XBox360 and 1080p
So I’ve heard so much babble on 1080p and XBox360 with much coming from people who have no experience with it and are simply repeating rumors of what they have heard. Today when I went to pick up my HD-DVD drive for the XBox360, I picked up the VGA cable and a KVM switch. I have my main gaming machine hooked to my Samsung HDTV which is why I needed the KVM so I could switch between my PC and my XBox360.
Anyhow, I asked around to see what the stores were saying about 1080p on the XBox360. First at EB Games, the guy at the store told me he was waiting on HDMI before getting the HD-DVD drive because it wasn’t true HD. This is really untrue. The VGA connector is in fact true HD just as any other HD connection. What is true is that VGA, like component, is an analog connection. It’s true that HDMI is digital and the common thought is that digital is better than analog. However, in all honesty, I’ve not actually seen a difference between a digital and analog HD connection. At 1080, the difference between analog and digital is not discernible to me. I’ve run both HDMI and component from my cable box to my TV and saw absolutely no difference. In fact, I switched back to component since my A/V switch didn’t support HDMI.
Secondly, while at Fry’s to get my KVM, the guy at the store said he read stuff about 1080p sucking (from forums) and that his buddy tried it and said the image on the screen seemed washed out. When I hooked up my XBox360 to my TV with VGA, I indeed got a bright “washed-out” looking image. But here’s the thing. That isn’t the fault of the XBox360. I got the same issue when I hooked up my PC to my TV. For some reason, the VGA connection to my TV is really bright and the preset brightness/contrast settings are way to high for a VGA connection. I simply adjusted the brightness on my TV for VGA to almost 0. Now black is actually black on my TV just like the component connection. Other deep colors look rich and fine. So, the idea that 1080p looks like crap because it’s washed-out and too bright is a misunderstanding of how to adjust the TV settings to a custom level for VGA connections.
Now, the other complaint I hear is that 1080p isn’t being done over HDMI since there isn’t an HDMI connection. Microsoft says that the XBox360 is flexible and the market has no demand for it. Sure, there was an IGN article complaining that the market demands it now but lets be serious. How many people have a 1080p capable TV with HDMI inputs. Out of all the people I know, I’m the only one. I think this imaginary demand comes from the mistaken idea that 1080p is not possible without HDMI. In fact, the XBox360 actually supports 1080p over component and you can see so right in the display settings. I haven’t run 1080p over component because my TV won’t take 1080p over component.
So, as a word of warning, be more educated about HD and don’t believe everything you read in a forum. I’m not a big Microsoft fanboy, although I do *love* my 360, and it’s hard to understand why people would believe some nobody on a forum spreading lies about some conspiracy that Microsoft is trying to pull smoke and mirrors on the whole 1080p thing. Honestly, they don’t have much to gain by lying. After all, the first person who actually gets a VGA cable, plugs it into a 1080p TV, and fires up the 360 will see whether or not it’s a lie. I can tell you that Microsoft isn’t lying here. It does work and it does work well. Even my wife commented that the 1080p picture over VGA looked clearer while playing an HD-DVD and she didn’t know which connection I was using at the time (I was switching between the two to test). And isn’t that what really matters? Above all the techo-babble and nonsense about theoretics, in the end it’s all about preference. If you think it looks sharp and wonderful isn’t that what counts? I can’t wait for someone to put up an HDMI cable for sale so people can calm the hell down about the whole thing. Microsoft might be waiting it out, it is expensive to make after all, but other third party companies have expressed an interest in making HDMI cables for the 360.
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January 4th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
There’s definately a difference between analog and digital inputs. On a Dell 2405FPW (24″ widescreen PC monitor) the difference between digital and analog is night and day - everything becomes super sharp on digital because of a direct 1:1 pixel mapping with no information lost in Digital to Analog conversion.
Of course, that Dell monitor is a LCD which was hooked up to a PC using DVI and it was running at it’s native resolution. On a DLP, especially like the Sammy HLRs where image enhancement is run, this may not make as much of a difference. Ditto that for DVDs where the source was analog 35mm before going to DVD. Text and Graphics are a truer test.
I did want to ask though - how is the picture when switching from PC to X360? Does the picture need to be recentered when switching between devices or do you need to boot both devices a few times before things center properly? Switching back and forth I noticed over / underscanning or off-centeredness where black screen area would be introduced. Having the x360 centered perfectly is nice though and I wouldn’t want to lose that by having multiple components.
January 8th, 2007 at 8:15 am
Concerning switching between the PC and 360: No, I don’t have any issues with it. The KVM switches just fine between the two without any need for adjustment.
January 26th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Yes, Microsoft XBox 360 does support 1080P via component but here is the catch. The HD-DVD player that comes with the Xbox 360 only supports 1080i. It’s based off of the same structure as the Toshiba HD-DVD player which only outputs to 1080i regardles of using component or HDMI connector. So there you have it, you can finally find a TV that actually supports 1080p via component only to find out the HD-DVD player doesn’t support 1080p. I think everyone has simply assumed that it would. This is why Microsoft has not released an HDMI cable because it simply woudl not make any difference.
