Comparison shots of component cables vs. original 360 cables


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Ok, currently my situtation is playing on a 56inch rear projection tv (non crt, but not an hdtv). Everything looks great on the 360, but I just have a feeling it could look better, even without an HDTV. Could add on component cables have that effect for me? Just wondering if anybody knows where to find some good screenshots or videos that could compare the two. Thanks!

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Uhh, if it's not an HDTV, you can't connect component cables to it.

-Spenser

Wow, probably was reading a little too quick all this time lol. So what exactly do those off brand cables in stores do when they cost like $40?

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You can't use Component cables unless you have an HDTV (or even if your non-HDTV accepts Component cables, you won't really see a difference).

I was just wondering after looking at the big difference component cables made for the Wii.

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Component cables will make a noticable improvement over standard a/v cables or even s-video. Picture will be slightly sharper and colors will come out better. I at least noticed it even on non-HDTV sets.

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I don't know what the heck you people are talking about.

Ignore what everyone is saying, you CAN use component cables with your 360, and the colour production/clarity/etc is far superior to composite. So I would definitely consider grabbing them.

The difference is staggering. That's why for the Wii there's such a big push to grab Component Cables. Despite no 720p/1080i on that console the benefits provided (even outside of 480p) are exceptional.

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He doesn't have an HDTV though. They can't make a difference without an HDTV. With an HDTV, yes, the difference is staggering.

-Spenser

Yes they can make a difference on non-HDTV sets. A very noticable difference at that.

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Yes they can make a difference on non-HDTV sets. A very noticable difference at that.

So for the cables to make a noticeable difference, how much in price are we exactly talking?

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So for the cables to make a noticeable difference, how much in price are we exactly talking?

Any component video cables will make a difference over the cables you are using now.

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Any component video cables will make a difference over the cables you are using now.

QFT.

If you are looking for cheap set: do most third party compenent sets. Average: MS official Component cables. Higher end: Monster or Psyclone component cables usually are somewhat pricey.

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He doesn't have an HDTV though. There's no difference without an HDTV.

-Spenser

yes they can, i take it you never had a rear projection tv and went from composite to s-video before component was the standard.

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I don't get what he's talking about. The console comes with Component cables, why would you need to buy any more? Unless you purchased a Core, I don't think that comes with Component.

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I don't get what he's talking about. The console comes with Component cables, why would you need to buy any more? Unless you purchased a Core, I don't think that comes with Component.

Ok, maybe I confused the terms up a bit but here's the situtation.

I have the normal xbox 360 (pro) cables (red,yellow,white, then the 3 hd cables) but with the tv, can only plug in the first 3 (red,yellow,white). Those are composite cables correct? So do component cables look different then what I described above or will they look similar yet perform better? From the pictures I have seen, how would I plug component cables into those 3 (red, yellow, white) slots now, because they look like different colors (component cables I mean).

Edited by mystic-shadow
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The component cables are those "HD" cables u describe. Sounds like your TV is too old to have the right input

Component = red, green, blue

That's why I was confused. Seemed like some people weren't reading correctly about my current tv. So is there any way to improve my setup with just the yellow,red,white connectors?

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That's why I was confused. Seemed like some people weren't reading correctly about my current tv. So is there any way to improve my setup with just the yellow,red,white connectors?

Dont think so, sorry :s

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If you live in Europe you probably have Scart connectors (Wikipedia Scart) on your TV which carry all sorts of signals (composite, component, audio etc). On my Sony TV (quite an old CRT) I can then select whether to use composite, component or S-Video.

If you don't live in Europe and you don't have the individual connections (i.e. not just yellow, red and white, but red, green and blue also), then I'm afraid you're out of luck.

EDIT: After reading the Scart article I may have confused RGB with component (YPbPr?). Either way, RGB is still better than composite video. And I think Scart may also support component (YPbPr).

Edited by Cleaver
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ah damn, apologizes for not answering correctly.

If your TV doesn't have component in you could try S-Video if your telly has it tho I'm not sure if such cables exist for it(Don't use a Scart>S-Video converter because that won't help)

Not sure how great an improvement you will have tho

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He doesn't have an HDTV though. There's no difference without an HDTV.

-Spenser

What are you talking about? You've obviously never looked at a game console on a SDTV using composite vs S-video or Component. Or you'd know that isn't true at all.

Ok, maybe I confused the terms up a bit but here's the situtation.

I have the normal xbox 360 (pro) cables (red,yellow,white, then the 3 hd cables) but with the tv, can only plug in the first 3 (red,yellow,white). Those are composite cables correct? So do component cables look different then what I described above or will they look similar yet perform better? From the pictures I have seen, how would I plug component cables into those 3 (red, yellow, white) slots now, because they look like different colors (component cables I mean).

From your original post I gathered you had a SDTV projection television with Component inputs. But no support for EDTV or HDTV (480p, 720p, etc.)

So you only have composite (yellow, red, white) input plugs? How about S-video? Here's what an s-video connector looks like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-Video (look at the image to the right)

If you do, your best bet would to get S-video cables for your 360, and that will give you noticeable improved quality versus Composite.

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Uhh, if it's not an HDTV, you can't connect component cables to it.

-Spenser

Yes you can.

You can't use Component cables unless you have an HDTV (or even if your non-HDTV accepts Component cables, you won't really see a difference).

Not true, my SDTV has component input and while yes it's nothing near HD quality, it is still (for SD anyway) a very good picture and is slightly better then S-Video, DVDs in particular have a quite sharp picture. But I think a lot of it also depends on the TV itself, my SDTV is (was) the top of the range for it's model run so that might be why I do get slightly better picture, but honestly I dunno.

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Sorry I didn't specify, but yes I do have an S-video and to somebody above, I live in the USA (somebody said something about Europe). When I was reading around, some sites said s-video really wasn't that much of an improvement and could actually wash out and make it look worse sometimes. Anybody have any personal experiences with it?

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In my experience. Running from worst to best

RF (old antenna connection)

Composite

Scart

S-Video

Component

HDMI

I find the difference between SCART and S-Video is very small and mostly affected by the TV (e.g. some TV's Scart looks better others S-Video looks better)

The jump in quality between Composite and SCART/S-Video is massive

The jump between SCART/S-Video and Component/HDMI is large but not as much as the above (Unless going High Def)

If you only have the choice between Composite (The yellow Connector that is on the cable that came with the Xbox (White and red are audio))

And S-Video. I would go for S-Video.

You will need one of these though

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemse...svideocable.htm

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