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[newsguy]

For those who have played any of the consoles through component cables this generation, you probably know by now that most of the games appear darker than they should. Examples like Halo 1 and 2, Forza, God of War (actually pretty much every PS2 game needs some sort of adjustment). Adjusting the settings through the TV always washes out colors and kills blacks. When the games offer you the option to adjust these settings, the result is usually much cleaner and is saved so you don't have to constantly go into your tv's menu and try to remember the settings for every game. Why do all PC games do this but very few console games, usually dark ones like Doom or Splinter Cell? Since we're entering the "HD Era" and graphics are taking precedence, will more developers implement this simple, yet essential option into their games?

 

[DEO3]

Interesting observation. I purchased an HDTV a few months ago and to get the most out of it I am using component cables for each of my consoles. I then purchased Gran Turismo 4 and had a hell of a time getting my screen settings just right as some of the courses seemed way to dark.

For the longest time I had just thought it was intentional (to make the game atmosphere 'moody'), but since then I've noticed the same kind of darkness with every other game I've played, from the Metroid Primes on my Gamecube to San Andreas and Metal Gear on my Playstation.

And like you said, in order to really be able to see the games clearly I have to crank up my brightness and contrast settings to the point where then everything becomes washed out.

 

[teiresias]

It would help if there were standards for rendering color temperatures and screen geometry across the console market - preferably matched up to those standards used in video reproduction and DVDs.

The optimum solution would be like it is when you watch DVDs. You buy a calibration DVD and do all the changes in your television, using various test screens to calibrate the display to the display standard and anything you watch should appear as the DVD maker intended it (within some tolerances of course).

 

[newsguy]

It would help if there were standards for rendering color temperatures and screen geometry across the console market - preferably matched up to those standards used in video reproduction and DVDs.

The optimum solution would be like it is when you watch DVDs. You buy a calibration DVD and do all the changes in your television, using various test screens to calibrate the display to the display standard and anything you watch should appear as the DVD maker intended it (within some tolerances of course).

The sad thing is that I did this. I figured I would use my Avia DVD through the XBOX DVD player and games would at least be similar. Needless to say it didn't work and only proved the point that these games don't have a single standard (all the more reason to ship them with brightness/contrast settings). It sounds like something small, but when all of these people go out and buy these really nice HDTV sets, I think there's going to be some serious disappointment when their favorite games look so dark that they're difficult to play (I've been killed many a time in Halo 2 cause there was someone in a shadow that I should have seen).

 

[Juice]

For those who have played any of the consoles through component cables this generation, you probably know by now that most of the games appear darker than they should. Examples like Halo 1 and 2, Forza, God of War (actually pretty much every PS2 game needs some sort of adjustment). Adjusting the settings through the TV always washes out colors and kills blacks. When the games offer you the option to adjust these settings, the result is usually much cleaner and is saved so you don't have to constantly go into your tv's menu and try to remember the settings for every game. Why do all PC games do this but very few console games, usually dark ones like Doom or Splinter Cell? Since we're entering the "HD Era" and graphics are taking precedence, will more developers implement this simple, yet essential option into their games?

Really? Most of my GCN games look a whole lot BRIGHTER on component with better colors.

Granted I don't run in progressive scan, but as far as the input, I'm not sure it holds up there.