16:9 games. Can anyone explain something.... (1 Viewer)

[Andrew s wells]

O.K.. Forgive me if i am not really up on the technical side of this. I do understand the DVD movies when enhanced for 16:9 TVs have increased vertical resolution. How does this work for Xbox games that have a widescreen mode? can you actually see more on the sides of the screen, or is it basically an animorphic 4:3 filling a`16:9 set? Hope this isnt confusing. And thanks in advance.

 

[Joe michaels]

I'm not positive but I think some games have a widescreen mode and just compensate in the picture, so it isn't exactly like Anamorphic. I know that James Bond Goldeneye was one of the earlier titles with widescreen but you didn't get more information in the picture like a 4:3 image.
I'm not so sure about the games that run at 480p but you probably do get more lines of resolution. Most of the games couldn't possibly give up any screen area or add more because the game is usually designed to have the image the way that it is.
So I think it pretty much breaks down into the shapes that are put out by the game.
I'm sure there are more knowledgeable people that can explain this though.

 

[Dave F]

With a videogame, it is as if the presentation is being filmed on the fly. On a 4:3 tv, the action is "shot" with a 4:3 camera. On a widescreen tv, it is "shot" with a 16:9 camera. So in the end, you get more image on the sides, but the vertical resolution remains the same.

There are a few exceptions, such as Goldeneye, where the image is presented letterboxed.

-Dave

 

[Michael St. Clair]

A 16:9 480p game and a 4:3 480p game typically have the exact same resolution. The pixels are just shaped differently.

 

[James Zos]

After reading the responses, I'm personally still not clear on this. Does this mean that you DON'T gain any picture detail/clarity in 16:9 games?

 

[Dave F]

Correct.

-Dave

 

[Joe michaels]

A 16:9 480p game and a 4:3 480p game typically have the exact same resolution. The pixels are just shaped differently.

I like that explanation.

 

[James Zos]

DaveF - so that means that the only advantage to playing games in 16:9 is if you have a 16:9 set and you want to fill the screen, right?
It's strange, I would have sworn I saw more detail in 16:9 games using the squeeze technique. Just shows you what the power of suggestion can do!

 

[PouyaG]

When using the 'squeeze' on my WEGA, games certainly look nicer than when in full screen mode.

 

[Andrew s wells]

I could have sworn i remembered hearing that for games like madden, in 16:9 mode there was a wider view to the left and right than in 4:3 mode. hmmm.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I could have sworn i remembered hearing that for games like madden, in 16:9 mode there was a wider view to the left and right than in 4:3 mode. hmmm.

That depends on how the programmers implemented the field of view. Again, this is not dependent on resolution.