a useless question regarding TV and film quality in the Fallout universe

[BigusDicus]

Weird thing to think about but i often think about television in Fallout.

In the intro to Fallout 1 and 4, we see they still have crappy grainy 50s video technology all the way into the late 21st century.
Yet we have seen them depict CCTV with almost modern standards of video quality...

So whats up with that? Why are people in the 2070s still happy with 1950s video quality, despite the fact digital video has clearly been invented in the Fallout universe.
And granted, even if they still commonly use film as opposed to digital for media, advanced film that was commonly used from the mid 90s upto the early naughties would surely have been invented, otherwise your saying the moment film was created, people just stopped researching it and didn't advance it.

I will go on hunger strike until Bethesda officially tells us why seemingly some households still use 1950s era video technology despite digital existing... And if the answer is that Quinton Tarantino became president and taxed all digital video production in the US, to encourage film use'' then I will also demand to know why they are still using 50s era film as opposed to modern film...

If I die I die, but these questions must be answered...

[jynx]

Fallout 1,2, BOS, and Tactics aren't Bethesda. They can retcon all they want since they have the license. Lorewise, the civilian market was frozen in a 50's sci fi fantasy. Obviously the military, government and contractors would have access to stuff civilians wouldn't. Look up who uses CO2 cooled computers for example IRL. If you spot things that don't follow that narrative, it's from sloppy QA.

[Zekiran]

Remember that they did not develop the microchip or other similar technology.

Their stuff works somehow, using vacuum tubes and old-school crap.

It is not our world. Let our world stay out of it.

[BigusDicus]

Originally posted by jynx:

Fallout 1,2, BOS, and Tactics aren't Bethesda. They can retcon all they want since they have the license. Lorewise, the civilian market was frozen in a 50's sci fi fantasy. Obviously the military, government and contractors would have access top stuff civilians wouldn't. Look up who uses CO2 cooled computers for example IRL. If you spot things that don't follow that narrative, it's from sloppy QA.

But the civilian market clearly isn't stuck in the 50s, hence why cars don't have wheels.
The only thing the lore expects you to suspend your disbelief over is the fashion. But even this can be explained away with the fashion industry dying and not being replaced.

Everything else can be explained away with scientists simply figuring out more than IRL ones did. Even Ghouls can be explained away with some Fallout humans having fictional DNA quirks that makes them react differently to radiation.

But the one thing that can't be explained away, and requires total suspension of disbelief is the TVs!!!!

You can't say the media industry died in fallout like you could the fashion industry, due to how common TV's are in the fallout universe. With either TV's or TV stands being spread out across most private buildings that survived relatively intact.
And the fact that fashion changes with the culture, and if the culture doesn't change, then the fashion often doesn't either. But Film advancements occur irregardless of culture...

Bethesda Fallout has TWO unanswered questions... Why are the people in Bethesda games still living like the bombs dropped 20 years ago as opposed to 200 years ago, and much more importantly... Why is Video quality still crap....

[BigusDicus]

Originally posted by Zekiran:

Remember that they did not develop the microchip or other similar technology.

Their stuff works somehow, using vacuum tubes and old-school crap.

It is not our world. Let our world stay out of it.

not inventing something, and already being invented but remaining terrible, are two different things.

Question unanswered... Hunger strike continues...

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

Originally posted by BigusDicus:

Weird thing to think about but i often think about television in Fallout.

In the intro to Fallout 1 and 4, we see they still have crappy grainy 50s video technology all the way into the late 21st century.
Yet we have seen them depict CCTV with almost modern standards of video quality...

So whats up with that? Why are people in the 2070s still happy with 1950s video quality, despite the fact digital video has clearly been invented in the Fallout universe.
And granted, even if they still commonly use film as opposed to digital for media, advanced film that was commonly used from the mid 90s upto the early naughties would surely have been invented, otherwise your saying the moment film was created, people just stopped researching it and didn't advance it.

I will go on hunger strike until Bethesda officially tells us why seemingly some households still use 1950s era video technology despite digital existing... And if the answer is that Quinton Tarantino became president and taxed all digital video production in the US, to encourage film use'' then I will also demand to know why they are still using 50s era film as opposed to modern film...

If I die I die, but these questions must be answered...

obsidian vs bethesda and bethesda mostly ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up the lore and their own lore lol.

but tbh it somewhat makes sense if you think about it:

1. stuff like vaccume tubes were the norm since microchips weren't able to be produced so they stayed with bulky tech

2. it lead to (at least in part) to faster consumption of resources hence the resource wars.

3. With limited resources most used for the army wars and war effort i can see them downgrading to TVs of lower quality EXCEPT for the military areas especially spy cameras.

4. With inflation limited resources most people probably wouldn't be able to afford the better quality tvs.


i wanna say that also the grainy tvs were the only ones to survive like HAM radios since most modern tech would be fried from EMPs produced by nukes. This is especially for any sort of wifi or wireless things. So only old wires and tube tech would survive and easier to replace. Maybe also in hindsight why it was actually better to use it vs any sort of modern tech as 200 years later all that tech still works. Abeit a little power needed but overall the tech still works like brand new.

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

Originally posted by BigusDicus:

Originally posted by Zekiran:

Remember that they did not develop the microchip or other similar technology.

Their stuff works somehow, using vacuum tubes and old-school crap.

It is not our world. Let our world stay out of it.

not inventing something, and already being invented but remaining terrible, are two different things.

Question unanswered... Hunger strike continues...

well they did have a WAR

war tends to make tech but also it limited what you can make especially the LACK OF RESOURCES HENCE THE RESOURCE WARS!!!!!

