Framerate Issues; What if you aren't pushing screensize?

[alpha_dk]

Chrizum said:
I could be wrong, but 480i should have a lower framerate than 720p, because it's interlaced rather than progressive, which means the image won't be refreshed as often. But I'm a complete n00b when it comes to these sort of things so I could very well be wrong.

Anyway, I think what GooseGaws said is true. It doesn't matter on what resolution you play, as the game is still rendered at the same resolution.

 You == correct.  NTSC framerate (that is, 480i framerate) is spec'd to be just under 30FPS (i think its like 29.99 or something like that, Wiki probably knows but I am too lazy to look it up).

 I think he was asking more for any future purchases though, unless I misread him. If he gets an HDTV (generaly 60+fps), then he is wondering if making it only output at 480p will make the framerates better in games where that is a problem.  In that case, 

HappySqurriel said:
It would probably depend on how the resolution was being handled ...

If you set your XBox 360/PS3 to output at 480p, if the game's native resolution becomes 480p you should see a much more stable framerate; on the other hand if the native resolution remains the same and the XBox 360/PS3 scales the output image to fit your 480p display you will see no improvement.

^^this wins