If you could choose between 720p60 or 1080p30?

[DarkFlare69]

Would you choose:

720p resolution with 60 frames per second

1080p resolution with 30 frames per second

1440p resoluton with 15 frames per second

 

[SpongeFreak52]

All depends on the content. 60fps for games, 30fps for movies, and 15fps for maybe anime?

 

[sblast3]

720p60 without a doubt. When it comes to gaming, pixel-clarity isn't that important. What's important is good controls and no input lag. However, modern consoles in reality should be able to do 1080p60 considering how much they cost.

 

[grossaffe]

Gimme a nice clean frame rate.

 

[DarkFlare69]

All depends on the content. 60fps for games, 30fps for movies, and 15fps for maybe anime?

The forums title is "General Gaming Discussion" But I see. The hentai I watch seems to be about 15 FPS

720p60 without a doubt. When it comes to gaming, pixel-clarity isn't that important. What's important is good controls and no input lag. However, modern consoles in reality should be able to do 1080p60 considering how much they cost.

Should. But since when is the economy good?

 

[Armadillo]

720p60

FPS over graphics, always.

 

[yuyuyup]

Neither are acceptable for my Virtual Reality enjoyment

 

[aofelix]

720p60.

i honestly don't know how console gamers cope with 30fps and under for some titles. I remember playing TR last gen on PC and I could hardly cope with the dips in FPS with tress FX even though it never went anywhere near 30. Maybe it was due to not being locked.

Anyway performance > prettiness IMO.

 

[DarkFlare69]

720p60.

i honestly don't know how console gamers cope with 30fps and under for some titles. I remember playing TR last gen on PC and I could hardly cope with the dips in FPS with tress FX even though it never went anywhere near 30. Maybe it was due to not being locked.

Anyway performance > prettiness IMO.

I get you there. Playing Watch_Dogs on a Wii U in a high speed cop chase = not good. It was like 20 FPS and I was going super fast, it looked like it was 5 FPS.

 

[DarkFlare69]

Since it seems everyone chooses 720p60 against 1080p30, would you go down to 480p60 if 720p60 was not a choice, or go up to 1080p30?

 

[Taleweaver]

We really need context here. Is this on a PC or on a television? And what genre of a game are we talking about?

Since there is not much of a choice on a console, I'm assuming this is on a PC. Likewise, since first and third person shooters/action adventures are both the ones pushing the hardware the most AND where it is the most important, I am assuming this is the genre we're talking about. Keep note that if the genre was something like a platformer or anything turn-based, my vote would've been completely different (though 15FPS isn't a game but a slideslow).

Since it seems everyone chooses 720p60 against 1080p30, would you go down to 480p60 if 720p60 was not a choice, or go up to 1080p30?

It's really as simple as you can make it: the frames per second is what matters. The resolution is just window dressing. So yes, 480p60 > 1080p30. Without a doubt.


I've played UT2004 for years on pretty much the bare minimum at that time. With every tweak in the book, I managed to get a somewhat stable 30FPS out of my rig on the onslaught maps. Since I played it for easily 2 years that way (after which I FINALLY upgraded my rig), I can personally testify two things:
1) it's not so much the framerate by itself that matters but the fluctuation. Of course, on higher FPS, the difference becomes relatively less (the difference 25-35 FPS is way more noticeable than 55-65 FPS). Nonetheless, even when things aren't visible with the naked eye, a lower FPS (say...50 instead of 60) tires your eyes faster than a higher one.
2) the visual difference is certainly noticeable when doing a side-by-side comparison, but when a game is at all engaging, it'll take less than five minutes to completely forget any differences whatsoever. To take UT2004 as an example again: I remember being disappointed when I finally started playing it on above-minimum specs: I hardly noticed the game being different AT ALL. In fact, the only differences I did notice got in the way of my gaming experience (there were a handful of levels where foliage, lens flare and stuff like that made it harder to see your opponents...and UT2004 was always a game where your enemies were relatively hard to see). Speaking of which...if you have time, go check out the settings competitive players use. These guys pretty much always tweak their visual settings to make important things stand out the most and/or crank out the highest FPS possible.

 

[MarioFanatic64]

Frame Rate > Resolution

Gameplay needs to be nice and smooth before resolution.

720p is still very impressive, and by sitting a little further back than usual you'll likely not notice any difference. That is not the case with the frame rate.

 

[Fishaman P]

I'd take 720p60 over 1080p30, and 480p60 over 720p30.
Hell, I'd take 480p60 over 1080p30. I'm all about that frames.

