When I turn on my Xbox 360, it’s connected to a nice little Magnavox HDTV/Monitor using the VGA cord at a resolution of 1280 x 768 (I personally think it looks better than using the HD cables.) It’s not as good as a high-cost display, but it does its job and was quite cheap. Since that purchase, I’ve never had to play another game in standard def except for the Wii, which didn’t bother me that much. I wonder why?
Well, I recently had the chance to head back into 2003 and play GTA IV on a Standard Definition TV. Suddenly, the cheap little monitor I have seemed like heaven.
When playing GTA IV online, I’ve always wondered why people wanted to know how to zoom in on the minimap, were always confused about who the boss was in Cops n’ Crooks, or ran right by enemy players and objectives in multiplayer matches.
Well, now I know.
The mini map on GTA on a Standard Definition TV is barely readable, as colors and shapes merge together into one big blob. This also transfers over to the text in the game with the cell phone being really hard to read. Also the colors above players head are indistinguishable for certain shades, and icons like the one a Boss has is so blurred that it almost looks like the orange dot over other players’ heads.
The whole experience really put a question that’s been bouncing around the internet into perspective for me. Are game developers neglecting their Standard Def customers? The question started when Dead Rising’s text was completely unreadable on non-HD displays. It seems that the games least affected are those in the FPS genre, since detail isn’t as important, even on the radar, or minimap.
I turn it over to you to add your own thoughts. I know the Standard Def vs HD discussion has been going on for quite a while, but I don’t see it subsiding any time soon. Any standard def vs. HD war stories? Share in the comments and on the forums.
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26 responses so far ↓
1 Ambarato // May 14, 2008 at 10:15 am
Haha good fiction fri… wait this isn’t friday. Personally i play all my games on a 21″ SD tv and I have none of these problems. The phone is easy to read text from and the map is clear enough.
I don’t know wether difference size tv’s change anything or maybe it’s the difference between UK and US tv’s? I know sometimes when they show tv from america it’s really blurry so maybe that’s it?
2 Jolley22 // May 14, 2008 at 10:19 am
yes HD is better but really i can live with Standard.
3 Officer Mudkip // May 14, 2008 at 10:37 am
HD is such a huge jump in quality.
I got a 21″ HDTV for my room and it makes all my games, brighter and more realistic looking.
When i play on a SDTV now, its like it’s blurry or something….
4 RK1 FaMiCuS // May 14, 2008 at 10:57 am
I originally used to game on a 20 inch SDTV, I had that TV for about ten years. Then I found out the VGA cables for the 360, bought them and hooked them up to my 17 inch monitor and fell in love with HD gaming. Even though I lost 3 inches, the quality completely made up for it. Luckily now I recently invested in a 42 inch HDTV, I originally only wanted a 32 inch because I thought would be enough but my wife insisted on us getting a 42 inch, I’m glad I finally listened to her.
5 Lono // May 14, 2008 at 11:01 am
The ladies always think bigger is better ya know…
6 XxAdyxX // May 14, 2008 at 11:16 am
It’s an ownership stigma actually. If you own any sort of HDTV you would say, “It is a HUGE difference.” Likewise if you didn’t own a HDTV and you wanted one you would say, “There isn’t much difference.” lol
7 haydenkayne // May 14, 2008 at 11:30 am
like waiting in a lobby on vegas 1, on a hdtv you can read the names clearly but on on a non hdtv everything is hard to read, then take into account non hd tvs that arent sdtv. small things can be hard to see. i got a hdmi to dvi cable at walmart for $30 so i can hook up my lcd monitor to my elite, its every bit as good as 720p
8 Pakorn // May 14, 2008 at 11:45 am
“It’s an ownership stigma actually. If you own any sort of HDTV you would say, “It is a HUGE difference.” Likewise if you didn’t own a HDTV and you wanted one you would say, “There isn’t much difference.” lol”
I disagree. I have a 19″ Standard Def Kmart TV that I’ve had for 11 years and I f’ing HATE it. I can’t read text in most 360 games, and I still haven’t been convinced that BioShock has good graphics.
This article actually has me considering buying a VGA cord today after I get off work and hooking up to my 19″ CRT monitor…it’s still 4:3 ratio but it gets 1600×1200 resolution. Think I will see an improvement?
9 Animathias // May 14, 2008 at 12:18 pm
@Pakorn: I don’t see why you wouldn’t, even older monitors are capable of displaying at a higher resolution than STD TVs
10 Kage // May 14, 2008 at 12:27 pm
“it’s still 4:3 ratio but it gets 1600×1200 resolution”
O___O
a 19 inch monitor with 1600×1200?
