More pixels or prettier pixels?
- Thread starter OCASM
- Start date
Bit of a flawed analogy though, when you can have a very decent, balanced middle ground. Extremes on both sides are a bit useless.
IN MY HUMBLE PERSONAL OPINION
IN MY HUMBLE PERSONAL OPINION
How do you want to have more detail and less pixels at the same time? You need actual pixels to show detail you know? If you have 480p and LOTR levels of detail the image will be a blurry mess and you not be able to make out all your precious detail from it. This was made obvious to me after I got PSVR: what looks clean on 43 inch 1080p looks quite a bit more blurry on the 1080p / 2 headset display. Seeing the headset display up close is in essence the same thing as having your game displayed at 480p from just a little bit farther away on a desk.
480p vs 4k? 480p is shooting a bit low. I could easily be convinced of 1080p. I'm the type of person that would play a game at 1080p on Ultra vs 4k on Medium. Obviously this changes a lot based on screen size. a 65" tv with 1080p maybe doesn't look that great. Overall, I'm not a huge believer in 4k, and I'm very accepting to compromises in resolution.
End of the day, HDR already helps things a lot. Even 1080p HDR with a good amount of AA is fine for most things. Heck, most 4K UHD Blu-ray movies are mastered at 2K (basically 1080p) and then upscaled on the disc to 4K.
You don't want VR with more and prettier pixels?Still, I believe the future is not either on prettier pixels or better pixels. The future is VR!
People have failed to grasp the argument. The question is whether you prefer photorealism or clarity. Would you rather have games that look like movies at lower resolutions, or sacrifice that for the current gamey look at higher res?
Of course, the question is actually complicated by viewing device. Any 480p content viewed now on your HDTV is upscaled. A game at 480p without upscaling (adding lag) is going to look pixelated. The solution then is to render at 480p and then upscale with a clever upscaling algorithm, at whatever overhead. And on a 65" 4K dispaly, 480p is going to look horribly blurred, whereas on a 14" CRTV it'll look gorgeous.
Thus, having attempted to clarify the question, I've only overcomplicated the need for answers. My work here is done.
Of course, the question is actually complicated by viewing device. Any 480p content viewed now on your HDTV is upscaled. A game at 480p without upscaling (adding lag) is going to look pixelated. The solution then is to render at 480p and then upscale with a clever upscaling algorithm, at whatever overhead. And on a 65" 4K dispaly, 480p is going to look horribly blurred, whereas on a 14" CRTV it'll look gorgeous.
Thus, having attempted to clarify the question, I've only overcomplicated the need for answers. My work here is done.
It doesn't have to be as extreme as 480p vs 4K. The point is trade-offs. How much resolution are you willing to sacrifice for higher fidelity graphics, if any?
Now, as for the other argument, there's more to fidelity than detail. For example, lighting quality. Path tracing even at SD resolution looks an order of magnitude better than current videogame lighting techniques.
The problem with VR is that the displays themselves are low-res. 480p on a 1K display looks worse than 480p in a 4K display.
Now, as for the other argument, there's more to fidelity than detail. For example, lighting quality. Path tracing even at SD resolution looks an order of magnitude better than current videogame lighting techniques.
Photorealism isn't the goal necessarily, just higher fidelity. Pixar CGI for example.People have failed to grasp the argument. The question is whether you prefer photorealism or clarity. Would you rather have games that look like movies at lower resolutions, or sacrifice that for the current gamey look at higher res?
Of course, the question is actually complicated by viewing device. Any 480p content viewed now on your HDTV is upscaled. A game at 480p without upscaling (adding lag) is going to look pixelated. The solution then is to render at 480p and then upscale with a clever upscaling algorithm, at whatever overhead. And on a 65" 4K dispaly, 480p is going to look horribly blurred, whereas on a 14" CRTV it'll look gorgeous.
Thus, having attempted to clarify the question, I've only overcomplicated the need for answers. My work here is done.
Need someone to hook up an Xbox One X to a 720p tv and see how Wolf 2 and Battlefront 2 look. If a highly super-sampled game looks good on a 720p screen, then there's probably a lot of room to grow at that resolution. Just a question of solving aliasing without adding any additional blur that would make 720p look too soft.
You don't want VR with more and prettier pixels?
Yes of course, but I never said I preferred 480p, quite the contrary
My argument was that more pixels are essential for more detailed imagery, particularly in VR!
By all accounts, we're heading toward 4K on consoles and PC whether it's the best uses of GPU resources or not. But I think at least we will stay there for a long time due to resolution fatigue.
My thinking on resolution is once it's good enough, and for me that's 1080p, I don't notice it. It's just there. After that, I think GPU resources should be devoted to address screen anomalies. Muddy ground textures, aliasing on wires and car edges, low res shadows, LOD pop in, frequent screen tearing, pixelated close up textures. They stand out and break immersion because they look so out of place.
My thinking on resolution is once it's good enough, and for me that's 1080p, I don't notice it. It's just there. After that, I think GPU resources should be devoted to address screen anomalies. Muddy ground textures, aliasing on wires and car edges, low res shadows, LOD pop in, frequent screen tearing, pixelated close up textures. They stand out and break immersion because they look so out of place.
djskribbles
Legend
I don't think I'll ever need anything more than 1440p. I'm even fine with 1080p for now.
imho, if by that you mean that more pixels make prettier pixels, I agree to that. While I dont have the best 4k screen in the world, it's a native 4k screen and it shows even in old games, and even in very old 2D games like Age of Empires 1 with the HD patch. I was like..."wow I hadnt seen that little detail before" and I played that game for hundreds of hours.
That being said, I am ok with 1080p on 1080p screens.
I watched LOTR to escape from reality
