Progressive Scan is worse than Regular?

[Link23]

Hey all, I bought some component cables to run Zelda in progressive scan on my 46" hdtv, and the game DOES run in higher definition with Progressive scan but i've noticed that Link looks alot more jagged (the edges around his body). I was wondering, is this normal, because everywhere i've read people are saying progressive scan looks better.... or could it be since my tv is a few years old, and is not one of the new DLP hdtv's or plasma screens?

 

[Xanthan]

Hey all, I bought some component cables to run Zelda in progressive scan on my 46" hdtv, and the game DOES run in higher definition with Progressive scan but i've noticed that Link looks alot more jagged (the edges around his body). I was wondering, is this normal, because everywhere i've read people are saying progressive scan looks better.... or could it be since my tv is a few years old, and is not one of the new DLP hdtv's or plasma screens?

only way I could see this is if your TV doesn't support 480p or higher resolution. But if that was the case it wouldn't be a HDTV by definition.

Did you activate 480p in the system settings after you hooked up the cable?

 

[Jesse]

Just incase you don't know where it's at you go to Wii Settings > Screen > TV Resolution.

 

[savoirvivre]

What happens if you change hte setting and it doesn't work? will you still be able to change it after? will the screen get all messed up and dissappear ?

 

[Xanthan]

Well you can't select 480p unless the Wii recognizes you have a component cable connect (it reads a jumper in the connection plug). If you don't have a component cable connected the 480p will be greyed out. Now with the component cable connected you could run it in 480i (this is the default mode) but you won't get much benifit from the cable. Switching to 480p mode is the only way to get the Enhanced Definition from the cable.

If you switch to 480p and your TV doesn't support it the screen should be black, this shouldn't worry you though because I believe after you switch the mode it will give you so many seconds asking if you can see the screen, if so you accept the changes, if not they will revert back to original settings. Atleast this is the way most video devices work where you can change the display mode. (I don't recall)

If you don't select the 480p in the settings, you mine as well use the composite cable, running component in 480i defeats the purpose.

 

[savoirvivre]

thanx xanthan. does anyone else confirm it reverting back? I just hope i can revert it back. I have component , i just don't know if it supports progressive scan.

 

[Link23]

Yeah I've switched it to 480p in the Wii settings.....the problem is that when I do that, I do get a higher defintion, but Link looks more jagged around the edges, you can tell he is in higher def....but he looks more jagged, like he neeeds some serious Anti-aliasing effects added.....does anyone else have that prob or is it just my tv?

 

[BrandonMcAuslan]

480p is not in any higher definition. Just a sharper picture. looks less blurry - therefore more jaggy... I think 480p mode will provide better graphics in time - but I don't think zelda has been developed with 480p in mind since its a launch title.
therefore link is jaggy. I hates jaggies.

Here's some badly taken screenshots as an example...
http://uk.gamespot.com/events/wiilaunch/forums/show_msgs.php?event=wiilaunch&topic_id=25188908

 

[ToadIsDoingMagicMushrooms]

Probably nothing you can do to fix it.

 

[savoirvivre]

So to sum it up. component looks better at 480p. Zelda is jaggied in still picture frame but most likely will look smoother while in animation. That's what i been getting out of all this 480i vs p p , ayy caramba. wtf is going on with all these tvs, like my is a good tv, now i have to get some 480p , omg like omg. lol. fkin technology.

 

[pridkett]

480p is not in any higher definition. Just a sharper picture. looks less blurry - therefore more jaggy... I think 480p mode will provide better graphics in time - but I don't think zelda has been developed with 480p in mind since its a launch title.
therefore link is jaggy. I hates jaggies.

From a technical perspective, 480p is essentially higher resolution. 480i traces every other line when you view it, giving more or less an effective resolution of 240 lines. Or thereabouts. While it's true that the lines may be different on alternate scans, you still are only getting 240 lines drawn with each refresh of the screen.

The big bonus with component is that you're separating the different video channels that come over the line. With the standard component, they're all on the same line, thus you get some blending, this is not the case with component -- each of the components (Luminance, Red minus Luminance, Blue minus luminance) is on it's own wire, with it's own ground.

Believe it or not, the jaggies are actually there in the composite, but it's just that the interference from using a single wire "hides" them. That's why you see the jaggies in 480p, because they're not hidden. The solution, move back a little from the TV.

In reality, 480p won't increase the signal quality a ton, but it will make fine details a bit more differentiable. So while it won't have much more resolution, you'll be able to see the textures and details better.

With regards to Zelda: Twilight Princess not being designed for 480p resolution, please check your facts before posting that. The fact of the matter is that the Gamecube supported progressive scan games, and progressive scan Gamecube games will be progressive scan on the Wii. There have been progressive scan Gamecube games for years (most new ones are progressive scan, certainly many of mine are -- windwalker, nfs: underground, metroid prime). I'm sure that the game was designed with 480p in mind.

Although it is a little disconcerting seeing the jaggies, like I said, back off a bit from the TV and you don't notice them. There isn't much space on a 640x480 display to antialias the jaggies away. Anti-aliasing at low resolutions just leads to the blurries and the fuzzies, which are even more despised.