Here's AlexF to talk you through the changes we've made to increase graphical detail for standard def players.

"You all know that our big upcoming software update codenamed Cagney will feature 1080i support on PS3… but it will now also feature improved SD picture quality as well!

"For those of you who want details (we know you love the details) … the 360 version always renders internally at 720p and uses the free hardware scalar to provide SD support.

"On PS3 we have to do software scaling and when Paradise shipped we didn’t have the memory available to mimic the 360 behaviour, so went to great lengths to antialias the SD version an alternative way.

"Well, you’ll be pleased to hear that thanks to a combination of the extra memory in the latest SDK and a refactor of our graphics memory management, Cagney now renders SD internally at 720p just like on 360 and even though we’re doing an extra software scaling pass at the end (which the HD version does not need to do!) it still runs at our trademark 60fps.

"Here’s a “before and after” comparison in 480p. If you click through to our Flickr site, you can check these in a higher res. This first image is the current SD picture, it’s heavily antialiased as you’d expect.



"But look at the Cagney version here and you can see that it has more detail (e.g. the Junk Yard sign is more readable, there's an aerial on the car and the middle building, the grass is sharper) yet it's less flickery when you play it."




And here are some zoomed images for before:



And after:



You can see the difference in the these screenshots, but you can't really feel the impact until you play. If you know Burnout, you know it moves fast – a little extra detail goes a long, long way.

Big thanks to AlexF and his crew of hardware specialists for wringing this extra performance out of the hardware.