Running PS3 on Full HD 1080p TVs. Which setting to use for software upscaled games?

[kazuyam]

On the back of the disk case from Far Cry 3(pal version only?!), it says that it supports resolutions from 720p up to 1080p. OF COURSE, it does not support native full 1080p. I know the game runs at some strange, odd cropped 720p in reality. The 1080p is just upscaled and software based.
Which setting shall I use to get the best image qualitiy, in relation to my TV? It's a 1080p Samsung, quite big.

What I tried and tested:
a.
setting the PS3 to auto video, the TV informs me of a 720p signal, but the image quality, on most games, gets a little bit too sharp, with white border lines everywhere. It does not feal like a native resolution at some degree.

b.
setting the PS3 to force 1080p, the TV informs me of a 1080p input (works only for some games, like Uncharted3 and Far Cry 3)
U3 does benefit from it, it's smoother, no white border lines.
Far Cry 3? Maybe aswell?! What do you think?

c.
Setting my TV to PC mode, Far Cry 3 will be displayed by the TVs 1080p mode. Very blurry, soft image. Need to crank up sharpness to 100%

My theory: My TV allways runs in 1080p, it's native res. Running video input at 720p will force my TV to upscale the signal to it's native 1080p res. And from what I've seen, it does a bad job. (white border lines, too sharp). Also I can't choose a resolution on my TV. Does it even support native res, lower then 1080p???

Using the software build-in upscaler, like it's used in Far Cry 3 or U3, a native 720p signal gets upscaled by the software(PS3 upscaler?) to 1080p and then send to the TV, that doesn't need to convert the signal. Thus the image quality looks better. Am I right?

Can anybody confirm this or mabye explain which one is better or ment to be used? Thanks

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Using the software build-in upscaler, like it's used in Far Cry 3 or U3, a native 720p signal gets upscaled by the software(PS3 upscaler?) to 1080p and then send to the TV, that doesn't need to convert the signal. Thus the image quality looks better. Am I right?

Yep. Your TV has a screen 1920x1080 pixels in size. To show an image of smaller dimensions, it must either be rendered as a box at 1:1 pixels, or stretched to fit. That upscaling will happen in your TV for all sources that aren't 1080p. Disabling 720p out on your PS3 will force it to upscale and send a 1080p source to the TV, bypassing its scaler.

 

[kazuyam]

Thanks for the quick answer. So my TVs uspcaler is worse then the one provided by specific games. U2, for instance, does not benefit in my case, when forced to 1080p, U3 does. I suppose, using a 720p TV is better for games at 720p.

 

[novcze]

Always use PC mode on your Samung, just name HDMI input you use as PC.

Don't know if internal PS3 scaller works for all 720p games, I usually let game developers decide what resolution they want to output as default.

 

[kazuyam]

Always use PC mode on your Samung, just name HDMI input you use as PC.

Don't know if internal PS3 scaller works for all 720p games, I usually let game developers decide what resolution they want to output as default.

My mistake, it's a Philipps, not Samsung. It does have a PC mode, too and I can force a black box 1:1 mode with it.
Are good 720p TVs better suitable for the PS3 then medium expansive(or any) 1080p TVs, in general? A 720p 42-inch should outperform a 1080p 42-inch, while using 720p signals, right? Because, no upscaling?

Or short, same display size, but '720p' vs '720p uspaceld to 1080p'?

 

[tuna]

Don't know if internal PS3 scaller works for all 720p games, I usually let game developers decide what resolution they want to output as default.

It does not always work.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

My mistake, it's a Philipps, not Samsung. It does have a PC mode, too and I can force a black box 1:1 mode with it.
Are good 720p TVs better suitable for the PS3 then medium expansive(or any) 1080p TVs, in general?

Probably not. I'd be surprised if your upscaler is that bad that you cannot tweak it in your TV. Check settings for various filters that may be applied - my Samsung has picture affecting settings in three different places! A decent 1080p TV should upscale video just fine.

A 720p 42-inch should outperform a 1080p 42-inch, while using 720p signals, right? Because, no upscaling?

You'll be hard pushed to find a 42" 720p set. Also, many 720p sets are actually 1366x768 panels and upscale even 720p content.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Only 360 supports scaling for all games for 1080i and 1080p. I've heard that it has a dedicated scaling chip, but some people have contested this so i'm not 100% on which is true although i learn towards the former.

With PS3 only certain games will work and even then, it may not look its best if you force it. Sometimes i've wondered why they even include software based support considering how lopsided it is in that regard.

Maybe for PS4, they'll add a scaling chip for 4K resolutions, i think it does improve things based on your TV set up.

 

[novcze]

My mistake, it's a Philipps, not Samsung. It does have a PC mode, too and I can force a black box 1:1 mode with it.
Are good 720p TVs better suitable for the PS3 then medium expansive(or any) 1080p TVs, in general? A 720p 42-inch should outperform a 1080p 42-inch, while using 720p signals, right? Because, no upscaling?

Or short, same display size, but '720p' vs '720p uspaceld to 1080p'?

I see, just use PC mode (no added sharpening) and let TV to do scalling. On PS3 enable all output resolutions and let games decide what resolution they want to output.
By outperform you mean input lag or picture quality, 1080p is more future proof, next-gen is around corner, don't bother with 720p TV.