I've been reading a lot on the web and in this forum and keep seeing inconsistant statements. Basically I have a TV with a free VGA port ... can the XBOX 360 output 1080i over VGA? My TV is very "picky" ... it will not sync to anything but true 540p and 1080i.
Do games get displayed at 1080i?
Do photos displayed from my PC get displayed at 1080i?
Do DVDs get upconverted at 1080i?
Do videos played from WMV on my PC get output at 1080i?

I am thinking some of the reason for my confusion may be because they added support for 1080i over VGA in an update. Is this true?

Thanks!!

Well i have never done any updates to my 360 yet. So i believe that i only have 1080i. I am using VGA on my samsung HLS dlp and it looks so good i havent bothered doing the update for 1080p.

hope this helps. Just spend 10$ on the cable and see what happens. People will spend hours looking for answers instead of $10 for a cable and checking. FYI got mine on ebay $10 shipped works great its a china knock off.

F355FTS, are you sure it's VGA and not the component HD cable that's been bundled?

I will feel like a total fool if 1080i has been available over VGA all along. I ended up buying a transcoder converting component to VGA since anyone I asked told me VGA was a no go...

VGA does NOT do 1080i.
It never did.
And I just looked in my menu right now to verify - no 1080i.

Edit: To clarify I use Microsoft brand VGA cable and have all updates.

That's what I thought.

I guess my HDTV is obsolete. ;)

Yes i am sure i am using VGA.

When you hook up your VGA cable it switches the resolution option all to 1920x 1080 format like on a computer. It no longer says 720p or 1080i. So i set it to 1920x 1080 and since i have never done the P update, doesnt that mean it has to be in I?


I could be wrong but i thought the only way your 360 would output 1080p is if you have done the update. Maybe it doesnt apply to VGA. I dont know.

Well...I went to the xbox website, looked up VGA cable and this is what it says...

_____________________________________
DV-15S Standard VGA Connector
Experience High Definition movies and games at up to 1080p resolution


Also supports 480p, 720p, or 1080i


Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound output


8-foot long shielded cable
_____________________________________

So it seems that it DOES support 1080i.
Of course it also supports 1080P.

Maybe your xbox came with the update, or some recent game you used had it on the game disk?

Anyway, I'm going to get the cable and try for my self, when I get a chance.

Yea it seems that with VGA you ask three diffrent people the same question you get three diffrent answers. So i am sticking by my answer that i have never done any updates to my 360 so its not out putting 1080p. But i am using VGA and i am using the 1080x1920 resolution option that appeared when i hooked up my VGA cable. And it does look damn good.

I guess i should do the 1080p update and see how much better it works.

I know my 360 didnt have the update becuase when you hook up component there is no 1080p option, it only shows 1080I.

If you've never gotten any updates, you still shouldn't be getting 1080i, at least not with the official MS cables; I got my vga cables near the launch of 360 and at the time the highest resolution supported was 1360x768.

Some websites that reviewed the vga cable can attest to this, for example:
Teamxbox (http://hardware.teamxbox.com/reviews/xbox-360/40/Xbox-360-VGA-HD-AV-Cable/p1/)
OCmod (they have screenshot on next page which is exactly what the settings looked like when I first got it) (http://www.ocmodshop.com/ocmodshop.aspx?a=296&p=816)

I think the issue might be that some third party companies DO offer 1080i over VGA. I know Monster advertises that they can output 1080i over VGA.

I just know for a fact that MS ones don't. =)

VGA is progressive by nature from what I understand so there never was/will be any 1080i on VGA cable

If your set does 1080i, why not just use component? My 360 is connected via component and everything looks great from 360 games to hd-dvds.

My VGA cable for the 360 has been regulated to the projector as the VGA cable does not do 1080i. There is no special 1080i trick that the Monster VGA cables can do. VGA out is still regulated to select native progressive resolutions of 720p and 1080p.

:( :( :( :(

Wow! I now know why I was confused when I posted my question!

Unfortunately, I don't have an XBOX yet, so I can't test it with just a cable. I only have a VGA connector available (component is used by HD-Tivo) on my HDTV, so before I bought the XBOX 360 I wanted to make sure it could do 1080i over VGA.

My TV will not do 1080p ... so that does not matter.

1920x1080i will work perfect for me ... some of you say that it works ... some say it doesn't :confused: I am under the impression that 1080i is the same as 1920x1080 interlaced.

I guess I just risk and it buy it and see what happens.

Well technically only F355FTS is saying that it does 1080i, and I'm not sure why it works for him.

I'm not saying that he's lying, but I'm quite skeptical towards it, as I know for a fact that it doesn't over my cables. Perhaps there's some mix up where he got the 1080p patch but didn't realize that he did.


I think most people will tell you that it won't.

