Ok i know hdmi is better but for some reason i have a problem that a few other have alos using the hdmi shows a weird compression like window screen in darkerparts of some games. (Really noticable at night in the sky on GTA4) This is a problem alot of people may have but just dont notice it. i didnt notice it for about 5 month then i got close to the screen one day and seen it. I dont wanna really tell this all again here a old post where i tryed hdmi to dvi then back to hdmi to try and fix it but it didnt fix it..... http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14424611#post14424611 (Ive tryed all possible fixes from new cords to difffrent 360's) Anyway....

The 360 looks great on most stuff threw hdmi but at night on gta if im looking at the sky i see the issue so i was wondering is VGA on 360 bad? i heard it washes out the pic on VGA and to be able to fix it you have to basicly crush the blacks in the picture by exspanded the black level on the xbox. Does anyone use VGA on standard on there HDTV? Is the color wash out there and is it a big step back from hdmi? BTW my ps3 hdmi has none of these problems at all.

Ok i know hdmi is better but for some reason i have a problem that a few other have alos using the hdmi shows a weird compression like window screen in darkerparts of some games. (Really noticable at night in the sky on GTA4) This is a problem alot of people may have but just dont notice it. i didnt notice it for about 5 month then i got close to the screen one day and seen it. I dont wanna really tell this all again here a old post where i tryed hdmi to dvi then back to hdmi to try and fix it but it didnt fix it..... http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14424611#post14424611 (Ive tryed all possible fixes from new cords to difffrent 360's) Anyway....

The 360 looks great on most stuff threw hdmi but at night on gta if im looking at the sky i see the issue so i was wondering is VGA on 360 bad? i heard it washes out the pic on VGA and to be able to fix it you have to basicly crush the blacks in the picture by exspanded the black level on the xbox. Does anyone use VGA on standard on there HDTV? Is the color wash out there and is it a big step back from hdmi? BTW my ps3 hdmi has none of these problems at all.

Most folks found that prior to one of the dashboard updates that added "expanded" to the choices for levels, that VGA looked washed out, since most TVs/monitors expected 0-255 levels via VGA input and the 360 was outputting 16-235 levels. Choosing "expanded" changed the VGA output to the expected 0-255 levels, curing the washed out look. Expanding the levels from 16-235 to 0-255 could not be accurately described as "crushing blacks", if 0-255 is what your TV/monitor is expecting. If your TV/monitor is expecting 16-235 levels via whatever input you're using for the 360, then you should not be setting the levels to "expanded".

P.J.

i tryed vga once before on my tv but i thought it was washed out so i tryed the diffrent ref while it was better on blacks using avia shows super black crush. Reason im trying it again is because i was comparing vga to the component i was using and now i have hdmi while it looks great it is also brighter and not as sat so maybe the vga was showing normal i wasnt use to it. is it good to set vga with avia?

i tryed vga once before on my tv but i thought it was washed out so i tryed the diffrent ref while it was better on blacks using avia shows super black crush. Reason im trying it again is because i was comparing vga to the component i was using and now i have hdmi while it looks great it is also brighter and not as sat so maybe the vga was showing normal i wasnt use to it. is it good to set vga with avia?

If your TV has the capability to use different settings for each input, then you should be able to achieve optimum results over VGA without sacrificing accuracy on other inputs. If not, then it's not the way to go, as calibrating for VGA input from the 360 may show worse accuracy when using other sources on other inputs.

P.J.

Ok i know hdmi is better

This is a common misconception. HDMI wasn't designed to be 'better'. It is more convenient because there's only one cable for both audio and video. But it's usually a rather flimsy cable with small guage wiring.

The primary reason the HDMI standard was developed was to discourage digital copying. This was at the direction of the content providers, who were concerned that once digital video became widespread, digital to digital piracy would be rampant, with the copy being identical in quality to the original.

Thus there is encryption present in all HDMI signals, known as HDCP. This does nothing to make the picture 'better', and not present in either VGA or component connections. Seldom is something designed by lawyers intended to be better for anyone but the lawyers and their clients.

