I had read up on several XBOX games, using sites like hdtvpub.com . Several games I got (Project Gotham 2, Panzer Dragoon Orta, SSX 3) say they support 480p and 16x9. Now that I'm finally playing them, the reality is that none of them are 16x9, only 480p in 4:3 format. Am I possibly not doing something right? I'm using the component cables you need to get HD quality.. :(

There's plenty of widescreen xbox games. Did you remember to set your xbox to widescreen in the settings menu? Did you also remember to set your tv to 16:9 mode instead of 4:3?

yes the xbox is set to widescreen mode, and 420 p, 720p, and 1080i are all on. There really isnt anywhere in the tv where i can choose between "16x9 or 4:3". the TV basically seems to detect it. I can stretch the 4:3 image, but I had read in several places that the 3 games i mentioned were true 16x9 games - and they all display as 4:3. I have a Sony 60 XBR1 SXRD.

EDIT: Okay I found something out, thats kinda weitd. When i turn 480p, 720p, and 1080i mode to off - 16x9 mode seems to work. the xbox is actually changing one of the settings in my tv from "normal" to "full" mode. it seems that having the signal set as interlaced vs. progressive is letting the TV display the 16x9 picture?

You're definitely doing something wrong. Every game I've played on my 360 is in 16x9. Strange that you have it set in the dashboard and it's still not coming up.

You're definitely doing something wrong. Every game I've played on my 360 is in 16x9. Strange that you have it set in the dashboard and it's still not coming up.

no no I'm talking about regular XBOX, not XBOX 360. It is weird that it won't do 16x9 in 480p, only in 480i..

it should say on the back of the box, right?

try this site (http://www.hdtvarcade.com/hdtvforum/index.php?autocom=custom&page=xboxa) it lists all games that are in hd, 16:9 and 5.1

For my TV, I have to set the TV to 16:9 manually for 16:9 games and 4:3 for 4:3 games manually. If I leave it at 4:3 for 16:9 games then everything is squished horizontally and if I leave it at 16:9 for 4:3 games then everything is strecthed out. The TV shows a 720x480 signal being sent wheter the games are 16:9 or 4:3.

Or you sure that the your 16:9 games doesn't look a little squished when running at 4:3?

no they dont look squished. for what ever reason, i can either choose 16x9/480i, or 4:3/480p. It's actually fine going with the 16x9, because the 480p has mucho jaggies..

I'm still playing my xbox1 on my plasma, and all the games run in 16:9 perfectly, EXCEPT for GTA San Andreas. Its the most annoying thing in the world. There is "overscan" or whatever its called. There are about 1" wide bars on each side of the screen. I've tried everything to fix it. Even when I stretch the screen with the different TV modes, the bars are still there. It stinks, cause I wanna play it, but its a plasma and I'm not messing with that.

My XBOX runs plenty of games 480p widescreen on my LCD. And a few run in 720p or even 1080i.
What cable are you using anyway?
You're using the component cable, right?
Unless something is wrong on the TV side somewhere you *should* get widescreen rendering, not merely deformed 4x3...

i dont have a clue why, but my tv won't let 480p games run in 16x9 mode. yes, i'm using component cables. I could stretch the 480p 4:3 image, but that looks crappy obviously. so you guys have 480p, 720p, and 480i turned to yes right?

You should have 480p, 720p, 1080i and widescreen all eneabled. Then games will always use the highest resolution they support and widesceen when avalable. The Xbox doesn't send the widescreen flag to tell the display to use widescreen though, so you do have to manually switch your TV between 16:9 and 4:3 depending on if the game supports widescreen or not. And also note that many games which do support widscreen still render things like the menus and the HUD the same as 4:3 so those parts of the game will look stretched.

You should have 480p, 720p, 1080i and widescreen all eneabled. Then games will always use the highest resolution they support and widesceen when avalable. The Xbox doesn't send the widescreen flag to tell the display to use widescreen though, so you do have to manually switch your TV between 16:9 and 4:3 depending on if the game supports widescreen or not. And also note that many games which do support widscreen still render things like the menus and the HUD the same as 4:3 so those parts of the game will look stretched.

thanks kylebisme, that was useful info. I have noticed that I have to manually enable the entire 16x9 screen, but only for 480p. 480i automatically switches the tv into widescreen mode. Since xbox games dont indicate 16x9, i'll test with 480i to see if it's 16x9 or not.. I wish I could trust the site mentioned above, hdtvarcade.com . But it says SSX 3 is a 16x9 game, and it isn't for XBOX.

here is a very reliable source, update from users who have hands-on experience with the games. just select xbox and run:

http://hdgames.net/

here is a very reliable source, update from users who have hands-on experience with the games. just select xbox and run:

http://hdgames.net/
That site also says SSX 3 is a 16x9 game. Why are you sure it isn't?

But it says SSX 3 is a 16x9 game, and it isn't for XBOX.
SSX 3 is a widescreen game.

