PS2 on HDTV-help please

[monel]

I've been playing some PS2 games hooked up to a Samsung tv I bough a few months back through a scart lead (will buy a component cable soon) and it doesn't look that bad at all for some games.

Thunderforce VI looks great, Gregory Horror Show looks decent, but ICO looks terrible. The castle bit at the start is extremely blocky and I can't figure out why it looks so much worse than the other games.

Does anyone have any suggestions, ie will the component cable improve things or is it a lost cause? For some reason I can't enable game mode through the scart socket, but I can with HDMI connections.

[dvdx2]

the component cable will improve things if the game is 480p (there is a list kicking about somewhere), but the reality is you are feeding a 480i signal into an HD panel, so its not going to look great. Other wise it probably wont look any different to RGB.

Try turning down your sharpness (if its high) and this should remove some of the 'blockyness' it should be around 0/+1

there is a new wave of custom upscalers that are fairly cheap (thinking of getting one myself, which transcode the RGB signal to VGA which 'might' look better. Other upscalers like the xrgb units are expensive, but i've heard they look great for 480i stuff (do a search on this forum)

[Brad]

Ico runs at PS1 resolution basically so it is naturally blockier. I think the vertical res is just 240 pixels in fact. Tekken 3 on PS1 is higher res than ICO on PS2. Wait for the HD collection on PS3?

[monel]

Thanks for the replies.

I could do with an upscaler but can't justify the cost of the xrgb units right now. I should have picked on up last year.

About ICO, I saw some online videos and it looked mint, is that perhaps because somebody was playing it on an emulator with the resolution maybe cranked up?

FSW-another reason why I need a PS3? That and Time Crisis 4, plus the Yakuza games.

[Brad]

Oh I love TC4. Really into the more arcadey titles at the moment. Ninja Gaiden, Wipeout HD and Time Crisis 4 / Razing Storm / Deadstorm Pirates.

Ico could be on an emulator I guess although my understanding is that Ico is one of the more difficult titles to emulate so emulating AND upscaling it does *seem* unlikely but I rally don't know.

[Escape-To-88]

As already stated Ico runs at 240p so no chance of it looking better. Some HDTV's will not support Ico over component either so be careful. My Dad's new Samsung does, but my older LG LH3000 never did.
I play my official copy through an emu on my Mac and it looks bloody lovely at 1080p (actually looks better than the double pack images!) - either that or as suggested wait for the double pack this Autumn.

Another fan here for the TC pack. I bought it for TC4, but instantly preferred the other two - I also traded some stuff in for a sharpshooter - lovely for getting a bit of gun-rage out

P.S Thunderforce 6 has a 480p mode through component, just triangle and x at startup.

[Soundwave]

Shinobi,

If you fancy giving component a try give me a PM I have a spare Game own brand Component cable you can borrow for a while if you like?

I used to use it before I updated to an official PS3 one & it seemed fine with my PS2 gave a much better image on my old CRT than the official Scart cable gave.

Neil

[monel]

Thanks for the tips guys. I only wanted a PS3 for Ridge Racer before as my 360 has done me fine but I really want the Time Crisis games and the pack.

Soundwave, that is very generous of you, I'm probably going to buy the official PS3 component cable as soon as I have the cash spare since I was told it would work on the PS2. I really appreciate the offer but I'd rather not put you through the bother of posting it out.


I have a load of Tranformers UK comics if you ever want them. I didn't look after them as well as my American Marvel and DC stuff, though.

I also have other TF related stuff if you ever need the Japanese series or anything give me a pm.

[Chunky]

I have an official component cable at home that i bought from the States I think a load of years ago (before the PS3 came out, not sure if it's branded PS2 or just Sony), it's never been use as my PS2 has been *cough* "tweaked". Let me know if you want it and we can agree a price.

[monel]

Yep, would definitely be interested if it's official. Umm it won't work with an 'upgraded' console?

[speedlolita]

It'll work fine. Some chips force rgb though so green screen.

[monel]

Ok, thanks for that. Is that just the earlier chips?

[JazzFunk]

Don't know if it'll make a difference with your telly but on my Samsung, I turned the backlight way down*, turned off the noise reduction and my Wii and PS2 look pretty nice via component (picture mode set at 'natural'), as does my Xbox via RGB. The backlight made everything look blobby, blocky and garishly colourful but now I'm getting a subtler, more natural image that is pretty damn good, not SD perfection but not bad at all, some of the games look even better (Rogue Galaxy, Obscure, Ghost Hunter, for example, even Contra Shattered Soldier and DMC3 are running pretty nicely, and DMC3 looked shocking on my last LCD HDTV).

(*As per Lyris' recommendation in the sticky at the top of this bit of the forum.)

[monel]

Thanks JazzFunk, I actually followed one of Lyris' colleagues tips and applied the recommended settings to my tv but haven't tried the PS2 since then. It did make a difference, it's also a Samsung btw. Although when I turn game mode on for the 360 the new settings are still very bright on a white screen, even with the backlight turned down. Also, DMC3 looked very, very dark in certain parts before, but I'm not used to the game so don't know if it's the tv's fault.

[JazzFunk]

^You tried setting it into 'movie' mode and tinkering with the settings? (I know it's a fiddly way to do things but perhaps you might get a decent result?) I also always play my older stuff in 4:3 mode as it tends to be a decent way of sidestepping many issues with HD tellies (though haven't tried PS1 yet, my mate says Resi 3 is unplayable on his 32" Bravia as it looks so blocky).

Also, forgot to mention my telly is 32", if you've got a big-arse 42" job then it might be difficult getting a picture quality approaching RGB SD on an old machine (unless you sit really, really far away, which does work but awkward if you do your gaming in a confined space).

Wish it was so much simpler and all modern tellies had modes whereby they could 'simulate' the effect of older consoles (kinda like MAME does on an HD monitor).