PS2 on PC LCD...

Soulburner · 07-05-2007, 07:32 PM

So I have my component and optical cables hooked up. I'm running a BenQ 24" FP241W LCD, and Logitech Z-5500 5.1 THX speakers. The sound is great, but the picture is not.

I was worried about this, and I'm afraid my suspicions were correct - it looks like crap. Of course at 1:1 the picture is very small, a little box in the middle of the screen. It is also very pixelated already, at its native resolution. Not big enough to be really playable (or readable) I expand it with Aspect mode. Now it is really pixelated. On a tube TV the games always looked awesome (with composite cables even) and I never saw any hint of pixelation or aliasing problems, however they are all too apparent now. Everything is very blocky and there is no smoothness to the graphics at all, even the smoothest of games such as Final Fantasy X and Gran Turismo 3 look like old Windows 95 games. All "fine detail" is lost.

So, what can I do about this? Is there anything to improve the picture or should I forget this whole setup and move the PS2 back to the 27" tube TV where it looks great? I feel like I am doing something wrong but I don't know what you could do wrong. Why is there more fine detail on a 27" tube TV with composite cables than a 24" LCD with component?

direowls · 07-05-2007, 07:58 PM

I am seeing the same thing as you when I connected a PS2 to a tuner - I think if your TV is fairly old ("tube"= CRT?), the resolution of the TV is so low that you will never notice the inherently low-res output of PS2 graphics on a traditional TV, as compared to a high-res widescreen LCD where all such defects are painfully visible.

Soulburner · 07-06-2007, 02:53 AM

I have thought about that but it's wierd because there is fine detail such as on characters in Final Fantasy X that is just a bunch of pixels now.

Soulburner · 07-09-2007, 06:15 PM

How can I upscale PS2 games so they don't look so bad?

{GOD}Raptor22 · 07-11-2007, 12:10 AM

(sorry...) Buy a PS3

Soulburner · 07-11-2007, 07:44 AM

It's a thought. But not for a while...

Miwo · 07-11-2007, 08:08 AM

You aren;t doing anything wrong. I have this same problem on my 2007WFP 20" Widescreen. Games look like crap compared to the old tube TV. Part of the reason is that your output is only going to be as good as your source, and in this case the PS2 really shows its age. Some games support HD output such as God of War II and Gran Turismo 4...have you played those? I have also noticed that Cell Shaded Games will not look as bad because there is far less detail to them

I think the main reason why things look so terrible is viewing distance. With an LCD Monitor, I am presuming you are playing near your desk. When using my monitor, I was not even 2 feet away from the screen..., whereas when setup to a small tube TV, you are a probably a good 4-6~ feet away. On the big screen TV, my viewing distance is 12 feet away and PS2 Games look great IMO. GT4 looks very nice at 1080i on a 52" LCD

Also if you play PS2 games on PS3, its going to look MUCH worse...

Soulburner · 07-11-2007, 09:12 AM

It all comes down to analog vs digital...tube vs LCD...the TV just takes away all the pixels and aliasing and makes everything look really good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miwo

Also if you play PS2 games on PS3, its going to look MUCH worse...

Why?

lowfat · 07-12-2007, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miwo

Also if you play PS2 games on PS3, its going to look MUCH worse...

I do believe sir you are incorrect. When PS3 was first launched yes, but with firmware updates it no upconverts all PS2 games to HD.

[XC] Lead Head · 07-13-2007, 04:31 AM

I think most PS2 games output video in 640x480, while most older tube TVs display 320x240. So I guess Sony kind of relies on that, or the video could even be outputted at 320x240, which really sucks.

Miwo · 07-13-2007, 08:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowfat

I do believe sir you are incorrect. When PS3 was first launched yes, but with firmware updates it no upconverts all PS2 games to HD.

You are right, thanks for catching me on that, my mistake.

The time I tried playing FFX on my roomates PS3 awhile back must have been before they fixed upscaling with the firmware update