Halo 3 is a waste of space... on HD TV's

[Zeus]

Gamers with HDTVs are complaining at the official Bungie forums regarding a wasted space issue. Halo 3 co-op HDTV players are finding that there is a lot of wasted space in the left and right hand margins of 16:9 screens with Halo 3 leaving black margin on both the right and left hand sides of the screen. The following image shows a 46" display essentially showing a 36" view as a result of the wasted space.

<center><a href="http://www.maxconsole.net/content_img/halo3hd.jpg" target="_Blank"><img src="http://www.maxconsole.net/content_img/halo3hd1.jpg"></center></a>


As some of you know, I recieved my Halo 3 copy today from the Pontiac contest. I have been playing campaign fine by myself for about an hour. My brother just got here and we went in to do some splitscreen co-op campaign, and bam... Theres black bars on the left and right side of the screen! I tried going through every setting, reading the manual, checked my Xbox360 settings but it wont change! Any suggestions (or anyone else with their copy confirm this issue?)


News Source: <A href="http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=13106831&postRepeater1-p=3" target="_blank">Bungie.net</a>

[XxBigP123xX]

WOW. well, atleast gears works good;):D

[vitasovic]

I just got back from my buddies house. He has a Panasonic VIERA plazma TV and it has that same screen size. When we were playing it, he got those 2 black bars. I asked him what was up, and he muttered something, but didn't say anything (probably because he doesn't want to admit there's a flaw in halo 3 lol).

Any news on how to fix this without zooming in and whatnot?

BTW, halo 3 is a masterpiece. Played it for 5 straight hours...now I'm addicted. lol.

[thefunkhunter]

they might of made the screen smaller to improve framerates??? that's the only logical explanation i could think of.

[Kenban]

I question how playable the game would be if it did fill the entire screen. The image would be 32:9 and thats extremely wide for how high it is.

[KPunk]

they might of made the screen smaller to improve framerates??? that's the only logical explanation i could think of.

Don't think thats true because, in 4 player split, it goes back to wide.

[grapeape]

Don't think thats true because, in 4 player split, it goes back to wide.

The field of view is much narrower in 4 player though, it looks to me like what they did was two fields of vision wide and standard but when its wide split screen basically just shrinks the image without spreading the field of vision further.

[soopergooman]

Way to o MICROSUX, making the X-Sux more sucky for all those players. Luckily I have my PS3 which doesn't do that to my games. Oh well another abomination by MS. tsk tsk tsk indeed....should call it Hollow 3. LOL

nah seriously, this issue shou8ld have been one that they ruled out in development, maybe they will be able to give you an update, but for a price. That really sucks because I was actually going to try an X-Box for the first time to check out Halo3, I've heard it is on Par with the Socom Series. Not too sure about the first person only option. The game could be much better with both first and third. But who am I to say? I've never even played it. Seen them(Halo1&2) in action but have NEVER tried. Hope they werk it all out for you guys/gals playing tonight. take the rest of the week off...:D

[Rinny]

its a stretching/ratio thing. Its made for 16:9 and they dont want to make it 16:4.5

Course they could just to side-to-side so they screwed up.

[sjkhounk]

It's simply for view perspective. So your POV is not greatly increased over a 16:9 view.

[maxRus]

Looks Like Someone does not have their Settings Correct!!,,, But whan I get Home today Ill find out for sure. Ill Post my findings and Settings(widescreen, Fullscreen, and What resolution) And post my results. And if its like that im going to be PiSSED, But only when i play Multiplayer. Ive got a Plasma and a Projection HDTV so Ill try on both! So in about 2 hours ill try it out.

[maxRus]

Hows he Hooked up COMPONNENT OR VGA???

[SteveNZ]

Way to o MICROSUX, making the X-Sux more sucky for all those players. Luckily I have my PS3 which doesn't do that to my games. Oh well another abomination by MS. tsk tsk tsk indeed....should call it Hollow 3. LOL

What games would those be? The PS3 hardly has any that aren't just ports. (Lair is rubbish and I find the PS2 God of War 2 more fun than Heavenly Sword) My PS3 is just being used as a glorified DVD player until something decent turns up.

