So I just upgraded from a 19 inch TV to a 32 inch, and I'm noticing really bad jaggies on the tendrils of the mushrooms in Blackreach. Is there any way to reduce this either with the TV or PS3's options or am I just screwed because Skyrim doesn't have anti-aliasing on PS3? When the tendrils sway back and forth it looks awful - very pixelated and jagged. I didn't notice this on my other TV but it was much smaller.

I've tried messing with the TV's options but that really hasn't changed anything. I've finally gotten Uncharted to look perfect, but these jaggies in Skyrim still look like complete [censored].
I have a Samsung 32 inch 720p 60 hz TV and a 160 GB slim PS3. I screwed around with PS3 options too, but none seemed to help.

Actually, I thought that the PS3 version has anti-aliasing, which causes it to look blurrier than the 360 version... Maybe it's just because your new TV is larger and therefore makes it easier to spot stuff like that. It might also depend on the cables you're using (RGB? Component? HDMI?). Also, some people reported that their game apparently didn't install properly the first time around, which caused some textures to look horrible. A reinstall would probably fix it, if that's the case.

I'm using HDMI cable. I'll try reinstalling, though I think maybe it's just me noticing it a lot more now.

I know you said you messed around with your tv options, but this sounds like a symptom of the "sharpness" setting being set way too high. A lot of people think that high sharpness is a good thing, but if your signal is an HD signal, it's actually better to have none at all. Also, a lot of televisions come with some sort of "edge enhancement" setting. It's usually a little deeper in the menus, but it basically makes everything look like [censored]. Turn that off too. Also, you should try googling recommended calibration for your tv's model number. It will do you a lot of good and should leave you feeling very satisfied with your picture quality.

The problem is that the TV is an LCD and because it's bigger. It was the other way around with me, though.
I had a 50" plasma that broke last year but all the games looked too good on it, and it was a 720p only TV!
I got myself a new one that is 24" and full 1080p, but the quality was reduced dramatically. De-saturation, aliasing, contrast issues, etc.
I got used to all theses problems, and fixed some by adjusting the settings on my TV but i really miss my Plasma.

P.S. - Not all the games on the PS3 get upscaled when you disable all the other resolutions except for 1080p, and that svcks. My TV displays 720p poorly but if a game (like Uncharted 3) gets uscaled to 1080p, it's crisp and defined. The Xbox 360 upscales ALL the games to 1080p. I wish Sony did something to fix all these upscaling issues.

Yea I have edge enhancement off and I have messed with the sharpness, even turning it down to 0 didn't help the jaggies at all, they just end up looking like a blurred mess instead of a pixelated mess.

Also tried reinstalling, didn't help. I guess I'm just screwed :\

I don't think you're screwed. Just keep tinkering with every setting in the menu. It took me weeks to properly calibrate my tv.

Well, it's either the game or PS3. I just looked at a picture I had taken with my iPhone on my old TV, and I can tell that the jaggies on the tendrils were there, I just didn't notice them as much since it was a smaller TV.

Here's the pic:

http://i42.tinypic.com/alsxg4.jpg

As you can see, the tendrils appear to just be a messy, jagged line. It's really bad when in motion.

They don't look that bad in the picture, but it's hard to tell. It could very well be that you're just not used to the extra detail in the bigger screen. Does your tv have some sort of option for "color temperature?" That picture looks to lean way too much on the "cool" side of things, hence the overwhelming amount of blue. Most tvs should be set to a "warm" or at the very least, a neutral setting. It will darken the picture a fair bit, but will usually remove a lof of those unwanted artifacts.

That was my old TV, my Samsung has a warm color so everything appears to be more turquoise in Blackreach as opposed to that blue. The thing is, it doesn't look as bad when it's in a picture, but once you start moving and the tendrils sway back and forth it looks pretty terrible (a lot of flickering)... I think maybe that's just how it is on PS3 and I'm only now noticing it.

Yeah, that's probably it. Skyrim doesn't have top-of-the-line graphics, that's for sure. Your new tv is probably just highlighting all the little imperfections that you didn't notice before. I guess there really isn't much you can do about it.

go to AVS forums and check for your TV models suggested settings. The game runs at 720p, it is what it is.

Best advice I have heard yet. as a fellow AVS forums member I can say that it is the athority on all things video and calibration related. there will likely be a thread for calibrating your set or a simaler model from the same manufacturer.

with larger screens you can start to see the limits of sorce resolution which nesecitates higher resolutions to acheve the same percieved sharpness as you had on a smaller screen. viewing distance also plays a big part in your perception of picture resolution. there is a neat calculator for deturmining proper seating distance based on screen size, source resolution,and your eyes ability to make out fine details here, http://myhometheater.homestead.com/viewingdistancecalculator.html

I have a 65 inch DLP and at that size most DVDs are unwatchable for me where as it was still fine on my smaller 42 inch set. As a video calibrator/ Home theater enthusiast, I can give you some advice but it will only take you so far and will likely not remedy your issues as I believe them to simply be the nature of the source material.

first thing to do with any tv is turn all enhancements off such as color corrections or contrast inhancements. turn it all off, no exeptions.

If you have a movie mode or cinema mode that may be the closest to d65 ( the proper color of gray) and you should think about leaving your set on one of these modes. if you have a thx mode that will probably get you closer than other modes to rec709(industry standard for High Definition).

sharpness should usualy be all the way down unless it causes the picture to be noticably blurry. in that case keep it at the default setting. most sets these days should be set to 0 or off. If you want to be sure you need a test pattern. If you want a realy good one for free look here. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=948496
from here on I will assume you are using the AVSHD709 calibraition disc linked above. many other patterns sources will work as well but the can be quite a bit different and its up too you to relate them to what I am saying.

