DigitalFoundry - GT5 Tech Analysis

[Centura]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-gran-turismo-5-tech-analysis

Gran Turismo 5

720p
1280 x 720 4x MSAA

1080p
1280 x 1080 2x QAA

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue

720p
1280 x 720 4x MSAA

1080p
1280 x 1080 2x MSAA

 

[Mr Turismo]

So we're not seeing anything like native 1080p resolution here, but you are getting a 50 per cent increase in the number of pixels rendered.

Thats quite interesting for me. We can safely presume that standard cars look better in 720p so?

Implementing a time of day system requires dynamic shadows. The cascading PCF shadows GT employs can look pretty rough. Shadows are computationally expensive and it's hard to expect something beautiful when GT5 ideally wants to render an entire frame in just 16ms.

That explains shadows. I think this put an end in the "Shadow Patch" coming any soon...
well.. I´m personnaly not bothered by shadows and stuff anyway.

Great analysis... worth reading, i didnt know half of the technical explanation.. very helpful!

 

[Centura]

Thats quite interesting for me. We can safely presume that standard cars look better in 720p so?

It's almost the same as GT5 Prologue. And probably, 4x MSAA is a lot better than 2x QAA.

 

[ickis]

Great read, anyone having a whine about the graphics but not really understanding what goes into it should have a read.

 

[ickis]

It's almost the same as GT5 Prologue. And probably, 4x MSAA is a lot better than 2x QAA.

Yea MSAA is a lot better, but the article talks about why they had to do it
I tested both out and to me the higher resolution on my 40inch Sony is a lot better, so the higher resolution makes up for the blurring factor of QAA. for me anyway

 

[Mr Turismo]

I really want a 3d TV by now...everything i´ve read about 3d playing.. is making me dream about it.

 

[yakapo]

Wow... went as low as 18fps on one track

 

[Jonstone]

Wow... went as low as 18fps on one track

Its not totally clear on first read through, but I'm pretty sure that is referring to results when the game is running in 3D

 

[djm99]

Its not totally clear on first read through, but I'm pretty sure that is referring to results when the game is running in 3D

from my experience it's not.

 

[Tenacious D]

Its not totally clear on first read through, but I'm pretty sure that is referring to results when the game is running in 3D

The 3D mode is a different matter entirely, of course. Polyphony has opted for what is to all intents and purposes a zero-compromise policy to the game's visuals. The Sony stereo 3D team at Evolution Studios has outlined a range of measures developers can take in boosting performance for 3D games, from using dynamic resolution changes to lower-LOD models (Evolution's own MotorStorm: Pacific Rift 3D title employs both tricks). Polyphony, however, has adopted the approach used in WipEout HD - maintain the look of the game (4x MSAA aside) and take the hit in frame-rate.


However, unlike WipEout HD, the frame-rate remains unlocked, giving a somewhat uneven judder to the game. Frame-rate is variable. At its nadir, we see 18FPS on a car-logged Special Stage Route 7, and at best we can see around 50FPS in our Nurburgring test. Chances are that with a track created with the course maker, in concert with a time trial (to eliminate the other cars), we could see this rise to 60FPS - an effective 120FPS throughput!

This is the 3D section of the article.

 

[MJHAYLETT]

so should I run my PS3 in 720p or 1080p? lol all I really want to know is 'Can anything be done about the Screen Tearing?'

 

[Centura]

If you can, 1080p. It should look better, even though it uses QAA instead of MSAA.

 

[Raitziger]

If your TV is 1080p native, use that resolution.

 

[-=DV=-]

i play in 3d..i play about a ft from my 46 inch 3dtv, it is absolutely incredible
altho the fact that it only does 3d in 720p is quite noticable...but certainly doesnt take away from the exprience, it is amazing having your entiry peripheral vision filled with your gaming screen in 3d, using a fanatec 911 turbo s wheel....its about as immersive as it can get without a full hydrolic motion rig!.

 

[12thgear]

i play in 3d..i play about a ft from my 46 inch 3dtv, it is absolutely incredible
altho the fact that it only does 3d in 720p is quite noticable...but certainly doesnt take away from the exprience, it is amazing having your entiry peripheral vision filled with your gaming screen in 3d, using a fanatec 911 turbo s wheel....its about as immersive as it can get without a full hydrolic motion rig!.

It's probably not the way to set the fastest lap times, but I bet it's a blast. I'm the same way. I trade speed for fun.

 

[gtracedriver]

Depends on your TV you will have to choose 1080P or 720P mode so trial and error which looks best. Obviously those have 3D they have more options.

 

[MidianGTX]

The AA is fine anyway. Most of the complaints seem to be based around the smoke/shadow effects, neither of which are related to the type of AA being used. Apart from those two issues I haven't noticed any particularly jarring jaggies worth mentioning.

 

[Devedander]

What I find interesting is that while you watch their tear comparison you notice the game almost never touches 60fps in any real racing situation.

I think this is a pretty big violation of advertising "1080p 60fps" when reality is it's not 1080p (which is indeed an standardized term and really does mean 1920x1080) and 60fps is more the exception than the rule.

 

[bodger]

Thats quite interesting for me. We can safely presume that standard cars look better in 720p so?



That explains shadows. I think this put an end in the "Shadow Patch" coming any soon...
well.. I´m personnaly not bothered by shadows and stuff anyway.

Great analysis... worth reading, i didnt know half of the technical explanation.. very helpful!

Kudos to DP for getting 60fps throwing around this amount of detail at this resolution. Most of the time it has that real 'arcade' style silky smoothness.

I actually think that they need to ditch the real time shadows, or do them in some other way on the none day-night transition tracks. Where they do have the transitions, they should just drop it down to 30-40 fps and increase the shadow detail.

Wet weather is the worst for shadows. Most of the time, they don't bother me.

 

[12thgear]

What I find interesting is that while you watch their tear comparison you notice the game almost never touches 60fps in any real racing situation.

I think this is a pretty big violation of advertising "1080p 60fps" when reality is it's not 1080p (which is indeed an standardized term and really does mean 1920x1080) and 60fps is more the exception than the rule.

I'd agree, but unfortunately that seems to be the norm this generation. Some of the biggest games aren't even true 720p. Hell, I can look at the features on the cases of my Xbox titles and they all list 1080p output even though they are just being upscaled by the console. I don't think any of my games (other than a couple of downloaded PSN or XBLA releases) actually render at 1080p.

 

[XEPEGTP]

What I find interesting is that while you watch their tear comparison you notice the game almost never touches 60fps in any real racing situation.

I think this is a pretty big violation of advertising "1080p 60fps" when reality is it's not 1080p (which is indeed an standardized term and really does mean 1920x1080) and 60fps is more the exception than the rule.

Here's my analogy of that violation of advertising.

You really dont know what it is until its in your hands.

 

[Devedander]

Here's my analogy of that violation of advertising.

You really dont know what it is until its in your hands.

It would be more like if the big mac listed 2 1/4 lb patties but really they were 1/8 lb... it's one thing to show a glossy bullshot, but when you list actual numbers and values you need to add up...

 

[gtracedriver]

What I find interesting is that while you watch their tear comparison you notice the game almost never touches 60fps in any real racing situation.

I think this is a pretty big violation of advertising "1080p 60fps" when reality is it's not 1080p (which is indeed an standardized term and really does mean 1920x1080) and 60fps is more the exception than the rule.

At 1080P mode it is 1280*1080 rather than 1280*720P upscaled so yes they can say it is 1080P

 

[VXR]

My dad has a Sony camera with HD video recording. Except for in this world of ever standardised technology, Sony just had to be proprietary and it films at 1440x1080.