Can't think how they'd fullscreen it without either cropping it or increasing the FOV. Must be some convenient way.

[Jtboomer2]

Happens to me as well. Its fine with 1 and 4 players though.

[poface]

i got a samsung 56" dlp 1080p. it does the same thing.

[thepiecesfit]

what the f#ck someone has their settings all wrong

[benny32]

Funny how the establishment reviewers who are so called "authorities" in game reviews failed to mention this in reviews:)

I smell prestitutes in the gaming press ;)

[medo145]

its so that the aspect ratio stays intact, it's not an issee

[GaryD]

what the f#ck someone has their settings all wrong

No... its the game

[Disturbed_Azn]

No... its the game

QFT

...
ten.

[sigma8]

And if you have widescreen, it should probably split it into a left/right instead of splitting top/bottom. That will give people the most viewing area..

[grapeape]

And if you have widescreen, it should probably split it into a left/right instead of splitting top/bottom. That will give people the most viewing area..

Ugghh why...that was my biggest beef playing Warhawk the screen with 2 player is split down the middle resulting in two taller but narrower than 4:3 views...id rather have a panoramic view that is half the screen size than a really tall one that gives me tunnel vision.

[So-Unreal]

They gave you co-op why not just be happy?

[maxRus]

It DOES NOT do it in 480P, but it Does do it in 1080i on my Samsung HDTV Wide screen rear Projection TV:eek::eek::eek: Still looks great in 480p though.

[ShinoBboy]

What games would those be? The PS3 hardly has any that aren't just ports. (Lair is rubbish and I find the PS2 God of War 2 more fun than Heavenly Sword) My PS3 is just being used as a glorified DVD player until something decent turns up.

Can't think how they'd fullscreen it without either cropping it or increasing the FOV. Must be some convenient way.

i wonder why you didn't mention Warhawk???? Do you even know it exists:confused: (it's the best game out for the PS3, even without a Campaign)

oh that's right, remember how Halo is more over hyped than any game greater than it that's out now. :p

As for this Halo 3 screen issue...it's funny to me how instead of hearing complaints from many users in here all i am seeing is "unknown" reasons behind this flaw. I find this unacceptable but hey...360 HAS THE GAMES:rolleyes:

[sigma8]

Ugghh why...that was my biggest beef playing Warhawk the screen with 2 player is split down the middle resulting in two taller but narrower than 4:3 views...id rather have a panoramic view that is half the screen size than a really tall one that gives me tunnel vision.

Well, it wouldn't be exactly 4:3, sure. If you have a 16:9 TV, and you split it in half left/right, you end up with two 8:9 screens.. That's going to be more vertical than 8:6 (i.e. 4:3).. But I think that's still preferrable to 32:9 (16:4.5), which is just a ridiculously thin sliver.

I think on a 4:3 TV, splitting top/bottom is better. It gives you 8:3. I do hear what your'e saying about peripheral vision.. but honestly, you are going to be turning left/right probably a lot more than up/down--no matter what your aspect ratio is. Therefore, I think it would be more annoying to have to look up/down excessively...which you would need to do with a top/bottom split on a 16:9 set.

Of course, the best game would give you the option.

[sigma8]

What games would those be? The PS3 hardly has any that aren't just ports. (Lair is rubbish and I find the PS2 God of War 2 more fun than Heavenly Sword) My PS3 is just being used as a glorified DVD player until something decent turns up.

Can't think how they'd fullscreen it without either cropping it or increasing the FOV. Must be some convenient way.

Xbox360 is getting slimmer on the non-port front as well. PS3 has the following good exclusive titles: Resistance, Motorstorm, Heavenly Sword, Warhawk

I agree that's not many, but in terms of "exclusives" I think it's doing better than the 360 was doing 10 months in. Remember that 360 games at the time were exclusive...but not because they were dedicated to the 360 platform. Some were. But most were 360-exclusive just because there was no other next-gen platform to develop for. The PS3 is obviously competing in a harsher environment and still doing pretty well, IMO.

I'm the first to admit it could be a lot better, though.

