360? LCD TV? Read this!!

I feel compelled to make this post about my recent experiences with HDTVs and my 360, as I have discovered a gem of information that some of you may already know, but I think most of you may not...if you can plough this essay of my lifes story, you might find it worth your while.

Short version for lazy people - Using component input for 720p or 1080p? TV has VGA input? Try the VGA cable, maybe it will make your experience MUCH better! Read more to see why...

Firstly, I bought my 360 relatively recently (few months), and when I bought it I did not have an HDTV. However, I'm a senior tech for a living, so I DO have lots of monitors. So of course I bought the VGA cable straight away. Plugged it into an old 19"CRT (the old big, deep ones) monitor. When you're connected via VGA, the Xbox dashboard lets you set a generic resolution for the dashboard AND any games/DVDs that are played through the xbox. So, I set the dashboard res at 1024x768 (monitor was not a wide, unfortunately), and started playing. Of course the display was small and 'letterboxed' cos no widescreen, but the graphics were very nice and I was impressed. All was well in foxy's office until...

A few days ago, I bought a 32" Samsung LCD just for the Xbox (we have bigger plans for the living room, but more on that in a later post ;)), I eagerly dug out the old component cable I had never used and set the little switch to HD, booted up the dashboard, set it to 720p (fully supported by the LE32R32B) and loaded up Test Drive (nice trees n stuff). I was shocked how crap it looked. I was so shocked I was convinced there was something wrong with the TV.

Now, this TV (as most LCDs these days) also has a VGA input, so I thought 'hmmmmm, have to try that, can't be any worse!', so I plugged in the vga, and booted it up. Went to dashboard to see what resolutions I could choose from, and lo and behold, there it was, my TV's native resolution (the same native res of most 720p compatible TVs - 1360x768 ), so I set it to that and booted up Test Drive again. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! It's amazing, sharp, beautiful colours, contrast, I was happy, but I still beleived that there must be something wrong with the TV for the component to look so bad in comparison, so I went searching on the 'net and found this...

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/5/150612.html

Very helpful, many knowledgable people, most stating the same thing...that VGA is much better than component!! I never knew this! As you can see there are some people who disagree, but this is most likely due to the fact that their TVs are not all that compatible or don't process VGA signals correctly. In the end it makes perfect sense, in your Xbox is a PC graphics card with a chipset most likely optimized for digital and analog VGA displays.

So, my point is...if you have a TV that has a VGA connector, but you are using the component input at 720p, TRY THE VGA CABLE!! Probably it will make a HUGE difference to the quality of your gameplaying.

Hey man, I went through the same experience as you, minus the thinking my TV was broke part. I had bought the VGA cables for my LCD monitor before I got my LCD HDTV. When I got the TV I used my component inputs, and didn't really think much of it...it was slightly pixely and grainy but I thought it was normal. When I started learning about the different types of connections, I learned that setting a device to output in your native resolution, or whatever is closes to it, is always your best bet. I hooked up my VGA cables to see if it had 1360x768 (my native res.), and it did. Switched it to that and its been a far superior gaming experience ever since.lockjaw333

Glad to hear people share my experience, I realise it can depend on the TV, I was surprised to read in the thread I posted a link to, that some people had a grainy, flat experience, my experience is the exact opposite, it was jaggy grainy and flat colours on the component in COMPARISON to the the VGA (of course, component is component, jaggy and basically not very good. It was only because I had gotten used to VGA graphics on a monitor, that I considered I had an actual problem to solve). As someone else pointed out, it is all about hte native resolution. If your LCD TV has a really odd resolution (or basically not very closely matching those available in the dashboard) then it may not be worth your while to try.

@donalbane, yeh, you posted that in my other post on the hardware forum when I had first solved the problem a couple days ago. The myth is that component is better. Check out the thread I linked above, gives opinoins from every side. Bottom line =VGA>component in 95% of cases, and not just a little better. Still, you know the same thing from your own personal experience, so I won't try to tell you anything... ;)

How do you know if your tv supports vga.Thomasdeleo

I have a sony 32'' lcd, KDL-V32XBR1.  Is there a way to check if the using VGA would be better without having to buy the adapter itself or would I have to just buy it and see?  I'd like the better quality and I'm short one component connection right now so freeing one up would be great...DrewBlood08

One more question, where can I purchase the adapter?  Is there a adapter made specifically for the 360?DrewBlood08

long but very informative post. My TV's native res is also 720p (1360x768) so I'm anxious to see what VGA will look like. I've also heard that the 360 can up-convert standard DVDs using the VGA cable...any truth to that? If it does than it would have removed any hesitation I feel towards buying VGA.riskers

EDIT: To clarify, I used to watch DVDs on my PC (I have a very nice 20" LG TFT), but from the 'box to the VGA outfitted Sammy, there is no competition. I never even realised 'regular' DVDs could look that good. Can't wait to see what a genuine HD DVD will look like.

