The dreamcast had a scan converter and some of the games supported monitors’ resolutions. I know Soul Calibur did (oh god… Soul Calibur) and IIRC RE:Code Veronica did as well.
I am not sure offhand what the best resolution avaiable is on the current systems. I recall that the Gamecube was up to HDTV standards, but I forget the rest. Ah, here we are. If you scroll down a bit there you’ll see a fine table comparing stats of the consoles to each other. Under the resolution heading we find: XBOX: 1920 X 1080 PS2: 1280 X 1024 Gamecube: ?? (at least HDTV Quality).
So, to recap: the cost effective solution is to buy an average PC for your computing needs, a console for gaming, and a television for, um, television. The monitor/TV is the biggest factor in picture quality here, NOT the medium on which you play the game.
Consoles will not die, I don’t think, until the point where top-o’-the-line PCs are cheap. Not likely to happen, um, ever.
You’re still forgetting that TV images are interlaced whereas monitors are non-interlaced. Interlaced monitors take half the information in a given timespan that an interlaced image does. A non-interlaced picture is noticeably crisper than an interlaced one is (especially when ther is motion on the screen).
HDTV is a bit of a different story since they can get higher resolutions and support both interlaced and non-interlaced pictures. You need to read the fine print on what the system is pumping out in regards to television. The link you provided isn’t quite that specific.
The thing most people don’t realize is that a computer can take over many functions of other devices that are normally discrete, and do a much better job. Compare the cost of a TV, Stereo + Radio, DVD player, Console game system, and a cheap computer for internet access and word processing vs a good computer that can take over all of the above functions, and the previously “expensive” computer becomes the best value, especially considering the increased flexibility and performance offered by a computer. The only issue with the above scenario is that it requires some technological know-how and computer experience to setup. Computers will replace TVs for average users when it’s as easy as clicking Start, Watch TV…and computers come with Video-IN as standard.