X-Box 360 on an SDTV

j0hnz3r

Hey guys,

I wanted to know, how does the picture quality of an XBox 360 fair over component on an SDTV? Specifically, a 32" Sony Wega.

Is it bad? Is it ok? I wanted to get a 360 but I can't afford an HDTV for a while.

thanks!

bruin

I use my 360 on a 20" SDTV through component and it looks great. Clearly a step below HD obviously, but you definitely shouldn't let it stop you from getting a 360.

corin7

I played my 360 on a sony sdtv for the first year I had it and it was fine. Grab the 360 you will be glad you did.

DHS Odium

Make sure to use S-Video or Component though. Things like the text in Dead Rising are hard as hell to read on an SDTV, but those connections make the picutre less fuzzy and should hold you over.

Omeks

I used to play my Xbox 360 on an SDTV until I got an HDTV. You definintely shouldn't let the visual differences between the two keep you from getting an Xbox 360. While text and some things are harder to see on an SDTV, you can still have a lot of fun.

That said, after going HDTV, I find it hard to play Xbox 360 on SDTVs. I tried playing Forza 2 on a SDTV at my friend's house and found it a little bit harder too see (granted, I was kind of far from the set), and of course in games like Dead Rising, text is almost impossible to read with SDTVs (clear as crystal on HDTVs, though).

Surely pick one up (it's got awesome games), but you might want to avoid playing it excessively on an HDTV unless you're planning on getting one soon. It could spoil you a bit, like it has me. ;-)

Gdiguy

I have it running on a 27" samsung sdtv, and I personally don't think it looks too bad...

I never got around to buying DR (though the demo text was pretty tiny), but the worst game text-wise I have is R6Vegas, but that one's decently readable (as long as I'm wearing my glasses)...

The graphics are definitely better than like an original xbox game, for example, so while it may not be the optimal setup, it'll still look pretty nice

PingPong

corin7 wrote: »

I played my 360 on a sony sdtv for the first year I had it and it was fine.

i lol'd

Yes. Don't let the type of TV you have stop you. Geometry Wars is a fast twitch acid trip no matter what TV you play it on.

variant

Forza 2 via component(i played gears on composite and it was ugly) on my sdtv, looked fantastic, though I had to sit close to the TV as it's only a 27 inch.

Mr Peepers

variant wrote: »

Forza 2 via component(i played gears on composite and it was ugly) on my sdtv, looked fantastic, though I had to sit close to the TV as it's only a 27 inch.

Do you have bad vision?

I occasionally play on my 20 inch SD set over composite, and I can see everything fine (Although I am sure that Dead Rising's text wouldn't show up).

Shooter Mcgavin

Some games make your eyes hurt on an SDTV though. Dead Rising is notorious in this department, having the worlds smallest text in a game evar. Yeah, you just gotta bash the zombies, but if you actually feel like following the story and such, you'll soon be known as Squints McGee.

bruin

With component cables the text in Dead Rising is fine, even in SD. It's small, but no squinting is required.

-poe-

Running component cables to a 27" TV myself. Everything but Dead Rising is fine. Dead Rising's text is so small that even with the better cabling (and even HD in some cases) you may find the text nigh unreadable. Think along the lines of a 5 or 6 point font, and you'll be pretty close. I have friends with 32" HD sets that have issues with the text of that game.

OneEyedJack

bruin wrote: »

With component cables the text in Dead Rising is fine, even in SD. It's small, but no squinting is required.

I found this to be true, but it may have been because it was a large SDTV

bruin

OneEyedJack wrote: »

bruin wrote: »

With component cables the text in Dead Rising is fine, even in SD. It's small, but no squinting is required.

I found this to be true, but it may have been because it was a large SDTV

Mine is 20". I dunno, I have good eyesight and I sit pretty close I guess, but I don't have any trouble reading it at all.

pvx22

How does the text display if your using a VGA output? Say you wanted to use a 20" widescreen monitor. Would the make of the display be an issue? Would their be problems such as ghosting?

Turkey

pvx22 wrote: »

How does the text display if your using a VGA output? Say you wanted to use a 20" widescreen monitor. Would the make of the display be an issue? Would their be problems such as ghosting?

