Confirmed: GTA IV PS3 Is Not 630p…It’s 640p

by Patrick Steen on April 29, 2008 at 7:19 pm

It’s fun to compare consoles, especially when the comparison involves one of the biggest games of this generation. Grand Theft Auto IV has been littered with websites giving their opinions on which version looks best. Surprisingly, most had no inkling of each version’s native resolution.

Eurogamer are the first to speculate that GTA IV on the PS3 runs at 630p. When in fact, it doesn’t… It runs at 640p.

Yes, GTA IV on the PS3 is sub-HD. And if it couldn’t be any more ironic (the traditionally Playstation series runs at a lower resolution) it has the same resolution as Halo 3 on the Xbox 360 - perhaps the first game to receive the sub-HD back-lash.

The man who spilt the news? The now infamous Quaz51 of Beyond3d technical forums. PS3 GTA IV runs at 640p with 0xAA, in comparison to the Xbox 360 version at 720p with 2xAA.

Eurogamer, who base almost all their multi-platform comparisons on Quaz51’s findings, were using opinions from B3D’s technical wizard before he had received a reliable PS3 screenshot. In receipt of a high-res shot, Quaz51 had this to say:

Good news [...] it’s 1152×640p (and no AA) exactly like Halo 3, Perfect Dark [Zero] or Dark Sector PS3.

The resolution itself is unsurprising, but the side by side comparisons carried out by numerous websites tell a more complex story. For example, in IGN’s head to head, the PS3’s Anti-Aliasing is cited as being the better of the two versions, even though the Xbox 360 has 2xAA. This could be due to the upscaling and post-processing effects smoothing the edges on the PS3.

In their review, IGN continues to state that due to the PS3’s mandatory install there is less loading and less pop-in than on the Xbox 360:

For those wanting to know which version looks better, the edge goes to the PS3. The textures and framerate are comparable, but the PS3 has far less pop-in. The 360 has richer colors, but the PS3 has better anti-aliasing making it look a little cleaner. Because GTA IV can preload onto the PS3 hard drive, the in-game loads are faster. Don’t worry Xbox owners, the load times are rarely more than 30 seconds and don’t occur very often.

In another nod to differences between the two versions, EGM mentions that the “PS3 version looks slightly more vibrant and sharp.” You’d think the Xbox 360’s higher resolution would facilitate the sharper look.

Native resolution, thus, appears to have less of an impact than we might have first thought. At least, you are more likely to notice indirect differences, than the lower resolution itself. For example, upscaling on the PS3 appears to have some positive graphical results, which may explain why some websites say it looks better. Eurogamer’s Rich Leadbetter hypothesises:

It’s worth noting that due to the post-processing effects the game employs (there’s a serious amount of stuff being done to the raw frame), the PS3’s lower resolution serves to mask a lot of the nasty after effects.

For example, look at the dithering on the signs in the background on those shots. A bit ugly on Xbox 360, but smoothed and blurred away on PS3, presenting a generally nicer look.

In the end, what really matters is that both versions run extremely well and at an almost locked framerate. There are certainly differences on paper, but many will find it difficult to notice them in the game:

Which version of GTA IV should you buy? Due to the game’s impressive multiplayer - buy the version where your friends reside, because you could potentially spend hundreds of hours duking it out online.

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Tags: beyond3d, consoles, games, grand_theft_auto, grand_theft_auto_iv, gta_iv, halo_3, hd, minor_differences, native_resolution, Playstation, playstation_series, PS3, Xbox, xbox_360

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Comments »

DavidGX
on April 29, 2008 7:50 pm

I knew this would happen.. now all we need is to hear the sony fanboy explanations about how the ps3 is superior and the developers are lazy/stupid/incompetent/etc.
TheMan
on April 29, 2008 7:54 pm

Ummm, why repeat something that you already know.
BeefStew
on April 29, 2008 8:06 pm

