How do you get the xbox to look good on LCD ???

I have just got a new LCD television and want to know to get the best results out of my xbox. (not 360,,,,,,,,,,,,yet)

I have been using a old 28" BUSH tv, which to be honest, when using the RGB scart cable looked bloody amazing!

Now I have switched to my new LCD and the picture looks bad in comparison. Half life 2 looks fuzzy and now I can not even see the badies in the distance that I could pick off with ease when using the old tv.

I know the problem is not the tv as it looks good using my dvd player. i realise that LCD's are so sharp they actualy highlight the bad pictures that normal tv's blur out, but I'm sure this should be capable of a better picture.

I am using the advanced AV pack (RGB scart) which I realise does not support HDTV. I have read other forums that advise people to get a VGA box but they were talking about using a computer monitir rather than a LCD tv, does that still apply, should I be using the VGA input???

If there is anybody out there getting a nice sharp picture on a LCD, please tell me how you are connecting it and what settings to use etc!

specs etc.....

It's a Prima LC-27M7S
It's 27" and has a native resolution of 1280 x 768.
It supports 1080i/720p/480p (no 1080p I'm afraid but I challenge anybody to find a better tv for less than £500!)

It's got all the usual inputs, S-Vid, RGB Scart, Component, VGA and DVI.

I have the normal red,white,yellow output and the av pack with RGB scart. By the way, even though the scart kicks ass on my old tv, the crappy red,white,yellow cable actualy seems to look better on my LCD, figure that one out!

 

Since posting the above I have been told that it is common for the xbox (or PS2 for that matter) to look pretty damn rubbish on even the most expensive LCD screens when using 'old' type connections such as S-vid or even RGB scart.

I have had a look round and found an 'xbox HD AV pack' which has Component (red, green, blue) output sockets which according to some websites will do the trick.

If anybody has used one of these could you drop a few lines to say what it's like?

ONE MORE QUESTION, Do the Video options available on the xbox change when you connect this AV pack? People are saying "use the HD pack and switch to 480p" etc etc, but there is no such option in my xbox settings. So what I was assuming is that the option will appear when you connect the HD AV pack.

Is that true?

 

well i have no idea what a RBG scart is?????

but i sure do no what a composite cable is and i have a an LCD tv and i think it looks pretty flippin sweet when i hook that cable up to it.

but on bad thing i have tight fitting high def on my tv so one time when i tryed unpluggin it i broke the cable and it was like a $30 dollar cable which sucked balls.

 

component should be ok,shouldn't it?


It should switch to 480p on it's own...AFAIK

 

ya switcc your xbox settings on your main menu to high def (480p)

 

thanx for the input.

RGB scart? well a scart cable is just that, a cable not a type of signal. The cheap scart cables that come free with DVD players are most likely only capable of carrying s_video signals, so the same picure quality as if you were using the "red,white,yellow' cables which are called 'composite'.

If your tv has a red, green and blue input socket, that is RGB and a seperate cable is used for each colour. That is called 'component'RGB - not to be confused with composite. I use component RGB for my DVD and it looks amazing and allows progressive scan.

RGB scart is supposed to carry the same RGB signal as long as the tv scart input supports RGB signals (on a tv with 2 scarts, usualy one of them will and one will not) this is the cable I have but I can't see a HD option on the xbox.

I was wondering if the option is there all the time or if it appears when you connect the HD AV cable?

 

Hi all, I'm still stuck with this.

I haven't got my xbox HD AV pack yet, but I have looked and can not find any option on my xbox to switch to High Def.

I've just realised that most of you are in the USA, I am in the UK and so have a PAL xbox. Couls this be the problem, does my machine not have the HD option because it's PAL???

i know that a while ago the old PAL xbox component cable did not support 480p because at the time you just could not get that sort of television in the UK whilst the USA had been enjoying progressive scan 480p for ages! (way ahead as always)

But now we have caught up, i have a LCD that supports prog scan, component input and does 480i right through to 1080i.

What I want to know is if I get a PAL HD AV pack, will my xbox suddenly have the option to switch to 480p???

 

Hi all, I'm still stuck with this.

I haven't got my xbox HD AV pack yet, but I have looked and can not find any option on my xbox to switch to High Def.

I've just realised that most of you are in the USA, I am in the UK and so have a PAL xbox. Couls this be the problem, does my machine not have the HD option because it's PAL???

i know that a while ago the old PAL xbox component cable did not support 480p because at the time you just could not get that sort of television in the UK whilst the USA had been enjoying progressive scan 480p for ages! (way ahead as always)

But now we have caught up, i have a LCD that supports prog scan, component input and does 480i right through to 1080p.

What I want to know is if I get a PAL HD AV pack, will my xbox suddenly have the option to switch to 480p???

 

Hi all, I'm still stuck with this.

I haven't got my xbox HD AV pack yet, but I have looked and can not find any option on my xbox to switch to High Def.

