Review: Xbox Pound HD Link

By fusi0n
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fusi0n

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Xbox Pound Cable Review

 

If you’re a dedicated retro gamer like myself, then playing games on the original hardware is a necessity. Nothing beats the nostalgia feeling of hearing the sound of your favorite old console booting up or inserting a cartridge, maybe several times if you haven’t replaced those pins in that NES yet.

 

There is one problem with playing your consoles on your shiny new TV though, they don’t have composite connections and now most are shipping without component. There are several ways of connecting your retro console to your TV, but they can get costly and cumbersome. This is where Pound comes in.

 

Pound has made several products allowing you to connect your favorite retro console to your TV. Depending on the console you are using, the cable may have different functions. For example, the Playstation 2 cable has an upconverter build in the cable. Since the Xbox can output native 480P, the majority of TVs can see this input without any issue, this is why the Xbox cable doesn’t have an upconverter.

 

When you open the box of the cable, you will see the Pound cable, HDMI Cable, and a manual. To use the cable, you simply plug the Pound cable into your Xbox and connect the HDMI cable from the Pound connector to your TV. After that, go to your console settings and change the output to allow 720P or 1080i.

 

Most games will run in their native resolution 480p, some will run at 720P. There are tools out there to force games to run at 720P, and somehow the Xbox pulls it off without a sweat.

 

Here is a video comparing the cable to a composite cable.

 

 

 

 

You can easily see the Pound Cable has a sharper image with the composite cable looking washed out.


 

Here is a video comparing the Pound Cable to a component connection,


 

The Pound cable looks better than the component connection, but it isn’t as big as a difference as the composite cable. The Xbox can natively output RGB, which is what the Pound Cable uses, as well as the component cable.



 

Conclusion:

 

You need to keep in mind that Pound isn’t out there trying to give you the best image you possibly can get. Their main goal is convenience. If you compare the Pound cable to Composite with an upconverter, the Pound Cable is going to give you a better image. If you use a RGB connection to a Framemeister, the Framemeister is going to win, and it’ll win by a large degree. However, that is comparing a $350 setup with multiple connections to a $30 cable.

 

If you’re looking for an easy way to get your Xbox going with a picture that still looks great, I highly recommend their cables. I have all of their cables, including the Super Nintendo cable that was released yesterday (1/4/2019). I will be posting reviews for all of this.



 

PROS

 

  • HDMI connection for Cheap!
  • Very convenient
  • Great Image Quality

 

CONS

 

  • Some games need patching to get the full benefits

 

You can pick up a Pound Xbox Cable here,

 

https://www.poundtechnology.com/original-xbox-v2

 

Since this was my first review of this kind, constructive feedback is highly appreciated.


 

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https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1378330-review-xbox-pound-hd-link/
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