@ DavidGX

Um… u saying that makes u sound like a fanboy. idk if u read the whole thing, but it also compliments the ps3 version pointing out how each version has its ups and downs. And even though yes, the ps3 is technically visually inferior, you wont notice much of a diff and in some cases it looks better on the ps3
Adam
on April 29, 2008 8:07 pm

why DavidGX? WHY?! don’t you trolls ever get tired? Did you actually read the article or did you just read the headline and slap a “{PS3fans are stoopidz” comment on it? to fill you in, it says THE DIFFERENCES ARE SO MINIMAL THAT IT DOESNT MATTER, buy it on your console of choice, enjoy it and qfts!
cell
on April 29, 2008 8:21 pm

Well I got the PS3 version, and Im happily enjoying it on my 46″ 1080P Bravia, 7.1 surround sound system. I had to adjust the contrast in the in-game setting to my liking, besides that the game looks awesome. I can care less what XBOTS say about this I am genuinely enjoying this game and I have no complaints with my PS3.
sesho
on April 29, 2008 8:58 pm

Why the need of an excuse ? However you look at it , a (ported) game running at an inferior resolution on ps3 ends up looking as good or according to some superior , to a higher resolution 360 version .

IF anything took a blow i’d say its the higher res version , and to boot the lead platform …

God , fanboys from both sides are annoying…
Mark
on April 29, 2008 9:06 pm

Patrick Sheen. You need to learn to write better. “The resolution itself is unsurprising since the game was ported from the Xbox 360,”

It’s not a port as they were simulatenously developed. And the lead was the PS3. It could also be that the lead is 360, but that doesn’t make it a PORT. Get your definitions write.

Ripten = fail.
DavidGX
on April 29, 2008 10:38 pm

“Um… u saying that makes u sound like a fanboy. idk if u”

And you’re spelling makes you sound like an idiot.

“why DavidGX? WHY?! don’t you trolls ever get tired?”

And how, exactly, am I trolling? I’m simply responding to the boatloads of sony fanboy trolls that still insist the ps3 is more powerful than the 360.
Syugo
on April 29, 2008 10:54 pm

“And how, exactly, am I trolling? I’m simply responding to the boatloads of sony fanboy trolls that still insist the ps3 is more powerful than the 360.”

How does this relate to the article. Noone was going to say anything like that until you had to go and ruin it.

As said before there are ups and downs, and R* probably did it for a reason. Does this make it any better or worse on either systems? No. Did anyone expect it to be better in either systems? No. Are we still going to have a shitload of fun otherwise? Yesssssir.
Firelogic
on April 29, 2008 11:24 pm

The PS3 is more powerful. If it wasn’t, why doesn’t Forza look like GT5:P? Why are there zero games that even come close to MGS4? The power of the system isn’t what’s in question here because the game wasn’t built soley for the PS3. The bottomline is that it’s running at a lower resolution and no AA and yet it still looks better than the 360 version running at 720 with 2xAA. Rockstar obviously used more post processing effects on the PS3 version while taking down the resolution a little so why didn’t they do the same for the 360? Why didn’t they apply the same effects on the 360 at 720p or at the same 640 res as the PS3? Maybe because it’s just not capable? Maybe the only way to make it look serviceable was to sacrifice the effects and ratchet up the resolution to try and compensate?
Lolcr
on April 30, 2008 12:10 am

How’s the 360 superior?

PS3 GTA IV runs at 640p with 0xAA, in comparison to the Xbox 360 version at 720p with 2xAA.

If you ask me, it’s interesting how the PS3 has less resolution, no AA and still looks the same as 360 and even some experts were saying that sometimes it looks better. That really says a lot.
cjrix
on April 30, 2008 12:19 am

i knew that, ps3 is not as powerful as people think.. time will talk…!!
LC
on April 30, 2008 1:24 am

@davidgx what would jesus do? lol
Tom
on April 30, 2008 2:23 am

Hey DavidGX - there’s only one person on here who sounds like a fanboy.

