General PS3 Impressions Thread

[ScotchYeti]

I have the PS3 slim model and there is a lag. The right flipper is more or less okay, not perfect but it responds fast enough. The left flipper is a real pain and it's hard to adjust to (e.g. by hitting it earlier than you have to), I don't know how many balls I have lost during Multiball where fast reaction is required.

It's really strange because there were no issues at all in the PHOF. And why is the left flipper worse than the right one?!

 

[Jan Duin]

I've got a Samsung LCD with HDMI, when set to game mode there is no lag at all, plays smoothly. When I switch game mode off though there is.
So be sure to check your tv settings if you're experiencing problems..

 

[lettuce]

Unless you have BOTH the 360 and PS3 version then i dont think you can make a decision as to weather the PS3 version has input lag! Some people are more preceptive to input lag than others, and im telling you the PS3 version DOES have input lag, i bought my LCD TV because of its 6-8 m/s response time, tech heads have stated in many a descussion that even the most perceptive person to input lag cannot notice it under 8-10m/s and most people under 16m/s.

I know how to setup my LCD TV correctly for gaming, as i play COD in competition and input lag is the mother of all *****es if you dont have the correct TV, up until a year ago i was still gaming on a CRT TV as that tech has no input lag what so ever!. I have a PinCab as Silverball stated on the other page and he is versed up on this area like myself and we both spend many an hour deciding on what LCD panel was ideal for a Pincab. The fact that the game has no noticable input lag on my 360 but does on the PS3 rules out the LCD side of things straight away, anyone with an inclining of knowledge in this area would understand that. It is more than likely the wireless PS3 pads that are at fault, they suffer from this a fair bit , a wired pad would be the best option but still not a guarantee, hopeful farsight can patch this at some point!?

 

[Araxen]

I own the PS3 and 360 versions and I do not notice any lag.

 

[ND3G]

i bought my LCD TV because of its 6-8 m/s response time, tech heads have stated in many a descussion that even the most perceptive person to input lag cannot notice it under 8-10m/s and most people under 16m

Respone time refers to the pixel response or grey to grey (GtG) response time. It is an important factor but it should not be confused with display lag which is the lag time between a signal input and it being displayed on the screen. I am not aware of any company that publishes display lag values.

 

[ScotchYeti]

Anyway, how could be explained that the left flipper is more affected than the right one? Does this make sense?

 

[lettuce]

Respone time refers to the pixel response or grey to grey (GtG) response time. It is an important factor but it should not be confused with display lag which is the lag time between a signal input and it being displayed on the screen. I am not aware of any company that publishes display lag values.

Yes that is correct, input lag has nothing to do with the TV side of things, it relates to the console, controller, game or all of them!, if a TV has a bad response time to boot it can create some terrible results!

This youtube video is a good example of it, it uses SSF IV on the 360 and PS3 version on a CRT TV, it shows the PS3 version lagging behind the 360 version by and average of 2-3 frames, this is more than likely whats happening on TPA....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mh0oMIz5As

And this is another lag test vid, this time using Street Fighter 2 Turbo on 4 different systems, just shows how much each system can vary....

http://youtu.be/JoJzobmdGzU

 

[Jan Duin]

Anyway, how could be explained that the left flipper is more affected than the right one? Does this make sense?

Ehmm.. No.. Maybe it's the controller? Did you try another one?

 

[ND3G]

Yes that is correct, input lag has nothing to do with the TV side of things

Not exactly. When a signal is sent to the television it may undergo processing. Digital signal processing which is used to reduce ghosting effects cause input lag. Using non-native resolutions also creates input lag as video scalers need to be employed. Interlaced video signals (480i, 1080i) create input lag as the signal has to be deinterlaced. High-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP) and digital rights management (DRM) create lag as well but I do not know if the PS3 uses these. Lastly "overdrive" technology which buffers signals to reduce ghosting cause input lag. These are all internal to the television and have nothing to do with lag produced on the console side of things or the pixel response timing.

So in summary for the best results:
-Ensure your monitor has a low response time
-Use a progressive scan mode (720p, 1080p) matching your monitors native resolution if possible.
-Use "Game Mode" and/or turn off every extra feature you can.
-Use a wired controller if possible.

 

[Mike]

ND3G's summary is exactly what worked for me. It seems like multiple factors. (Tv specs, wireless controller etc.) would explain why different people are experiencing it to different degrees.

 

[ND3G]

ND3G's summary is exactly what worked for me. It seems like multiple factors. (Tv specs, wireless controller etc.) would explain why different people are experiencing it to different degrees.

Great to hear.