I sometimes play on my 17 inch monitor, and the text looks fine. The overall picture looks a lot sharper as well.

expendable

Guys, this whole summer I've been playing on a 13" Durabrand. SD, of course. It's fine.

Nambkab

I spent over a year playing my 360 on a monitor, and it looked fantastic. I highly recommend it over SD, though my cousin's SDTV looks pretty good.

Inzigna

expendable wrote: »

Guys, this whole summer I've been playing on a 13" Durabrand. SD, of course. It's fine.

I salute you. My eyes would bleed if I were you.

UnbreakableVow

You'll be fine on an SD, just don't ever wander into someone's house when they're playing 360 on an HD. I didn't really think HD would make that big of a difference. I was so wrong.

I walk into my friend's house and he's playing Crackdown, although to me, it looked like he was playing some sort of super-advanced Crackdown 3 or something.

Graviija

I had my 360 on SD for over a year. It worked splendidly, and the games still looked awesome. I mean, there's no changing the fact that PGR3 or Gears are great games, regardless of picture resolution.

That being said, once you get an HD set, you'll want to replay some of those games. I just got an HDTV, and it is just delicious.

Don't wanna steal your threads thunder john, but any suggestions as to demoes/games to really show off high definition? Ace Combat looks insane in HD, I know, but anything else?

UnbreakableVow

Crackdown.

Inzigna

Viva Pinata. You guys have no idea.

Graviija

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

Crackdown.

I own it, and yes, it does look incredible.

randombattle

Yeah it's playable and fun but once you go to a HDTV the different is just amazing.

Balefuego

If you're looking to break in a new HDTV with your 360 I'd download the 720p trailers for this year's lineup.

Assassin's Creed, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Bioshock, Eternal Sonata, etc etc etc.

UncleChet

Balefuego wrote: »

If you're looking to break in a new HDTV with your 360 I'd download the 720p trailers for this year's lineup.

Assassin's Creed, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Bioshock, Eternal Sonata, etc etc etc.

Speaking of 720p, sorry for the hijack, but: Which is better 1080i or 720p? I think 1080i cause it's more lines, but I'm unsure....

Help?

Inzigna

I think it has to do with your TV's native resolution. Mine's 1080i and it looks much better than 780p, and while it can also run at 1080p, 1080i looks much better on my TV. I think the best way to find out is to test out both resolutions and see which one you like better, I've also heard stories of higher resolutions affecting overall gameply.

It's not much, but I hope what I said made sense.

bruin

Graviija wrote: »

I had my 360 on SD for over a year. It worked splendidly, and the games still looked awesome. I mean, there's no changing the fact that PGR3 or Gears are great games, regardless of picture resolution.

That being said, once you get an HD set, you'll want to replay some of those games. I just got an HDTV, and it is just delicious.

Don't wanna steal your threads thunder john, but any suggestions as to demoes/games to really show off high definition? Ace Combat looks insane in HD, I know, but anything else?

It's obvious, but GEARS OF WAR, man. Fight Night Round 3 looks incredible as well.

FreddyD

bruin wrote: »

Graviija wrote: »

I had my 360 on SD for over a year. It worked splendidly, and the games still looked awesome. I mean, there's no changing the fact that PGR3 or Gears are great games, regardless of picture resolution.

That being said, once you get an HD set, you'll want to replay some of those games. I just got an HDTV, and it is just delicious.

Don't wanna steal your threads thunder john, but any suggestions as to demoes/games to really show off high definition? Ace Combat looks insane in HD, I know, but anything else?

It's obvious, but GEARS OF WAR, man. Fight Night Round 3 looks incredible as well.

I'm impressed by the BC titles as well. Ninja Gaiden Black almost looks next-gen in places (like the close-up of the nunchaku swinging first level mini-boss).

Even the bargain bin games like Full Auto look sharp and detailed on an HDTV.

variant

Mr Peepers wrote: »

variant wrote: »

Forza 2 via component(i played gears on composite and it was ugly) on my sdtv, looked fantastic, though I had to sit close to the TV as it's only a 27 inch.

Do you have bad vision?

