Optimal Resolution

[Green Gibbon!]

My old 360 red ringed a few months ago, so I replaced it and now I'm connecting with HDMI for the first time. In the settings menu, there's a new display option for "Optimal Resolution".

What in the world is optimal resolution?


When I run it (actually it defaults to it), it sets the resolution to 1360 x 768. The picture looks better, but the colors are muted compared to 1080p. When I use 1080p, the colors are brighter but almost garishly so and the image quality doesn't seem to be as crisp. What exactly is the difference between running at "optimal resolution" and 1080p?

I compared it with the PS3, which I've been using with HDMI for a year, but there's no similar option on the PS3. I just run at 1080p and it looks good.

I'm baffled as to how to get the best picture.

[Neo]

Oh, Jared, Jared, Jared.

On your old CRTs, resolution meant just how many times the ray scanned the picture horizontally per unit of time.

LCD screens come prebuilt with a set number of pixels. This means that they have a default resolution where each of the input pixels gets sent to an individual physical pixel on the screen. This is the screen's optimal resolution.

If you use lower resolutions than your monitor's optimal resolution, the pixels are going to get split up and merged with the surrounding pixels, ending in an ugly, blurry mess.

So if your monitor is whatever x whatever, set the input signal to that same resolution for the best (the intended) picture quality. I don't know about the color saturation, though.

[Green Gibbon!]

So... so you're saying that if I set the display option to 1080p, it's not displaying at the TV's native resolution?

[Neo]

I'm not even sure how you would go about displaying 1080p on a monitor with 768 rows of pixels (I'm assuming that other one IS the monitor's native resolution) since 1080 refers to the number of rows of pixels the image has.

Don't you have the monitor's resolution written down somewhere? In the manual, specs sheet, even the monitor itself?

[Green Gibbon!]

It's a Bravia KDL-26J1. According to the manual, the panel resolution is 1366 x 768.

What does that mean?

[Green Gibbon!]

I messed with it a bit more. It turns out the "optimal resolution" option was changing the display setting on the TV itself. I adjusted it and now the brightness is okay, but now the difference between it and 1080p is so small I can't tell which is better or even if there's any difference at all (might just be in my head).

I dunno, what's everyone else using?

[Kogen]

Your monitor is 720p (1280x720).

[Green Gibbon!]

Wouldn't it have to stretch the picture to get it to 1366 x 768?

[Crowbar]

If the resolution of your TV is 1366 x 768 then set the optimal resolution to that. It means that there are 1366 pixels horizontally and 768 vertically.

Good HDTVs have 1920 x 1080. Not so good ones have 1366 x 768 (as yours does, and possibly it actually displays 1280 x 720 and stretches it to fit, as Kogen is implying, but I'm not sure). Really not so good ones have 1280 x 720.

[P.P.A.]

I have a 640 x 480 LCD screen and you're all silly.

[Segaholic2]

It's a Bravia KDL-26J1. According to the manual, the panel resolution is 1366 x 768.

What does that mean?

This means your TV's native resolution is 1366x768 and next time you should do more research before buying a TV with a fucking stupid native resolution.

[Segaholic2]

I messed with it a bit more. It turns out the "optimal resolution" option was changing the display setting on the TV itself. I adjusted it and now the brightness is okay, but now the difference between it and 1080p is so small I can't tell which is better or even if there's any difference at all (might just be in my head).

I dunno, what's everyone else using?

The reason you can't tell the difference between your native resolution and 1080p on your monitor is because 1080p has to be downscaled in the first place because your TV doesn't support resolutions that high.

Using your native resolution is pretty much always the better choice just so you don't have any scaling issues. Of course, the downside is you're limited to whatever your TV's resolution is which, in your case, is barely better than 720p.

[Xyton]

For the record, Gibbs, checked out my '360 for you. It had been set to 1080p and I changed it to optimal. It asked me if I wanted to keep the new settings, but nothing changed. It still says 1080p is the summary on the right side of the menu, and if I go back in to HDTV settings, 1080p is selected again. Given all that and the other stuff in this thread, I'm'a guess that since your setting is doing something, that's the one you should use.

[Kogen]

Well I tried a VGA cable with my 1366'768 TV and it looks really dark. 360, for some reason, was unable to adjust the contrast properly (works fine on computer displays, or if I attach a computer to the TV).

So you could try a VGA cable for exact resolution, but it might end up useless. It all depends on how much you value a 7 dollar wire from eBay.

You might also be able to do that with HDMI, I have no idea. I know some TVs have PC input via HDMI, but I am not sure how 360 handles that.

I would also like to point out that most 360 games are upscaled and not even 720p HD (720p is also no longer a requirement).

[Segaholic2]

Yeah, again, resolution also depends on the game's native resolution, which will then be upscaled/downscaled to fit your TV's resolution. Most "HD" games nowadays are 720p native; some even less. Very few games run natively at 1080p.

I'd recommend HDMI or DVI since those are true digital signals. VGA and component are both analog.

[Green Gibbon!]

So which way is better if I can't use native resolution (such as on PS3)? Having the picture stretched from 720 or scaled down from 1080?

[Neo]

I'd say the best choice would be to have letterboxed 720p on your monitor's native resolution, but I'm not even sure you can do that.

[Kogen]

Minor stretching is not so bad.

In fact, I prefer it.

[Crowbar]

Very few games run natively at 1080p.

Which ones do, out of interest?

[Segaholic2]

Which ones do, out of interest?

Wipeout HD is the only one that comes immediately to mind.

[Spazz]

Theoretically speaking, constraining is always better than upscaling, which is basically like trying to blow up a raster image in Photoshop.
If your TV is "HD Ready", it shouldn't have any issues handling real HD signals.

[Crowbar]

I was under the impression that the "HD Ready" sticker was basically as good as "this thing is very much a transitional product and can only do fake shitty HD".
Don't know where I got that from, though.

[Spazz]

Yep, that's pretty much what it means, but it implies that the TV can adjust the signal properly to display on the screen.

[Delphine]

I have a TV that I found on the sidewalk. Its native resolution is "Oh sweet, it works."

[Segaholic2]

I have a TV that I found on the sidewalk. It's native resolution is "Oh sweet, it works."

its