Digital Foundry tech analysis channel at Eurogamer

[grandmaster]

Right... new frame rate analyser is in the final phases of development which will allow for far more accurate tracking of games that are not v-synced.

I'm thinking of testing it out on the perennial Capcom games issue whereby the likes of Resident Evil 5 tear badly if the console is not set to 720p. Additional tests could involve 720p vs 1080p scaling.

Any other ideas?

 

[grandmaster]

WipEout HD interview will be going up this morning. The developer has been very candid in its replies and has offered up a full description of how the dynamic framebuffer works, along with all manner of additional info on how 1080p is achieved. Great reading, look out for it.

 

[Arwin]

Yeah, very nice interview, thanks!

 

[marcus_rocks]

That interview is gold. Need more of those.

 

[Gitaroo]

great interview, but didnt they merged with Evolution studio? Wonder if started working together with for their next game.

 

[whome0]

Merged/co-op between Sony Studio Liverpool (Wipeout) and Evolution Studio (Motorstorm)? That's new to me if true. Expect to see Motorstorm 3 with scifi vehicles...

edit: Joystiq rumour mill mentioned it on January, so something might have happened already.

 

[Blazkowicz]

very weird to read that PS3 is locked at 50Hz on standard TVs. It behaves like three generations ago (megadrive and SNES), and even then there were quick'n'dirty hardware modifications to run those at 60Hz.
Most european TVs support PAL60, except mainly very old ones with fake wood that only supported RGB and not composite video.

I know somebody with an X360 and a 14" CRT TV, living in a small flat. the most common TVs in use probably are still 21" CRT. Why? because when a TV works, people use it, and because the console is for playing games.
Even popular LCD TV aren't of the big home theater variety, though 32" 720p must be commonly bought.

 

[user542745831]

Interesting EDTV/SDTV/480p fact: Xbox 360 pumps out 640x480. PS3 gets a resolution boost to 720x480. Resolution static at both 4:3 and 16:9.

http://twitter.com/digital_foundry/statuses/3085788901

 

[grandmaster]

Yes, this is according to the digital handshake between source and display (intercepted by the TrueHD capture card): 1s and 0s, you can't argue with that.

Not surprisingly 576p on PS3 is 720x576 at 50Hz.

 

[Arwin]

And there's no option to support widescreen on the 360 you have to enable? It was like that on the original Xbox - you had to enable 16:9 in the control panel.

 

[grandmaster]

Whether it's 4:3 or 16:9 selected, 640x480 is still the same output, with the screen doing the scaling. Same on PS3, just at 720x480 instead.

 

[AlNom]

Whether it's 4:3 or 16:9 selected, 640x480 is still the same output, with the screen doing the scaling. Same on PS3, just at 720x480 instead.

Is it the same on the 360 during DVD playback?

 

[Arwin]

Whether it's 4:3 or 16:9 selected, 640x480 is still the same output, with the screen doing the scaling. Same on PS3, just at 720x480 instead.

Yeah, I could have guessed that from your twitter comment actually, stupid question. Ah, so on PS3 it is always 720, regardless of original aspect ratio? Interesting.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

That's the full TV standard with overscan isn't it? 640x480 is more a monitor resolution that'll be framed on a TV.

 

[grandmaster]

Yes, how it will be interpreted by the TV is probably the true differentiating factor. It is worth pointing out that you can always go for 848x480 native on Xbox 360 using the VGA or DVI options... probably of use on cheaper/older Plasmas, for example.

 

[AlNom]

Nice work. Love the video coverage.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-xbox360-summer-09-update-article

In terms of more positive surprises you'll find in the new update, perhaps the best news is that the optional installation of game discs to the hard drive has been optimised, sometimes with huge space-saving results. Just about all games see a reduction of around five to 10 per cent in their installations, but in the case of the smaller games out there, the result is even more dramatic.

Interesting...

 

[obonicus]

Is Crackdown now installable?

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Is Crackdown now installable?

Unfortunately not, according to the article.

Regards,
SB

 

[AzBat]

Unfortunately not, according to the article.

Regards,
SB

Which is kind of strange considering that it's supposed to be coming to the Games On Demand service. At least I still have my disc.

Tommy McClain

 

[grandmaster]

Superb, honest, refreshingly candid interview with Sacred 2 developer Tobias Berghoff:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-sacred-2-1080p-interview