Many HDTVs, especially early models and CRTs, cannot accept or display a native 720p signal. Sony obviously knew that when designing their product, as a number of their HDTV models fall into that category. So why not make a product that can adapt to these sets as well?
Standards change all the time, and while they are certainly free to support whatever resolutions they want, that doesn't mean the general public has to be happy with it.
The geeks know the details, but take Joe Six-Pack, your average 30-something male. He purchased a Sony HDTV eleven months ago, and although he saw other models with terms like "1080p" attached to them, he was still very impressed with the picture on the model he purchased, and was happy about the money he saved over those other models.
He games here and there, and he has heard about how awesome the graphics are on these two "next gen" consoles on HDTVs. So he has his buddies bring their consoles over, each bringing a copy of a multiplatform game for their respective system.
Buddy A hooks up his XBOX 360 to the TV, and impresses Joe with Call of Duty 3 running at 1080i.
Buddy B hooks up his Playstation 3 to the TV, and shows Joe Call of Duty 3 running at 480p. Joe sees that, despite the game having the same "look" as the 360 version, the prior one looked much sharper and more detailed. There's no doubt that the game looks well beyond anything his old PS2 or XBOX could output, but it lacks the punch that the 360 version had.
Now, Joe is a simple man who has the money for newer gadgets, but the technobabble of resolutions and such goes right over his head. Joe knows nothing of scalers, or HDCP, or any of these terms. Joe just knows what he sees on his TV. Now, if Joe is willing to plunk down half a grand or more for a game console, and wants the one that will look the best on his television, which system will he choose?
And Sony's fix may or may not be...
biz.gamedaily.com/industr.../?id=14518
Standards change all the time, and while they are certainly free to support whatever resolutions they want, that doesn't mean the general public has to be happy with it.
The geeks know the details, but take Joe Six-Pack, your average 30-something male. He purchased a Sony HDTV eleven months ago, and although he saw other models with terms like "1080p" attached to them, he was still very impressed with the picture on the model he purchased, and was happy about the money he saved over those other models.
He games here and there, and he has heard about how awesome the graphics are on these two "next gen" consoles on HDTVs. So he has his buddies bring their consoles over, each bringing a copy of a multiplatform game for their respective system.
Buddy A hooks up his XBOX 360 to the TV, and impresses Joe with Call of Duty 3 running at 1080i.
Buddy B hooks up his Playstation 3 to the TV, and shows Joe Call of Duty 3 running at 480p. Joe sees that, despite the game having the same "look" as the 360 version, the prior one looked much sharper and more detailed. There's no doubt that the game looks well beyond anything his old PS2 or XBOX could output, but it lacks the punch that the 360 version had.
Now, Joe is a simple man who has the money for newer gadgets, but the technobabble of resolutions and such goes right over his head. Joe knows nothing of scalers, or HDCP, or any of these terms. Joe just knows what he sees on his TV. Now, if Joe is willing to plunk down half a grand or more for a game console, and wants the one that will look the best on his television, which system will he choose?
And Sony's fix may or may not be...
biz.gamedaily.com/industr.../?id=14518
Quote:
Sony has contacted us to let us know that they may have spoken a bit prematurely. SCEA's Dave Karraker, Sr. Director, Corporate Communications, informed GameDaily BIZ that they currently cannot confirm that this 1080i issue will be resolved via a firmware patch. The official line is now that they are "looking into the issue and haven't stated any actions that will be taken regarding it."