Originally posted by BigusDicus:

Originally posted by jynx:

Fallout 1,2, BOS, and Tactics aren't Bethesda. They can retcon all they want since they have the license. Lorewise, the civilian market was frozen in a 50's sci fi fantasy. Obviously the military, government and contractors would have access top stuff civilians wouldn't. Look up who uses CO2 cooled computers for example IRL. If you spot things that don't follow that narrative, it's from sloppy QA.

But the civilian market clearly isn't stuck in the 50s, hence why cars don't have wheels.
The only thing the lore expects you to suspend your disbelief over is the fashion. But even this can be explained away with the fashion industry dying and not being replaced.

Everything else can be explained away with scientists simply figuring out more than IRL ones did. Even Ghouls can be explained away with some Fallout humans having fictional DNA quirks that makes them react differently to radiation.

But the one thing that can't be explained away, and requires total suspension of disbelief is the TVs!!!!

You can't say the media industry died in fallout like you could the fashion industry, due to how common TV's are in the fallout universe. With either TV's or TV stands being spread out across most private buildings that survived relatively intact.
And the fact that fashion changes with the culture, and if the culture doesn't change, then the fashion often doesn't either. But Film advancements occur irregardless of culture...

Bethesda Fallout has TWO unanswered questions... Why are the people in Bethesda games still living like the bombs dropped 20 years ago as opposed to 200 years ago, and much more importantly... Why is Video quality still crap....

the 20 vs 200 years some people say synths ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ up everything aka the institute comspiracy. But yeah it really doesn't b/c you see settlements pop up a lot. In fact a Vtuber (i think pekora) literally pointed it out about 15 mins after exiting the vault playing fallout 4 playthrough. And i honestly laugh at that point.

Another reason would probably be other threats and rad storms which also do not make sense realistically and also the settlements like diamond city already p much existed and settled long before other areas.

You also see the vault tech rep talk about seeing Codsworth a lot when going back to the area where it all went wrong.

There could be a THERE WILL COME SOFT RAINS reference where people are afraid of tech and warn the younger generation to "not enter the houses of the dead eat the food of the dead etc." Considering how the BoS arose from that ideal it sorta makes a tiny amount of plausability. Radiation aside (not that irradiated in some settlements) i can honestly say it's fear of what is out there what's in the stuff you're scavenging BUT ALSO FEAR OF THE FUTURE repeating the same thing with equally if not worst devastating results.






the old stuff see above.

[BigusDicus]

Originally posted by Fumo Bnnuy Gaming:

Originally posted by BigusDicus:

i wanna say that also the grainy tvs were the only ones to survive like HAM radios since most modern tech would be fried from EMPs produced by nukes. This is especially for any sort of wifi or wireless things. So only old wires and tube tech would survive and easier to replace. Maybe also in hindsight why it was actually better to use it vs any sort of modern tech as 200 years later all that tech still works. Abeit a little power needed but overall the tech still works like brand new.

Alright this is a halfway decent answer, not great, but sufficient.

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

messed up the reply threading

either way it's just ONE theory

again seems like a lot of other stuff points to the US government knowing. Including but not limited to:

-zetan aliens
-scrapped fallout movie script where vault tech released the 1st bomb to the start the nuke drops
-fallout 3 the vault tech logo on the bomb in megaton
-all the vaults and bunkers built for just the occasion


but yeah to also add the TVS STILL WORK!!!!

granted no signal b/c towers are down (wifi devices) but the TVS STILL WORK!!!!
they still turn on and off. They still have grain and the static. But they just don't work b/c the signal is lost.

unlike radios which still can broadcast from other stations since radio waves are different.

[Zekiran]

Some folks have never listened to low-end tv broadcasts on the end of the FM scale and it shows....

Also I'm not sure what the OP is smoking when they claim "not inventing something, and already being invented but remaining terrible, are two different things."

Um, dude, televisions in OUR world started with vacuum tubes. OUR world, they benefit tremendously from the miniaturization of components.

The Fallout universe - never - invented miniature components the likes of which exist in OUR world. They cannot make what didn't work in their universe. Remember when their war happened it was 50 years FROM OUR real world date, and they STILL used their vacuum tube technology because the other components *would never exist there*.

Imagine simply:

You can't build that here.

Just - straight up, it doesn't work there. That technology just Won't Work. So they have grainy black and white crap, and teleportation devices that SOMEHOW DO work.

Time to hang your hunger strike up because you left your suspension of disbelief there instead.

[Bored Peon]

Originally posted by Fumo Bnnuy Gaming:

but tbh it somewhat makes sense if you think about it:

When you overthink things and apply too much realism to a game you are sucking out all the fun out of it by ruining any sort of immersion.

Take Star Wars for example. There is no sound in space, yet George Lucas said "There is in mine." If you removed that sound to realistic it would ruin most the space battles.

[Iron Knights]

Technology stayed in the 1950s, that's why.
And don't hold your breath.

[Twelvefield]

I've mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again:

An unlit lantern you can pick up. A lit lantern can never be moved and it's indestructible. That, and it stays lit forever. This makes lantern technology far superior to television technology, on account of the invulnerability and the free energy.

[Iron Knights]

Yes, but we can't all be Green Lantern, can we ?

[Razer]

I think OP missed the entire Fallout story.

[Bored Peon]

Originally posted by Razer:

I think OP missed the entire Fallout story.

Miss it? We are pretty much almost living it.
- Corrupt corporations? Check.
- Corrupt shadow government? Check.
- Rampant inflation? Check.
- Brink of WWIII? Check.
- Nuclear armed countries threatening to use them? Check.
- Resource shortages? Check. (due to sanctions)
- Pandemic from a bioweapon? Check.

Only thing missing is power armor, lol.