[grapeape]

Well, it wouldn't be exactly 4:3, sure. If you have a 16:9 TV, and you split it in half left/right, you end up with two 8:9 screens.. That's going to be more vertical than 8:6 (i.e. 4:3).. But I think that's still preferrable to 32:9 (16:4.5), which is just a ridiculously thin sliver.

I think on a 4:3 TV, splitting top/bottom is better. It gives you 8:3. I do hear what your'e saying about peripheral vision.. but honestly, you are going to be turning left/right probably a lot more than up/down--no matter what your aspect ratio is. Therefore, I think it would be more annoying to have to look up/down excessively...which you would need to do with a top/bottom split on a 16:9 set.

Of course, the best game would give you the option.

I guess its a matter of taste...if my TV was smaller I would probably be upset with co-op too...it looks great on a 60" big screen though I would probably be cursing at it if I was still on my sony monitor. Actually im just happy I finally talked my wife into letting me hook it up to the big screen :)

[sin]

they might of made the screen smaller to improve framerates??? that's the only logical explanation i could think of.
if they would do a fullscreen, game on 2 players would look... simply odd. you would see too much on left and right, and only barely up and down.
hope you got what i mean.

[shadyx]

am i the only one that likes it like this?

gears of war in 2p coop the full screen split in half like that makesme feel ill after about half an hour. maybe its cos i play on a projector so the screen is the size of my wall but it doesnt feel that way on halo 3 due to it feeling like we both just have a plasma screen sized portion each :)

[MistaGiggles]

Well really, if they made it widescreen with half the height, that would either make it incredibly wide or incredibly short heighted, So at east they though ahead to make sure the aspect would not screw up too much, if they allow the change between Horizontal and Vertical split, I bet that The bars would dissapear if it was on vertical split.

[Soldiers On LSD]

i wonder why you didn't mention Warhawk???? Do you even know it exists:confused: (it's the best game out for the PS3, even without a Campaign)

Warhawk is the best game for the PS3? :eek:

OMG you poor little thing... :o

---

That aspect ratio thing happens on my HDTV too. Luckily my HDTV has a button called "ratio" that you can zoom (to fit whole screen), play Non wide screen (side black bars, so you wont see Ophra a$s filling the screen), and other weird but cool mode the black bars get filled with an stretched image.... so instead of watching the whole screen stretched just those spaces get stretched...

I fixed it by putting that weird mode on the HDTV and the 360 in non wide screen mode. Ta dah!!

BTW Halo 3 has the best multiplayer on any game ever. period.

you can play the campaign in any co-op setting available like I was playing 2 player co-op locally with 2 separate friends over LIVE on the same campaign to make the 4 player co-op. I rly see myself playing the campaign more than a couple times... those vehicle stages are just too awesome and the new vehicles are sick.

[redsquirrell]

yeah discovered this, its really crap it happens.

can you have 4 players per xbox? i assumed only 2..

[mkygod]

It's probably to keep things fair. As far as I know, you can play it in split screen mode online

[kcvfr400]

Well the only positive I can say is I don't have this issue on my 720p hdtv but I am connected to the 360 by vga cable so maybe thats why. And my screen settings is controlled by the 360 not the tv via vga so maybe thats why there isn't an issue.

This is bad as widescreen is how our eyes see so to chop the sides off anything is not good for optimul viewing.

[Reset]

And if you have widescreen, it should probably split it into a left/right instead of splitting top/bottom. That will give people the most viewing area..
I agree 100 percent, I dont understand why they don't split vertically for wide screens, playing gears of war split screen is practically impossible imho.

even older games like conflict: desert storm (ps2), the first great multiplayer campaing shooter I ever played, had vertical split or horizontal. it was a choice.

I think vertical or horizontal splits should be an option for all games that use split screens in this day and age.

[K405]

Funny how the establishment reviewers who are so called "authorities" in game reviews failed to mention this in reviews:)

I smell prestitutes in the gaming press ;)

AMEN!

It's like the press is all hail about anything "originating" from the US.. Hey guys.. It's starting to show... Be a little bit more objective, treat every game fair.. The creators deserve a real chance.

