is screen tearing while gaming on an HDTV common?

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GristleMcThornbody

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My friend just bought a pretty sweet 40" Samsung for 999 and set up his 360 on it with an HDMI cable.  He did a lot of research and as far as I know he picked a tv with a very low update lag and a high refresh rate.  He set the tv to "game mode" and popped in Force Unleashed and it looked amazing, except for some quite noticeable screen tearing whenever there was a big change in the camera angle.  We played a little AC and there seemed to be a lot less tearing.  I use a SD 27" flat screen so Im not used to seeing tearing like this. 
 
What's your experience with this issue?
 Is this common when gaming in HD?  is this just a matter of adjusting some settings on the tv and/or 360?  is screen tearing an issue with the game itself and not the hardware?

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Valames

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Yep
 
I am no expert, but I do believe the issue is with the game.

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GristleMcThornbody

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So you dont come across screen tearing often when you play on HDTV?

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Diamond

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#4  Edited By Diamond

I don't notice it much, but my friends says whenever he uses the HDMI cable on 360 tearing goes WAY up.  I've heard that can be a problem.
 
He should try maybe using component cables.  Remember HDMI was added to 360 after launch.  Neither of my 360s have a HDMI port at all.

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CoverlessTech

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#5  Edited By CoverlessTech

Tearing usually isn't a screen based thing. It's usually because of the game and or hardware running the game. 

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Shadowsquire

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#6  Edited By Shadowsquire

I'm using componet cables on my 50' Plasma and I've never noticed any tearing. Are you possibly trying to run the game at a resoloution the tv doesn't support? (I.E. 1080p/i on a tv that only supports up to 720p)

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PrimevilKneivel

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#7  Edited By PrimevilKneivel

I'm not sure what you mean by "tearing".
 
Most "tearing" associated TV images are caused by chromanace (colour) values being too high for the TV to reproduce properly. This is why TV broadcasters conform all of their products into a "legal" colour space. It's usually most noticeable in the reds and shows up as a smear of colour bleeding outside of the area it's supposed to be restricted to. Camera angle should have nothing to do with it.
 
I have a 40" samsung and I don't notice this at all, and I'm prone to noticing these things. I did find the "Game Mode" to be too vibrant though. I've calibrated my TV manually to fit a standard colour chart, you can find them on some DVD's (The Incredibles has one) and there is an indy game on XBLA for calibrating your TV. I messed around with the trial a little and it seemed good but I can't be certain.   
 
I suspect your're describing a different issue. Give us more info and maybe we can help.

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GristleMcThornbody

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the tv is definitely 1080p.  Its interesting that the hdmi causes more tearing than component.  I didnt see it for more than a few minutes, but Im blaming the game itself at this point. 

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buzz_clik

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#9  Edited By buzz_clik
This QL has a pretty primo example of tearing.
 
And yeah, I think it's an in-game issue, otherwise known as sloppy programming / encoding.
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Diamond

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#10  Edited By Diamond
@PrimevilKneivel said:
" I'm not sure what you mean by "tearing".  Most "tearing" associated TV images are caused by chromanace (colour) values being too high for the TV to reproduce properly. This is why TV broadcasters conform all of their products into a "legal" colour space. It's usually most noticeable in the reds and shows up as a smear of colour bleeding outside of the area it's supposed to be restricted to. Camera angle should have nothing to do with it.  I have a 40" samsung and I don't notice this at all, and I'm prone to noticing these things. I did find the "Game Mode" to be too vibrant though. I've calibrated my TV manually to fit a standard colour chart, you can find them on some DVD's (The Incredibles has one) and there is an indy game on XBLA for calibrating your TV. I messed around with the trial a little and it seemed good but I can't be certain.     I suspect your're describing a different issue. Give us more info and maybe we can help. "
I didn't think that was called tearing, but anyways, tearing in videogames refers to when a incomplete frame is displayed on a screen.  It appears as a part of the screen that has updated while part of the screen still has the previous frame displayed.  The top 1/3 (or any proportion) of a screen will be a frame ahead from the bottom 2/3 (or any proportion).  Vsync (vertical sync) will prevent this from happening.
 
I don't understand the technical reason why 360's HDMI output can cause more tearing (from what I've heard).
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GristleMcThornbody

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@Diamond said:

" @PrimevilKneivel said:

" I'm not sure what you mean by "tearing".  Most "tearing" associated TV images are caused by chromanace (colour) values being too high for the TV to reproduce properly. This is why TV broadcasters conform all of their products into a "legal" colour space. It's usually most noticeable in the reds and shows up as a smear of colour bleeding outside of the area it's supposed to be restricted to. Camera angle should have nothing to do with it.  I have a 40" samsung and I don't notice this at all, and I'm prone to noticing these things. I did find the "Game Mode" to be too vibrant though. I've calibrated my TV manually to fit a standard colour chart, you can find them on some DVD's (The Incredibles has one) and there is an indy game on XBLA for calibrating your TV. I messed around with the trial a little and it seemed good but I can't be certain.     I suspect your're describing a different issue. Give us more info and maybe we can help. "
I didn't think that was called tearing, but anyways, tearing in videogames refers to when a incomplete frame is displayed on a screen.  It appears as a part of the screen that has updated while part of the screen still has the previous frame displayed.  The top 1/3 (or any proportion) of a screen will be a frame ahead from the bottom 2/3 (or any proportion).  Vsync (vertical sync) will prevent this from happening.  I don't understand the technical reason why 360's HDMI output can cause more tearing (from what I've heard). "
Im referring to the phenomenon that Diamond is talking about.   Whats the name of that game that helps calibrate your tv?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing
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ninjakiller

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#12  Edited By ninjakiller

I have a PS3 and a 52" westinghouse and never had a problem with tearing.

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Amos

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#13  Edited By Amos

Some games do it and some don't it's not a problem with the tv.  Most games don't have screen tearing, but I noticed quite a bit when I was playing The Force Unleashed. 

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PrimevilKneivel

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#14  Edited By PrimevilKneivel
@Diamond: 
And
@GristleMcThornbody:
OK, I know what you are talking about. Sometimes my head is still stuck in the analogue world. That wiki page is pretty accurate IMO (more than I can be at this time of night). I encounter that fairy often at work when dealing with different playback systems on the same monitor. 
 
Truth is HDMI is a shitty way to send signals. It's designed with the attention towards copyright owners and not users. For a 40" TV you'd be better off with composite cables IMO. Unless you're sitting less then 4' away you'll never know the difference. Except there might be less tearing. ;)
 
And I believe the game was called Tv calibration, or something to that effect. It's a good idea if you ask me. FYI I noticed on my samsung you need to calibrate separatly for every input, smart idea really but not intuative.
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GristleMcThornbody

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@PrimevilKneivel:
 
Thanks for the input, good to know that there is little difference between component and hdmi.  I'll pass this all on to my friend.