“now all we need is to hear the sony fanboy explanations about how the ps3 is superior and the developers are lazy/stupid/incompetent/etc.” - this is trolling: you’re looking to start an argument and you’re taking the easiest route possible.
Patrick Steen
on April 30, 2008 4:00 am

Mark: You are correct, I used the wrong term. I did mean to say that the Xbox 360 was the lead development platform. On further inspection, it appears there was no lead platform, they were both developed by different teams, and so different decisions were made. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the 360 team was more familiar with their given hardware. The mistake has been amended. Thank you for pointing it out.

“Get your definitions write.”

It’s “right” not “write” ;)

Mark=fail?
Wade Larson
on April 30, 2008 7:14 am

Oh noes! Flamewar is imminent!

Also: Mark = Fail, because its Patrick Steen, not P. Sheen.
Disgruntled
on April 30, 2008 7:25 am

Doesn’t matter how good the game looks if you can’t play it. FIX THE FREEZING, ROCKSTAR!
madpuppy
on April 30, 2008 9:06 am

P. sheen….heh..
Patrick Steen
on April 30, 2008 10:29 am

>_<
Eirc E
on April 30, 2008 10:37 am

@DavidGX
The Ps3 is the more powerful system, the 360 is beneath it and the Wii is at the bottom. But it doesn’t matter, what matters is the games that are on the systems.
P.S. I own all 3 and a gaming computer. I kinda know what I’m talking about, and learn the different meanings of your (not mine but yours)and you’re (you are)
jake
on April 30, 2008 11:24 am

The most over used word refering to videogames fanboy…… come on if I read this word one more time i’m gonna freaking puke…
come up with something original……. don’t recycle everything you hear

cattle…
moooo moo fanboy
shamon
on April 30, 2008 12:06 pm

i just played it on my brother 360 seeing how i have the ps3 one and he has the xbox 360 version which is the same thing i cant really tell the what diferent they both look and play the same . The ps3 one is a litter darker so i had to change the brightness and some of the edge’s is cut off but thats it .
LC
on April 30, 2008 1:44 pm

I bought the 360 special edition. I like the combat a lot more, however it took me a couple of hours to get my head around the car physics and I’m still not sure I like how they handle and for the life of me I can not corner in any of the 3rd person camera angles being as they are too low and awkwardly placed behind the car, but the fps car cam seems to translate better for me.

Oh and bowling sucks…

plus I think this story is largely irrelevant, no offense patrick. It’s been my opinion that neither console really has the graphical horsepower or enough ram to do true hd resolutions with all the effects we expect.

I pretty much expect to see more stories like this for the life of the systems, developers have to do what they have to do to get games running there best. If you had to choose from a few lost lines of resolutions to get your frames up or what have you then its a fair trade since noone realistically can tell the difference.

I like knowing just the same but, in this case its largely irrelevant both versions are so alike that people should be deciding based on what console they own or which console there friends are on.

I don’t care about for pay dlc and if I’d had a ps3 at launch I’d have bought the ps3 version and my friends would have just had to buy playstations to play me or I would have played without them.

Everyone should stop bitching about the consoles already, enjoy the last two years before the next gen systems launch or before you know it you’ll all be telling us with ur fanboy authority that your next box is more powerful then my box all over again, seriously stfu already.
Patrick Steen
on April 30, 2008 4:48 pm

LC: I respect your opinion and it’s certainly not an offensive one to have!
Mike
on April 30, 2008 5:45 pm

There´s no doubt that this game´s graphics is a F.. crap!! I´ve never saw such worst graphics in my ps3 on my LCD FullHD like this! What a shame Rockstar! :(
madpuppy
on April 30, 2008 5:55 pm

Eirc E,

you sound like me, I have the same setup as you a gaming rig, 360, ps3 and a wii. and you are right, as consoles go the ps3 is the most powerful then the 360 and wii. I have owned the 360 since release day (waiting outside the EB at 11:30 that cold night like an idiot for my preorder) and I love it. but I also love the PS3. the wii…ehh
a cute machine for the kids.
they all offer something different, crying like a little girl every time a game is developed differently on each system will go nowhere. if done right you develop to the strengths of each system and everybody benefits.
Patrick Steen
on April 30, 2008 6:07 pm

Mike: That’s clearly untrue - GTA4’s graphics are extremely impressive for an open-world game, and it’s even doing graphical effects that many linear games don’t have.

