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Forums - Gaming - Why resolution matters

So I 've been reading the forum last couple of days, and some of the comments that I see have been driving me nuts. Some people either need to get their eyes fixed, or they are just in denial. Regardless I will try to explain some things from a technical perspective.

1080p has been the standard by TV manufacturers for many many years now. The vast majority of TVs sold in retail output natively at 1920x1080. As a matter of fact the standard has become so widely adopted that even PC monitor makers chose to implement it in their products due to a cost of scale. 1080p is by no means new, neither is it expensive. A 40' TV screen can be had for as little as 400 dollars or less. Some 1080p PC monitors go for as little as 100-150 bucks.

Now someone would argue, but 720p is HD too whats the big deal?

Well here is the deal. If you have a 1080p monitor at home, try to lower a resolution to 1280x720. You will notice that the image on screen is very blurry. Downscaling or upscaling by a factor of non integer numbers produces a blurry image. But let's explain that a little better. If I have an image of 1280x720 and I want to upscale it to 1920x1080, it means I need to increase the length and width of my image by a factor of 1.5. So for every 1 pixel in length or width I need 1.5 pixels respectively. This is not achievable without loss in image quality. You can only upscale without image quality loss if you increase your output by a factor of integer. For example 4k resolution is 3840x2160, exactly x2 the length and width of 1080p. Manufacturers opted for this new standard, because they know you can view the current 1080p content without image quality loss.

That is why developers have been stressing the importance of rendering at native 1080p. The majority of monitors out there output in this resolution, and it will be a filthy mess if you try to render at a lower resolution and then upscale. And don't give me that "only gameplay matters" crap. If that's the case then go play your NES.



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The bajillionth thread on this same topic.......

Can we be a little more creative and talk about something else. Or rather let's talk about games that we  "supposedly" all love.

"VGC: The Professional Pixel Counters"




       

Meh, I had more fun on the 480p Wii than the 720p Xbox 360, and the most I've enjoyed any console was the SNES.



Im not in denial nor do i need to get my eyes fixed. The difference of 720 and 1080 isn't really noticeable to me.



I guess I'm off to play my NES.



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Don't give me that "only resolution matters" crap. If that's the case then go play your PC.



The difference between 720p and 1080p is huge, or not, depending on the 720p AA and scaling technique. It really just depends on the game.



Licence said:

Don't give me that "only resolution matters" crap. If that's the case then go play your PC.


I didn't say "only". I said it matters. And PC is great, you should try it some time.



Heh, you have your answer in the fourth line of the first paragraph, but instead of acknowledging it you try to explain it. Silly thread is silly :-/
#1080psoon



So it is happening...PS4 preorder.

Greatness Awaits!

Licence said:

Don't give me that "only resolution matters" crap. If that's the case then go play your PC.

PC's that can do PS4 level graphics above 1080p for 6 years are an unrealistic option for most people.

on top of that you would have to buy a monitor that supports resolutions over 1080p.

if people are comparing the nissan 370 and the honda s2000, you dont come in and say just get a ferrari because it sounds stupid.