I have a 1080p Sony A2020 that accepts 1080p via HDMI. the PS3 is set up for up to 1080p and BD movies play at 1080p.

Call of Duty 4 will only play at 720p yet the packaging states 1080i and 1080p as an option. Is there some setting I need to play with? Is the packaging even accurate?

I know COD3 states it supports 1080i but I heard this was an error.

I'm starting to consider buying a 360 as that seems to have way, way more 1080p games. I'll settle for even 1080i honestly.

You have to go into your PS3 video settings and disable 720p and I guess 1080i. COD4 should play in 1080p for you then. Keep in mind though the game is still 720p, it's just being upconverted by the PS3 (same with the 360). You may find your TV does a better job of scaling.

Call of Duty 4 is native 720p and is why it runs as such on your television. If the native resolution of a game is checked as a display option in your menu, it will output at that resolution.

EDIT: What George said at the same time as me...LOL.

I'm starting to consider buying a 360 as that seems to have way, way more 1080p games. I'll settle for even 1080i honestly.

Not true. The 360 has around the same number of native 1080P games as the PS3. The 360 does have a scaler, which allows any game to be scaled from the native resolution to 1080P. For a TV like yours (which is almost the same TV I have) there is no advantage to having the PS3 scale a native 720P signal to 1080P instead of having the PS3 output 720P and letting the TV scale to 1080P. Most of the supposed 1080P games on both systems are actually upscaled 720P, so don't let the number of 1080P games determine which system you prefer.

Keep in mind though the game is still 720p, it's just being upconverted by the PS3 (same with the 360). You may find your TV does a better job of scaling.
CoD4 is actually 1024x600, so the PS3 is always going to be doing at least some of the scaling.

As for 1080p output, generally it is best to just leave all the resolution options checked in XMB as the games will usually pick whatever is best for them.

CoD4 is actually 1024x600, so the PS3 is always going to be doing at least some of the scaling. True. But I didn't want to over complicate things. :)

Isn't 1024x600 technically not even HD, prior to scaling that is?

Its not HD resolution, its anamorphic resolution. Aspect ratio is close to a 1280x720 hd resolution. And yes it is a better to play games close to a native rendering, this is a reason COD4 prefer outputting 720p signal.

Games having a 1080p rendering buffer will output you 1080p resolution.

X360 version has the same internal resolution, but X0 upscales if you have set 1080p output. You have to change a setting game-by-game if want to skip unnecessary upscales.

I consider the way PS3 handles output resolutions is a better one. You get what gamedevs were planning to give. After all, upscaling is a sort of cheating you do not get a meaningfull pixels but an imaginary pixels.

Are there any games that are actually native 1080p? Or can the PS3 not handle that type of rendering?

Its not HD resolution, its anamorphic resolution. Aspect ratio is close to a 1280x720 hd resolution. And yes it is a better to play games close to a native rendering, this is a reason COD4 prefer outputting 720p signal.

Games having a 1080p rendering buffer will output you 1080p resolution.

X360 version has the same internal resolution, but X0 upscales if you have set 1080p output. You have to change a setting game-by-game if want to skip unnecessary upscales.

I consider the way PS3 handles output resolutions is a better one. You get what gamedevs were planning to give. After all, upscaling is a sort of cheating you do not get a meaningfull pixels but an imaginary pixels.

Every digital display out there scales if the input resolution is lower than its native resolution. What is the difference if you have the digital display upscale the image instead of the console? Well, for one, the display can have lag when it upscales the image. And every display has a different amount of upscale lag.

The console should not lag when upscaling, or at least if it does, it is a small quantity and is known to the game developer.

I think, supposedly, some displays (maybe most?) have a better upscaler than the ps3. I don't know if the people who quantify "better" take into account any lag that a display upscaler might induce that the ps3 may or may not induce, though?

Are there any games that are actually native 1080p? Or can the PS3 not handle that type of rendering?

http://www.gamebrink.com/blog/2007/11/15/most-hd-game-resolutions-not-even-720p-let-alone-1080p

I think MUA is native 1080p

Every digital display out there scales if the input resolution is lower than its native resolution.
Exactly, and the same goes for higher too. Also, Generally even when the input resolution matches the display resolution, TVs will upscale the image a bit anway just to aviod the junk that would otherwise be seen on the edge of poorly edited content.

X360 version has the same internal resolution, but X0 upscales if you have set 1080p output. You have to change a setting game-by-game if want to skip unnecessary upscales.

I consider the way PS3 handles output resolutions is a better one. You get what gamedevs were planning to give. After all, upscaling is a sort of cheating you do not get a meaningfull pixels but an imaginary pixels.

I agree, I'd rather it just output at native resolution and have me handle it from there. I hate going into my 360 to constantly change output so I don't have to unnecessarilly introduce 360 upscaling.

Huh. I've always thought that the 360's upscaling was quite impressive. I like to just set it at 1080p and forget about it. The only time I have ever changed it was when I changed from a 720p TV to a 1080p TV (Sony KDS-60A3000, which is awesome!) last week. I doubt I'll ever touch it again. It looks awesome.

Different strokes, I guess.

Yeah, Besides, the PS3 doesn't even have the option to output the native resolution of many games. Granted, neither does the 360, but the 360 at least have a decent scaler built into it so that it can do a good job outputting any game regardless of what output resolution is selected.

Ratched will scale also, but the devs suggest playing at it's native res for best performance.

Are there any games that are actually native 1080p? Or can the PS3 not handle that type of rendering?

Ridge Racer 7
Marvel:Ultimate Alliance
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Most PSN Games

There are more....

Sigma renders at 720p, it just uses software scaling for 1080p/1080i output.

I really haven't been able to tell the difference between 720p/1080i with my PS3 (I have a 1080i native CRT HDTV) - that would probably be the same with 720p/1080i/1080p, but I guess if you spent the coin on a 1080p set one would feel short changed if it isn't being used.

I doubt many would be able to tell the difference if their display didn't tell them what was being displayed.

that's not surprising as most CRT HDTVs can't render all of the detail of 1080i anyway.

The only one that comes to mind is the Sony KV-34XBR960

So, what is the real resolution of my TV? What does this mean about rendering?

Thanks.

So, what is the real resolution of my TV? What does this mean about rendering?

Thanks.It depends on the TV. I don't think any CRT set (not counting front projectors) can display a full 1920 x 1080 picture. For example my rear projection CRT's max horizontal resolution is about 1280 lines. So roughly I'm getting 1280 x 1080 resolution. Direct view CRTs are generally worse because the shadow mask or aperture grill limits their resolution.

So, what is the real resolution of my TV? What does this mean about rendering?

Thanks.

no set resolution really but probably 600 lines, give or take.