There are 10’s of games that look worse on both the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Syugo
on April 30, 2008 7:42 pm

All in all, I think this is WAY more derserving of all tens than any other previous games that had it this gen. Got the multiplat GotY award locked up, and if they are allowed to the 360 GotY award also.
shamon
on April 30, 2008 8:11 pm

vice city and San Andreas spolied me musically… The selection is TERRIBLE in this game.

While this game still gets a 10/10, the music and radio stations as a whole, are an incredible let-down for me….

As a rap and metal fan, San Andreas was perfect, and had two entire stations built around what I loved… I also loved the all-classical channel, which put a great ironic soundtrack behind the chaos.

This one? Pretty weak. 80 percent of the songs, I’ve never even heard of.,.. Like the alternative rock channel…. I love 1990’s alternative rock, but has ANYONE heard of ANY of those songs?

The only metal in there is an old-school Black Sabbath tune….

I mean seriously…

A jazz/fusion channel AND a jazz channel?Huh??

Does anyone REALLY care about jazz that much?

And an Eastern European channel? I realize they probably did that for the character, but it’s a waste of space which could have been used for better music…

Oh well, the reggae channel’s still pretty cool…

Outside of that MINOR detail though, this game is unbelievable…
John Robertson
on April 30, 2008 9:17 pm

Couldn’t disagree more with Shamon’s comment about the music. I think this is the finest selection of tracks available so fair. You mention not liking the fusion channel, which is actually one of my favourites in the game (David McCallum’s “The Edge” is particulary awesome). A lot of the tunes i haven’t heard b4 but finding all this new stuff i enjoy is a welcome surprise, in an already great game. Also i hate metal (sorry Shamon) so i’m happy about the lack of it here.

As music tastes are so subjective this is sure to be an area that people will debate over endlessly.
LC
on April 30, 2008 9:30 pm

I do not particularly care for much of the soundtrack either, I am really disappointed that custom soundtracks are not supported. So far I have mostly listen to liberty rock but I am already getting tired of it, more and more I’m turning the music off.
Jonathan Zungre
on May 1, 2008 3:36 am

screw all you guys! i love how GTA4 plays on the game boy color!
Tom
on May 1, 2008 4:06 am

@Shamon - it’s funny but when I first heard the jazz station, I was really pleased. I’m not sure that having a limited taste in music is really a good enough reason to criticise the game.

As to the eastern European music channel - have you not noticed that it serves as the soundtrack for the game?
Hugues
on May 1, 2008 11:49 am

In fact I loved the Russian soundtrack and radio station, what a joy and what a change from the gangsta rap and heavy metal. Even the music styles I don’t like have very good tracks. I didn’t hear any run of the mill bad tracks so far.

But I still feel the controls could be improved, they are not tight, and the camera angles are not very good too. The 640p issue is pretty frustrating for people with big tv, I think that doesn’t deserve a 10 for graphics. OK so it’s the best graphics for so called “sand box” games, but really there are games with higher resolution and anti-aliasing that does look better.
shamon
on May 1, 2008 3:42 pm

I hope there a patch for custom music later .
Jonathan Zungre
on May 1, 2008 3:53 pm

shamon, i was totally with you about the jazz station. but try this, listen to it in the morning and take a drive around the beach area. something about the sun rising with the jazz music is awesome. its a different feeling that i’ve ever gotten from a game.

it really serves a different purpose than the rock stations. When you listen to the rock stations, you get pumped up for a mission. when you listen to the jazz, like the classical station from gta 3, you get relaxed to go kick some butt.
shamon
on May 1, 2008 6:33 pm

I will try that also I really don’t hate jazz that much.
LC
on May 1, 2008 7:25 pm

I’ve now got the music volume turned down to off and am streaming music from my mp3 player, just have to pause during cut scenes and turn volume down or off.

