PS3 downscales games if your TV lacks 720p?
by Nick Doerr 
{ Nov 16th 2006 at 5:30PM }
Initially, this seems completely contradictory to the answer IGN gave the other day. If your TV is only 1080i capable (I actually think my big screen is just that, yet... we were able to get some HD 360 games going on it), expect a downgrade to low-res gaming sadness. 480p is going to be your cap, if there's no 720p support. Some of the games guilty of such a crime are, including but not limited to, Resistance: Fall of Man, NHL 2K7, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, and Need for Speed Carbon. Dropping them down to 480p instead of up to 1080i really, really, really sucks and it occured with both HDMI and component cable setups. IGN gives you a briefing on what these resolutions mean in pretty easy to understand terms and promise to update once they get a return call from Sony. We'll stay on top of it, too. Hopefully this will be an easy patch to fix and not a permanent curse.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
SuicideNinja @ Nov 16th 2006 6:14PM
Talk about blunder...I believe my TV only supports 1080i, so I'm glad I'm not camping out right now. Oh wait, I wouldn't have done that anyway. Still, that makes me a little hesitant to buy a PS3 until they fix it.
If MSFT can patch to support 1080p native and scaling, then I fairly sure that SNE can do the same and add some obviously overlooking 720p to 1080i upscaling.
How long do you think it will take?
RocketMBA @ Nov 16th 2006 6:38PM
Sony's suggested fix is buying one of their 1080p sets, I hear.
Miniboss @ Nov 16th 2006 8:02PM
A lot of reports are saying that the issue is that the PS3 doesn't have a scalar chip built into the console, of which the 360 does actually have. So if a software solution were to pop up, it would come at the detriment to processing power of whatever game you're playing.
Carnie @ Nov 16th 2006 8:08PM
it could verywell be a very cheep way to sell TV's which wouldn't suprise me for the fact that they are still tring to get use the feeling of getting raped with the whole laptop batteries eposiode
David @ Nov 16th 2006 8:51PM
If that is Sony's fix, then I am going to the motherland and getting me a Samsung instead.
Gail @ Nov 16th 2006 9:42PM
i don't believe this for a second.
My tv is 720p so if it is true ha ha
Tucker @ Nov 16th 2006 10:18PM
The reason you can get HD gaming from your 360 is because the 360 is capable of outputting 1080i. Not that big a mystery, really. Enjoy your wii-s-3s at 480p ;)
I kid, I kid - not trying to incite a fanboy riot, I'm hoping the big S releases a firmware update as well, but from the sounds of it this is a straight-up hardware problem, not a software one.
Funny how a lot of the affected TVs are Sony XBR CRT HDTVs. Guess they don't like people with brand loyalty :P
Andir2.0 @ Nov 16th 2006 10:31PM
480i+p/540p/720p/1080i on my Hitachi, so no issues here. I already have my Component cables from my PS2, so I'm pretty much set. :p
I probably should have held out for a 1080p set, but I figured it was going to be a while, but I've been enjoying my HD set for just over 3 years, so I think that more than paid for it.
Concerned Gamer @ Nov 17th 2006 1:42AM
Be easy on these guys, they are just now getting home, with or without systems, 200k units only? They are hooking them up to thier tvs, updating firmware, putting in a game, wait a minute, that sure is fuzzy hmmmm. Oh well it is from Sony, they love it. Congrats to them, welcome to your next generation FINALLY. Looks like they should have put it off, surprise surprise. Great solution, buy our tvs and it will work, lol.
gambit410 @ Nov 17th 2006 1:40PM
You know this is easy to fix, set your systems output to 720p. The game will then out put at max resolution and your tv can do the upscaling to 1080i. Thats what im doing on my hitachi and it looks fantastic. Plus the system seems to know to switch to 1080i when i play a Bluray movie. So works fine for me and resistance looks as good if not better than gears of war :)
Concerned Gamer @ Nov 17th 2006 3:13PM
Looks aren't everything, and I guess the videos and stills aren't from the same game if it looks better than Gears. People are so hung up on graphics, not all of us base our enjoyment on graphics alone.
Glad to see you are enjoying your system though. How much better is Sony's online service compared to that week effort by microsoft? Xbox Live or something like that I think it is called.
Ninegauger @ Nov 17th 2006 3:55PM
I was about to give Sony credit for a system that apparently runs quieter than a 360 (which is a beast in the noise department regardless of its merits)but then Sony manages to screw something so basic up. So anybody with a CRT HD set will run a Wii and a PS3 at the same resolution, what bullshit.
Hee hee hee! @ Dec 7th 2006 2:36AM
480p graphics? I think I can wait until...
Sunday!
Sunday!
Sunday!
Sunday!
Sunday!
Why is a Sony fansite full of more Sony-bashing than Infendo? Might be a sign of something...
Joe Smith @ Nov 17th 2006 5:19PM
#10 -- that only works if your TV accepts a 720p input and knows how to upscale it. A lot of TVs from 2 years ago on back don't do that.
For a $600 device that is supposed to be "the most complex piece of consumer electronics ever mass produced" this seems like a pretty stupid design choice.
seancusick @ Nov 19th 2006 9:05PM
I chated with Sony for 30 min today. I have a one year old sony LCD HD that goes 720p to 1080i. I have one HDMI port. The ps3 detects the HDMI and sets the max rez to 780p. If I go to force it to 1080i in the ps3 settings, bluray runs in 1080i and looks great- but ps3 games play at 480p. AND this is a one year old SONY TV!
If I hook t via component cables, both run fine in 1080i, So it is just HDMI.
The Sony rep online kept telling me my tv does not do 1080p, so I can only get 720p. I reminded him that Sony'e big push was that the ps3 was real HD. He had no solution. I asked him to record the issue and make them aware of it