11 Jolley22 // May 14, 2008 at 12:54 pm
@XxAdyxX i have as HD but i still can live with standard i was just saying how HD isn’t some glossy new* thing that made me enjoy gaming more.
*new meaning sort new
12 Kiltman67 // May 14, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Ever since I first played my Xbox on an HD TV I’ve suspected something like this going on.
Both the dashboard and the XMB seem really blurry in SD and I could never quite work out how the PS2 firmware looked sharper then the XMB.
13 paulmess7 // May 14, 2008 at 2:37 pm
When I play at my dads house it’s SD, but when I play on my own TV, it’s 1080p through HDMI… It’s nice. Very nice.
14 jjmac383 // May 14, 2008 at 2:48 pm
I play on a SD… and have no problems but mines a big standard definition, it’s 32 inches i think
15 XxAdyxX // May 14, 2008 at 4:11 pm
@ Pakorn
Ok, obviously you missed the sarcasm in my comment. I wasn’t saying that people who didn’t have a HDTV or display didn’t want one. That was the irony in what I said. I’m sorry, I didn’t explain further.
Actually what I think is that only the people who haven’t taken the leap for a HD display and might be waiting or saving up for one are the ones who might argue that the SD was just fine for their games. Of course there will always be one or two people who are just fine with whatever they have for reasons we may never know….
Take Jolley22 for example…
If I took someone who has only played their Hi-def console on a SD display and sat them down in front of a good (not the best mind you) HD display and let them play for a while, and then told them, “Ok, you can take that display home with you if you like it.” Do you think they would say, “No, that’s ok, I’d rather play on my old SD display instead.” ????
I don’t think so.
16 Kill-Joy // May 14, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I used to game on SD-digital projector (8foot image) with my PS2, and the catalyst for me buying a PS3 was the fact that my 24” wide-screen LCD supported true 1080p (hdcp).
I never touched that damn projector ever again.
17 Mehar // May 14, 2008 at 5:09 pm
I play on 480p via Component cables and things work out just fine, at times when I used to play on 480i I did notice some issues, but never game stopping ones.
18 dougb455 // May 14, 2008 at 9:35 pm
i can play certain games on my sdtv but some games just need to be brought to the big hdtv because I cant even tell what stuff is on the sdtv
19 Atomic Flapjack // May 14, 2008 at 10:49 pm
My dad went out and got a HD projector… It. is. beautiful. However when he is home, I go into the closet and play GTA4 (daddy does not like gta for some reason) on my SD TV, I found a use for my RROD crap console now! Retarded Ring of Decoy!!!
20 ProudlyAnAddict // May 15, 2008 at 1:33 am
I found that problem but the way to solve it on a SD tv is just to turn the contrast down on the main GTA strt menu pretty simple huh
21 anthonyjh // May 15, 2008 at 2:00 am
I play on an SDTV and it’s getting pretty damn bad. Mini maps, regardless of the game, have now become a hurdle for me to get over. I need to upgrade pretty damn bad.
22 the 6th degree // May 15, 2008 at 2:06 am
I used to play on a 17 inch SDTV and then swapped to a 17 inch monitor - I could never go back.
23 ShooterFan // May 15, 2008 at 8:54 am
I play on 3 different sets. I have an Elite hooked up to a 32″ 720p native Viera LCD panel (running a 1080p signal), my Arcade is running on a 43″ Panasonic 3LCD rear projection, and my Pro is running through VGA on my 19″ 1280 x 1024 PC monitor. I have been keeping up with High Definition display technology for years now, and I must say that the new 1080p LCD televisions that offer a 120hertz refresh rate (to remove LCD “motion blur”) look amazing. If you are thinking about upgrading, Samsung, Toshiba and Sharp have some of the more impressive models if gaming performance is your priority.
24 lio // May 15, 2008 at 11:38 am
That’s why I play games on the pc… pc gaming has had “HD” for ages… noone gets excited about 1600×1200 there anymore… 1920×1200 ok… but 1280×720 *haha*
done that years ago and didn’t even call it “HD”…
25 Cody // May 16, 2008 at 7:39 am
Over here in europe the TV stations offer hardly any contend for HD television and although I know that HD gaming looks much better I dont wanna spend a few hundred (thousand) $ just for a better picture while playing a game…besides…even the old star trek series out of the seventies looks more realistic on my SD tv then any of the new hd games on a hd television
26 Apex // May 20, 2008 at 4:29 am
iv got an SDTV and it drives me insane when im playing assassins creed because the friggin map is impossible to read but i have a feeling trying to get an HDTV is not going to work
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