Basicaly, using the sharpness pattern and sitting up close to the screen, you will want to adjust sharpness up to a point where white halos start to apear around the black lines in the pattern. Once that happens turn the sharpness down until the halos just dissapear. that is the proper setting for your sharpness. another thing that can have an effect on fine detail is wheather or not your display has a 1:1 pixel relationship with 1080p content. if it dosnt you will see a moir pattern when viewing a 1080p resolution pattern. if its correct you should litteraly be able to count the pixels with shuch a pattern. if your nose is to the screen, of course. Some sets have settings to correct this and some do not.

black level can only be reliably set with a pattern conforming to what source material you want to display within the capabilities of your set. if your display can display PC black levels (0 -255) you will get the most from your games with less banding as they where made in a PC environment and are actualy designed to be displayed nativly in this mode. however, you will need to set the ps3 up to match this setting. in this case RGB Full range (HDMI) should be set to full

Most sets dont display PC level black so if your set is like most you will want to set RGB full range to Limited. The only way to know what your set can display is to test it with a video test pattern designed to set black to very fine level. the AVSHD709 test patterns I linked to earlier have just such a pattern. what you want to do is see if your Display can resolve all the gray bars in the black level pattern all the way down to 0 if it cant than its most likely only capable of video black.. you should at a minimum be able to see steps 16-235.
If you cant see steps 16 and higher with your brightness control all the way up you have a serious problem. eather you have a device such as a audio reciever /pre amp or other device connected in line between your ps3 and your TV that is crushing black or your TV is a complete turd and you should emediatly throw it out the window.

if you can adjust gamma on your set you should probably set it before doing the following steps. Set gamma to 2.2 if available as thats what games will likely be expecting. If you watch in pure darkness and your display has enough dynamic range you may be able to get away with a gamma of 2.4 Bluray Movies are actualy mostly mastered in studio on displays calibrated to 2.4 to match a CRT's natural gamma curve.

If your set can resolve all the way to 0 in the black level pattern than you will want to adjust black down until the 0 gray bar in the black level pattern just disapears. but the next gray bar above it is still visible. if your display cant resolve all the gray bars down to 0 than you will want to adjust your brightness so that all the gray bars from 16 and above are visible and all the gray bars below 16 are invisible. if you cant see gray bars 235-255 try turning super white on in your ps3. if that doesnt help turn it off and set RGB full Range to limited on your ps3 regardless of wheather or not you can resolve gray bars down to 0. You may loose detail near white such as suttle cloud details or wrinkles in white fabrics if you dont. keep in mind, while doing this that you should always set black level in the room lighting you normaly view your display in and from your normal seating distance. I hope I havent confused you too much yet. thers easier patterns available to set black level but they arent quite as refined.

to set contrast you will want to display a 100% white field pattern with contrast maxed. Now, in your normal viewing position and room lighting. stare at this pattern for a few minutes. Ask yourself, Are your eyes hurting or fatigued from the pattern being to bright? If so, turn it down until your answer is no. now that you have done this check for crushing in the whites. you should still be able to see gray bars 0-255 if RGB full Range is set to Full in the ps3. you should at least be able to see gray bars up to 235 if RGB full range is set to limited if you can see more than 235 thats OK. if you cant in aether of these cases turn contrast down untill all the bars are visible. while doing this keep an eye out for discoloration of the gray bars in near white. as you increase contrast some displays will cause the lighter gray bars to start to change color. mostly it will start to look pink. turn contrast down further until there is no discoloration if you happen to see this.

to set your color and tint controls you need a blue color filter. you may be able to get one from the THX website or as an alternative, Joe kane Productions has a realy cool 3 color filter included with there Digital Video Essentials Calibration disc.

With a patern designed for adjusting your color decoder (color / Tint) and while looking through your blue filter, adjust the color control until the blue and white colors squares look the same and match in intensity with flashing kept to a minimum. do the same for the cyan and magenta color squares using the tint control.

Adjust geometry using the appropriate patterns to make sure the picture is centered and unform, if possible.

To do anything more would require an expensive color meter, special software and alot of experience in adition to access to the relevent grayscale and color management system controls. most sets dont have a full suite of controls available to an end user so Ill just leave that for you to figure out on your own if you wish. if you want to take it to the next level visit Spectracal.com where they can get you started but be sure to check to be sure your set actualy can be calibrated properly befor plunking down the cash. also, this is something for obsessive compulsive types like myself as it will take along time and alot of work for what may be only marginal improvements.

The last and the most frustraiting thing about calibraiting a display for games is that many game developers couldnt care less about conforming to established video standardsor just dont have a clue. Unlike movies, games are all over the place with regard to what settings will look right. This is why you see those gamma / brightness settings in many game menus. this is slowly changing and with time hopfully this problem will become a thing of the past.

I remember when I was first really exposed to realization of "jaggies" when first utilizing an HDTV 32" TV with my PS3. It's perfectly normal, just the limitations of the current console-generation showing. They're running nearly all of their games at 720p (both PS3 and 360) with relatively minimal anti-aliasing, if not none at all, and so the results can't exactly be ideal. The next-generation will be interesting. 1080p will be the standard native resolution and I'm sure some form of AA will be an absolute requirement, but I'm not sure to what degree.

Thanks, that's super helpful for calibrating my TV; everything looks great now except those jaggies (though they're a bit less noticeable).


Yea I figured that was the case. They're just too damn powerful. I surrender to thee almighty jaggies.