http://www.maximumpc.com (^) | FEB (^08) | MAXIMUMPC 35
AN EYE ON VISUAL QUALITY
A closer look at our benchmarks—and why we selected them
The TeST SUBJeCTS
We recruited our 21 evaluators from the
ranks of the Future US staff, including edi-
tors and art directors from other print and
online publications. We chose these indi-
viduals because of their in-depth expertise
at evaluating image quality in all three of
our test criteria.
The T eSTS
We set up the two Blackbirds in the
Maximum PC Lab, with the monitors
placed side by side, at the same height
and at the same angle to the viewer. We
sat each test subject on a rolling stool, so
he or she could easily roll back and forth
between the two monitors in order to
avoid visual distortion caused by off-axis
viewing angles.
The test administrator told each sub-
ject only that we were evaluating image
quality; the subjects were not informed
that we were evaluating videocards or
any other hardware. Neither of the test
rigs were outfitted with speakers. The
test administrator asked each subject to
express a preference for the image dis-
played on monitor A or monitor B or to
express no preference for either. Subjects
were expressly told that “no preference”
was a perfectly valid opinion, but if they
did choose A or B, they were asked to
explain their rationale for that decision.
To reduce random chance, we con-
ducted nine tests with our CrossFire
system labeled as A and our SLI system
labeled as B. We reversed the order for
our next six tests, and we established
two control groups of three tests each in
which both A and B were CrossFire and
then both A and B were SLI.
The shipping version of Massive entertainment’s sumptuous
RTS World in Conflict has more DX10 eye candy than the
beta version we’ve used in the past. We selected this game
because it has a built-in benchmark that uses the game’s
engine to render an action-packed animation sequence. We
thought our test subjects might see differences in color ren-
dering, antialiasing, and lighting. We expressly told them not
to evaluate frame rate or animation quality.
We chose this disc for several reasons: The film was originally
shot in IMAX format, and the digital transfer is excellent. We
wanted video clips with diverse content, and this movie pro-
vides an abundance of it, ranging from sequences shot from
the International Space Station to farmers setting fires in the
Amazon rain forest to clear land for farming. We expected our
test subjects might see differences in color rendering or spot
decoding artifacts.
We selected this portrait
because it was shot by a
professional using a very
high-resolution digital SLR
camera (Canon’s 10MP
eOS-1D Mark III). We antici-
pated that our test subjects
might discern differences in
skin tone, hair color, black
levels, and similar details.
HIGH-
RESOLUTION
DIGITAL PHOTO:
EUSTACE
HIGH-DEFINITION VIDEO: BLUE PLANET
DIRECTX 10 GAME: WORLD IN CONFLICT
dariusz
(Dariusz)
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