Author Topic: Metroid Prime in Progressive Scan.....wow! (Read 23167 times)

natas · « **on:** March 05, 2003, 05:36:31 AM »

Man All I can say is WOW.

Last Week I decided to buy myself a brand new Toshiba 57HDX82 HDTV. Thats right 57inch widescreen HDTV. Knowing that my T.V wouldn't be here until monday March 3rd I ordered the HDTV compat cable from the Nintendo store. Well The t.v came monday but the cable wasn't there yet. Well yesterday to my surprise the cable was on my doorstep.

So I hooked this bad boy up. The only issue I have with the cable is that I have to use the other cable for audio and the fact that it lacks a nice Digital audio connector on it. No worries. My idea here is to buy a extra cable and power cable for the living room that way I can switch from my room to the living room. (My girlfriend tends to play Animal Crossing for atleast 3-4 hours at a time...so its better that she plays that in my room).

Well anyway I guess this could be a review of the cable. Here it goes:

First game I popped in of course was Metroid Prime. I held down the "B" while turning the game on and it prompted me for Progressive Scan. I said yes. Right from the opening screen I could see a difference. Color was way brighter and the black and white levels were alot cleaner. The image on the 57inch screen T.V went from blurry to sharp like a computer monitor. I actually got bored of metroid prime on the smaller t.v but after hooking this cable up I played last night for 3 hours and noticed a ton of things I was missing mainly because this cable sharpens things up so much that you actually get a better depth perception.

The next test was Skies of Arcadia. The game is not Progressive scan. Knowing that a component (Y/Pb/Pr) cable should give you better quality than a S-Video or standard composite cable I figured the picture should clean up a little. Well it did. Its not the biggest improvement in the world...but it makes a difference on a huge screen. When you have a large HDTV you start to notice alot of stuff about cables, power etc you didn't before. With a normal t.v a little blur, static, vertical/horizontal lines or ghosting won't show up as much...with this T.V you see it all. Sat TV looks like complete crap unless you have a very clean signal...in fact DVD's you even start to notice noise etc if the DVD is done bad. Anyway to my point...this cable does help out and when hooking it up and playing a non-progressive scan game the Picture quality did improve a little.

If you have a HDTV this is a must buy hands down. I give the cable a 9/10. It would get a 10 in my mind if it came with audio connections and even better digital audio connection.

I will try to get a pic of the T.V playing Metroid prime. If only Metroid prime was in 16:9

theaveng · « **Reply #1 on:** March 05, 2003, 05:51:34 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: natas
When you have a large HDTV you start to notice alot...in fact DVD's you even start to notice noise etc if the DVD is done bad...

Have you tried a VHS tape? With only half the DVD resolution, it should look like absolute crap.

ThePerm · « **Reply #2 on:** March 05, 2003, 06:32:00 AM »

yeah i want my freind to get these cables...it would look badass on his tv.

betamac · « **Reply #3 on:** March 05, 2003, 06:34:37 AM »

With a setup like that you should buy Superbit DVDS

these have a much higher resolution than standard DVDS so will look much better, obviously you have to sacrifice the extras

I would like a setup like that been planning on replacing my 32" Widescreen Sony for a plasma, but just dont know

EggyToast · « **Reply #4 on:** March 05, 2003, 06:42:21 AM »

Plasmas aren't that great -- they have poor color balance, and the blacks are washed out compared to projection or CRT tv's. if you want a big screen on the wall, it's best to look at front projection.

Anyway, yeah, it's great with progressive scan on big TV's. I have a 53" panasonic HDTV and it makes me actually look forward to playing games, instead of just something to pass the time

Games like Pikmin where the landscapes are beautiful and the colors just POP look great spread across the screen.

And, just so you know, apparently if you have the component cables plugged in, you don't need to hold "B" for progressive scan. I never do any more and I still get the prompt. It's automatic.

betamac · « **Reply #5 on:** March 05, 2003, 06:46:00 AM »

I have to disagree with the plasma comment the reason i want one is after seeing Metroid running on one it absolutely blew me away, now i am not saying they are better than what you mentioned but they are certainly good enough to make me say WOW,

plus they are so much smaller (Flatter) and easier to position than a standard TV and for me to have the perfect position for my home cinema setup i need to hang on the wall

nolimit19 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 05, 2003, 06:54:21 AM »

yea i dont like plasmas as much either, but the one thing they have is that they are small. my computer screen is plasma, and its alright, but its the size that makes it great.

Mingesium · « **Reply #7 on:** March 05, 2003, 08:56:49 AM »

Since there is no Metroid Prime Discussion thread, I'll post this here.

Kidtendo is reporting that the Japanese and European version of Metroid Prime will have improvements over the American version.

Hemmorrhoid · « **Reply #8 on:** March 05, 2003, 09:34:20 AM »

Are you guys talking about those backprojector TVs or normal TVs?
Because I wouldnt know which normal TV is a 53inch. Sorry for this dumb question, dont know much about TVs.