It’s a bit annoying, more micro management but at least not as annoying as getting ringed on your cell every five minutes with some whiny jerk off complaining about me not calling them or what have you.

With jacob I don’t even have to turn it off, I can’t understand him even with sub-titles on. On jacob missions I turn the volume up and just follow the gps and hope for the best.
pixelsword
on May 3, 2008 12:24 am

I find it funny how people want to laugh at the PS3 version of GTA IV for having below-HD, when logically, they should be laughing at the 360 because it looks worse than a SD game on the PS3.
LC
on May 3, 2008 1:39 am

wow some ones been knocking back the ur F**ing Retarded juice. ease up dog and join the faky hd generation and be a glad happy pokoloco donkey lover baby.
James Cornell
on May 3, 2008 2:44 am

It’s 1080p/i and 720p on the PS3. Says on the case, confirmed by playing it on my 56″ DLP with 1080I (Toshiba)

If people are stupid enough to not use HDMI, then no wonder they think it’s 480p, 630p, or 640p. The two later are non-existent resolutions, no TV in the world would support such odd dimensions.

Regarding media format, XBox 360’s baseline was stock units with DL-DVD, not HD-DVD, the PS3 was targeted at Blu-ray since every model has it.

Blu-Ray = 50GB
DL-DVD = 8.5GB

I’ve tried multiplayer, and it works flawlessly, even on wireless, though admittedly the audio quality is quite terrible.

Anyways, the PS3 like the 360 can do incremental updates to fix issues with the game, and rumors were wrong about load times, GTAIV stores 4.5GB on the disk.

Hopefully we can just get along here, it’s a great game, and I don’t notice the difference at 720P.

James C
Patrick Steen
on May 3, 2008 4:21 am

James: There are 10’s of games that run at Sub-HD resolutions. The console itself upscales them to 720p, and then passes it on to your TV. The graphics of GTA4 on PS3 are rendered natively at 640p.

Some other Sub-HD games:

Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty 4
Conan
Dark Sector (PS3)
Def Jam Icon
Jericho
Lair
The Darkness
Transformers
Viking:Bttle for Asgard
Halo 3
Oblivion (360)
Perfect Dark Zero
PGR3

And Pixel 640p is far away from Standard Definition.
Alonegamer
on May 3, 2008 9:14 am

how can call of duty 4 be sub hd? it looks and plays unbeliveable on both ps3 in 1080p and the Xbox 360 in 1080p. Just puzzled by that, such an amazing looking game is sub HD

COD4 LVL:55 (4th prestige)
Patrick Steen
on May 3, 2008 10:42 am

Alone:

COD4 is native 600p to reach 60fps. http://www.ripten.com/...
James Cornell
on May 3, 2008 10:45 am

Where’s your proof? Do you have a box that can successfully interpret pure HDMI signals, which reports the mode when upscaling is disabled on the console? I’m calling your bluff here on GTA, it’s certainly 720P, the others listed no doubt on them being less, but what’s 80 pixels on a 56″ screen, seriously. Most truely HD games are 720P, very few are 1080p, I think Full Auto is the only true 1080p game on the PS3.

James
pixelsword
on May 3, 2008 12:31 pm

Patrick, you’re wrong; Lair Runs at 1080p.
pixelsword
on May 3, 2008 12:37 pm

Lair is 1080p, so is GT5 (demo and game), Ultimate Alliance, Virtua Fighter 5, Tekken (the revamped and 6), and probably more games. I don’t know them all.
Patrick Steen
on May 3, 2008 1:49 pm

Pixel: I know it’s ironic that after all the fuss Factor 5 made about Lair running in 1080p, it actually doesn’t. Lair natively renders at 800by1080 (odd resolution I know, and could be mistaken for a higher resolution than 720p, but its actually around 800,000 pixels to 720p’s 900,000 pixels.)

