[You know, I'm honestly amazed sometimes what the PS2 can do. It was first released in 2001, before anyone had thought of or invented HD. So why is it that I recently used 3rd party software to tweak the PS2 memory dump into playing my PS2 games in full 1080i resolution?]

[Yes, that's what I said. You didn't read it wrong. Of course, to some this may not seem like that big of a deal. But for us techs and gamers, It's an amazing feat. If you have an HDTV, then you KNOW what older games look like on it - shit. Not very cool, knowing that it looks somewhat worse than on an SDTV in some ways, including blurring. That's because that PS2 games were designed to play on SDTV's from the beginning, but gradually had features added to support future resolutions and technologies. Sony touts the PS2 as a 'ten year console' and they aren't incorrect. The inclusion of Component and DTS technology certainly has kept it going, and the obscenely large processor [300 Mhz processor AND a 300 Mhz GSx, HUGE for a console in 2001, everyone thought Sony was out of their minds] has allowed for tweaking of the output]

[To put it more simply, 480i/p resolution is not designed for HD displays. There's so many pixels in an HD display, and so small of a res for 480, that the picture is spread across more pixels than it is supposed to be, resulting in enlarged 'blocky' frames]

[So, if we tell the PS2 to load the image in a direct manor that conforms to an HD format, it will place the image directly over the pixels, lining them up like dots on a grid, resulting in not only a much sharper image, but also one that is true widescreen. It should be noted that people tend to confuse HD formatting and true HD very frequently. Playing an old movie on your HDTV doesn't make it an HD movie. It just means you're playing it on an HD format. The same goes with PS2 games. PS2 games were NOT created in HD, but they can be played in HD format, and will generally look better that way]

[In closing, whenever you play something SD on your HDTV, it will look better if it is upconverted to fit an HD format. It lines up with the pixels on the screen, instead of hovering sloppily over them unevenly. If you want to start upconverting your PS2 games into HD formats, you will need Free Mcboot and Ulaunch ELF in order to launch the actual program. The program is called GSMode Selector, and can be found on various PS2 app websites, the best being sksapps.com BEAR IN MIND! You will NEED Component cables for your PS2 in order to do HD formats. YOU NEED THEM! If anyone has any questions, just ask me, and I'll do my best to help. Until next time, Game on everyone! -Astro9-