I've just realised that most of you are in the USA, I am in the UK and so have a PAL xbox. Couls this be the problem, does my machine not have the HD option because it's PAL???

i know that a while ago the old PAL xbox component cable did not support 480p because at the time you just could not get that sort of television in the UK whilst the USA had been enjoying progressive scan 480p for ages! (way ahead as always)

But now we have caught up, i have a LCD that supports prog scan, component input and does 480i right through to 1080p.

What I want to know is if I get a PAL HD AV pack, will my xbox suddenly have the option to switch to 480p???

 

Composite uses one yellow RCA style cable for video and it does NOT support HD bandwidth, therefore, the Xbox will NOT output an HD signal while connect with this type of cable.

Component cables use a seperate video cable for each of the primary colors (Red, Green, Blue). When you have the Xbox component cable adapter (yes, a seperate box that plugs into your xbox and creates the RGB ports -- also has a fiber connection for digital audio), and the Xbox has been set to the proper screen ratio and available HD settings, you WILL notice a difference... In fact, it will make your old Bush find its way to the dumpster.

As far as the whole PAL vs. NTSC thing... you may want to look it up on say HDTVpub.com. I believe it has to do with the NTSC (USA and JAPAN) being some 60Hz refresh rate and the PAL being something less than that. Get PAL games, and it shouldn't be a problem. I heard there were ways to force PAL or NTSC, but I have never had to worry about it. I am sure there are ways to get around it, but I can't help you there.

Coax is the lowest resolution... then comes composite... then comes S-video... then comes component... then comes DVI... then comes HDMI... And there are some other dealies intermingled in there somewheres. Bottom line is -- GET A COMPONENT SET for your xbox, and it will bring tears to your eyes.

www.hdtvpub.com

 

thanks for that!

Ordered the official MS HD AV pack so should come 2moro.
My LCD has only one set of component inputs but
my new av amp has 2 sets inputs for component and supports HD so
I will run the xbox and dvd player through that.

I've just been reading that for a PAL xbox this cable will allow 480i only and that it is possible to make it run prog scan and even up to 720p if you force NTSC mode (done by using some software that is on most chipped machines) I have found a video mode option on mine under xbox settings (evo x dash) and switched to NTSC output.

So when I plug this cable in it should now give me the option of playing in 480p, but as this option only appears when the cable is connected i will not know until 2moro.

To be honest, I'm not bothered it the HD works or not, i just want a nice clear picture and hope the compnent will do the trick. Because it really does look bad with the RGB scart. i haven't even played it for a few days because it looks so bad.
i think it will to the trick as i have come to understand that these LCD tvs need a good signal to get results, i run my dvd player in component and it looks amazing. My freeview digital box through s-vid scart looks a bit pants but i suppose I'll have to wait till sky goes HD to get a decent looking tv picture.

thanks for the help.

 

pungewe,,,is there a tutorial anywhere to do that built in coax digital audio you have,,,,sounds cool and would like to do it with mine.

MS, cheating bast*rds should have put it in anyway!

 

Really? I have games that run all the way up to 1080i. There is a list of these games on HDTVPub.com

Also, you might want to get a DVD tuning disc for your HD TV and a DVD player that upscales to 1080i. I use a DVI from my DVD player for this.

And the digital audio is fiber optic only on the Xbox

 

ps, jsut to make this clear, can somebidy tell me:

Does the 'switch to high def' option only appear when you connect the HD cable?

Or is it there all the time but just wouldn't work if you selected it.

ta

 

Load the original microsoft dashboard and go into the display settings. It might be that you can only change it when the pack is connected. I can't remember. You can prolly check the xbox homepage for troubleshooting that one.

 

well there is no HD option on my xbox (AV pack not connected)
I will have to wait till it arrives in the post to see if it appears when connected, can't find anything about it on the homnepage.

I'm not that bothered about going up to 1080i, it would be great but i just want to get things to an acceptable level at the moment. My dvd player puts out 576 in prog scan and that looks great enough for me.

It's just pissing me off that with the scart RGB cable, my old bush tv gives a better xbox picture than a £500 LCD !!!!!!!!

If I run my dvd with a scart cable on the LCD that looks rubbish and the component cables make all the difference, so i am hoping that they will do the same for my xbox.

I'll let you all know if it looks any good when i get the AV pack.

cheers

 

Hi Chris, did you end up finding out what your problem was?

 

Hi

No not yet and I'll tel you why.

I ordered the cable from consoles and gadgets .com
on december the 8th, paid instantly using paypal and selected next day delivery.

They still haven't delivered it and i have sent loads of emails and rang every day since then (apart from new years day) and they have not even replied to me!!!

There is nothing on the website about closing dates and the answerphone just says 'we are busy' so I'm assuming they are open?
Anyway i have sent them a stroppy email saying I'll take legal action if they don't refund me in 5 days.

so everybody, avoid these people (if you are reading this and work for them, sort it out!)

 

hi valamas by the way, why do you ask, are you in the same situation?

 

hey chris

yea, just about to buy the 45 inch "Sharp aquos" LCD and need my xbox1 to work on it. My xbox1 is PAL, not NTSC, so which type do you have?

sorry to hear about your cable situation, that is way too long, bad service and bad communication. man, do you recon you got ripped off?

cheers