Ive never even been online with my 360 so i am not sure how i could have gotten a patch? that would be pretty impressive.

For the record i am not saying if i have 1080i or 1080p. All i am saying is that when i hooked up my VGA cables it gave me the option of 1920x 1080 i have no clue if its p or i but like i said, i have no 1080p option with component and i have never done any updates.

Upscaled DVD's is why i use VGA. That and the picture is much better on my HLS dlp samsung.

That is the first i have heard or seen about 1920x1080 not being supported by VGA. I dont understand how a diffrent brand of cable would be able to change the settings offered?

I have been questioning if using VGA. Does the 1080p update really change anything or not. All this is way over my head. All i knwo for sure is with component the highest res option i had was 1080i. With my off brand VGA cables the highest i have is 1920x1080 of course with VGA there are no P's or I's shown, so who knows what it is doing. It sure looks damn good though. Best $10 i ever spent. Hell $100 would of been a bargin, thats how much better the upscaled dvd's looked. Games and HD look about the same either way. Games might be a hair better on VGA.

Yea it seems that with VGA you ask three diffrent people the same question you get three diffrent answers. So i am sticking by my answer that i have never done any updates to my 360 so its not out putting 1080p. But i am using VGA and i am using the 1080x1920 resolution option

That is 1080p. Either you've been updated somehow, or you're mistaken about the resolution. That option wasn't there before the update. The highest resolution previously was 1360x768.

The description on the cable packaging and any MS website that lists the resolutions are wrong. They've been wrong since last spring. I don't know why MS went away from listing the actual PC resolutions that you have as options and started using HDTV resolutions. But there are no interlaced resolutions offered on 360 VGA. Doesn't matter what brand the cable is.

Hmm well i guess my question is why dont i have the 1080p option with component cable hooked up then?

Was the 1080p update back on 10/31 only for component cables. VGA 1080p was always available?

I am sure i am not mistaken about the resolution.

Ive never even been online with my 360 so i am not sure how i could have gotten a patch? that would be pretty impressive.

Updates are quite often included on game discs. Did you buy GoW, Viva Pinata or any other recent game? You should have gotten the update message when you first put the game disc in. :)

VGA is progressive by nature from what I understand so there never was/will be any 1080i on VGA cable

No, VGA can carry interlaced signals just fine. Did it for years on my Amiga. I actually made a custom 1600x1200 interlaced resolution.

imarkup: What model HDTV do you have? My HDTV also does accept 1080i over VGA but the 360 just does not support outputting 1080i via VGA. I fed my TV 540p and 1080i resolutions through VGA from my PC before giving up based on overscan problems.

If you are out of component inputs, you may want to look into some of the component switchers out there on the market since VGA 1080i is not supported on the 360 at the moment.

F355FTS: I'm not sure which game disks contain the dashboard update but the HD-DVD drive I do know for sure comes with an update disk for your 360. Do you have the hd-dvd drive?

I use the VGA cable and get 1080i. It upconverts over VGA as well (not over component).

csmith75: If you truly are getting 1080i output from the 360 via VGA, please take a picture of the available resolutions offered to you (including the 1080i selection) when the VGA cable is attached from your dashboard menu. Thanks. :D

There's just alot of confused folks here in this thread. You can't get an interlaced resolution from the 360 VGA cable. There are so many variables that we aren't being told. Did he get his 360 from a friend or EBAY, or brand new? What games has he stuck in the 360? Maybe one them had the 1080p update.

There are some more things we could get that would help out. Post a pic of the dashboard with a 1080i resolution as an option with the VGA. Let's get the model number of the tv he's using. And when did he get his 360?

F355FTS the reason you dont have a 1080p option on your component cables is because component maxes out at 1080i, the only way to get 1080p is with the vga cable and the 1080x1920 you are using is 1080p.

F355FTS the reason you dont have a 1080p option on your component cables is because component maxes out at 1080i, the only way to get 1080p is with the vga cable and the 1080x1920 you are using is 1080p.

No, after the Fall update component can display 1080p.

I'll even take a picture for you if you want to see, but I think that info is widespread enough without the need ;)

Yeah, a lot of confusion indeed...

The VGA cable itself is certainly capable of interlaced. MS just does not support 1080i over VGA. I don't think there is any reason why they couldn't add 1080i via an update.

Many early (1st and 2nd generation) HDTVs do not have component, only RGBHV / VGA. It has not been a problem since my DirecTV RCA DTC100 uses VGA, and my HTPC obviously also does.

Can someone state exactly what 1080i is? ie. ? x ?

I'm almost certain that 1080i is an option using the Micorsoft branded VGA cable (as is 1080p).

Can someone state exactly what 1080i is? ie. ? x ?