IMHO, the best picture would be obtained through a VGA connection at your set's native display rate. This would bypass any resolution conversion and the resulting artifacts. It should also be the most lag free.

Has anybody used the Monoprice 360 VGA cable.How does it compare to the Microsoft cable.I had great results with the Microsoft version,but sold it when I got an HDMI 360.Now I got a projecter,it only has VGA.Thanks for any help.

Yes my tv allows adjustments of all the settings and my tv has alot of options. Jeff all that sounds spot on right. My ps3 looks great over hdmi but my 360 has thiss weird issue. hdmi does seem better by far on the 360 but only when i cant see this issue. Ive always read the closer to the sets naitive the better the pic. My tv is 1366x768 but my ps3 looks great in 1080i for movies and games i just let the ps3 pick the res on its games and movies. But back to the vga stuff my set does allow seprate setting for each input right now my pc is connected to its vga input but i rarely use it as my montior because its really to big for thing other then videos.

In my tv's manual it says Recommended pc vga setting 1366x768 @60hz (reduced blanking), 1360x768 @60hz (reduced blanking) the 360 allows 1360x768 so maybe that would be better to use vga if i dont get the wash out tho =/ Should i use the avia disc to set the vga input. My vga on my tv only has a 3.5 mm input but i use optical so thats no issue for sound. Like i said last time i tryed vga on my set with the 360 i was using component because my hdmi 360 was in sent in so i was using a older model and component looked more saturated but i sold the vga cable because i thought it was to washed out but after i got my hdmi back i noticed hdmi didnt seem as saturated as component but it still looked better. Anyway i ordered another vga to test hdmi vs vga gonna set them both up and calibrate them and see if it looks about the same in colors. If vga does seem right is there a VGA to hdmi adapter i could use to get my pc hooked to my tv that way?

This is a common misconception. HDMI wasn't designed to be 'better'. It is more convenient because there's only one cable for both audio and video. But it's usually a rather flimsy cable with small guage wiring.

The primary reason the HDMI standard was developed was to discourage digital copying. This was at the direction of the content providers, who were concerned that once digital video became widespread, digital to digital piracy would be rampant, with the copy being identical in quality to the original.

Thus there is encryption present in all HDMI signals, known as HDCP. This does nothing to make the picture 'better', and not present in either VGA or component connections. Seldom is something designed by lawyers intended to be better for anyone but the lawyers and their clients.

IMHO, the best picture would be obtained through a VGA connection at your set's native display rate. This would bypass any resolution conversion and the resulting artifacts. It should also be the most lag free.

+1.

He knows HDMI is better? News to me. I'm using VGA, by choice.

Has anybody used the Monoprice 360 VGA cable.How does it compare to the Microsoft cable? I had great results with the Microsoft version, but sold it when I got an HDMI 360. Now I got a projector, it only has VGA.Thanks for any help.

Yes, I've used the monoprice VGA cable and it worked perfectly, as expected. The monoprice VGA cable does not come with a female to female gender changer like the MS one does. That's not usually a problem unless you've got a really cheap computer monitor with a permanently attached VGA cable, as you would need the gender changer. For most sets with a standard VGA input connector, there's no issue connecting the monoprice VGA cable directly.

P.J.

In my tv's manual it says Recommended pc vga setting 1366x768 @60hz (reduced blanking), 1360x768 @60hz (reduced blanking) the 360 allows 1360x768 so maybe that would be better to use vga if i dont get the wash out tho =/ Should i use the avia disc to set the vga input. My vga on my tv only has a 3.5 mm input but i use optical so thats no issue for sound. Like i said last time i tryed vga on my set with the 360 i was using component because my hdmi 360 was in sent in so i was using a older model and component looked more saturated but i sold the vga cable because i thought it was to washed out but after i got my hdmi back i noticed hdmi didnt seem as saturated as component but it still looked better. Anyway i ordered another vga to test hdmi vs vga gonna set them both up and calibrate them and see if it looks about the same in colors. If vga does seem right is there a VGA to hdmi adapter i could use to get my pc hooked to my tv that way?

