Need some advice from you fellas... (to subject my RPTV to gaming?) (1 Viewer)

[Sam Pat]

I've had my first HD-ready set, a Panny PT47WX42, for a month or so now. I've been enjoying movie images tremendously.

I've left my PS2 untouched for about a month, and now I'm itching to play it.

Having experienced my progressive scan display, I don't really want to hook up my PS2 to my old NTSC sets.

I hooked up the PS2 to the Panny once, using the Sony Component Cables, and played the Getaway for about half an hour. Not particularly impressed.

I'm very paranoid about Burn-in, so that's why I chose the Getaway as a test. It has no health bars, etc. of any kind. However, displaying the game at proper Brightness/ Contrast levels, everything was just too darn dark. I'm at about 40% Contrast and 45% brightness. It's about spot-on for movies, but waay too dark for the Getaway. And I didn't want to turn it up (you know, burn-in paranoia). But another gripe was the RPTV's ability to show all the flaws in the graphics I hadn't noticed previously. The slowdowns are ever more apparent, the texture quality was always glaring, etc., etc.

So here comes the point of my post. I need some comments/suggestions/advice/words of wisdom.

1.) What do you guys do with Contrast/ Brightness levels? Crank it up? Not worried about burn-in? Any other comments regarding video gaming/ burn-in? Rest assured, I've read the Burn-in FAQ, done all my research, but I'm looking for what YOU guys do.

2.) I'm thinking about an Xbox. The PS2's graphical capability doesn't really warrant the use of progressive-scan, IMHO. Is it worth buying an Xbox and the AV pack to play on my set? Do I need to crank up Brightness/Contrast to be able to see games like Halo? (See #1). Also, do I need a HDTV decoder to play 1080i games?

3.) Another option. Don't subject my HD-ready set to the abuses of gaming. I was thinking about getting a small NTSC set, like a 14" or so Tosh or Sony flatscreen and be done with it. No worries about burning in my expensive RPTV. And these small sets look really very good, because the scanlines are so much smaller. And they're cheap.

So what to do? Do you guys who play on your HD sets worry about burn-in, how high do you turn brightness/contrast up, is it really worth playing on progressive scan or on Xbox, should I just get a small TV and be done with it?

So many questions.

Hopefully you guys will be kind enough to offer some answers.

Thanks a bunch!

Sam

 

[Dean Cooper]

I use my consoles on my RPTV with no problems using the following settings; you'll find that most of the people here are very close to the same.

Contrast is the one to turn down, I keep mine at ~30%...keep this low and you won't have a problem even with hours of continuous gaming.

Brightness you can keep high, for me 85% works wonderfully, and the occasional game like Blood Omen II I have to raise this a bit to see in the dark areas.

A good way to find the settings that are good for your TV is to try the THX optimizer on one of your DVDs. These should get you right in the ballpark of what you want.

An Xbox is the console to take full advantage of that nice new TV, now is a really good time to pick one up along with Halo and KOTOR

Hope that helps a bit.


Dean

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

Depending on the game, I'll turn up the brightness setting of my display 5 notches. Experiment with your TV and see what works best for you. Remember, keeping the contrast at the levels you have now (that is, low) is key. Turning up the contrast can make your set more susceptible to burn-in.

That said, I've owned my RPTV (a Toshiba) for nearly two years now, and I have yet to see anything even remotely resembling burn-in, despite sometimes playing games for several hours at a time. If I were you I would not worry about it.

Oh, and if you have a 16:9 display, don't play games stretched. Go ahead and play them in 4:3 mode with the gray bars. I've been doing that for as long as I've owned my set and I have had no problems with the gray bars burning in either. Also, if the gray bars bother you, just cover them up with some home made mattes.

Good luck, and enjoy gaming on your new TV!

 

[Sam Pat]

Dean and Jeffrey,

Thank you both for the responses.

With those in mind, I think I can seriously consider an Xbox.

What titles do you think will really shine on my TV?

I'm thinking Splinter Cell, KOTOR, Halo, Rally Sport Challenge, Burnout 2.

Can you suggest others?

Also, do I need a HDTV decoder to play 1080i titles?

 

[JoseEduardo]

Sam, you will need the High Definition Pack for Xbox, 20 bucks or the Monster cables for Xbox those cost around 60.
i have all three consoles and of course the Xbox gets the most playtime on my 42HDX82. I'm telling you, once you start playing 480p, 720p and 1080i games you don't want to go back to 480i. What the guys above said is true, as long as your contrast is low you can turn up brightness with no worries of burn in. I turn mine up to 50 (usually 35 for movies) and contrast stays at 40

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

Sam;

Dead or Alive 3 looks stunning, and it even has a 16:9 mode to boot. Tony Hawk 4 also looks nice, and even supports 720p. I'm also a big fan of Mechassault's graphics. I never get tired of watching those buildings collapse! Rayman 3, while not my favorite of the series, has one of the most unique artistic desings of any game I've ever seen and looks beautiful in 480p and 16:9 mode.

The other games you listed all look great too, particularly Splinter Cell. I am in awe of the graphics in that game.

 

[Sam Pat]

Thanks for the continued input, guys.

I'll probably pick the Xbox up this week.

Gonna go for the Adrenaline Pack, which includes Halo and Amped for $280CDN. The Console without the games is $250CDN.

30 bucks for 2 games is hard to pass up, despite that I don't care much for Amped. Hell, Halo still sells for around 60 bucks at local stores.

What Im curious about is whether the Adrenaline Pack Xbox is the same one as the standalone console. The standalone console comes with the new Controller S. Maybe the adrenaline pack comes with the old one. I absolutely despise the old one. It's like a big Fisher Price oversized toy.

Also, are there different versions of the Xbox console itself? There are several versions of the PS2...

Edit: After quick research, I discovered the controller S does indeed come with the Adrenaline Pack.... Still wondering about whether there are different Xbox console versions, though.