Digital: forgive my ignorance, but isn't it the "grid" that encloses the pixels?
Yes. As I said before, and as shown in that picture I posted, they are the vertical and horizontal lines that separate each pixel. Better technology and higher quality displays have smaller to no pixel grid. Those with pixel grids, the closer you are to the screen, the more noticeable the grid becomes. Traditionally LCD & Plasma have the largest grid lines, while DLP and LCoS have the smallest, and in some cases, none at all. CRT's do not have pixels, but depending on what type of CRT and how close you are to the screen, they will have very noticeable horizontal scan lines.
It seems to me that I have read repeatedly in audio visual reviews, that, in practice, there is little discernable difference between 720p & 1080p.
Then I would suggest stop reading those sources as they are clearly very misinformed ,or have some unspoken agenda, or they were unclear on what specific conditions they might show little discernable difference, or perhaps you misunderstood what they meant.
With regard to resolution: the eye is only capable of perceiving so much. There may be a noticeable difference between 1 mega pixel & 2 mega pixels, but not between 4 mega pixels & 8 mega pixels unless the image is blown up to a significantly larger size.
Well first of all the human vision system, although weak compared to some other species is quite extraordinary and can discern far more detail and resolution than even a 12 megapixel camera can capture when viewed at 2.0 D:W or closer. It is estimated that 70mm film can capture more detail equivalent to a 12 megapixel camera.
For comparison sake, IMAX films are captured on 70/65mm film stock... and I'm sure you can agree that IMAX films look especially more detailed than 35mm films. So in that case the human eye is distinguishing a significant difference between roughly 4 megapixels and 12 megapixels.
This is also why many directors and cinematographers are interested in "4K"
(referring to a horizontal resolution of about 4,000) cameras, which capture between 8 and 12 megapixels per frame.
In addition, manufacturers like Sony and JVC have already designed and sold 4K projectors, many of which are being sold to commercial theaters. Mark Cuban for instance bought over 50 of Sony's SRX-R 4K SXRD projectors for his chain of Landmark Theatres two years ago, and since then there have been several new 4K projectors released. So yes, clearly there is a difference and a demand for higher resolution cameras and displays, even above 1080p.
However, I thought you were asking about 720p and 1080p, and in that case we are talking about the difference between .9 megapixels and 2 megapixels, and as you just said yourself...
There may be a noticeable difference between 1 mega pixel & 2 mega pixels
And yes, there is a very noticeable difference between 1 mega pixels and 2... when comparing images that were natively captured in 1920x1080... as explained already in the previous post.
The reason I say GT4 may not neccessarily look better in HD than SD, simply has to do with the quality of the graphic information in GT4. IMO GT4 looks pretty good in SD because the shortcomings of the graphics are not so obvious eg. the trees look less distinct & more "real"in SD, whereas in HD you can clearly see the details of the trees, but you can see that the detail is not "realistic" looking.
What you are talking about has nothing to do with the resolution but the distance one might want to be away from the screen so these low resolution "flaws" are less obvious.
An example of this is the classic art form of
Pointillism. The closer you are to the painting the more dots you see and the harder it is to see what is shown in the painting. Step farther away and the dots begin to blend and then the picture "smoothes" out to form a distinguishable image. The same can be said for low-resolution images. The farther away you stand the "smoother" they will appear.
If you are feeding an HD display a SD signal, it isn't going to make it worse unless it has a poor video processor. If it has an excellent video processor it will actually make it better and thus allow you to sit closer to the screen without being distracted by the original low resolution of the source.
This, of course, will probably be different with GT5, where the graphics information will certainly be much more detailed.
Naturally. As I also already said, GT:HD already is head and shoulders more graphically enhanced than GT4 so there is no reason at all to even suggest or consider that the graphics in GT5
or GT5 will not be significantly better than GT4. The same goes for most of the games currently out for the PS3.
I take your point about better quality HDTVs looking better regardless of resolution. The problem is the smaller (15" - 20") HDTvs that you can buy these days tend not to be that great quality.
Yes. That's an advantage to having a larger screen as you are more likely to find a higher quality display. However, some of the very best displays in the world are 27" professional grade CRT monitors, but they sell for as much as $20,000 and are primarily used for film editing, making digital intermediates, and telecine transfers, as these displays are capable of displaying as much as 5 megapixels worth of detail.
For most games played with a controller, a big TV is great, but driving with a wheel set-up, a large TV is not necessarily an advantage as far as I can see. Having a smaller TV set up close to the wheel means the whole paraphenalia is less obtrusive.
I think you'll find most people with wheels will disagree with you, even on GTP's own "wheel & cockpit" threads. In fact, with a controller, it is physically easier to sit closer to a screen, while using a wheel is naturally going to place you farther from the screen... thus a larger screen would compensate for the difference.
As far as obtrusive paraphernalia I'm not really sure I understand what you mean. If you are talking about the wheel, shifter, and pedals, actually having them farther from a large screen makes them less obtrusive rather than have them right up next to a smaller screen to achieve the same D:W. So again, this is another advantage of using a larger screen, especially for use with a wheel.
That said, there are certainly some excellent reasons for using small screens, like cost, space, and portability.
because I only play using my G25 set up, with the screen a couple of feet in front of me. I'm not convinced that GT4 in HD is actually better than in SD. The small SDTV renders a slightly blurry but quite real looking image, whereas I find that 1080i on the larger HDTV makes the image sharper, crisper, but somehow more obviously fake looking. EPR, like most non-HD material, definitely looks better on a SDTV.