I envy all you people that have enough money to buy those super fancy TVs.
Do Plasma TVs support Progressive Scan?

thesos21 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 05, 2003, 09:35:55 AM »

Why does the TV even ask if you want to play in progressive scan? Why doesn't it just do it automatically, it's not like anyone is going to say ''no".

EggyToast · « **Reply #10 on:** March 05, 2003, 09:48:44 AM »

nolimit, your computer monitor is plasma? Or LCD? There's a pretty big difference, both in quality and price. I've seen a few LCD TV's that are 40-50" and yeah, they look good. But about the same as an HDTV rear-projection TV. The thing is, most stores not only leave their TVs on non-stop, but they also don't reconfigure them when they're moved or bumped. So you get blurry screens and washed out colors because the floor models are pretty beat up. The TV I have looks just as good as a high quality (read- $7000) LCD screen at the same price, and although it's a bit bigger, it's something I can afford.

The thing about putting plasma screens on the wall is only due to their depth, being a few inches. They still weigh a good 70--100 pounds, which, granted, is about half of what a projection TV weighs. But it's not as trivial as just "hanging on the wall" -- you need mounting brackets and a quality wall to mount it against (not to mention be able to make pretty good-sized holes in the thing).

The reason that plasma doesn't look as good is because plasma works by essentially lighting up all of the plasma, which means that blacks don't look as black as they should. Normal TV's do it fine because black is simply lack of light -- nothing shines there. LCDs are also good, but the ones that aren't top 'o the line have problems with high contrast, as the white "bleeds" into the black, causing some ghosting.

And hem, we're talking about the rear projection TV's. regular TV's don't show up in retail in much of anything over 40".

I know someone who recently purchased a 94" front projection system. That's simply a high-quality screen you put on the wall, and a ceiling mounted projector. It's HDTV, extremely high quality, and cheap, too -- it only cost him about $2k (for 94"!!). The whole system is also much lighter than both plasma and LCD, as the screen is separate and very light, and the projector itself is simply stuck to the ceiling. But due to the separate components and the extremely large size, you really need a lot of space for it. You know that motion sickness warning in the front of game booklets? You start to feel that after long gaming sessions on a 50" TV -- imagine on a 94"!

Hemmorrhoid · « **Reply #11 on:** March 05, 2003, 10:02:16 AM »

Well, my mum was gonna buy one of those big 50s, but she got a huge regular TV instead because it had a much sharper picture ,the biggest standard TV you could get (90 something cm, dont know it in inches). I think those rear-projector TVs are cool, but not very sharp, or atleast it seems that way when you stand next to a standard TV and a projector in a store.

Ive never seen progressive scan, is that something only rear-projector tvs support?
So for ultimate picture gaming quality (size irrelevant) whats the best choice? I bet something I cant afford

BTW I heard that the Xbox Soul Calibut supports something called 'D4 Progressive Scan' which runs at a resolution of 1280 x 720 Pixel only for HDTVs. Do all HDTVs support such a resolution?

kusanagi · « **Reply #12 on:** March 05, 2003, 10:25:19 AM »

damn those are some nice improvements there.

natas · « **Reply #13 on:** March 05, 2003, 10:25:35 AM »

Hemmorrhoid: If you are talking about normal RPTV (Rear Projection) then yes a standard regular or flat screen T.V looks better. Apparently you haven't seen the RP-HDTV's (Rear Projection-High Definition). The T.V I just got is RP-HDTV and when compared to my normal 32inch TV it makes the T.V look like a Toy. Image is sharper, color is better and best of all HDTV's have very very high resolutions. Just go to a local Electronic shop and have them show you a RP-HDTV with a HD 1080i picture and it will blow you away!!

betamac: I already have a few Superbit titles coming in this week. Dark Crystal Superbit was released this week and its on it way to my house

Yes the superbits are suppose to look real nice...but there still not High Def. Hopefully at the end of this year we will start to see the new HD-DVD format in stores. Right now they are trying to decide on the standard here. So for now the only thing I get in true HD quality are a few X-box games (yes my roomate has a xbox...its not mine!) and a few local stations that broadcast in HD.

Although the gamecube is not true High Def and just progressive scan it still makes a huge difference when compared to playing the game on a normal t.v or a HDTV with the non-HD cables.

Hostile Creation · « **Reply #14 on:** March 05, 2003, 11:04:57 AM »

The graphics are impossibly dark on my television, and I doubt my TV is compatible. . . ah, well. I'll live with wonderful gameplay.

Hemmorrhoid · « **Reply #15 on:** March 05, 2003, 11:14:15 AM »

tell me though
how expensive is a rear-projector HDTV?
i always thought standard rear projectors were already quite expensive

are plasma or rear-projector HDTV better (in resolution, color, for gaming etc)

KrazyJ1098 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 05, 2003, 11:22:48 AM »

well hemmorhoid, they are really expensive. they are about 3 grand to 10 grand usually. although i have seen them slightly cheaper.

