Probably old, but I'd like some comment on this article: 30fps vs. 60fps...

[mobius]

I'm not sure I accept his premise that rendering mechanism for a PC is equivalent to what's displayed on TV. They're two different ways of presenting an image, and what a PC does is more complex than what a console has to do when presenting an image on your TV screen.

Alex St. John wrote an article for Maximum PC a few years back on what a tough job the PC has relative to a console in presenting images on their respective display. Basically, he said that consoles, and the Xbox in particular, have a much easier job before them than a PC game system.

It probably doesn't matter either way on my SDTV. However, does it matter for some of you guys with HDTV's? Can you see a difference between 30fps and 60fps?

30 Frames per Second vs. 60 Frames per Second (http://www.daniele.ch/school/30vs60/30vs60_1.html)

[IVO]

That is an old article.

PCs and consoles basically render the same way. After all, consoles are now essentially PCs.

Regular TV can display games running at 60 fps. TVs render 60 fields per second, so they can easily show the smoothness. Yes, technically they're not showing 60 full frames but they are showing 60 frames of animation.

And yes, I can easily tell the difference between 30 and 60 fps. I'm what you call a 60 fps whore. I still can't understand how in the year 2005 a law hasn't been passed that punishes developers by death if their games don't run at a constant 60 fps. ;)

It's the year 2005 for heavens sake!

[Joe Redifer]

IVO is correct, you can tell the difference between 30fps and 60fps even on a normal TV. The article doesn't even go into fields (I only read the first page, and it is kind of half-assedly written). First of all the frames in theaters aren't updated "all at once". There is a rotating shutter inside the projector, so part of the frame is revealed first and it is also the part to disappear first. There is blackness after the frame while the shutter is "closed" and then that same frame is repeated again. The next time the shutter is closed, the projector advances by one frame and then that is shown twice before the next frame. Repeat again and again. Some theaters even have 3 bladed shutters for a "72Hz refresh rate", but that also lowers the brightness of the image and a stronger xenon bulb must be used. Also on DVD each frame is not "repeated twice". I'm sure you could do a basic search and find tons about 3:2 pulldown on video.

[Scotty L]

Grand Theft Auto 3 & the Halos are 30fps

Gran Turismo 3 & F-Zero GX 60fps

There is definitely a difference in smoothness. I'm with IVO here, the next generation console games better not even mention shooting for a steady 30fps. :o

[mobius]

Hmmm, when comparing PGR2 with RSC2 I just can't see the difference- they both look good to my eyes. PGR2 definitely chugs in a few spots though. Maybe my eye/brain network isn't wired to notice a difference- at least on SDTV.

I definitely notice the refresh rate on a computer screen though. In fact, I've gotten headaches playing some FPS' with the refresh set too low.

[Joe Redifer]

Not everyone can tell the difference. That doesn't men you are less of a man or anything, just probably less of a nerd. :)