X360 Cord Comparison

[if76]

IGN (http://www.ign.com) tested out their X360 with various cables (Composite, SVideo, and Component) on a variety of TV's and their conclusions (http://gear.ign.com/articles/668/668461p1.html), if true, are somewhat eye-opening.

All joking aside, you can see that the 360 really shines when paired with the right equipment. The high-def image is really superb, and component signals into a decent tube TV look pretty good as well. I would honestly caution anyone planning to run their 360 into a TV using S-Video or lesser connections. You will not get your money's worth out of your 360, and some games that make heavy use of darkness and lighting like Condemned and possibly Quake 4 may be close to unplayable.
The terminology used in this article is very confusing. The author appears to think that "tube tv" is a synonym for SD-TV which makes me question his findings.

[Evil Avatar]

I can't speak for the VGA cable that I didn't get (Fuck you UPS!!!), but running the component cables on my regular TV (which has the red/green/blue component in, but is not a HDTV), the games just look amazing. The colors are crisp and bright and the darks aren't too dark.

I've run Condemned on this setup and it looks just fine. It looks like a high resolution PC title. So does Call of Duty 2 and Halo 2.

About the only game that didn't look good was Perfect Dark Zero, because they didn't turn on vsync and you get bad tearing whenever you move.

[Rirath]

Meh, I'm not dumping my cash into a better TV just yet. While sure, I'd like one, I have not the need or space for one at the moment. I don't watch enough TV, even with gaming. I've heard no end to how higher end sets are uncomparible to the commoner's TV, but no real proof. I play a lot of older games, and a friend with a large set tells me they look like crud.

Games, especially one related to the Doom engine, being over dark certainly does not surprise me.

[Heretic Machine]

Running the 360 on a plain TV with the cables in the box works just fine for me.

[sTubbs]

I have to question this whole "the games will not look any better than curent gen on sdtvs" movement. SDTVs will benefit just fine from higher resolution textures, anti-aliasing, higher poly counts and better special effects - just as they have all throughout the 3D era that began with the PS. If you can tell the difference in these things between two different games from the current gen, then why would further improvements not be noticeable when entering the next gen? Obviously the games will not look as good as on an HDTV, but that goes without saying.

I think MS might have jumped the gun by backing HDTV so whole heartedly. Considering only about 7 percent of consumers actually have a proper HDTV at this point, MS has gone to great lengths to cater to a miniscule number of potential customers. Although I could squeeze together the money to get a decent monitor, there is no way I am dumping the needed 1000 Canadian dollars to get an entry level HDTV that is worth owning, and I know I am not alone in this.

[Dabombpizza]

I seriously question this article. More 360 propoganda from IGN? I mean we all remember the 360 controller vs keyboard and mouse article...

[The Iron Weasel]

I seriously question this article. More 360 propoganda from IGN? I mean we all remember the 360 controller vs keyboard and mouse article...

THAT ARTICLE RAWKED HARD! :D

[sTubbs]

THAT ARTICLE RAWKED HARD! :D

Of course it did! Anything submitted by RedCloak is automatically teh awesomeness!

[rjcc]

How has MS jumped the gun? It's really just what we should expect at this time. Seriously, these consoles are expected to be around for several years, and HDTV penetration is going to increase drastically. Already you can get a good sized HDTV (27"-32") for $600 or so, cheaper for CRT's, and prices will continue to come down.

[EternalGamer]

I think MS might have jumped the gun by backing HDTV so whole heartedly. Considering only about 7 percent of consumers actually have a proper HDTV at this point, MS has gone to great lengths to cater to a miniscule number of potential customers. Although I could squeeze together the money to get a decent monitor, there is no way I am dumping the needed 1000 Canadian dollars to get an entry level HDTV that is worth owning, and I know I am not alone in this.

We 7% have seen the future and we will not be dragged back to the primordial ooze of gaming you neanderthals refer to as the "Standard" definition. I'm sure people living in the middle ages did not know at the time their era would later be referred to as "Dark." But you, sir, are living in the Dark! You know not what heresies you speak.