 

[lettuce]

Well at the end of the day the bottom line is, with the 360 i dont notice any lag and with the PS3 i do, both are using the same input on the LCD and a HDMI cable so that rules the display out of the equation. So it has to be the PS3 console PS3 version of TPA, the Pad or all of these things.....end of. That said i did have Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection on the PS3 and i dont recall noticing it with that ever...but then i never had the 360 version to compare it to

 

[Butterkins]

Yes that is correct, input lag has nothing to do with the TV side of things...

This is not correct.

As ND3G says, you can often see input lag if the display does image processing of its own. Most modern TVs do some form of image processing.

So, if you have a "Game" mode on your TV, use that.

You may also have to disable any other image processing, such as "smart image" modes. 24/30/50/60 Hz smoothing/de-juddering, digital noise reduction, "colour enhancement", sharpening, etc.

 

[ND3G]

It has to be the PS3 console PS3 version of TPA

I agree completely, especially since no one playing the 360 version has mentioned lag issues (that I am aware of). Hopefully FS will be able to optimize the PS3 version to eliminate the issue.

 

[lettuce]

I agree completely, especially since no one playing the 360 version has mentioned lag issues (that I am aware of). Hopefully FS will be able to optimize the PS3 version to eliminate the issue.

Yeah would be interesting to do a poll to see who has input lag and who doesnt on the PS3 version. I think at least half of the people who are going to be using TPA on the PS3 arent full time gamers, as there is a worrying amount of people who didnt even have the game mode enabled on there LCD's or even know what it was/does, in which case would these type of users even been perceptive to input lag or even know what the effect is?

This is not correct.

As ND3G says, you can often see input lag if the display does image processing of its own. Most modern TVs do some form of image processing.

So, if you have a "Game" mode on your TV, use that.

You may also have to disable any other image processing, such as "smart image" modes. 24/30/50/60 Hz smoothing/de-juddering, digital noise reduction, "colour enhancement", sharpening, etc.

Im going to have to disagree here, if you look at the 2 vids i posted on the previous page, they demonstrate input lag between the same game on the PS3 and 360 consoles, using the same controller and using the same CRT TV, and as im sure your aware CRT tech doesnt produce input lag (well it may produce a extremly minute lag but it would never ever be able to be apparent to even the most perceptive person to input lag in the world so is mute point), and still you can see the PS3 with input lag so it doesnt have anything to do with the display its the hardware your using on that display. What does make the effect worse is the respones time of the display adding that to an input lag problem that the PS3 version appears to have then your going to seriously notice a problem, the fact that many users have said that enabling the 'Game Mode' on there LCD display has 'Helped' then this is obvious as its cutting down the response time on the LCD side of things its still not curing the input lag the PS3 hardware is causing, and notice they use the word 'Helped' not 'fixed' that cant change until FS patch it. And repeating what i said above if these users didnt even have 'Game Mode' enabled in the first place then i doubt they would be overly perceptive to input lag in the first place.

Fingers crossed this can be patched, as i wish i was one who didnt notice the lag

 

[jrolson]

Im getting freezing when trying to quit the game on my PS3 fat but not on my PS3 slim. Have to unplug the power to get the PS3 to reboot.

 

[btmmayor]

Fingers crossed this can be patched, as i wish i was one who didnt notice the lag

Yes. It is ridiculous how much better the PS3 version looks compared to the 360 but I just can't play it. I just got done playing ToM back to back between the two versions, and while the PS3 table looks stunning in comparison, the lag just kills the experience.

I cannot wait for the 360 to get the lighting upgrade, that will be pinball heaven. Then it will be the best of both worlds.

 

[Jeff Strong]

It's weird how some people can eliminate the lag with TV settings but some can't. I have both the 360 and PS3 versions and they both play the same with no lag, but I always have Game Mode ON and all the motion/blur/gamma correction stuff turned OFF for all my consoles. It seems like it depends on the TV since only some are having the lag. Hopefully Farsight can get something worked out with a patch either way since we really shouldn't need to adjust TV settings in the first place.

 

[deathindustrial]

Is the Facebook nag screen on startup only on the PS3? Regardless, that really needs to be patched out as it is super annoying to have to wait and cancel it every time I load up the game. Do it once if you must but then remember the user's preference for next time.

Cheers

 

[jrolson]

Is the Facebook nag screen on startup only on the PS3? Regardless, that really needs to be patched out as it is super annoying to have to wait and cancel it every time I load up the game. Do it once if you must but then remember the user's preference for next time.

Cheers

Just login once and it will never popup again on game load....

Haven't seen it popup since...