i agree, the physics is better for gameplay, the normal mapping and stuff are just eye candy for me... its a nice extra, but not important.
but for real graphics you can't beat a top flight PC... TV resolutions are awfull low (though analog, so it blends well)... not saying you need a 8way opteron with dual SLI x16 pci gfx cards or the ibm 16way cluster to pump info through 8 cat5 cables to a single high (HIGH) res monitor...

sorry... btw, they're making monitors now with higher contrast (30% brighter to 10% darker than normal CRTs), i bet that'd help realism too (when they program for it)