If you calibrate the HDMI and VGA inputs properly, the result should be indistinguishable. If not, then it's a limitation of your TV. Some TVs will only do 1:1 pixel mapping via VGA input.

There are, what appear to be VGA to DVI adapters which could then be connected to a DVI to HDMI adpater and you might think that would work, but it will not. Any true VGA to HDMI adapter, must be an active powered device and unless you just like to spend money....it's not worth it. The money would be better spent on a video card for the PC that outputs DVI, which is trivially converted to HDMI (sans audio) via ~$4 adapter:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10419&cs_id=1041902&p_id=2029&seq=1&format=2

Most PC's video sections will not output audio over DVI (some ATIs excepted). So, you would have to arrange some other way to connect audio.

P.J.

im using a DVI to vga for my pc to hdtv because the vga cables was cheaper and i had a vga input ready on the tv. i already have a dvi to hdmi adapter from where i tryed the 360 threw hdmi-dvi-hdmi

im using a DVI to vga for my pc to hdtv because the vga cables was cheaper and i had a vga input ready on the tv. i already have a dvi to hdmi adapter from where i tryed the 360 threw hdmi-dvi-hdmi

If I'm understanding what you're trying to do here, you have a DVI=>VGA adapter at the PC end and you run a VGA cable from there, to the TV. Now, you want to convert the VGA signal at the TV end, to HDMI so that you can use the TV's VGA input for the 360? I'm sure that there is such a device out there to do that, but it'd cost $100+, since as I mentioned, it would have to be an active powered device. The DVI to VGA adapter isn't really a convertor at all. Most DVI outputs on computer video cards have both DVI digital outputs and VGA=>RGB analog outputs. The DVI to VGA "adapter" does nothing more than simply connect the VGA-RGB analog outputs in the DVI connector to a standard VGA connector. A DVI=>HDMI adapter does nothing more than connect the DVI digital signals to the corresponding pins on the HDMI connector, with no signal conversion at all.

That said, monoprice has very inexpensive HDMI cables and that would be a much cheaper solution than converting VGA to HDMI.

P.J.

no im just saying my tv is pretty far away from my tv and i bought a 35" vga to run my pcs to my tv but my gpu only has 2 dvi so i had to use a dvi to vga to run it. im guess i could buy a 35" dvi and run it to a hdmi input on my tv? will hdmi work like this and will i be able to select the same res i use over vga or is hdmi limited to just 420p/720p/1080i?

HDMI can do any resolution you throw at it really (up to some high maximum). The TV is going to be the limiting factor in what resolutions it accepts, but don't count on it taking anything other than standard HDTV resolutions.

These days, buying a long DVI cable is kind of a waste. Buy a cheap $4 DVI-HDMI adapter and run a long HDMI cable; that way you can use the cable again later. There will be no loss of quality as DVI and HDMI are using the same video signal (heck, DVI can even output audio on the latest ATI cards, meaning it is functionally identical to HDMI now).

under my xbox 360 picture setting connected thru component..
Should I choose 1080i or 1080p?

My TV is 1080p native, but I'm not sure if the component can display 1080p.

Would it be a huge upgrade if I buy the VGA cable?

TIA

+1 for the VGA cable. Agreed as was stated before - you should be able to achieve just as nice of picture via VGA as HDMI/component.

Not sure if component supports 1080p - try it out. If it doesn't work, buy the $8 VGA cable and be done with it.

Matt

no im just saying my tv is pretty far away from my tv and i bought a 35" vga to run my pcs to my tv but my gpu only has 2 dvi so i had to use a dvi to vga to run it. im guess i could buy a 35" dvi and run it to a hdmi input on my tv? will hdmi work like this and will i be able to select the same res i use over vga or is hdmi limited to just 420p/720p/1080i?

