XBOX 360- New Consoles
Discussion
I saw a massive difference in clarity of text etc. going from my old component/VGA-only Xbox to a new one using its HDMI connection. My old one died within the warranty period, but I was too impatient to wait for it to come back from its holiday to Germany, so I thought it the perfect time to pick up an HDMI one. The difference really was night and day! I'm a bit of a pixel peeper, but I do play my Xbox sitting about 4' away from a 40" TV, and the difference was plain to see. General sharpness and contrast all seemed much better.
TimmyWimmyWoo said:
I saw a massive difference in clarity of text etc. going from my old component/VGA-only Xbox to a new one using its HDMI connection. My old one died within the warranty period, but I was too impatient to wait for it to come back from its holiday to Germany, so I thought it the perfect time to pick up an HDMI one. The difference really was night and day! I'm a bit of a pixel peeper, but I do play my Xbox sitting about 4' away from a 40" TV, and the difference was plain to see. General sharpness and contrast all seemed much better.
Same story here 
The_Jackal said:
Most games are at 720 and will look the same with component as hdmi.
Component is better than VGA as well.
Thats way too much of a generalisation.Component is better than VGA as well.
It depends now the TV handles its component or HDMI inputs - considering component is rather old school now it may not get the attention it needs.
Also technicaly component is inferior to VGA, both are quite similar but vga has an additional synch , and the ability to run at more resolutions so you can get 1:1 with the display and avoid yet another level of scaling.
Also depends on what processing you have on each input, probably far less (by default) on HDMI.
Note tho I use component (my 360 doesnt have HDMI) and am not rushing out to replace it.
Cheers for the response. I suppose that i'll have to ask when/if i pick up an xbox if it's the jasper chipset. I was only going to get the arcade you see as i already have a hard drive that now for some reason works perfect with the xbox now it's stood vertically. So i'm really not sure if to bother with a new one, i do have a 1080p tv but not sure if i'll get that much difference.
TimmyWimmyWoo said:
My old one died within the warranty period, but I was too impatient to wait for it to come back from its holiday to Germany,
I love the sense of purpose here 
.My return from Germany must have been a duffer - the fans whine like nothing I've ever heard before from an Xbox.
HDMI is pretty pointless for the xbox 360. 99% of the games are run at 720p so you need not have the latest TV to get the most out of it. I currently have one running through VGA to a 22" monitor at 1650x1050 (16:10) which is above 720p but below 1080p (1980x1080 i think, this is its native resolution. As mentioned above, it depends more on what you TV prefers, but there is no resolution difference or loss of quality between VGA and HDMI, even though one is digital and the other analog.
The only benefit of HDMI is that it carries the sound to the TV, but if you have a seporate sound system this isn't an issue.
Personally, VGA is good for PC monitors as they usually prioritise (and have) VGA connectors, TV's prioritise HDMI. But dont forget, you have to have superhuman eyesight to tell the difference between full HDMI (1080p) and bog standard HDMI ready sets (720p) when viewed on a 50" TV
HTH
The only benefit of HDMI is that it carries the sound to the TV, but if you have a seporate sound system this isn't an issue.
Personally, VGA is good for PC monitors as they usually prioritise (and have) VGA connectors, TV's prioritise HDMI. But dont forget, you have to have superhuman eyesight to tell the difference between full HDMI (1080p) and bog standard HDMI ready sets (720p) when viewed on a 50" TV
HTH
thetrash said:
I brought an arcade last week as my premium died and it was out of warranty. The new 360 is very flakey it crashes a lot when you try and load a disk straight away and generally doesn't work very well. Am not happy with it and will take it back when I get a chance.
Just bought a new elite version, noticed the same thing. A few times i've gone to play a game, and it does not load from the start. The xbox thing doesnt come up etc so i have to push the front button.
Also, its bloody load, but it runs alot cooler which i suppose is a good thing!
Tokar said:
HDMI is pretty pointless for the xbox 360. 99% of the games are run at 720p so you need not have the latest TV to get the most out of it. I currently have one running through VGA to a 22" monitor at 1650x1050 (16:10) which is above 720p but below 1080p (1980x1080 i think, this is its native resolution. As mentioned above, it depends more on what you TV prefers, but there is no resolution difference or loss of quality between VGA and HDMI, even though one is digital and the other analog.