Both GT: HD and GT5P are certainly HD, and higher than 720p, but GT:HD renders natively at 1440×1080 (no AA) and GT5P runs at 1280×1080 (2x AA), with the garage/pit/showroom at full 1080p (no AA). What’s impressive is that at 720p, GT5p runs with 4xAA, a feat most games can’t meet.
LC
on May 3, 2008 2:10 pm

trying to explain sub-hd trickery to ignorant experts is like trying to play kick chicken without a chicken or legs…may be a lost cause patrick, after all these commenter’s read the back of the box.

He called your bluff patrick now you have to stop reporting the truth, maybe your next article can be instructions on how to click your sourced articles for the unintiated.

Tally Ho my sub HD friends.
James Cornell
on May 4, 2008 1:19 am

More importantly I want to see real proof, such as pictures of a device that records HDMI signals, this would indicate what you’ve been speaking of. It’s true vendors do sub-HD all the time, due to media format and memory limits, but simply linking to vendor and 3rd party articles regarding the actual resolution is not good enough to convince anyone with half a brain.
LC
on May 4, 2008 3:13 am

Linking to the guy who is behind the methods and aggravating developers obviously won’t convince those with half a F***ing brain either.

You must have just woke up one day, yesterday, and decided “hmm I think I’ll use internet”.

Follow any of the links here posted by ripten staff and you’ll find the guy who is behind it all and in one of his posts he explains in detail how he determines the actual resolution.

But hey, why should you have to read the source articles? Make the guy who reported it convince you instead. In your search for truth maybe you should google the cure for stupid, you might find there isn’t one.

It isn’t just internet conspiracy, developers are on record expressing there annoyance over the issue, so believe what the hell ever you want. 720p on the box? then don’t concern yourself with the goings on of scary people.
LC
on May 4, 2008 3:46 am

maybe I shouldn’t be an a** but you know what It pisses me off you come on here and call the writer a liar without doing any research.

look into it, there not using a device to screen cap from hdmi signals, there taking the screen directly from the memory buffer before its upscaled.

the 3rd party forum as you call it beyond3d is where the poster Qauz51 and others talk about much complicated stuff and where the Qauz51 revealed the information in this article.

all of this story originates there and if thats not good enough source then theres no convincing you, don’t call patrick a liar cause he reported the news or because your too lazy to research it your damn self.
James Cornell
on May 4, 2008 4:57 am

Thanks for citing that. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I said he was a liar, sorry.

About the memory, now that would require investment in SDK’s for the console, or direct relationship with the publisher or production house, that’s expensive, so I’m sure Patrick knows what he’s doing.

This type of information can’t be easily, or legally be ascertained by just anyone, that’s why I was really critical of it.

I admit I didn’t do too much research, and I did follow the links in the beginning, but the above note about the SDK’s is what really made me unsure, it’s something I’ve been researching. PS2 SDK (MetroWorks CodeWarrior, and Documentation) from Sony is 20K for 12mo, PS3 SDK is probably the same, the 360 is 12K without an indication of time (Probably 24 months) the three players in this next-gen console game got it under lock and key, no hope for indies anymore, it’s worse than ever.

Anyways. Sorry.
Patrick Steen
on May 4, 2008 5:02 am

Sorry James, I’ve been trying to provide you with a lengthy explanation, but I was having a few technical problems. It appears my post was too long. But I’ve sorted it out now:

Firstly, Quaz51 is highly respected in this area - he’s been doing it for a long time, and many since have joined him. His method is proven to be accurate (counting the steps) and he’s successfully discovered the resolution of a number of games. His first game to get noticed by the internet was Halo 3, which was then confirmed by the developers. Quaz has since been the source of every Eurogamer face-off.

It’s very odd of you to state that there’s no doubt the others are Sub-HD, but GTA isn’t - even though their resolutions were discovered by the same man and using the same method.

It isn’t a matter of 80pixels, unless you think your 1080p HDTV only has 1080 pixels (1080p has 2million pixels, whereas 720p has nearly 1million pixels). 640p is approx. 200,000 pixels less. As proven by Dark Sector, the differences aren’t that noticable when done right. It’s important to add post processing effects etc. so as to cover potential problems through upscaling (jaggies tend to be stretched), which Rockstar has successfully completed.