That is a dilemna. 35 ft of HDMI cable will set you back ~$35 at monoprice. I wouldn't buy a 35ft DVI cable, but rather convert DVI to HDMI at the PC via adapter and then run a 35ft HDMI cable. there's no difference signal quality wise, but an HDMI cable is more useful all around. Even so, at 35ft, you're entering territory where some people have had trouble with HDMI. You might and you might not. It depends on the PC's Video card and the TV combination. Some here will brag about running 100ft HDMI cables with no issue, while others have trouble at 25ft. YMMV. Another option would be to use a KVM switch at the TV end. Connect the 360 and the PC VGA cables to the KVM switch inputs and the KVM switch output to the TV. It's a bit ugly, but perhaps cheaper than a $35 hdmi cable. You'd need a KVM with a push button selector, since there won't be any keyboard to type the magic scrl-lock scrl-lock switching combo. Also, probably you'd need to supply a fake PC keyboard input just to supply +5V for the KVM to operate.

As for what resolutions HDMI will have, compared to VGA, that will depend on your TV. Many sets will have different supported resolutions via VGA vs HDMI. Your TV will report what resolutions it supports back to the 360 and those that are also supported by the 360 will be selectable in the dashboard.

P.J.

HDMI can do any resolution you throw at it really (up to some high maximum). The TV is going to be the limiting factor in what resolutions it accepts, but don't count on it taking anything other than standard HDTV resolutions.

These days, buying a long DVI cable is kind of a waste. Buy a cheap $4 DVI-HDMI adapter and run a long HDMI cable; that way you can use the cable again later. There will be no loss of quality as DVI and HDMI are using the same video signal (heck, DVI can even output audio on the latest ATI cards, meaning it is functionally identical to HDMI now).

Careful there. While it's true that some ATI video cards can output both audio and video over DVI->HDMI adapter, you MUST use the adapter supplied by ATI, as other non-ATI DVI=>HDMI adapters won't pass audio. It's not a conversion problem per se, it's just that ATI uses their special DVI=>HDMI adapter to indicate to the video card that it is present and only then will the video card pass audio out the DVI connector along with video. I found this out the hard way, after I misplaced the ATI supplied DVI=>HDMI adapter. Generic DVI=>HDMI adapters do not indicate to ATI video cards that they're present and no audio is sent. I ended up using a spare RG6 coax to run S/PDIF digital audio from the PC to the HTR.

P.J.

got the vga today while i no longer got the comrpession boxes like hdmi did but i noticed the screen seems it have a little black gap on the sides left and right. also i noticed i see some vertical lines via vga. Colors where bareable but hdmi looked better overall. came down to which 360 flaw do i wanna deal with.... VGA with small black gaps on the sides and vetical lines showing sometimes at 1360x768 or hdmi with a checkerboard pattern over some images at 720p. i think im gonna stick with hdmi since vga does have it drawbacks (the vga lines could be the cable but its the official vga so i donno my pc doesnt have these lines using the vga.) I hope the fall update fixes the checkerboard effect over hdmi. =/ ill keep the vga cable incase i ever get another hdmi device ill use the 360 over vga then.

got the vga today while i no longer got the comrpession boxes like hdmi did but i noticed the screen seems it have a little black gap on the sides left and right. also i noticed i see some vertical lines via vga. Colors where bareable but hdmi looked better overall. came down to which 360 flaw do i wanna deal with.... VGA with small black gaps on the sides and vetical lines showing sometimes at 1360x768 or hdmi with a checkerboard pattern over some images at 720p. i think im gonna stick with hdmi since vga does have it drawbacks (the vga lines could be the cable but its the official vga so i donno my pc doesnt have these lines using the vga.) I hope the fall update fixes the checkerboard effect over hdmi. =/ ill keep the vga cable incase i ever get another hdmi device ill use the 360 over vga then.

The small black gap on the sides is due to the fact that the 360 is spitting out 1360 x 768 and the native screen resolution is 1366 x 768. So, you get a 3 pixel black band on each side. Many LCD computer monitors have an auto adjust feature that "perfects" VGA timing. If you can invoke such a feature on your set, it may correct the other imperfections that you're seeing. To get the best color performance, you must calibrate specifically for that input. Comparing an uncalibrated HDMI input from the 360, to an uncalibrated VGA input from the 360, with respect to color accuracy, is pointless.

P.J.

I've always found HDMI to be superior over Component on my system.