Frame rates on console games...how can they tell (1 Viewer)

[Gary King]

Who defines smooth then? What is smooth to me may not be smooth to someone else.

True. Just like some people can see flicker when a monitor's refresh rate is set to 60Hz (and some can even see it at 75 or 85Hz) and others can't, different people have different sensitivities to motion discontinuties.

The human visual system is very good at aniticipating continued motion (it's like inertia for the eyes). If a game has a high enough frame rate (or slow enough action) that your visual system can 'correctly' anticipate where objects would be moving between frames, you will perceive the game as smooth.

Since your visual system is unique, what you perceive as smooth may not be perceived by someone else (and vice versa); however, in general, 30fps is enough for slower-paced games to be perceived as smooth.

 

[Steve Deacon]

I've worked with people who say they couldn't tell the difference between 30 and 60 fames a second, but it's easy to set up a little demo where you can switch between the 2 settings, and then pretty much everyone can tell. Of course you could argue that it's not a fair test, since in the real world they wouldn't have the option.

As for reviewers mentioning frame rates, I'm all for it. If a game runs in a frame, I'd really like to know. GT3 would definitely lose something for me if it hovered between 30 and 60 fps. Nothing kills a sensation of speed quicker for me than a variable frame rate.

 

[Greg Black]

Wave Race: Blue Storm is a good example of a very smooth looking game that is running at 30 fps. The developers locked the framerate at 30 in order to prevent the 60/30 frame drops, and it makes all the difference.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

While I would prefer 60, a solid 30 instead of a jittery 30/60 is actually a good idea.