XBOX 360: HDMI vs. Component?

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Dec 4, 2004
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#1
Aight yall keep it REAL...I have one of the first 360s that is only component/composite. Everything else minus my Wii is hooked up using HDMI. I can't really compare anything myself cuz I never switched from Component to HDMI on any of these things....they always connected using one or the other.

I tried looking up some youtube video comparisons and they are pretty shitty and I can't tell the difference. So if any of you have links or have even gone from component to HDMI on the 360 yourselves, do you actually see a difference? On my PS3 which I have connected with HDMI i notice real sharp text, and on my 360 it doesnt seem as sharp. I'm thinking of just buying a console with HDMI, they're all over eBay for $100 or less, bare with no cables or hard drive. I would just put my original box in another room to use for Netflix or something... maybe sell it and make most of my money back.

Just wanna know if any of yall can say it's a noticeable difference. thanks.
 
Jan 11, 2006
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#2
I'll tell you one noticeable difference I've had.



I had no problems at all with the component cables I had. They were great. I switched to HDMI, and every now and then, I get no sound on the tv. Very weird, and a pain to have to switch the cables from the tv to the stereo.

This only does this on the 360. I have no problem at all with my PS3 on HDMI.
 
Aug 7, 2003
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#3
I had a xbox 360 hooked up to my hdtv with both hdmi and composite cables. the xbox 360 startup screen with the white background and lil circle x thing looked more jagged on hdmi then component. i started to play resident evil 5 on the hdmi cable and noticed the colors to be a lil more washed out then when using the component cables.

i mean its not real noticable but after playing xbox on composite cables for a while then swtiching to hdmi i could tell but probably no one other then the person who owns it would know the difference.
 
May 9, 2002
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#6
Dec 4, 2004
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#7
Yeah bud, I know all that...I'm a nerd with this shit lol. I'm just curious if on the 360 it's worth it to upgrade to an HDMI console....
 
Dec 4, 2004
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#10
Cool...thanks for the feedback.. I think I'm gonna stick with my Component 360 then. The way my setup is right now all the component and HDMI connections are full anyway...if I upgraded to HDMI on my 360 i would have to buy a switch or rotate between another device... If i ever buy a TV with a 4th HDMI input or my 360 ever breaks down i'll consider it, but till then the picture is just fine & crisp..
 
May 9, 2002
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#15
What’s so great about composite?

Simply put, there’s nothing good about the old-fashioned, red, yellow and white composite cable anymore. The only reason you’ll be hooking something up using the old standard is because you have an old-school, non-digital TV or because it’s convenient when moving things around, such as an Xbox or PS3 from house to house.

Given that most HDTVs today come with front-panel inputs for people who enjoy moving their components around, the only excuse for using a yellow cable to connect your video is because the TV won’t accept anything else. And if your TV won’t accept anything else, it’s time to upgrade.

The composite cable was a golden standard for a time long past – a time when 480i was an acceptable resolution for a TV, a time when broadcasts in color were an astounding feat, and when man was first landing on the moon. Today, a 480i resolution is the lowest of the low – even mobile phones are starting to get close to this standard on a much smaller screen and in 480p, which provides a much clearer picture.

What’s so great about component?

The component cable became the successor to the composite cable because of the resolutions it could offer up. But even this can be problematic depending on your equipment, for example:

If you have a Wii, it can output up to 480p, but that’s with a component cable, not a composite one – meaning that you’re only getting a marginally better picture than with a standard resolution cable.

If you have an Xbox and a compatible HDTV, component can go all the way up to 1080p.

The component cable is technically capable of 1080p, but I would only recommend it if you don’t have any other options available. While the component cable is a capable piece of equipment, the cable itself still is analog and not digital. This means that you’ll have a split in the cable for each color that the individual wires handle, and then two extra wires for stereo sound.

Analog also has another problem. While it may look very good upon first inspection, it’s not truly loss-less the same way that HDMI is. Play Blu-ray on an HDMI connection and a Component and you’ll notice a difference if you look closely enough. Furthermore, the stereo connection for the sound provides a much less nuanced and deep sound than the HDMI connection.

What’s so great about HDMI?

HDMI tops the list here as the best way to connect your equipment up to your HDTV or HD Projection system.

HDMI provides loss-less video and sound provided you use a Blu-ray disc or other high-definition device. This is important to those that consider themselves audiophiles and have an incredible home theater setup they’re always telling you about. However, even a layman can tell the difference between the HDMI enabled sound and the one run through the standard stereo cable that comes with the component cable.

The fact of the matter is simple – if your TV has HDMI and your equipment has HDMI, there’s no reason the two shouldn’t be meeting through a cable. HDMI provides digital quality and amazing sound, so if your setup has the ability to go HDMI, the cable online is only about $10, and the difference in quality is palpable.

If you’re looking into buying new equipment, you have to make sure that the TV you’re buying has at least one, if not two or three HDMI sockets as this is about a year shy of becoming the standard for HD in your home.

To make matters simpler for you, just follow this guide:

If you have HDMI on both sides of the system, use an HDMI cable

If you don’t have HDMI, but have component connections, use a component cable

If you don’t have either of those two, or just a yellow composite connector, use a composite cable.

http://www.brighthub.com/electronics/home-theater/articles/44321.aspx#ixzz0Xt5FGIgC


http://www.brighthub.com/electronics/home-theater/articles/44321.aspx
 
Dec 4, 2004
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#19
Shit is backordered....guess ill look somewhere else.

but i found this..


http://joeygadget.com/2007/05/15/review-xbox-360-elite-vga-vs-hdmi/


Now, for my most burning question: Would the HDMI connection be noticeably better than the VGA connection I was already using?

In a word: No.

An email to my Xbox press contact, asking for clarification, received this reply:

As you mention, the console can output 1080p resolution video over both VGA and HDMI. There may be very, very subtle differences depending on a consumer’s display, but we wouldn’t expect many people to notice.

There will be a difference between HD DVD video played over component and that played over HDMI. The content protection policies of HD DVD allow a maximum output of 1080i over component, so if you have HDMI (or VGA for that matter) you will get the full 1080p resolution.

In the end, by supporting HDMI we are giving our customers who have HD displays another option in the case their display doesn’t support VGA, plus they get the benefit of audio and video over a single cable.

In fact, others have reported that the HDMI isn’t noticeably better than the component video connection, either. On that, I disagree – switching from component to either HDMI or VGA is considerably different, and I notice a dramatic improvement with the Xbox 360 dashboard, in games, and when watching DVD movies.
 
Dec 9, 2005
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#20
I could definitely tell the difference on my 42" LCD.


But what's a trip is that when I watch DVD's on the 360 they look hella more crisp with the HDMI.