The only benefit of HDMI is that it carries the sound to the TV, but if you have a seporate sound system this isn't an issue.
Personally, VGA is good for PC monitors as they usually prioritise (and have) VGA connectors, TV's prioritise HDMI. But dont forget, you have to have superhuman eyesight to tell the difference between full HDMI (1080p) and bog standard HDMI ready sets (720p) when viewed on a 50" TV
HTH
That's interesting... on your windows desktop (and I reckon in a windows game as well) you can tell the difference between 1360x768 and 1920x1080 fairly easily, even on a pretty small screen. Not sure why it's different for xbox? Just cos you sit further away?The only benefit of HDMI is that it carries the sound to the TV, but if you have a seporate sound system this isn't an issue.
Personally, VGA is good for PC monitors as they usually prioritise (and have) VGA connectors, TV's prioritise HDMI. But dont forget, you have to have superhuman eyesight to tell the difference between full HDMI (1080p) and bog standard HDMI ready sets (720p) when viewed on a 50" TV
HTH
Is that true most games only run 720p so there's no point in a full HD telly?
There is a point in a HDMI TV. Remember that HDMI is just a buzz word for a display above say 1024 x 720. There are HDTV's and there are HDTV's. Most "HD Ready" TV's will display HD content at lower resolutions (like 720p). Only the ones branded as "Full HD" go up to resolutions like 1920x1020. If you have a 50" plasma/LCD then 1920x1020 will look alot better than lower 720p resolutions when sat on the other side of the room. There is a tiny difference when the TV goes down to less than 50" and sat in the same place.
PC's have been displaying HD for years, so when I play PC games at 1650x1020, its only half way down the list of possible resolutions, and there is a massive difference in picture quality if I then drop it down to the next 16:10 ratio (like 1360x768). The xbox however is not a PC, and was design (originally) to run on TV's (old tube ones). With LCD/Plasma technology now mainstream, microsoft had to bodge the xbox to work with these new fancy resolutions (remember that HDMI is a buzz word). HDMI connections are the industry standard for TV's because that can carry the picture and sound signal together, unlike VGA which for years has been used in PCs (which don't usually have speakers). Because the Xbox is for TV use it displays its data in HDMI (and therefore) TV resolutions, predominantly 16:9 ratios. So when you play your 720p game, the xbox upscales the content to 1020P to your TV (if it supports it) If like me you have a PC monitor with an odd resolution, then the xbox does its best to scale it (using VGA) but due to the 16:10 ratio you get a letterbox effect.
In short its better to select the native resolution of your monitor and let the xbox scale it (because it is almost always better at doing this). The xbox can also upscale 720p images to your tv too, but you need a big tv before true 1020p is noticeable over 720p.
Sorry for the long post HTH
PC's have been displaying HD for years, so when I play PC games at 1650x1020, its only half way down the list of possible resolutions, and there is a massive difference in picture quality if I then drop it down to the next 16:10 ratio (like 1360x768). The xbox however is not a PC, and was design (originally) to run on TV's (old tube ones). With LCD/Plasma technology now mainstream, microsoft had to bodge the xbox to work with these new fancy resolutions (remember that HDMI is a buzz word). HDMI connections are the industry standard for TV's because that can carry the picture and sound signal together, unlike VGA which for years has been used in PCs (which don't usually have speakers). Because the Xbox is for TV use it displays its data in HDMI (and therefore) TV resolutions, predominantly 16:9 ratios. So when you play your 720p game, the xbox upscales the content to 1020P to your TV (if it supports it) If like me you have a PC monitor with an odd resolution, then the xbox does its best to scale it (using VGA) but due to the 16:10 ratio you get a letterbox effect.
In short its better to select the native resolution of your monitor and let the xbox scale it (because it is almost always better at doing this). The xbox can also upscale 720p images to your tv too, but you need a big tv before true 1020p is noticeable over 720p.
Sorry for the long post HTH
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