It's between GOW3 and UC2.

GOW3  runs at twice the frame rate (for the most part) and has some spectacular set pieces and textures.

UN2 also has some spectacular set pieces and some great textures but it's frame rate is locked at 30fps. But walk through that Tibetan village and it looks stunning with all those vibrant colours, flags waving and people walking about.

they are the best looking games on consoles in their respective genre

uncharted 2  best looking third person action adventure
killzone 2 best looking fps
god of war 3 best looking hack and slash

Play the Poseidon, Hades and Cronos boss battles and your soiled pants will say more than my words ever could.

Now the consistency argument- I get that. Kratos, however, is the most detailed character model I've seen plus it's virtually jaggy free thanks to MLAA.

Hmmm...can't say I agree. My main reason is it uses an inferior AA method (Quincux) and the frame rate isn't as steady as those games mentioned. KZ2 has loads of small but constant frame rate dips from 30fps and some big drops too.

IMO Uncharted 2 is great but I think GOW 3 was even better.

Still, GT5 will be graphics king easily...

this

Not to mention it has stealth loading screens and I keep thinking my PS3 has frozen up until about 5-10 seconds later when it loads and I can move again.

Simply put: No.

BEST graphics on PS3 (EXCLUSIVES) , in this order (imo):

1) Uncharted 2 (including those excellent facial animations that beat GoW3 among many others in this list)

2) God of War 3 (it could be number 1, but Uncharted 2 has lots more visuals in the environment, and it's full 3D camera movement, God of War has some very SICK texture work and lighting, but not as diverse and the camera is still while playing).

3) Metal Gear Solid 4 (some points below the others above because of color palette and some uneven texture quality)

4) Killzone 2 (Sick overall graphics, particles, environment, lighting and depth of field)

5) Heavy Rain (very detailed character models and some great scenery, but it's uneven quality drops points)

6) Gran Turismo 5 : Prologue (still looks amazing, and it 1080p 60fps. HDR lighting looks the best, and the in-car view still is a beauty to behold)

7) Little Big Planet (Amazing particles, lighting, self-shadowing, it's gorgeous and visually endless)

8) Rachet & Clank : A Crack in Time. (It's amazing how awesome this game looks and everything happening on screen without slowdown, solid framerate)

9) Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (The first major PS3 exclusive and the one that started the best new Sony franchise still hangs in there with the best this gen, it was just that good for its time so sorry to any other worthy mentions )

10) MLB The Show 10 (Real life sports don't get more real than this)

Other worthy mentions: Valkyria Chronicles (art style, art direction) Demon's Souls (design, art direction), Motorstorm Pacific Rift, Flower, WipEout HD Fury.

Agree with this,

Soon we'll have GT5 as the best looking racing sim x]