I've read that SSX 3 is widescreen on PS2 only. god only knows why they did that, but SSX 3 definitely isn't widescreen on XBOX. If you are playing it in widescreen, it's just a stretched 4:3 image. see below:

http://forums.xbox.com/5605553/ShowPost.aspx
http://www.hdtvarcade.com/hdtvforum/index.php?showtopic=276&mode=threaded&pid=1299

here is the PS2 SSX3 in amamorphic widescreen. this is how it should look, on xbox its just the 4:3 image stretched.
http://insidermedia.ign.com/insider/image/ssx3_101503_460.jpg

Whenever I play xbox1 games on my brother's projector, I can play in 480p 16:9 no problem. I've tried Halo2 and NFL 2k5 and a few other (I don't remember which ones worked so I won't say). Maybe it's just the games you've tried.

There are 480p widescreen and fullscreen games. 480p fullscreen is still 480p. It is progressive scan and there are 480 horizontal lines of resolution. I don't think the back of the game's box says if it is 480p widescreen.

I have a number of games that are fullscreen. Panzer Dragoon Orta is one of them.

Has anyone thought of asking what TV the OP is using? I would like to know. Can you give us a model number so if other people have the same TV they can suggest a setting maybe you missed?

There are 480p widescreen and fullscreen games. 480p fullscreen is still 480p. It is progressive scan and there are 480 horizontal lines of resolution. I don't think the back of the game's box says if it is 480p widescreen.

I have a number of games that are fullscreen. Panzer Dragoon Orta is one of them.

Panzer Dragoon is 16x9, my tv automatically switches to 16x9 format for this game, Project Gotham 2, and Dead or Alive Ultimate. You can tell these games are meant to be in 16x9, as nothing looks fat/stretched out. SSX 3 doesnt switch to 16x9 mode, and every thing looks stretched out if put in 16x9 mode. especially at the shop, if you look at hats, helmets, etc. they are way stretched out.. And yes, the boxes only say the resolution of the game on the box, not whether they are 16x9 or not.. which is why you have to find this out on your own or on a reliable web site..

Has anyone thought of asking what TV the OP is using? I would like to know. Can you give us a model number so if other people have the same TV they can suggest a setting maybe you missed?


He already mentioned what tv he has. He has the Sony 60 XBR1 SXRD

Just to sum up the reason for the OP:

Many original Xbox ("Xbox 1") games had a problem of not sending the widescreen (16:9) flag to TVs in 480p mode. If the highest resolution a game would play in is 480p (which is most original Xbox games), to get proper 16:9 on widescreen TVs the user would have to either 1) manually select "Full" mode on the TV, or 2) de-select 480p in the Xbox dashboard so the game would run in 480i with the widescreen flag so the TV would automatically switch to 16:9.

This bug does not affect games that run in 480i only, nor 720p/1080i games. One exception is Soul Caliber 2, which is programmed to run 4:3 in 720p mode. Also, this does not affect these older games running on a 360.

For more info on widescreen Xbox 1 games playing on a 360, check this thread. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7848815&&#post7848815)

Just to sum up the reason for the OP:

Many original Xbox ("Xbox 1") games had a problem of not sending the widescreen (16:9) flag to TVs in 480p mode. If the highest resolution a game would play in is 480p (which is most original Xbox games), to get proper 16:9 on widescreen TVs the user would have to either 1) manually select "Full" mode on the TV, or 2) de-select 480p in the Xbox dashboard so the game would run in 480i with the widescreen flag so the TV would automatically switch to 16:9.

Yeah, I found this out by experimenting. Selecting widescreen, and setting to 480i in the XBOX dashboard. The XBOX will automatically start games made for 16x9 in this mode. Then after you figure out which ones are supposed to be in widescreen, put 480p back on and I manually have to put into widescreen (full) mode - as you noted in your reply. This is how i discovered that Dead or Alive Ultimate, Panzer Dragoon Orta, and Project Gotham 2 are all 16x9 games; and SSX 3 is not an 16x9 game..

If anyone out there has SSX 3 for XBOX, can you tell me if there is a button I have to press, or some menu option I'm not seeing to enable 16x9 on XBOX?

Running on the original xbox, when set to 480p and widescreen, there are still black vertical bars on the side of the screen while running this game. MVP2005 runs perfect in 720p, but I am finding a trend that 480p widescreen games are not true widescreen with the vertical black bars on each side. Anyone else experience this, and will changing to 480i instead of 480p fill the entire 16:9 screen?

If you have a 4:3 TV, why not just run the game in 4:3 480p?

No reason to use 480i when you can use 480p, changing the TV to widescreen will allow the games fill up the enter screen.

If you have a 4:3 TV, why not just run the game in 4:3 480p?


I have a Samsung HL-S5688W, widescreen TV.

No reason to use 480i when you can use 480p, changing the TV to widescreen will allow the games fill up the enter screen.


Negative....Can someone pls confirm ESPN NFL2k5 for xbox does indeed run in 16:9 and fills the entire screen with no underscan resulting in vertical bars? I wouldn't normally mind, but its practically the greatest football game on earth.