PS3 Native 1080p Games:

Fifa Street 3
Full Auto 2
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
NBA07/08
NBA Street Homecourt
Ridge Racer 7
Virtua Tennis 3
Tekken 5 Dark Ressurection

Xbox 360 native 1080p Games:

Fifa Street 3
NBA Street Homecourt
Virtua Tennis 3
Spiriggan
on May 4, 2008 6:15 am

I own both the PS3 and the 360. And even though the Limited edition of the 360 pack was enticing, I still went ahead with the PS3 standalone version.

I have GTA4 on HDMI.

Awesomeness.

‘Nuff Said.
James Cornell
on May 4, 2008 12:03 pm

Strange… my TV unfortunately is 1080i not p, and I know how much this affects things (Interlaced vs. Progressive, you lose a ton of quality, supposedly half loss in capacity) It supports 480p like any TV as well as 720p natively. Thanks Patrick for explanations, I’ll rent Full Auto 2 since I already stated I thought it was one of the few, and you confirmed it, to see if visually there’s anything I notice. With GTA4, I can get the engine to lag, so I’m sure with 1080p I’ll definitely notice it. I’m suprised that of the many 360 games, only 3 are natively 1080p. You can go ahead and create a forum thread, list 1080i games on the post. Thanks :-)
Patrick Steen
on May 4, 2008 1:03 pm

Generally developers don’t target 1080i, but every Xbox 360 game will support 1080i (due to the 360’s upscaling). Surprisingly there are many PS3 games that don’t support 1080i, and so if your HDTV doesn’t support 720p and only 1080i, the game will default to 480p.

From the sounds of it your TV is a 720p HDTV - I’d play games at 720p native if I were you - it’s better quality than 1080i.
James Cornell
on May 4, 2008 4:37 pm

It’s a good thing that I’ve seen no 1080i/480p only HDTV’s. For the price of many, not having 720p is one thing that most people would be aware to look for, at least the gaming generation would generally see to inquire about it.
TheRazor375
on May 4, 2008 9:49 pm

Xbox 360 has a newer and better GPU, which gave it the ability to render the game native at 720p with 2xAA and also why its able to upscale any game to 1080i, it just has a much faster GPU.

PS3 on the other hand has a GPU equivalent to a Gefore 7900 and that GPU is starting to age nearly 3 years old so its not able to upscale on the fly or 720p with 2xAA on GTA4. But Sony had a counter plan and that was the Cell… Rockstart didn’t use the cell to help with graphics (as any other 3rd party ps3 devs) but used the cell for post-processing effects and the only dev team that has any chance to use the cell and gpu together is probably the guys who are making GT5.
Patrick Steen
on May 5, 2008 4:28 am

James: I don’t believe they sell them anymore. 720p is now the standard and must be supported, but early HDTV’s had no standard and 1080i was the only way to go.

Razor: I’m not sure if you’re trying to bait me into commenting, but here goes.

I expect the problem is not the GPU’s but the memory limitations and Cell. In lamens terms - to use the PS3 effectively you have to split everything up into little chunks - if done correctly your engine will run very well….and you could have huge results. If you want to talk about GPU’s, they can be problematic on both: Halo3 was 640p in order to tile through the GPU’s 10mb edram while retaining HDR lighting.

It’s wrong to say Rockstar don’t use Cell to help with graphics - we have no evidence that they don’t. It’s true not many games do (though the list is growing), but it wouldn’t be right to conclude that Rockstar only use it for post-processing.

As for games that use the Cell for graphics, I’d say it would be wise to look to Ratchet and Clank, Resistance 2, Uncharted, Heavenly Sword, Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, MGS4, and Killzone 2 for the potential of using the Cell for graphics.