Anyway, I'll still enjoy Halo3 even with the wasted space ;)

[majin]

OK here we GO!

Patch after Patch after Patch after Patch :cool:

[saleem]

this is what i would expect from a game that has popup,jaggies and blur,they skimped on the story,they didnt give a damn about gameplay so what would you expect.

they skimped on the size of the screen as well.

the best game of the decade.

it cant even fill your tv screen.

an helmet that dont fit,a game that is lame and now it cant fit peoples tv's.and yet i get people ripping into me dsaying "get a better tv" take that then fools.

it dont matter the bigger your tv and the better it is the bigger and better all the graphical glitchs are.

this game will do this,it will do that,it does this that and the other.

oh!they forgot to say it wont play on your big tv though.

BELIEVE!i didnt pay jack for my copy.if i was you lot who payed i would take it back and say it dont fit the tv.

looks like they might have made the biggest blunder of the decade.they will soon send out memos telling people not to hype it up anymore cos it draws too much attention and they dont want that do they.sort of got caught with their kegs down.
:p

[mssv19]

well Halo3 is Halo2 in HD. The storage media can't handle that much details & data, so they have to "cut corners". LOL..sorry bad pun. :p

To retain that framerates, details. Something gotta give....enjoyable though.

[JordanBlack68]

kinda shocking, what a waste of space

[madusmacus]

I play everythig on my 40" lcd at 1080i and this game is full width with no borders for me. but I cant do 1080p though :¬(

[Morgoth]

No option is perfect on a widescreen TV that's why it should be OUR preference

4:3 with bars

horizontal split KNOWING & SEEING it's stretched

Vertical split (knowing it's not perfect either)

You sit still in the game...and you and your buddy next to you CHOOSE for yourself. Thanks Bungie!!!! :mad:

[Happsai]

Is this problem specific to a region?
I don't see this happening in online co-op (although I only played it for about 20 mins; does it suddenly appear?).
I have a Toshiba 62" DLP 1080i.

[Collego]

It has be a setting on your TV and or Xbox360. I've been playing Halo 3 for the last 24 hours in split-screen, co-op and single player modes and haven't has this problem. It also could be with you TV capabilities, but it should be consistent across all screen modes. My setup is using my Xbox360 (using component HD cables), a Philips 42"LCD screen @1080i resolution. It works fine. Are you using HDMI or Component cables? Even though HDMI is the latest and greatest connection it still has its share of problems. Hope this helps.

Collego

[KainXS]

looks like quick garbage

[onyxx]

I still dont know why devs don't add a vertical splitscreen to choose from what is the big deal. this is a real pain in the ass for HDTV owners.

[SSChevy2001]

Wow I just found the same problem yesterday. FN sucks. What going on there bungie? I would much rather have a 16:9 vertical split that filled the screen, rather than this narrow ass 4:3 horizontal split.

[Ed_209]

In halo 2, if you set your xbox for widescreen, the screen would be split from left to right...set to full screen, it would be split from top to bottom. I am pretty sure you can set the screen mode in the options of halo 3 and if not, you can probably set it in the 360's system menu itself.

Personally, I hate playing any game split-screen so I haven't seen this issue yet. Good thing all of my friends have 360's so I can have my screen all to my self!

I am still loving this game and I haven't had any bad experiences with it yet. This game is a definite upgrade to Halo 2, and if Bungie tried to "reinvent the wheel" with Halo 3 and made it look/feel completely different, the game wouldn't be the near success that it is now.

@Saleem, pirating your copy of Halo 3 and rubbing it in everyones face might be against the rules on here. This is at least the 2nd time I have seen you post "good thing I didn't pay for this game!" while trolling the forums with your exaggerated negative comments. Or are you implying that your mommy bought it for you?

[SSChevy2001]

I fixed mine by setting the resolution to 1280x1024 on 37". Now it's still split up and down, but it fills the screen which is what I want.

[Skyline34]

I'll see what happens on my Samsung HDTV...



























Oh wait scratch that... why the **** would I want to buy the 360 let alone this game? :rolleyes:

[crypysmoker]

lololololo..what a BS complaint .