Dan

[if76]

I have to question this whole "the games will not look any better than curent gen on sdtvs" movement. SDTVs will benefit just fine from higher resolution textures, anti-aliasing, higher poly counts and better special effects - just as they have all throughout the 3D era that began with the PS. If you can tell the difference in these things between two different games from the current gen, then why would further improvements not be noticeable when entering the next gen? Obviously the games will not look as good as on an HDTV, but that goes without saying.


I agree that it's foolish to think that the current gen has hit the limits of what sdtv's can do. Just compare the CGI movies in Ninja Gaiden to the actual game and you'll see plenty of room for improvement.

I think the major issue is that it's more taxing on the GPU to output at the higher resolutions and polygon counts on the models could be reduced to ease its load. Since the load isn't as heavy when outputting to a sdtv, the user is stuck with lower polygon models than the system is capable of outputting at that resolution. I could be totally wrong about this and I hope someone corrects me if that's the case.

[MrWonderstuff]

Well until I can rent a 360 here in the UK, the article has put me off somewhat. I bought a nice Toshiba 34ZP46 recently and am not going to go High Def for some years to come. I have a 21" Trinitron Monitor which I could use but the intention was to chill out of the sofa.

Oh and I just found this article (http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:tDuWddaikwwJ:www.gamespot.com/features/6139690/+composite+video+and+360&hl=en&client=firefox-a) over at Gamespot which contradicts IGN about the use of S-Video.

[51|RandoM]

IGN would've been better off having somebody who knew wtf they were talking about write the article.

In comparing Component, S-Video, and Composite, consider the following:

Component should always yield the best image. If it doesn't, you've got a hardware problem somewhere in the mix.

The difference between S-Video and Composite, on the other hand, varies from display to display. It isn't the S-Video quality that fluctuates, it is the Composite quality that fluctuates. What is the key factor? The quality of the comb filter in your display. The best comb filters will give you composite output that comes very, very close to matching S-Video, in most cases.

Furthermore, you don't have to have a hidef display to still gain advantages from ms' decision to go hidef with the xbox360. First off, they've committed to games with a rock solid 60fps, can't beat that. As others have mentioned, you also get better textures, etc.

[Stormwatcher]

Come on, guys, look at the comparison in Gamespot's article. The difference is brutal. Sure, x360 games should look better than last gen even on a regular tv. nevertheless, they will only show how good they are on 720p.

[Murmillo]

worst comparison ever.. most people compaire two of the same screen shots with different tv/cables to get an idea, but no.. they even change to damn "screen" shot to insure that it looks worse.

but of course, that is IGN's job. If they can convince the sales of a few more HDTV's, then they get paid...

[Stormwatcher]

Well, I was talking about GAMESPOT, not IGN. Gamespot's feature shows us the same single screen, of a static selection screen. It is pretty well made.

And duh, disputing the superiority of a HDTV @ 720p over a regular 480i screen is pure idiocy.

[jpublic]

Wow, talk about making a generalization from a limited sample.

I use a generally cheap-arsed JVC 32" TV. The best input it has is S-Vid, and let me tell you, Condemned looks great on it - I don't have any of the issues he claims.

[*Legion*]

The terminology used in this article is very confusing. The author appears to think that "tube tv" is a synonym for SD-TV which makes me question his findings.

Uhm, why? Seeing as your premise and conclusion are completely unrelated.

[defcon311]

Hmm... a few things here:

"Big" TV's can often really blow. Size of the screen is for YOUR ease of vision. One of my friends has a monstrous TV but it is rear projection and the picture is horrible, BUT it is so big everyone can see how horrible it is. My point being that "Big" TV's can be great or awful, do your research.

This article is pretty lame, really. Choice of monitors not bad, but since when is Mad Catz a good thing? They are merely replacement cables. They could have all the gold in the world on the connectors but the copper and fibers between each connector are thin and of poor quality. I also agree that I have no confidence in the tester(s). Their lack of AV knowledge seeps through the pores of their evaluation.

Old games on big, accurate TV's (my Sony Wega is pretty nice, though not HD) are actually really cool. Super Mario World + 32" = Retro coolness

[fitbabits]

All going well, I should be hooking my 360 up to this television (http://tinyurl.com/bfnmz) come Christmas morning. :)