1st time desktop buyer....please help me!!

[gooche77]

We use GTX 660's here at the office, do you should be able to max out the settings.

Run the configuration utility.

Since your TV is 720, set the resolution to 1280x720

In the Graphics settings
Post Processing: On (although some like the look of off, so try both)
Anti-Aliasing: 8X (12x and 16x usually get reverted to 8x due to a DirectX 9 limitation)
Texture Filtering: Aniso (x16)
Ball Reflection: High

Thanks for the help, Mike!

Definitely turned Post Processing OFF. It looks really jagged with it on.

First impression. The physics feel heavier and more realistic than iOS. The downside is that i think the tables actually look better on my iPad3. Could this be due to the fact i'm only using a 720p tv?

At any rate, I'll be very interested in the differences between this version and the dx11 upgrade.

 

[mpad]

What exactly does the post processing do? I never tried it off

 

[mpad]

Don't forget to try those tips for flipper lag, you might not even know you have it until you see the difference! http://digitalpinballfans.com/showthread.php?t=6365

TV set to pc/game mode
Tpa config set to fullscreen window
Nvidia setting to max 1 prerendered frame

If you want more AA for smoother picture you could also try to force it with nvidia control panel instead of tpa config

 

[gooche77]

Thanks mpad! I'll give it a shot tonight.

 

[Mike Reitmeyer]

Thanks for the help, Mike!

Definitely turned Post Processing OFF. It looks really jagged with it on.

First impression. The physics feel heavier and more realistic than iOS. The downside is that i think the tables actually look better on my iPad3. Could this be due to the fact i'm only using a 720p tv?

At any rate, I'll be very interested in the differences between this version and the dx11 upgrade.

In some cases, post processing messes with the AA. Setting it in the control panel like mpad suggested can fix that.

Using a 1080 display would most likely help with the quality.

What exactly does the post processing do? I never tried it off

Add's bloom effect. Essentially glows around lights.

 

[mpad]

Add's bloom effect. Essentially glows around lights.

Ah, the light clouds. Quite like them. Are they still used in the dx11 version or will they be real dynamic lights?

 

[Mike Reitmeyer]

Ah, the light clouds. Quite like them. Are they still used in the dx11 version or will they be real dynamic lights?

DX11 will use point lights for all light sources.

 

[superballs]

Thanks for the help, Mike!

Definitely turned Post Processing OFF. It looks really jagged with it on.

First impression. The physics feel heavier and more realistic than iOS. The downside is that i think the tables actually look better on my iPad3. Could this be due to the fact i'm only using a 720p tv?

At any rate, I'll be very interested in the differences between this version and the dx11 upgrade.

Gooch,
I know you just spent a wad on your pc, but my recommendation would be to pick yourself up a 24" 1080p monitor. Now I know it's not going to be the monster sized screen you currently enjoy, but the smaller screen combined with the higher resolution (and the possibility to dedicate this to tpa in portrait mode) will increase the table quality immensely.

I currently have a 22" monitor with no bezel (the plastic frame stuff) that was slated for a pincab before my finances got really tight, it only runs 1680x1050, which is pretty close to 1080p really but still looks amazing in portrait. It does nothing but sit on a chair next to my couch in portrait, and I even do a lot of general computing on it, as surfing the web actually seems to be better (exception is video sites which are better in landscape orientation, like youtube).

Now, remember, your iPad has an amazing 2,048 × 1,536 resolution, and a regular desktop monitor at that resolution is going to cost you quite a pretty penny as well, and I'm not sure what resolution TPA on the iPad is actually rendered at. Possibly the full resolution (Maybe Mike can answer that or it's likely somewhere on the forum) or at a reduced 1024x768 (half the resolution and scaled up). Even if your large screen TV was the same resolution, the image would *TECHNICALLY* not look as good (but honestly probably be absolutely nothing to complain about in real life) because the pixels are A) Larger, and B) Spaced further apart. Even so, a smaller (ie 24") monitor in portrait will still give you 1920 pixels of horizontal lines to capture the extra detail along the table's length, and 1080 pixels to render the detail in the width, which of course is substantially smaller than the length so it is maximizing the potential for detail when viewing the whole table.

Playing 1050 x 1680 allows me to be able to read even the smaller text on inserts on the PC version.

The questions you have to ask yourself are:

A) Do I mind playing on a smaller but sharper screen
B) Do I want to spend the money on a monitor largely for one game

If you really wanted to go nuts, as long as your TV has a 1:1 pixel ratio (a lot of TVs have rectangular pixels which can mess with a picture in portrait) you could rotate it (because I'm sure you want to do that </sarcasm>), and you would probably get a better view of the detail because you would be using less pixels to render the width and more for the length, also, you would be looking at the table from more of a top down view depending on the camera angle you select. I tend to use view 3 because it's the closest to a full screen view, locked view of course.

 

[gooche77]

That was an amazing breakdown. Much thanks superballs.

 

[superballs]

Glad to help where I can man.

 

[hammr25]

If you end up wanting to buy a monitor for portrait mode the feature you're looking for is called "pivot".

Here's all of the monitors Newegg has that pivot.

http://goo.gl/LFzmb7