For more info on Cell usage in games, though not necessarily for graphics, visit this forum post: http://www.ripten.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=49
DavidGX
on May 5, 2008 12:08 pm

Halo 3 renders below 720p because Bungie decided to have it render two frames each second, the second frame being layed on top of the first to enhance the lighting. Why they decided that the best use of the 360 would be really awesome lighting in a new Halo, I don’t know. I would have gone for a shitload of enemies on screen or something else. *shrugs*
Patrick Steen
on May 5, 2008 4:37 pm

David: Yup, as I said Halo3 was 640p in order to tile through the GPU’s 10mb edram while retaining HDR lighting. Creating two passes isn’t uncommon for HDR lighting, and Killzone 2 will render 4 passes.
dre
on May 9, 2008 12:31 am

i cannot believe this bull, R* was bribed by microsoft to make the ps3 look worst.lol…

but really i noticed how bad my gta looked compared to my friends xbox 360.. and he had a big 480p tv, and it looks way better than my ps3 on an hd tv 720p… this is just not acceptable how r* screw us over
Patrick Steen
on May 9, 2008 3:33 am

If his game looked better on a 480p HDTV, it has nothing to do with resolution. It’s simply to do with improved colour, removal of aliasing etc by the CRT TV.
dre
on May 9, 2008 12:11 pm

yea i kno, 2x aa makes a big difference in any game, and i cant believe R* made the ps3 version with no aa.
It looks horrible to me, and sometimes hard to see overall. I have put my settings in my ps3 to fit my tv, and color and brightness in my tv to make it as best as possible but it still looks like Sh***..Xbox looks so much better and smooth, i hate to say it but it is true.
KTR
on May 9, 2008 5:35 pm

The 360 does suffer a massive dithering issue. I guess the “blur” for the ps3 is beneficial.
david (not david R)
on May 20, 2008 6:14 am

Much a do about nothing!!!
danny
on May 23, 2008 7:32 pm

look everyone sony playstation 3 and the microsoft Xbox 360 both have 720p 1080i and 1080p stands on te box i have both x box and ps3 x box has downloadable content and ps3 has motion sensitivity SIXAXIS
DavidGX
on May 25, 2008 12:27 pm

….ok.
LC
on May 25, 2008 3:26 pm

damn five year old’s crashing forums, he can’t type but he can prolly kick your ass at COD…. lol
Patrick Steen
on May 26, 2008 6:04 am

LC: Please don’t insult our readers, especially when he/she has good intentions. Merci
LC
on May 26, 2008 6:44 am

….ok.
Patrick Steen
on May 26, 2008 8:30 am

As much as I enjoy the LC, David, Madpuppy party - we can’t scare away others :D
madpuppy
on May 26, 2008 9:26 am

You know you love it, Mr. Steen :P
Patrick Steen
on May 26, 2008 12:47 pm

Madpuppy: It’s Sheen, Patrick Sheen.

lol
Discombobulator
on May 27, 2008 5:12 pm

Should be Stern, what with the tellings off and that lol
madpuppy
on May 27, 2008 6:36 pm

Howard Stern or Stern! the pervert/criminal from Heavy Metal?
Wolfsheim
on May 31, 2008 11:33 am

Console gamers still dont realize that even on a PC, very few games run well when you get into the 1080p spectrum. On a PC thats 1920×1080 resolution which is a freakin assload of pixels! It doesnt look much better than 720p (1280×720) but it takes considerally more horsepower to run smoothly. PC games let you adjust res and many settings to get the best framerate/visual quality. Consoles cant do that, so they set res at the best optimal level with the most optimal vis FX. GTA IV already is the best looking game Ive ever seen, it puts CRYSIS, IMHO to shame. Best AI, Lighting, Weather FX, Living City, Physics, Multiplayer, Soundtrack, Ambient Sounds, etc and it will be very hard to match. Even MGS4 I dont think will come close. Both consoles do it justice, I have PS3 and a Nice PC so I think thats the best combo. The one thing I would contend the 360 version has now that I Greatly Envy is that you can create custom music playlists that PS3 cant, but I hope that will change soon or a PC version comes out.

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