I just ordered my VGA cables and for the time being I only have a 1024 x 768 resolution LCD monitor (just ordered a new 19") will the 360 letterbox this down?Robert-Sapolski

[QUOTE="riskers"]long but very informative post. My TV's native res is also 720p (1360x768) so I'm anxious to see what VGA will look like. I've also heard that the 360 can up-convert standard DVDs using the VGA cable...any truth to that? If it does than it would have removed any hesitation I feel towards buying VGA.foxy42

Gamepro Says!"MYTH: VGA output is better than component video. When it comes to HD TVs, component video sits at the top of the analog video cable heap. VGA is an outstanding choice for PC monitors, but the signal loses some of its boldness when converted to a standard HD TV television signal. If you don't believe us, just plug a VGA cable into your Xbox 360 and see how dull and muted the colors look. There are some exceptions to this rule, such as TVs with cheap, lousy component video inputs. VGA still gives a quality HD experience, but if you're gaming on an HD TV, stick with component for the brightest, boldest color." natrone06

EDIT: What gamepro says is correct though, now that I read it more carefully, but what they say does not mean that the experience is not better on a large number of TVs using the VGA cables...

Their line 'Don't believe us, plug in a VGA cable...' makes me laugh, 'cos that's exactly what I did, and also the other people who have posted in this thread saying the same thing. lol!!

The main thing is the jaggies. If you don't like jaggies, VGA is better. Sure, in some cases, an increase in brightness and color saturation is needed, but that's what those settings are for. I may post some photos if people are that interested.

Ok Question then if vga is better could you hook up a dvi to hdmi connector to get the same resolution on the vga cordayoksh

VGA is great especially if the native resolution of the tv is anything other than 1280x720, 1900x1080, or 480i/p.  If its something other than that get a VGA cable.rykh

Gamepro Says!"MYTH: VGA output is better than component video. When it comes to HD TVs, component video sits at the top of the analog video cable heap. VGA is an outstanding choice for PC monitors, but the signal loses some of its boldness when converted to a standard HD TV television signal. If you don't believe us, just plug a VGA cable into your Xbox 360 and see how dull and muted the colors look. There are some exceptions to this rule, such as TVs with cheap, lousy component video inputs. VGA still gives a quality HD experience, but if you're gaming on an HD TV, stick with component for the brightest, boldest color." natrone06

I think it's not about component and VGA, your game looked better because it was running in your LCDs native resolution. LCDs have that flaw, they run everything in their native res very nicely but every other resolution looks awful.milsvaard

Nice story. But the thruth is Samsung LCD component sucks. It all depends on your tv dude. on my tv, component>>> VGA. It has richer colors, contrast, sharpness. etc While the VGA looks dull and washed upnonsoville2

EDIT: Nonsoville2, would you share your native res with us, please?

My VGA looked terribly dull and washed out at first.  I tweaked my settings, and now I've got a crisp, bright, clear picture.  So, for those of you who feel that VGA is dull and washed out, try changing your settings.  HD-DVD's in 1080p look sweet on my 40" Bravia. 

Also my 50" living room tv was connected with vga to the comp, and then changed to DVI because dvi looked better, and less blurry.Puiumami

If you have a 720p/1080i tv and you use VGA hookup, do you set it to 720p or 1080i? toemayo

[QUOTE="foxy42"][QUOTE="rykh"][QUOTE="Puiumami"]Umm ... if your taking about the same VGA (Video Graphics Array) as me, then you guys are quite mistaken. I have two identical monitors (22" 2ms, 1600:1 contrast:ratio) for my computer, one is set up through DVI and one is set up through VGA (because my video graphics card only supports that for now), and the VGA looks considerably worse in gaming, and general text etc. So ... maybe we are talking about different things.. please clarify for me!rykh

Ive got a 32 inch Samsung LCD HDTV that has VGA and Component, and I use component over VGA. The VGA cable does seem to fx some anti-aliasing issues and have deeper colors, and some textures look smoother but the text and small details are REALLY pixelated, and it doesnt appear to have the clarity and brightness that component has.

VGA just has a dull, "cloudy" look to it.
RabbidDawg