Umm.. You do relaize that you have to change your widscreen/fullscreen setting before playing 2 players on an xbox right? at least for the first one, if you had it set to the wrong screen setup for halo 2 coop/split screen, it would do this all the time.... yet noone complained.. and now this.
Its nott hat hard to check and fidel with your setting before saying that its a problem with the game

[PublicDeviance]

You should know by now from Halo 2 that splitting two players vertically makes the width too narrow. So they split it horizontally. With the width of hidef, having it go completely across would give the player too much of an advantage over a normal user. You would see people on the edges running around that you shouldn't see. This was a very good idea and NOT a waste of space. Halo is one of the most competitive games out there right now and they have to try and keep the playing field level.

[nuke868]

they might of made the screen smaller to improve framerates??? that's the only logical explanation i could think of.

BINGO ! ! !

[SSChevy2001]

BINGO ! ! !Bingo my ass. I'm running it at 1280x1024 split and there's no problem. Not 1 framerate dropped at least that I can notice.

EDIT here's a screenshot of 16/9 at fullscreen. take better use of those expensive screens.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c387/SSChevy2001/Halo3Full.jpg

[maxRus]

Bingo my ass. I'm running it at 1280x1024 split and there's no problem. Not 1 framerate dropped at least that I can notice.

EDIT here's a screenshot of 16/9 at fullscreen. take better use of those expensive screens.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c387/SSChevy2001/Halo3Full.jpg

1280x1024 Is 4:3 though. its not a widescreen, (I know you have a WIDESCREEN LCD) if you goto you PC display Properties, settings and Pick 1280x1024 its SQUARE Shape not RECTANGLE. 1280x720, 1280x768, and 1280x800 are widescreen RESOLUTIONS.

I tried this on my HDTV and it does not do this in 480P. I havnt tried this on 720P yet, but it does this on 1080i. 47in. Rear Projection TV. I have not tried my Plasma yet to test all modes.

[SSChevy2001]

1280x1024 Is 4:3 though. its not a widescreen, (I know you have a WIDESCREEN LCD) if you goto you PC display Properties, settings and Pick 1280x1024 its SQUARE Shape not RECTANGLE. 1280x720, 1280x768, and 1280x800 are widescreen RESOLUTIONS.

I tried this on my HDTV and it does not do this in 480P. I havnt tried this on 720P yet, but it does this on 1080i. 47in. Rear Projection TV. I have not tried my Plasma yet to test all modes.1280x1024 is the highest normal format resolution you can pick which is why I picked it. The reason so is to can get rid of the black bars. Then all that need to be done is let the screen do the fill option, which mines does great. Also that resolution can be used in a widescreen format if you check your 360 settings, but setting it that way would still give you black bars.

1280x1024 is more pixels than 1080i which is only 1920x540 ( 273,920 more pixels ). Still I rather have my whole 1080p.

[Collego]

I don't know what problems you guys are having with your TV but it's not the game. I played Halo 3 on both of my 42" LCD screens and it displayed in widescreen just fine. Online multi-play, co-op or campain modes.

[SSChevy2001]

I don't know what problems you guys are having with your TV but it's not the game. I played Halo 3 on both of my 42" LCD screens and it displayed in widescreen just fine. Online multi-play, co-op or campain modes.Wow you must have a magic copy then!
Here's is a question and answer bungie gave about the splitscreen problem
Is there a fix in the works for the split screen issue? For most of us it’s killing us to see 2 black bars every time we play with a buddy.

We do that to maintain a proper field of view and aspect ratio on HDTVs. The alternative is a broken Field of View or stretching.Still my fix is still the best option and at least it look great.

[borbeatss]

ROFL!!!!!!

Well.... once again all the XbaWtZ are bending over to take some big M$ c0ck into their ass !!! ROFL!!!

I wonder how it must feel to be pwned my M$ on a daily basis: RRoD, XbaWkz Scratching discs, Halos discs Pwned on arrival, and now this..... but yet XbawTz bend over for M$ time and time again.... ROFl.... sad losers.

**** I dislike you, stfu bro. Your annoying and immature.