xbox 360 in HD

[Tacks]

So I've had my new TV for a few months now and haven't bothered to set my xbox up to be HD just because I've been entirely content already with the way it looks but the new football game I got has noticeable jaggies and I need HD now. My question is, I have the HD Composite cable that came with the system but should I go ahead and pick up the S-Video cable instead? Will it be a better picture quality and will it be noticeable? If it's hardly a difference I'll keep using the cable I have now.

[The Kizzy]

The brother bought an S-Video cable when he bought his big screen to hook up the DVD player. It makes a TON of difference in my opinion. It looks like they are in the same room with you, its that crisp and clean.

[Tacks]

This is just for my xbox. I already have an HD Composite cable, I'm just asking if it is better quality or worse quality than if I were to buy an S-Video cable for my xbox.

[The Kizzy]

I do not know about the XBOX.

[Lionking]

IIRC, though <b>component</b> (not composite) cables support 1080p, they are, by design, not allowed to do so with Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. With those they can do 1080i. If you want 1080p you need to go with an HDMI solution. If you don't care about 1080p and only want 1080i or 720p, component will be fine, otherwise look to HDMI.

EDIT: S-Video is an analog cable, lower quality than HDMI and component. However, it is higher quality than composite. You don't want to use either S-Video or composite for HD.

[Tacks]

Sorry yes I mean component. This is what came with mine. http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360componenthdcable/ Apparently games are better played in 720p so that's what I'd like to use.

Only the Xbox elite supports HDMI and I'm not about to buy a whole new console.

[Tossica]

I have my 360 hooked up to my projector via VGA so that I can watch HD-DVD and regular DVD's in 720P (HDMI and VGA support upscaling to 1080P but my projector is 720P native). If you have a VGA input on your TV, I would suggest going that route otherwise the component cables will give you a much better picture than the S-Video cable. S-Video is ancient technology.

[Lyion]

So I've had my new TV for a few months now and haven't bothered to set my xbox up to be HD just because I've been entirely content already with the way it looks but the new football game I got has noticeable jaggies and I need HD now. My question is, I have the HD Composite cable that came with the system but should I go ahead and pick up the S-Video cable instead? Will it be a better picture quality and will it be noticeable? If it's hardly a difference I'll keep using the cable I have now.

Ignoring all the odd tangent discussions, so forgive my getting to the point.

No. The Component Cables are better than S-Video. You don't need any other cables for your Xbox. Period. I have my Component Ones doing 1080p and they work great.

[Tacks]

Awesome thanks, I'll hook it up tonight and see if I'm impressed.

[Tossica]

You don't need any other cables for your Xbox. Period.

If you want the best signal quality and the ability to upscale your standard DVD's to HD resolutions, you will need HDMI or VGA output. I used Component since I got my 360 and the picture quality improvement when I moved to VGA was very noticable. Worth the $20 I spent on the cable, for sure.

[Tacks]

I don't have HD DVD.

[Tossica]

Do you watch movies on the 360 though? If not, you are cool even though the 360 does have really nice upscaling to 720 or 1080P (whatever native resolution your TV has) for standard DVD playback if you are using VGA or HDMI. That's my point.

Going from standard 480P to 720P or even 1080P on a standard DVD with a good transfer (ie V for Vendetta, etc) is a HUGE improvement. If the transfer is shitty, the upscaling won't do much to help it unfortunately. Crappy DVDs still look crappy in HD.

[Tacks]

I'm pretty noob when it comes to all that. I was under the impression that you wouldn't get HD dvd without an HD player. But yes I watch DVD's on both my DVD player and my 360 depending on whichever I feel like using.

Can you give a link to a VGA cable for the 360? My TV DOES have HDMI but my xbox does not.

I would say that I watch 80% of the movies I watch over a friends houses and not my own so I would mostly be wanting the upgrade just to play games on.

[Jay]

If I remember correctly Tacks, you got the Olevia HDTV? If that's the case don't worry about VGA cables or anything. Component is just fine. Yes in some cases 720p does look better than 1080i. 1080i sometimes has the flicker jaggy affect while 720p is not as sharp but smoother.

[Tacks]

If I remember correctly Tacks, you got the Olevia HDTV?

yes that's what I got

thanks

[Lyion]

Do you watch movies on the 360 though? If not, you are cool even though the 360 does have really nice upscaling to 720 or 1080P (whatever native resolution your TV has) for standard DVD playback if you are using VGA or HDMI. That's my point.

Going from standard 480P to 720P or even 1080P on a standard DVD with a good transfer (ie V for Vendetta, etc) is a HUGE improvement. If the transfer is shitty, the upscaling won't do much to help it unfortunately. Crappy DVDs still look crappy in HD.

For most movies there is hardly any improvement between the two cables. My brother has an HDMI cable for his 360, and we both have 1080p Westies and I do not notice any difference between the two for playback.

[Tossica]

Do you watch movies on the 360 though? If not, you are cool even though the 360 does have really nice upscaling to 720 or 1080P (whatever native resolution your TV has) for standard DVD playback if you are using VGA or HDMI. That's my point.

Going from standard 480P to 720P or even 1080P on a standard DVD with a good transfer (ie V for Vendetta, etc) is a HUGE improvement. If the transfer is shitty, the upscaling won't do much to help it unfortunately. Crappy DVDs still look crappy in HD.

For most movies there is hardly any improvement between the two cables. My brother has an HDMI cable for his 360, and we both have 1080p Westies and I do not notice any difference between the two for playback.

then your brother doesn't have his 360 set up correctly because there is a HUGE difference in picture quality between 480p and 1080p. you could be just old and blind too I guess.

[Tacks]

So I hooked this up tonight and am now wondering why I waited so long. It's like night and day.

[Jay]

For games, movies or both?

[Tacks]

Haven't watched a movie yet but I was playing All Pro Football and was "like whoa".