I'm almost certain that 1080i is an option using the Micorsoft branded VGA cable

I'm 100% certain it's not. Hook up the cable and look. You will only see one 1920x1080 resolution option, and it's progressive like everything else on the 360 VGA output.

I can't believe this has been debated this long. For the love of God, will a moderator please consider this question answered and lock the thread.

Some of you dont seem to get it in your head that when you hook up VGA it changes your resolution options. They change to only numerical options like on your computers video card. There is no longer any 1080i or 720p options. Only formats like

640x480
800x600
1024x768
1280x720
1920x1080

No P's or I's to be found. So i would have to agree that they are all Progressive.

But once again i bought my Xbox and HD dvd player the night before the PS3 launch. The first thing i did was install my HD dvd player. I cant remember what order but using my component cables the highest res option was 1080i.

I have rented GOW but dont remember it ever doing an update.

First thing that i am going to do when i get home is hook up my component cables and see if the 1080p option is there. Then i guess we will know if i some how got the update. I am going with my gut, and saying with component it is still only going to show me 1080i as an option. Hell i might even go home at lunch to look.

Can someone state exactly what 1080i is? ie. ? x ?

I'm almost certain that 1080i is an option using the Micorsoft branded VGA cable (as is 1080p).

1080i is just a technical name for an interlaced resolution. 1080 lines displayed interlaced. Just for example look at a photo. Now break it up into 1080 horizontal lines. Now consider that photo to be on frame in a movie. Instead of displaying the whole frame take every other line (that's 540 lines total) and show those, then quickly display the other 540 lines. This happens every 1/30th of a second so it's damn near impossible to see unless you display special images or do some tricks to see it. That's how the "i" in 1080i works. 1080p is a resolution that just displays all 1080 lines at once every 1/60th of a second.

I may be wrong with the times so someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

Well i will be a monkeys uncle.

Just hooked up my component cables and sure enough 1080p is a option. Some how i must have gotten the update. I am thinking maybe i hooked up my 360 and changed the settings and only saw 1080i. Then i hooked up my HD player and got the update but never knew.

I hope this clarifies things. I figured since i bought my stuff brand new on 11/15 or so that i couldnt of had the update since it just came out on 10/31. I guess that is what you get for assuming.

On the plus side i dont have to worry about trying to get online with it to do the update since i already have it :)

I think I know why I got so many confusing answers. Hoping the VGA cable would do 1080i for games, I purchased the XBOX 360 and cable.

But the XBOX 360 does NOT SUPPORT 1080i over VGA. Period. It supports 1920x1080 Progressive. Is DOES seem to upscale movies to 1080i. I think this is why a few brain dead people said it supports 1080i.

But to be clear, Microsoft in the infinite wisdom chose NOT TO SUPPORT 1080i over VGA :mad:

I think I know why I got so many confusing answers. Hoping the VGA cable would do 1080i for games, I purchased the XBOX 360 and cable.

But the XBOX 360 does NOT SUPPORT 1080i over component. Period. It supports 1920x1080 Progressive. Is DOES seem to upscale movies to 1080i. I think this is why a few brain dead people said it supports 1080i.

You're not helping to eliminate the confusion. It supports 1080i over component. It doesn't upscale movies to 1080i, because it doesn't upscale over component. It upscales movies over VGA to 1080p, if your TV supports it.

You're not helping to eliminate the confusion. It supports 1080i over component. It doesn't upscale movies to 1080i, because it doesn't upscale over component. It upscales movies over VGA to 1080p, if your TV supports it.

Add me to the list of brain-dead people .... I had a typo in my response above (now corrected). I tried to say, XBOX does not support 1080i over VGA. Period.

I think part of the confusion here is no one seems to point out the distinction between the terms "supports" and "permits". Component cables are completely capable of any and all resoultions. If you use component cables with the xBox 360/HD DVD and someone comes up with a 1080p game, it will send the signal to the display as 1080p. However, movie DVD's are encoded and will not not be sent over the xBox component cables as 1080p, only 1080i. However, if you use the VGA cable they will transfer at the 1080p level.

The MS VGA cable used to be coded on the package as supporting 710p, and not supporting 1080i. This was accurate with the standard xBox, which will only support 720p or 1080i. If you wanted the 1080i signal, you needed to use the component cables.

So the real answer should be if you are using the HD/DVD drive, either cable will transfer at 1080p, but only the VGA cable will do movies at that level. If it is a stand alone xBox, then the component cables will give you 1080i and the vga will give you 720p. If anyone is actually getting 1080i over a vga cable, I would be interested in seeing it.

The 360 does NOT currently do 1080i over VGA ... period !

Currently the 1920x1080 output via VGA is PROGRESSIVE only (1080p) .

VGA is capable of Interlaced resolutions and MS could add this if they so desired .


--- Jason