"Framerate upscaler" they say

[Obiwanshinobi]

Interesting read this and that. The name is somehow justified as the picture actually changes twice as frequently at relatively low cost.
The biggest question is whether or not they'll manage to reduce the input lag to the level possible at true 60 fps. I know there is no simple answer to that as different game engines deal with the input data and calculate events differently.

[worstplayer]

I guess it's some kind of video interpolation similar to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV1wMoG_fzU

It may make things look smoother, but it won't make games any more responsive.

EDIT: Looking at details of this technique, it creates more problems than it solves. No new objects can appear in intermediate frames, existing ones cannot move in such way as to expose previously hidden parts of the scene, transparency not supported. It's a cheap ass postprocessing effect and in no way a substitute for actual 60fps.

Now wait until developers start using it to fake 30FPS in 15FPS games. Trust me, it WILL happen.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Nah, according to that coder, the lag in that demo (if it was playable) would be actually shorter. It's not as demanding as the video interpolation or whatever, because they already have information about vectors from the next frame they are about to render. It's clearly not something you just switch on (like brute force hardware antialiasing) to improve some random game. To render it effective, the game must be built with this gimmick in mind.

It's a cheap ass postprocessing effect and in no way a substitute for actual 60fps.

Well, supposedly it makes 3 different frames out of data sufficient to render 2 frames without it. I'm not sure if this counts as post-processing (it does sound like bullshit to me, but hey, I'm not an expert).

Now wait until developers start using it to fake 30FPS in 15FPS games. Trust me, it WILL happen.

It sure will, but at least PC gaming can theoretically benefit from the very technique (it'd be nice to have an option of smoothing things up optically this way, just like you can enable or disable v-sync).

[worstplayer]

It's not as demanding as the video interpolation or whatever, because they already have information about vectors from the next frame they are about to render.

Vectors from next frame in this case don't mean actual geometry, but motion vectors, same as ones you use to "smear" the picture in motion blur.

Wait, now that I think about it, this IS motion blur!
Take the middle sample of the blur, and put it on screen while you wait for next real frame to finish rendering. Clever.

[Ed Oscuro]

Something along those lines...

Quote the first article...

You'd think that this technique would cause lag, but as the interpolated image is being generated using elements from the next "real" frame, it actually reduces latency.

Except that since the system already knows what the next "real" frame is we're waiting around for it anyway. Cripes, are games really this broken? I'd rather they just worked on making the current frame as fluid as possible and getting it out the door faster.

But if you *must* have motion blur, and lensflare and everything else to suggest the game is actually a movie shot in the year 1990, then by all means add this stuff in. But it's still 30FPS, just with some "harbingers" of the next frame. (Although, the motion blur in Orange Box games from Valve is actually very nice, even though it's actually messing with your ability to precisely aim after a quick turn and such it's still visually pleasing.)

To be fair, it's not meant to be the end-all of motion blur, and calling it 60fps is putting themselves at a disadvantage because it's not. It's probably a very nice solution for motion blur.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Cripes, are games really this broken?

Slideshow of the Colossus, eh? Good one, eh? Sadly, Google says somebody invented it before me.

I'd rather they just worked on making the current frame as fluid as possible and getting it out the door faster.

This is so PSX, though. The gaming evolved beyond such thinking, don't you know. Someone should make a list of console games running at more than 30 fps for each generation. Most of this gen ones are probably downloadable smalls and oldies. The likes of Burnout Paradise are rare breed.
One thing said in that interview rubbed me the wrong way:

Because when the frame-rate drops at 30 it does look bad, but when it drops from 60 it looks even more noticeable, mostly because of the screen tearing. You don't really want that.

Man, I know what I want. I take screen tearing and high framerate, you take v-sync and framerate dropping below 30 fps.

[trivial]

Am I crazy, or is tearing less apparent the faster you set a multiscanning CRT's refresh rate, whether or not the game is framerate-capped?

[Ed Oscuro]

I've noticed framerates - or fluidity - often drop in games released late in a console's lifespan compared to early titles, as the rendering becomes more complicated. Considering that the current generation is actually at the end of what would have been a normal lifespan in previous years (five years), it's no wonder that they're stretching to squeeze more juice out of the new systems. If there is to be a new generation, I think it would help things markedly - we are at the point in this generation where games have more detail than most people can take in at a glance, without harsh edges most of the time. Now to work on fluidity and input lag.

And yeah, I don't turn on v-sync either. Well, only rarely. I probably shouldn't ever. Same with triple buffer - it's kind of funny, but the old mentality with games (even PC FPSes) has been "if there's an option, it's an upgrade, so check it if you can run it." Experience is showing that's not a good MO.

[worstplayer]

Something along those lines...

Quote the first article...

You'd think that this technique would cause lag, but as the interpolated image is being generated using elements from the next "real" frame, it actually reduces latency.

Except that since the system already knows what the next "real" frame is we're waiting around for it anyway. Cripes, are games really this broken?

More broken than you think. It's not uncommon for current gen games to spend less than 10% of time on actually drawing the scene and the rest on effects.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Am I crazy, or is tearing less apparent the faster you set a multiscanning CRT's refresh rate, whether or not the game is framerate-capped?

That's my impression too. At higher refresh rates it still occurs, but it's faster, thus not quite as jarring. Cave Story (50 fps) tears at 85 Hz, but I didn't even bother setting my CRT's refresh rate to more fitting 100 Hz, that's how acceptable it was to me. There are, however, people almost allergic to screen tearing out there.