I occasionally play on my 20 inch SD set over composite, and I can see everything fine (Although I am sure that Dead Rising's text wouldn't show up).

No, it's just that with racing games I need a big screen or need to be close to the source if it's small.

YouWannaPieceOfMeBoy

I've never played on anything but my 56" Samsung 1080p DLP.

And then I went over to a friend's house, saw his on a 27" tube TV and I was like, "well that's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be."

desperaterobots

I found the inverse to be true for Crackdown; in HD I could see details on the horizon that wound up just being box-shapes. In SD my brain filled in the details and it felt more 'real'. Your mileage, etc.

But 360 in SD is great. It's just that 360 in HD is greater. I mean, shit. Even UNO looks fucking hot.

TM2 Rampage

So, you have a Sony Wega, eh.

For games that are letterboxed no matter what (or if you wanna play in widescreen mode), you can make it look slightly better if you change your display to "widescreen" in the dashboard and then going into your TV's menu and turning "16:9 Enhanced" on.

Balefuego

UncleChet wrote: »

Balefuego wrote: »

If you're looking to break in a new HDTV with your 360 I'd download the 720p trailers for this year's lineup.

Assassin's Creed, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Bioshock, Eternal Sonata, etc etc etc.

Speaking of 720p, sorry for the hijack, but: Which is better 1080i or 720p? I think 1080i cause it's more lines, but I'm unsure....

Help?

Different people will have differnt opinions on this, but I play my games in 720p. The progressive scan makes a big difference, stuff like games where the screen is constantly in motion, it looks much smoother than in interlaced.

If you're just watching regular tv though, 1080i is probably better.

RainbowDespair

I've been playing recently on our 15" SDTV over a component connection and while it's nowhere near as good as playing it on my parents 48" 1080p HDTV, it still looks pretty good even so. The component connection is key. The text in Dead Rising, though not easy to read is still legible whereas I found that to not be the case when played on larger SDTVs without the component connection.

Deadshot

Balefuego wrote: »

UncleChet wrote: »

Balefuego wrote: »

If you're looking to break in a new HDTV with your 360 I'd download the 720p trailers for this year's lineup.

Assassin's Creed, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Bioshock, Eternal Sonata, etc etc etc.

Speaking of 720p, sorry for the hijack, but: Which is better 1080i or 720p? I think 1080i cause it's more lines, but I'm unsure....

Help?

Different people will have differnt opinions on this, but I play my games in 720p. The progressive scan makes a big difference, stuff like games where the screen is constantly in motion, it looks much smoother than in interlaced.

If you're just watching regular tv though, 1080i is probably better.

It depends on your TV's native resolution.

Lunker

Toss me onto the pile, too -- I'm using a 25" SDTV via S-Video and I'm perfectly fine with how my 360 looks. The games still play the same, which is the only thing that matters to me anyway, and when I do eventually bite the bullet and get an HDTV it'll be like I pressed the "awesomer" button on the console, so I consider that a bonus.

Component/S-video is critical, though; over composite it's really, really fuzzy looking. I could barely even read the text in PGR3, let alone Dead Rising.

expendable

Inzigna wrote: »

expendable wrote: »

Guys, this whole summer I've been playing on a 13" Durabrand. SD, of course. It's fine.

I salute you. My eyes would bleed if I were you.

It is a little rough at times. I could read most of the text in DR, but right now, I have no idea what Otis's note said at the end, other than "steal helicopter." I know there was a bit more to it.

It's a good way to work on headshots though. My opinion is that if I can get a twitch-headshot on a 13" SD, moving up to a 30-some inch HDTV sometime in the future will make it seem like I'm shooting at the broad side of a barn... from the inside. 8-)

goatgoat

i wish i could use my 360s component cables on my non HD tv, but their component are for hd only

WARNING TO POTENTIAL BUYERS!!! (dont waste 40$ like me ;_;)

RainbowDespair

goatgoat wrote: »

i wish i could use my 360s component cables on my non HD tv, but their component are for hd only

WARNING TO POTENTIAL BUYERS!!! (dont waste 40$ like me ;_;)

The 360 Component cable that came with the 360 Premium package works just fine on my SDTV. Just make sure that you set the switch on the cable to SDTV.