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sc94597 on 20 January 2015
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curl-6 said:
sc94597 said:
curl-6 said:
sc94597 said:

That isn't a very fair comparison of course. You'll need to look at them at different pixel densities (on a larger screen) to get a better idea of the difference. 

I mean on my 22 inch monitor I can't tell a huge difference between (1600x900) 900p and 1080p at 2 feet away for most games, albeit there is a difference in blur if I try to look for it. On my 55 inch HDTV the difference is like night and day at 5-7 feet away, and that is only 900p vs. 1080p, not 720p vs. 1080p. 

You can zoom the images to fill your screen if you like, that's what I did.

I mean you'll have to be zooming on an HDTV to notice a huge difference. Pixel density is just as important as pixel count for clarity. It is kind of like if somebody were trying to see the difference between say 30 fps and 60 fps on a 30hz monitor. Of course you won't see a huge difference, if anything at all. That is probably why people see a larger difference between 480p and 720p than 720p and 1080p despite the proportional increase (3 vs. 2.25 times) in pixels being significant in both cases. 480p was already dated for the size/distances from TV ration, whereas a lot of people have TV's that don't entail a significant ability to perceive the change in clarity for the latter case. 

On my TV, I can switch between 720p and 1080p games without finding the difference conspicuous. I game on a 32" screen, which I generally sit 2 meters back from.

That is kind of like saying I can switch between 30 fps and 60 fps games without finding the difference conspicuous. It might be true for some cases it might not be true for others. The real point is though: for everything else controlled (same game, same monitor/tv) the difference should be quite noticeable. In the end it depends on the game. Some 720p games have excellent image quality because they reduce artifacts and aliasing with a plethora of different techniques. Some 1080p games have horrendous image quality because they don't do these things. There are many other factors to consider of course. But I think the 30fps vs. 60 fps and 720p vs. 1080p (or any other resolution comparison) are very similar. Here is an example of a situation when I knew the resolution was off right away. Dark Souls for the PC was locked to 720p 30fps by the developer. I didn't notice that before I started playing. I noticed the game was blurry and it had horrible aliasing for a 1080p game (I was playing it on my 15.6 inch laptop which can output 1080p.) I did a quick search and found out that it was indeed locked to 720p and I needed a mod to play it at 1080p (or in between.) I applied the mod, and instantly I noticed a clearer picture and not as much aliasing. I did notice the lower framerate too, but I figured it was because my laptop wasn't a high-end laptop and it was running at its best (locked 30fps.) Everybody is different though, and have different abilities to see the differences.