What Games Are Playable In Low Def? Options

[Software2]

My roommate moved out, taking his beautiful projector with him. I thought I could live with "standard" def... but I'm finding myself staring at my collection of games and not wanting to play any of them, for fear of them being either unplayable, or me missing out on the best experience (ex: Oblivion).
I've been playing a ton of live arcade games, but I'm looking for something a bit more substantial now. What are some 360 games that are playable in low def?
I played Gun, and had a blast doing so. That is a game I'd almost be afraid to play on a giant projector.... it looks so horrible.

[JustDanMI]

All games are playable on a Standard Definition TV. You'll just have to give yourself time to adjust to playing on a smaller screen again. I know it's not easy even watching tv when I go to a friends house because I'm used to my 61". Everything else just seems to suck. Anyways, like I said, you can play any of them, you just need time to adjust.

[Phantaxus]

Dead Rising has text that is difficult to read on standard definition, but all games should be playable

[KAGE360]

All games are playable on a Standard Definition TV. You'll just have to give yourself time to adjust to playing on a smaller screen again. I know it's not easy even watching tv when I go to a friends house because I'm used to my 61". Everything else just seems to suck. Anyways, like I said, you can play any of them, you just need time to adjust.

i dont think the issue is so much the smaller screen, the issue seems to be the lower resolution.

in that case, only two games seem to have had issues with SD TVs. King Kong was said to be too dark on SDTVs and dead rising has text too small to be read.

other then that, it's all fine.

[lowendfrequency]

The nice thing about conventional tube TVs is how dark they get in terms of contrast. The blacks are jet black... doesn't get any darker. Any darker games would look great in SD, especially Condemned.

[Maverick0984]

Lord of the Rings and the Madden games take a hit too with readable text.

This post has been edited by Maverick0984: Jun 5 2007, 10:11 PM

[twistedsymphony]

The nice thing about conventional tube TVs is how dark they get in terms of contrast. The blacks are jet black... doesn't get any darker. Any darker games would look great in SD, especially Condemned.

My DLP PJ with a 6500:1 CR says hi.

Even still most games have Brightness and contrast adjustments right in the options. As long as you good at making that dark grey box only slightly brighter then that black box you're golden.

Consistent lighting in the room helps too, thing look different when the light are on or off. Any dark game should definitely be played in the dark with a properly adjusted brightness/contrast.

[lowendfrequency]

My DLP PJ with a 6500:1 CR says hi.

Even still most games have Brightness and contrast adjustments right in the options. As long as you good at making that dark grey box only slightly brighter then that black box you're golden.

Consistent lighting in the room helps too, thing look different when the light are on or off. Any dark game should definitely be played in the dark with a properly adjusted brightness/contrast.

Yes but a contrast ratio is not a measurement of how dark the blacks on a TV will be, it's simply the ratio of comparing the darkest color the set can produce to the brightest color it can produce. Surely you of all people know this. I'm not saying that your TV doesn't produce very nice blacks, but it's well known that no technology, especially LCD Plasma and DLP, get as dark as a conventional tube TV. Making the dark gray box slightly brighter isn't what we are talking about because that is simply an adjustment of the set. It won't change the fact that certain technologies can only get so dark to begin with.

[yaazz]

I have a 52" HDTV, and don't get me wrong, Video games look great on it, but Its not THAT much better than SD. Everything is crisper and clearer, but its nothing that SD couldn't also portray.
I find that my surround sound system gives a much more immersive experience than the HDTV does, but that said, I put thousands of hours into my SNES, and never cried "HD" or "Surround sound", I just enjoyed the game!

Give it about a week and your eyes will adjust to the new(old?) tv.

[BonezDubb]

I agree with the above. I almost always play on an SDTV, only occasionally play on HDTV at my vacation home. For real though, HD doesn't look miles better like people claim it does. Every single game is playable in SD. Even Dead Rising isn't that bad if you sit close.

[Tripme]

Its not wheter or not there is more detail, its a resolution issue as stated above. I can't stand playing on standard def tv's anymore just because of the low res.

[grim_d]

I agree with the above. I almost always play on an SDTV, only occasionally play on HDTV at my vacation home. For real though, HD doesn't look miles better like people claim it does. Every single game is playable in SD. Even Dead Rising isn't that bad if you sit close.

HD defo does looks miles better, your HDTV much suck or you need you eyes checked.

[q8_devil]

Gears of war
nba street
call of duty 3
dead or alive 4
dead or alive xtreme 2

alot of games are playable in low def tv but capcom games have unreadable text in low def tv

[twistedsymphony]

Yes but a contrast ratio is not a measurement of how dark the blacks on a TV will be, it's simply the ratio of comparing the darkest color the set can produce to the brightest color it can produce. Surely you of all people know this. I'm not saying that your TV doesn't produce very nice blacks, but it's well known that no technology, especially LCD Plasma and DLP, get as dark as a conventional tube TV. Making the dark gray box slightly brighter isn't what we are talking about because that is simply an adjustment of the set. It won't change the fact that certain technologies can only get so dark to begin with.

you're absolutely correct however in most cases (at least in terms of DLP and LCD) the white level is set by the bulb/backlight and the black level can be determined by relating the contrast ratio to the light output.

As a result you essentially end up with a contrast ratio set in terms of how well the hardware developers were able to restrain the light source using the display tech.

DLP for example... the technology hasn't changed much in terms of being able to oscillate the mirrors at distinct rates to get discrete shades of grey, what actually started bumping up their contrast ratios was their ability to contain light leakage... the Dark Chip series coats the back of the mirrors with no reflective material lowering the bottom end and by virtue expanding the contrast ratio in the process.

You're right that the contrast ratio doesn't set the black level... but the black level DOES play a major role in setting the contrast ratio, and since no company lists the black level of their displays the contrast ratio is the best tool we have for estimating where the black level will be.

This post has been edited by twistedsymphony: Jun 19 2007, 01:54 PM