Anyone Hooked Up in HDTV and/or Dolby Digital?

Is anyone out there playing videogames in HD or surround sound? Technically only the Xbox is capable of High Definition video. But for the sake of discussion we' ll include PS2 and Gamecube' s 480p setup. I' d also like to hear if anyone plays games in the 16:9 anamorphic mode.

I don' t have an HDTV yet. When I get one it will be CRT, just like my TV is now. Why? Because CRT is the only way I can see the native resolution of whatever I am watching. Plasmas and LCD screens have fixed resolutions (bogus!) and everythng is up or down scaled to that resolution, which does harm the video. Also, plasmas are EXTREMELY succeptable to burn in. Plasmas are also out of sync with the sound by about 3 to 4 frames. Plasmas are just stupid. Rear projection sets would be a little better than plasma or LCD, but I believe the resolution is still fixed. I' m not entirely sure on that one. But the viewing angle sucks. DLP projection definitely has a fixed resolution since it relies on individual mirrors to handle each pixel. The thought of playing Soul Calibur II in 720p is awesome.

Unfortunately not too many games that I know of support 16:9 anamorphic. Super Monkeyball 2 does as well as a few others. What I would NEVER do is stretch a normal 4:3 image to fit the screen. It makes everything look distorted and that is no good. Circles become ovals, characters become fat, it just doesn' t look right. The next generation of systems will hopefully have DVI connections instead of component.

As far as sound is concerned, I do have my Xbox hooked up in Dolby Digital 5.1 and it really adds to the experience in my opinion. No system has sound anywhere near as good as the Xbox, and fortunately the majority of games for the system takes good advantage of it. I hihly recommend hooking the system up this way! Crimson Skies is incredible when you hit the turbo boost and the room just rumbles with the discrete subwoofer. Hearing the planes behind you is also nice. Some PlayStation 2 titles use DTS Interactive, but it really sucks ass. DTS Interactive gives you only 4 discrete channels... Left, Right, Left Surround and Right Surround. No Center channel or Subwoofer at all. Most games actually sound BETTER in Pro Logic or Pro Logic II than they do in DTS Interactive. Too bad no system uses real DTS, which is even better than 5.1 Dolby Digital. The Gamecube is not capable of discrete surround and must rely on ancient matrixing technology like Dolby Pro Logic.

Hopefully Nintendo won' t drop the ball with their next console design and leave out HDTV and true discrete surround. It is a really big fear of mine, and seems like something Nintendo would do. " Toys don' t need advanced display and sound capabilities! It' s all about the revolutionary gameplay! Aesthetics matter not! We are Nintendo! We can do no wrong!"

I' ll THINK about getting one after you get one and completely test the waters :p

I' m playing my X-Box through a 57 inch projection TV with component hookups. It' s no HD but I' m still impressed.

What' s weird is that the PS2 and Gamecube are both played on this TV but is running through the VCR even though there' s a S-Video and AV slot left. The way I figure it, my brother brought those systems, HE can buy the proper wires for them.

I have two Xbox' s hooked up in my living room that are linked. I use Digital Surround Sound on one and have the other hooked up to normal tower speakers. I just recently did this so I have only played Brute Force thru the link, which I might add, is quite entertaining considering you can do co-op, deathmatch, and team squad deathmatch. Anyone know of some other good linkable games?

At least the Gamecube supports component, and in NTSC territories prog scan with compatible games. Having to run anything through composite (AV, S-video etc) hurts the eyes.

More and more games are supporting widescreen modes now so provided you only really plan on playing modern stuff and watching DVD' s a widescreen TV is highly recommended. However if you still play a lot of retro stick with a 4:3.

I plan on getting a cheap 2nd hand projector. I just want to play games on a nice big screen rather then the small screen I have now. Hopefully I can pick a cheap one up for £200 which I can use for PC, TV and consoles.

I need to pay back the £250 I borrowed for E3 though, and the outstanding £565 Uni fees too. And I want to get a laptop this summer.

Better start looking for a 3rd job

Sharan Dev Jain
http://www.theotaku.co.uk

I have a 55 in hdtv, its excellant, although sometimes it switches to streched screen and it gets all screwy, i cant seem to fix it either,