KrazyJ1098 · « **Reply #17 on:** March 05, 2003, 11:24:31 AM »

and plasma tv's are about 6500 to 14000 dollars. pretty expensive for something that isnt likely to last 3 or 4 years. but thats just a rumor. get a regular HDTV. not only is it cheaper, but it is known to give you your moneys worth.

Agent · « **Reply #18 on:** March 05, 2003, 12:27:43 PM »

That must have cost a fortune. I only 15 so I'm proud enought that I scored this tv here:

http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=11101557&m=1&cat=24&scat=28

for only $200. Its not hdtv but compared to my last tv this flat screen is a big step up. I don't have a gc but now having an s-video hook up also helps alot for my xbox. My last tv didn't have that feature either.

Is it true that you start to notice alot more jaggies though on an hdtv, becuase you can now notice them with all the clarity?
BTW I didn't know gc supported Doly Digital sound. Or else why did you expect a plug for it?

NickNiteQ93 · « **Reply #19 on:** March 05, 2003, 02:24:58 PM »

Agent: It supports Dolby Pro Logic 2, not Digital, hence the no-audio connection with the cable. From what I hear (no pun intended), it's not that bad of an alternate for Digital. Personally, the big TVs just aren't my style. Unless of course it'll go in my living room, I'd rather have a 27 - 32" Flat Screen Sony Wega hooked up in my room, which is where I've learned to love to play. Right now I think anything better than my current TV will make me happy.

Trippy Pancakes · « **Reply #20 on:** March 06, 2003, 02:16:59 AM »

>> Is it true that you start to notice alot more jaggies though on an hdtv, becuase you can now notice them with all the clarity?

In my experience, yes. For instance, in Metroid Prime when you stand completely still for a few seconds Samus starts swaying ever so slightly to and fro. Due to the slow motion/drifting in this instance, some of the lines are effectively being drawn at a very slow frame rate and it becomes noticeable. It's not horrible, but it can be annoying (and in some of the areas it's not as noticeable). If you turn the sharpness down on the TV it helps.

Hemmorrhoid · « **Reply #21 on:** March 06, 2003, 02:52:55 AM »

Well, since ive never seen even S-Video let alone component input progressive scan stuff, and I still find the graphics great, I can settle with the fact that until I get a better TV I miss out on some visual quality.

I wish that more games supported 16:9.

MetalHead666 · « **Reply #22 on:** March 06, 2003, 01:16:27 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: betamac
With a setup like that you should buy Superbit DVDS

these have a much higher resolution than standard DVDS so will look much better, obviously you have to sacrifice the extras

I would like a setup like that been planning on replacing my 32" Widescreen Sony for a plasma, but just dont know

Superbit DVDs dont have a higher resolution. They just run at a higher bit rate. For example, "the ring" runs at 7.79 MB per second. Which is near a super bit level. but it still runs in 480p like every other DVD. you may be thinking of the upcoming HDdvds that run in 1080i.

EggyToast · « **Reply #23 on:** March 06, 2003, 01:30:05 PM »

Rear Projection HDTVs are now in the $1200-$4000 range, for your average consumer stuff. HDTV with a CRT (normal TV HDTV) are around $700-$1400, depending on various things. Ironically, the higher priced CRT tv's are often lower quality than an equally priced (and often much larger) rear projection HDTV.

LCD TV's are about $4000-$8000, again depending on size and quality, and plasmas are usually about $2000 more than LCD screens. And yes, those prices are on their way down, and pretty quickly, too.

With HDTV you will notice edges and jaggies more often, mostly because the images are SO clear that they stand out more. On normal TVs the low quality of the picture will often provide a sort of anti-aliasing of its own, but it's at a cost of resolution and pixels. But that's minor, as most TVs will force you to notice the limitations of the actual screen much more often than the limitations of the game hardware/software. If you've ever played a newer game on a larger normal TV, say, over 28", you probably noticed that you can see the horizontal lines on the screen if you're paying attention. That only becomes more noticeable the larger the TV gets. With HDTV, there's none of that, and the only limitations so far are how good the signal is. So you'll notice more jaggies on edges, but you're seeing what the software is actually producing, which is a great tradeoff from what I've played. You're noticing the actual jaggies, instead of the jaggies introduced by the low-quality TV.

Sean · « **Reply #24 on:** March 06, 2003, 01:35:42 PM »

I'm dying to get a prog. scan-capable TV. I've got a VERY standard and relatively small TV as it is--functional and that's it, of course.

Anyway, the best buy I've seen for a prog. scan TV was $1000.00 for a 26". Still, way out of my price-range as of right now, but in a year or two, something like that will be mine, oh yes.

Glad to hear the difference is all it's cracked up to be. What're we going to do with all the hundreds of millions of TV's that aren't high-def in the near-future?

News:

Author Topic: Metroid Prime in Progressive Scan.....wow! (Read 23167 times)