I have an xbox 360 premium with a Sony SXRD KDS-50A2000 which is capable of 1080p. Can i ever play my xbox in 1080p with the hd component cables it came with? Would i need to get te VGA cables? will those support 1080p?

The Xbox will output 1080p over component, it is up to your tv to display it. I don't think the Sony will but a quick search will net you the correct answer.

Your TV has to be able to do more than just display 1080p, it has to be able to accept a 1080p signal over the component connection. There are even a lot of 1080p TV's that don't accept a 1080p signal period, not over component, not over HDMI, not over anything.

Technically though your TV will "upconvert" the Xbox 1080i signal and display it as 1080p. But if your TV accepts a 1080p signal over the component connections then you could let the 360 upconvert and send 1080p directly to the TV. Would just have to see which one does a better job upconverting, the TV or the Xbox.

I have an xbox 360 premium with a Sony SXRD KDS-50A2000 which is capable of 1080p. Can i ever play my xbox in 1080p with the hd component cables it came with? Would i need to get te VGA cables? will those support 1080p?
The only reason you would need a VGA cable is for 1080p Video and upconverting of DVDs. All gaming can be 1080p via component. :) that is if you TV accepts it....

No 1080p over component for the a2000. HDMI and VGA will work...

1080p VGA won't work on an A2000.

I like the look of the KDS-60A2000, but the issues above make me hold off a decision. Even the 720p over VGA seems to have limitations - it appears that the image has a wide black border wasting screen space.

Now if the Xbox 360 were to grow an HDMI cable, then I'd be :D :D :D

The Samsung DLPs do 1080p over component and VGA. I would comment on it further but I probably won't be getting my HLS6187W for a while yet since it's been on backorder forever. :(

However, from what I've heard you won't see a huge difference in running over component in 1080i vs. 1080p. I have heard a lot of people say that VGA in 1080p looks really nice though. Plus, as someone else mentioned, you get upconverted DVDs with VGA.

I have a Samsung HLS 88 and VGA is a wonderful experience especially with DVD upconversion. Plus I can use the 2 x HDMI inputs for PS3 and my Directv HD-DVR.

Tried to set my 360 to output 1080p and it came up all distorted.

Strange.

Anyone with a JVC lcos 1080p tv that has this working?

Tried to set my 360 to output 1080p and it came up all distorted.

Strange.

Anyone with a JVC lcos 1080p tv that has this working?

You're not going to get it to work at 1080p with this series. None of them are equipped to handle 1080p via component or VGA inputs. Until and if Microsoft, or someone else releases an HDMI adapter for the 360, you're not going to be able to get a 1080p signal from the XBox to the current gen. 1080p JVC D-ILA's.

I have a Toshiba 42RV535U LCD HDTV. I only have the old Xbox 360 though with no HDMI. Is component my only option? Should I get the Xbox 360 HDMI Conversion Kit?

I have a Toshiba 42RV535U LCD HDTV. I only have the old Xbox 360 though with no HDMI. Is component my only option? Should I get the Xbox 360 HDMI Conversion Kit?

Stick with component until you get your next Xbox 360. Don't waste your money on any conversion junk.

SaleenS7TT: I brought one of those conversion kits for $99. The graphics are alittle sharper, darker in dark areas, and brighter in bright areas. The only problem was when you start the xbox up, the screen will glitch for about 30sec. On and off. I guess it was doing the converting everytime I turned on the xbox. After that it was fine. I'm on VGA now b/c I couldn't stand it.

Thanks.
Well I bought my HDTV mainly for my Xbox 360. I hope the difference from my old 27" SDTV to my new 42" LCD HDTV will be enough with just the compnent cables to make me happy...

^^ Yes, welcome to the world of HD. Your going to love it. There's going to be thing you never seen with SD.

I don't know, dudes... but my understanding of the situation is this:

Xboxes manufactured before the addition of an HDMI slot cannot display 1080p, no matter what cables you're using. I also understand that component cables cannot carry a 1080p signal. This is the advantage of HDMI, it can carry the 1080p signal and also the convenience of merging three cables into one. If you have a 720p television, there is no benefit to using HDMI... other than to tidy up your cables.

Now, this does raise an important question... at what resolution are the games supposed to display? My answer to that one, though I am not certain it is right, is this: The older games display only 720p, they were produced before the 360 was capable of sending the 1080p signal, thus it would have made no sense for them to display anything other than 720p. If you play these games on a 1080p television set, it will be scaled to 1080p, not true, native 1080p. Newer games should (once again, I'm not 100% certain this is accurate) be native 1080p.

No, all Xbox 360's are capable of outputting 1080P over component (for games). It was a simple dashboard update that allowed this. The first Xbox 360 that was purchased can do 1080p. Most consumer televisions didn't accept 1080p over component though.....and this is probably what caused the most confusion. Also add in that Movies are not allowed to be outputted at 1080p over component connections (DVD limited to 480p by rules, not hardware and HD DVD limited to 1080i...again by rules, not hardware).

