What is the optimal resolution when using a TV as your arcade monitor?

[sofakng]

I'm using a Radeon 7000 connected via s-video to a 27" television and I'm unsure which resolution to use.

I've seen all kinds of numbers (640x480, 648x486, 720x486) but I'm not sure which is the best one to use.

I'm also pretty sure I don't want to use 800x600 because the TV cannot display those pixels 1:1 so really it's being down-converted to 640x480 anyways, right?

Thanks for any help!

[lanman31337]

I use 800x600 and make the icons and font bigger.  I'm also using a 32 inch television.

[sofakng]

Thanks for the reply!

Doesn't the video card just convert the 800x600 instead the TV's native resolution of 640x480?

[lanman31337]

It's definitley 800x600.  It's uber ginormous when it's 640x480. 

[sofakng]

I think 800x600 just makes the images and text smaller but I still think the native television resolution is 640x480 (or 720x480, etc).  I'm pretty sure that SDTVs and EDTVs don't go above that but HDTV go above it with resolutions like 1280x720, etc.

[Chunce DeLeone]

I have a 27 inch that loves 720x480,  I have read here that the optimal is 640X432 and others that have the same TV say that as well, but for some reason I can't get it to fill up the screen with 640x432,  even playing with the Hsize Vsize parabala nonsence,   so I am just going to leave it at 720X480,  I think for the classics you want the lowest rez possible,  also the lower the rez the less it drains your system, and the more authentic for older graphics,   I have spent many many days and hours pouring over the TV/video settings and the colors are still out of whack,  too green,  one piece of advice is that the first time you go into the service menu write every value down on a piece of paper, because after a few hours and a few cocktails you could be far from home without a clue how to get back, and theres no re-imaging a TV

[sofakng]

Thanks for the information!

I'm beginning to think that I am mistaken about CRT televisions having a native resolution...

After reading some information on Wikipedia it seems like that CRTs have a certain dot pitch which determines that maximum resolution.

I guess then if you select 800x600 or 1024x768 that the video is actually sending that resolution to the TV?  I thought it was always down-converting it to 640x480 or whatever...

[NickG]

yeah. it is.  The CRT can handle resolutions limited by it's dot pitch , but using s-video limits it to s-video standards.     

[TOK]

I have a 27 inch that loves 720x480,  I have read here that the optimal is 640X432 and others that have the same TV say that as well, but for some reason I can't get it to fill up the screen with 640x432,  even playing with the Hsize Vsize parabala nonsence,   so I am just going to leave it at 720X480,  I think for the classics you want the lowest rez possible,  also the lower the rez the less it drains your system, and the more authentic for older graphics,   I have spent many many days and hours pouring over the TV/video settings and the colors are still out of whack,  too green,  one piece of advice is that the first time you go into the service menu write every value down on a piece of paper, because after a few hours and a few cocktails you could be far from home without a clue how to get back, and theres no re-imaging a TV

I think people using the oddball 640x432 resolution are probably doing so on a component input, not S-Video.
That is the res I run on my component input to prevent image cropping.

[sofakng]

yeah. it is.  The CRT can handle resolutions limited by it's dot pitch , but using s-video limits it to s-video standards. 

According to the article s-video commonly uses 480i which is defined as 720x480 or 720x486 or as 640x480 with a 4:3 ratio.

So... when 800x600 is selected as the desktop resolution, does the video card down-convert it to 640x480 for the TV?

[lanman31337]

Mine doesn't down-convert.  I'm typing on it now.  It's at 800x600, and you can definitely tell when it's 1024x768.  I can do 640x480 only in safe mode I think.  Yup, Nvidia drivers limit it to 800x600 and 1024x768.  I had to go back to svideo because vista... that's another story.  I think my component does the same thing too.

[ahofle]

It absolutely does down convert when using S-video TV out.  That's why 800x600 looks blurry compared to a PC monitor.  If you are running S-Video, then you are feeding your TV a standard NTSC 480i image regardless of what resolution you have selected in Windows.  If you are lucky enough to have an EDTV with component inputs, then can you get a step up from that with 480p.

To answer the original poster, I found that 640x480 was by far the best quality image on a standard TV with S-Video.  I assume this is because it's easier for the TV out functionality of the card to convert to 480i.  That said, I used 800x600 for the Windows desktop simply because 640x480 was too big (as mentioned here already), but I ran all emulators at 640x480 for optimal picture quality.

[Bluedeath]

720x480 (NTSC) and 720x576 (PAL) are the theoretical best values because thay match (more or less) the TV CRT resolution.

[Chunce DeLeone]

I run 720x486 on the Component input,  What am i losing vs 640x480?  Is the image quality less?  Also when I go for the lower rezolutions I can't get the screen to fill, there are black borders, 

[fjl]

I use 1024x768 also on component. Fills the screen as long as I don't use certain effects.

[xmenxmen]

on my 7000, I am running at 800x600 as it looks best on that.  windows font is barely readiable, but frontend and game look great.  using s-video.