 

[Vipera]

I had that problem back when I played Saints Row IV, but 768p instead of 720 (@60fps), vs 1080p (@30). The game felt a lot better with the lower resolution but with greater framerate.

 

[Jayro]

Last gen should be able to handle every game at 1080p 60fps no problem, and no excuses. Current gen should have no problem handling 4K at 60fps, given their price and MUCH beefier hardware. But they don't. I don't know if it's just developer laziness with optimization or what, but the current gen still struggles to hit 60 fps at 1080p, and that's not only sad, it's unacceptable. Especially since a gaming PC can do it with shittier specs no problem.

 

[FAST6191]

Assuming LCD and not CRT or a headset.

24-30 for video though make it the actual framerate -- no pulldowns please.

30 for games if they ever introduce proper motion blur (it is what largely makes video acceptable at that rate)

Personally I do not mind 30 for games if they do not have proper motion blur so I probably would go for 1080p30 as well.

 

[mightymuffy]

Last gen should be able to handle every game at 1080p 60fps no problem, and no excuses. Current gen should have no problem handling 4K at 60fps, given their price and MUCH beefier hardware. But they don't. I don't know if it's just developer laziness with optimization or what, but the current gen still struggles to hit 60 fps at 1080p, and that's not only sad, it's unacceptable. Especially since a gaming PC can do it with shittier specs no problem.

??? - You can buy any reasonably priced gaming PC today that'll smash a PS4, in fact, on the PS4's launch - if you shopped around - you could build yourself a PC with at least the same amount of power for the same price as that console's rrp!
Honestly, you could go out today, shop around, and for the same price as a PS4 you could get a tower unit that'd outperform the console by some margin, even after taking into account the whole 'set top box' thing.
I have both a PS4 and XBO, and think they're both fantastic, and DON'T have (or play on) a powerful PC (my sons have one each though). But, both machines are terribly underpowered: think back to the Xbox 360 launch - you (arguably) couldn't even GET a PC that offered that kind of power at that time, let alone one for the same price...

Anyway, topic in question: 720p/60 > 1080p/30, for the most part! My 2 fave games of last year cover this argument - Mario Kart 8, @ 720p/60 (well, sort of 60 , let's not bring that up again!!) and Forza Horizon 2, @ 1080p/30... Now Horizon 2 has to be the most responsive 30fps game I've ever played, and certainly the level of detail, whilst not Driveclub standards, is still amazing, compared to MK8's simpler, cartoony style ....run the 2 games side by side though, and there's no question which is the smoother, and as a result actually the prettier....

Can depend on the game though..... for say a JRPG, or a strategy game, I'd take the resolution hike instead....

480p/60 vs 1080p/30.... come now lads, we're getting a bit daft here! Sure if your console's attached to your 14" TV upstairs in your bedroom, coz you live with your parents or something fair enough, you knock yourselves out with 480p, but if your consoles are downstairs under the main TV, which is say around 42" and up, no no NO - let's stick with 30fps!

 

[Shady Guy Jose]

It all depends on the genre. I have no problem playing Pokémon of Final Fantasy (maybe even one or two Tales titles) at 30 FPS, as long as it's stable and the image is optimized for such (motion blur, etc), so I'd go for the higher resolution. However, I could never play Super Smash Bros at that framerate, for example...

 

[Arras]

Last gen should be able to handle every game at 1080p 60fps no problem, and no excuses. Current gen should have no problem handling 4K at 60fps, given their price and MUCH beefier hardware. But they don't. I don't know if it's just developer laziness with optimization or what, but the current gen still struggles to hit 60 fps at 1080p, and that's not only sad, it's unacceptable. Especially since a gaming PC can do it with shittier specs no problem.

The thing is, you have limited processing power, so you have to choose what to use it for. One of these options is raising the framerate, or rendering at a higher resolution. Another option is adding more filters/objects to make things look prettier. Most developers pick the latter, because it's more obvious to consumers than the marginal 720 -> 1080 increase. Gaming PCs can mostly do it because
A. people who use gaming PCs go absolute batshit insane if a game doesn't support 1080@60 (MUH MASTER RACE) while most console gamers are like "eh"
B. gaming PCs are usually quite a bit more powerful anyway
C. games on PC have quality settings that you can lower to turn down the "more filters/objects" and raise the resolution/framerate. Consoles don't have this option

 

[Cyan]

games with slow or almost inexistant motions (pre-rendered background, still pictures etc.), 1080p looks really nice. Castlevania Lords of shadow 1 looked gorgeous in 1080p.
Games based on Real time 3D environment or high speed (FPS, action, cars, etc.) should focus on frame rate.

But, for me, 30fps is already very nice. games sometime drops below.