You can also you the VGA cable adapter and output 1080p from all Xbox 360s, and Movies are allowed to be outputted at 1080p over this connection so now DVD's could be upscaled to 1080p.

Component is easily able to carry a 1080P signal. HDMI was primarily invented to limit the consumers ability to copy a full digital hi-def signal by including copy protection (HDCP) that the movie studios were pretty much demanding.

To answer your question....games will display at what ever resolution you have your Xbox 360 set to output in combination of whatever your TV is able to display. The 360 uses a hardware scaler to scale the resolution to what your output setting is configured. If you use HDMI, it should read the display's "allowed" settings and give you the best one it finds.

Games can be whatever. What the game internally renders it's display at and what the 360 outputs can be completely different. The majority of games are sub 720p to 720p. A few are 1080p. The major limit on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 is available ram in the system. It takes a lot of memory to hold and manipulate a 1080p image.

So according to what you are saying, there is not really an advantage to using a 1080p television with the Xbox 360? I did read elsewhere in this forum, though, that component cables could not carry a 1080p signal... It's pretty hard to decipher what is true and what is not with so many people posting information. At the time, that made sense.

I'm in the market for an HDTV to use almost exclusively with my 360. So, according my my needs, it would make sense to just buy a 720p TV? I won't be watching any HD programming, and I don't think there is a lot that broadcasts in 1080p anyway. I won't be owning a BluRay player any time soon; the only things I will be doing in HD are playing my games, using Netflix, and streaming stuff from my PC with Media Center. In this situation it would make sense to buy a 720p television, especially considering the size of the TV (37''-42''), also considering that an image scaled up to 1080p would not be as accurate as a 720p image displayed on a 720p TV. Is this correct?

Of course there is an advantage....depending on how large a screen you have. The 360 can scale everything (game wise) to 1080p for those games that aren't native 1080p, and then of course output 1080p rendered games directly to your TV's native resolution. Of course a 1080p TV is going to scale everything to that anyway.....so it's a matter of what is better, the 360's scaler or the TV's scaler.

Component can carry 1080p just fine.

I did read elsewhere in this forum, though, that component cables could not carry a 1080p signal...

that is absolutely not true. I've used component cables and 1080p on both my launch day 360 (which does not have HDMI) and my PS3. Component absolutely can carry 1080p, no problem.

that is absolutely not true. I've used component cables and 1080p on both my launch day 360 (which does not have HDMI) and my PS3. Component absolutely can carry 1080p, no problem.

Component can carry 1080P, its just that most TV's won't take 1080P over component.

I don't know, dudes... but my understanding of the situation is this:

Xboxes manufactured before the addition of an HDMI slot cannot display 1080p, no matter what cables you're using.

wrong, component and VGA cables will send 1080p on a pre-hdmi unit. some crappy TV's wont accept it, but thats to no fault of the xbox.

I also understand that component cables cannot carry a 1080p signal.

wrong again. component can carry 1080p video just fine.

This is the advantage of HDMI, it can carry the 1080p signal and also the convenience of merging three cables into one.

actually, i think the advertised convenience of merging cables has more to do with merging the audio and video into one cable, not just the 3 video signals of component video.

If you have a 720p television, there is no benefit to using HDMI... other than to tidy up your cables.

benefits for 720p televisions are no different than the benefits for 1080p televisions. a cable is a cable, the source and destination are what matters. (i wont even mention DRM, as it benefits no one.)

Now, this does raise an important question... at what resolution are the games supposed to display?

they will display at whatever resolution you tell the xbox to display.

My answer to that one, though I am not certain it is right, is this: The older games display only 720p, they were produced before the 360 was capable of sending the 1080p signal, thus it would have made no sense for them to display anything other than 720p.

the majority of the games, new or old render at 720p or less.

If you play these games on a 1080p television set, it will be scaled to 1080p, not true, native 1080p.

you did get one thing right ;)

Newer games should (once again, I'm not 100% certain this is accurate) be native 1080p.

unfortunately this is not the case, again there are a couple 1080p games, but the majority of the games are equal or less than 720p.




my responses are in red.

Of course there is an advantage....depending on how large a screen you have. The 360 can scale everything (game wise) to 1080p for those games that aren't native 1080p, and then of course output 1080p rendered games directly to your TV's native resolution. Of course a 1080p TV is going to scale everything to that anyway.....so it's a matter of what is better, the 360's scaler or the TV's scaler.

Component can carry 1080p just fine.

