mupepe]

My PS3 doesn't even read discs.  I get to take it back tomorrow morning.  I thank god that someone cancelled their preorder.

[MrAngryFace]

No offense to early adopters, but my decision to wait on a ps3 wasnt JUST about the library. The first run of ANY console is a crap shoot. I got lucky on the 360, and only chanced it cause I got a good deal.

[Vizzys]

My PS3 doesn't even read discs.  I get to take it back tomorrow morning.  I thank god that someone cancelled their preorder.

Seriously?

I bet you are not the only one with a broken launch ps3.
I imagine it could end up being worse then 360. We already know the shortages are inevitable/

[brawndolicious]

No offense to early adopters, but my decision to wait on a ps3 wasnt JUST about the library. The first run of ANY console is a crap shoot. I got lucky on the 360, and only chanced it cause I got a good deal.

I think it's saying that the system can't scale it to 1080i no matter what and so you're screwed if you have a 1080i HDTV that can't upscale 720P.

[MrAngryFace]

TVC has been through like 3 X360s already lol

[TheOMan]

Well - makes me kinda glad I don't have an HDTV yet.  Yikes - this is terrible.  So I wonder who gets the blame here?  Sony or the tv manufacturers?

[MrAngryFace]

Sony IS a TV Manufacturer

[Mupepe]

Seriously?

I bet you are not the only one with a broken launch ps3.
I imagine it could end up being worse then 360. We already know the shortages are inevitable/

Yeah, it's ridiculous.  God, the interface looks sexy though.  If only the drive actually worked.  As long as I have it for the weekend, I'll be happy.

oh and it was fun playing last night, Viz!  Sorry, I didn't come back.  I went for a quickie with my g/f that turned out to go for longer than I expected.

No offense to early adopters, but my decision to wait on a ps3 wasnt JUST about the library. The first run of ANY console is a crap shoot. I got lucky on the 360, and only chanced it cause I got a good deal.

Yeah.  I was extremely worried about my 360.  But it has been working fine and in about 7 months, I've only gotten about 4 DRE's, 3 of which came from Dead Rising which is known for that.

Poor TVC though.  

[The Sceneman]

PS3 really has a rough road ahead of it. It seems like all press regarding the PS3 is pretty much negative. (Shortages etc.)

[Fatghost28]

Sony is totally to blame for this.

TVs that support 1080i and not 720p are old - and many of them ARE Sony's.  Sony has no excuse not to support them.

The issue just gets more funny/sad with the opposite problem with bluray movies:  there is no way to watch them in 720p with a PS3.  1080p, 1080i, or 480p only.  So if you have any kind of DLP or LCD screen that is 720p native, you're forced to watch Bluray in some non native res.  Ok for tv's with a decent scaler, crap for tv's without.