March 13th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
wow, i agree. you do suck at your updating. I was mauled for not updating my critiques.
May 5th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
slaine, the HD-DVD player is not the brain of the player. It simply reads the data. The XBOX360 is what decides 1080p/1080i, etc. There was a software update released a long time ago…that allows 1080p via the 360 and HD-DVD combo. So, you are mislead like a lot of the public. It does do 1080p via component or VGA w/ adapter. I do not know who regulates it, but component was not to be 1080p…even though it can do it, regulating body said it was not to do that quality. FCC?? I don’t know, but few-no TV’s exist that will do 1080p via component…for the main fact of governing body of “standards” etc.
I am in no way an expert on this, but from vast research have come across various articles detailing the above. I am currently in process of buying an adapter for my VGA connection. 1080i currently via component on my TV.
May 14th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
Yeah, I had VGA to my TV for 1080p. It so didn’t really make a difference to me that I switched back to component simply because I could control the video/audio through the little switch I had that accepted component and optical only.
1080p and 1080i. Can’t tell the difference at all. All I know is my Xbox360 and the HD-DVD drive rock.
May 18th, 2007 at 10:34 am
i am mislead? about what? (comment above)
May 20th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
I think he meant someone else, slaine. He just wrote the wrong name.
May 24th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
oh ok. making me wonder
have a good memorial day
August 15th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Our firm has been asked to investigate the possibility of a class action in regard to the 1080P High Definition TV’s.
Many High Definition TV’s have been advertised and sold as being “1080p” resolution sets, implying that they are capable of accepting and displaying signals input at the full high resolution 1080p video format used by the new Blu-Ray and HD-DVD players. However, only the most recent generation of 1080p sets from the major manufacturers are capable of accepting 1080p input signals. Most older generation 1080p, although they are capable of displaying at 1080p, will not accept a 1080p input signal, but require a lower resolution input signal which they then upconvert to 1080p. These sets are thus incapable of displaying the full resolution of the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD formats.
If you would be willing to discuss this issue with us, please contact me at (310)536-1000.
Thank you,
Golnaz Pak
Kirtland & Packard LLP.
2361 Rosecrans Avenue
Fourth Floor
El Segundo, CA 90245
(310)536-1000 (Tel)
(310) 536-1001 (Fax)
September 2nd, 2007 at 8:19 pm
I’m still a little undecided as to if I should keep that Kirtland & Packard comment around. It doesn’t appear to be typical spam as it is related and someone did type it in directly. I suppose I’ll leave it here in case others are interested in it. I’m not so certain I want to get involved in anything although I don’t know what can be done about the issue. I do feel a little mislead about my set and I think things were a bit unclear on the website and in the manual (well, at which point you’ve bought the set). Perhaps I’ll just keep a heads up and see if something comes of the issue and if it’s worth getting involved in.
January 4th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Nice blog. I am more than a little confused but learning. I have the SONY BRAVIA KDL52W3000 52″ LCD with the original XBOX360 (No HDMI). The TV is seeing 1080P via the component cables. I do not have the HD/DVD add on. When playing a standard DVD in the XBOX360 the TV shows a resolution of 480P. I assume this means that the XBOX does not do any up conversion on SD DVD’s. When I connect a PC to the Sony I have no trouble driving 1920 x 1080 resolution (with little to any screen adjustment). So I am cosidering the 360 HD/DVD add on. Do I need the VGA cable to get true 1080P when using the player for movies, or will it output directly (no tricks) to 1080P via the component cables?
January 7th, 2008 at 9:40 am
The XBox360 will only upscale standard DVDs to 720p using the VGA cable or HDMI cable. It has something to do with copy protection and all that garbage. Microsoft has said that is the only two outputs that they are allowed to upscale with. For the HD-DVD player, I *think* it will work on HDMI, VGA, and component. Your TV actually supports 1080p over component so I think it will work with the HD-DVD player as well.
January 25th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
I have the following setup:
Xbox 360 Pro w/HDMI port
Samsung 56″ 1080p DLP tv (Model HL-R5668W)
Pioneer Receiver (5.1 Surround w/Optical Imput)
I purchased the “Xbox HDMI cable and A/V adapter” to allow me to run video through the HDMI cable, and audio through the optical cable. However, when using the hdmi cable, the 1080p option is greyed out and is not selectable in the dashboard. The strange part about this is when I had the Xbox 360 hooked using the supplied component / optical cables, 1080p was selectable in the dashboard but the people at Samsung told me that the tv will only do 1080p via HDMI. “Plug & Play” they said. To the best of my efforts I can only get 1080i wether I use component or hdmi. What gives?
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:52 am
hello