OK, so let's see if I have this straight. You have a 720p game, you have a 1080p TV... so whether or not you set your 360 to 1080p would depend on whether or not its scaler was better than your TV's scaler. If your TV's scaler is better than the 360 scaler then you'd want to set the 360 to 720p so it sent that signal to the TV and let the TV scale it. Right?

But still, I was wondering whether or not people thought a signal upscaled to 1080p from 720p was better than a 720p signal displayed on a 720p TV. The general consensus around the forum as a whole seems to be that a scaled image is slightly lesser quality than a native image. What are your opinions on this? Personally, I think I'd not be able to tell the difference.

they will display at whatever resolution you tell the xbox to display.

Yes, but it would be scaled. Simply setting the Xbox to 1080p wouldn't mean the resolution was native if the game only supported 720p. In that case, it would depend upon which scaler was better, as described above. Right? That seems simple enough.

the majority of the games, new or old render at 720p or less.

I thought all licensed games were required by MicroSoft to support at least 720p. At least this was a requirement early on to ensure MicroSoft made good on the promise of HD gaming. Though, when you say less, you could mean Xbox arcade games. I don't know whether or not they fall under the same requirements.

But still, I was wondering whether or not people thought a signal upscaled to 1080p from 720p was better than a 720p signal displayed on a 720p TV. The general consensus around the forum as a whole seems to be that a scaled image is slightly lesser quality than a native image. What are your opinions on this? Personally, I think I'd not be able to tell the difference.


It plays only video game. Video games aren't suppose to have any nature PQ unlike movies. It's not really a big deal.

I thought all licensed games were required by MicroSoft to support at least 720p. At least this was a requirement early on to ensure MicroSoft made good on the promise of HD gaming. Though, when you say less, you could mean Xbox arcade games. I don't know whether or not they fall under the same requirements.

Most popular games like Halo 3, CoD 4/5 etc are internally rendered @ less than 720p then scale up. Current generation consoles, both 360 and PS3, are not really capable of native 1080p games without sacrificing other aspects of game due to hardware limitations. On a desktop PC, to support 1920x1080p @ 60fps game play, you will probably need a high end modern processor plus two top of line video cards in SLI with at least 512MB of dedicated video memory and 3 to 4 GB of system memory. Xbox 360 only has 512MB of shared memory for both system and video card.

OK, so let's see if I have this straight. You have a 720p game, you have a 1080p TV... so whether or not you set your 360 to 1080p would depend on whether or not its scaler was better than your TV's scaler. If your TV's scaler is better than the 360 scaler then you'd want to set the 360 to 720p so it sent that signal to the TV and let the TV scale it. Right?

in the end, most people have the xbox output the tv's NATIVE resolution, to AVOID scaling TWICE.

if the game is rendered in 640p, say like Halo 3, you output 720p (scaled once from 640->720) to your 1080p tv which scales the image AGAIN (720->1080) to it's native resolution.

you'd be hard pressed to find ANY evidence that ANY tv does a better job than the 360, because the 360 scaler is GOOD, and you avoid double scaling.

But still, I was wondering whether or not people thought a signal upscaled to 1080p from 720p was better than a 720p signal displayed on a 720p TV. The general consensus around the forum as a whole seems to be that a scaled image is slightly lesser quality than a native image. What are your opinions on this? Personally, I think I'd not be able to tell the difference.

well scaling obviously wont add resolution or detail, a 720p image on a 720p tv will look how it's supposed to look.... whether thats better or worse than it would look on a 1080p tv depends on a lot of things..... i bought my first 1080p tv 3 years ago, and i couldnt see myself buying a 720p tv today... maybe SD cable looks better on a 720p tv.... but again, depends on a lot of things (scaler, deinterlacing, etc etc etc)

Yes, but it would be scaled. Simply setting the Xbox to 1080p wouldn't mean the resolution was native if the game only supported 720p. In that case, it would depend upon which scaler was better, as described above. Right? That seems simple enough.

Either way its scaled, and chances are if your not sending native resolution to your tv, you're scaling twice.

I thought all licensed games were required by MicroSoft to support at least 720p. At least this was a requirement early on to ensure MicroSoft made good on the promise of HD gaming. Though, when you say less, you could mean Xbox arcade games. I don't know whether or not they fall under the same requirements.

that was the word.... games were required to be 720p, and 2x or 4x FSAA (dont remember) but developmental and hardware challenges have caused them to scale it back a little, not sure if that breaks any rules, they dont tell anyone, or how that works, but there are ways to count, and many games fall short of the requirement.



again, responses in red :)

I have a Toshiba 42RV535U LCD HDTV. I only have the old Xbox 360 though with no HDMI. Is component my only option? Should I get the Xbox 360 HDMI Conversion Kit?

The 42rv535u will only allow 1080i over component cables fwiw. I used both 1080i and 1080p (xbox has hdmi) and couldn't tell any difference from 9ft away.