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Xbox 360 Video Comparison
GameSpot Hardware writes "GameSpot has compiled a detailed evaluation of what to expect from the upcoming Xbox 360 based on the type of cabling that you are forced to use. The article shows multiple image overlays to show the quality difference created when you take the unit down from its high definition origins." From the article: "In the name of gaming science, we went out and purchased an RF modulator just to see how our 360 looks using the connection. Unsurprisingly, the RF cable offered the worst image quality of all the cable types we tested. Even with our Canon S400, the colors appeared noticeably more faded, akin to a '70s-esque sepia effect. That might look OK if you're taking shots of your friends discoing out to Saturday Night Fever, but it doesn't fly while playing Xbox 360 games."
The quality of the Xbox360's graphics will only be as good as the weakest link. You need a 720p compatible TV, component cables, and a direct connection (no VCR passthroughs). Any less and you aren't getting your money's worth.
I don't know why the authors of this article felt it necessary to go out of their way to demonstrate just how sucky a RF connector makes the XBox picture...if you drop that much money on an XBox, and you don't have a television in your house with so much as a composite input, you're officially too stupid to play video games (which is truly stupid indeed).
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~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
Microsoft researched this and found there was no quality difference between component and HDMI. They did you a favor by not offering 150$ cables that were no improvement, but I'm sure you weren't ever buying a 360 anyway.
Gamespot officially tells us what we all knew before.
The better your tv, the better your picture...
Thanks for that gamespot!! I was going to use my black and white 50hz 15 inch'er with rf input until I saw this article!
I am trying to figure out how much M$ is paying slashdot to advertise xbox 360. This is like the 20th xbox article posted in a week. The sad truth is that less than 5% of us will actually own one at launch date. It's all for nothing.
Why are you so focused on what it will do to bad content, instead of good content?
But hey, if you really don't care about graphics then do you watch TV on the cheapest TV you could buy? Or better yet a black and white TV left over from decades gone by? Do you still watch nothing but VHS tapes and listen only to casette tapes?
Feel free to mod me "-1 - Angry Jerk".
NEWS FLASH!!!
RF Picture quality sucks!
Component quality sucks less!
Svideo quality sucks even less!
Composite quality is pretty good!
DVI/HDMI quality is the best you can get on a consumer-grade tv!
For $10 I will write an article for your website arguing between TOSLINK and 75Ohm coax for audio, and then finish it with a tie.
IT WILL BE A REVELATION TO EVERYONE.
Oh, it will be an Xbox2 article too, so that it gets posted on Slashdot.
No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.
I have a high-end theater in my home, with an Infocus 7205 projecting onto a 160" scren (that's over thirteen feet diagonal).
During the installation, I very carefully compared component video quality against DVI video quality using a high-end DVD player. With good component cables and proper calibration, no one in my family (myself included) was able to tell the difference between the two.
My theater is about the most demanding environment you can find, with a very large screen, completely dark room, and a thirty foot cable run from the equipment closet to the projector. My wife is a professional digital photographer, and as a result both of us are very sensitive to image quality. And even while carefully scrutinizing the screen we couldn't tell the slightest difference.
Now, I confess that ended up using DVI over component for the main DVD hookup. But it's purely practical -- my DVD player won't output an upscaled signal over component, and the image is better if the DVD player does the upscaling rather than the projector. (The DVI vs. component test had to be done at 480p for that reason). Also, I have been able to tell the difference when using crappy component cables (but crappy DVI cables are even worse).
ZFS: because love is never having to say fsck