HDMI vs Component?


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Alright, i've got a 40" 1080p LCD HDTV, and I was wondering -- which is a better choice for my Xbox 360? HDMI or Component cables...?

I've heard somewhere that when you play 720p games(which most 360 games are) it will upscale it to 1080p if you use HDMI, which causes a loss in quality vs it playing in it's native 720p resolution, and the component cables prevent this....

But I figured i'd take this to the geniuses here at Neowin to get a official answer :)

[to mods: sorry to make 2 new posts one after the other, but its 2 things i've been meaning to ask]

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Wrong. HDMI Automatically selects the highest HD Input your tv and take and sets that output for the console.

So if your tv handles 1080P when you connect the HDMI cable it will set the display settings to 1080p on the console.

Component, the choice is on you. 720,1080i,1080p. You choose which on you want.

Thats it.

The only difference is Component is 5 cables and HDMI is 1 that carries video and sound and makes select HD outputs for your tv/xbox easier.

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In my opinion they both look the same. all XBox360 games run at 720P over component , they can also be upscaled up to 1080P using the same connection, DVD movies while on component bump down to 480P unless you're using HDMI which then allows upscale to 1080P on DVD movies.

The only difference with HDMI are two things you just have 2 cables (Power, HDMI) to plug in and you can upscale DVD Movies up to 1080P. while on component is power and 3 video and 2 audio connections going into the back of your HDTV with DVD movies only running at 480P.

in my case i use two types of connection setups , on my room 19" HDTV i use HDMI, on the living room 40" HDTV i plug in both AV (without the plastic shell) and HDMI that way i get Digital 1080P video thru HDMI and 5.1 Digital using optical into my receiver.

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Yes, and how much do these cables cost? $3?

HDMI ftw!

You know HDMI cables here are still like $20-30 bucks for a 3 footer.. Don't know why they are so expensive still. When I hear about everyone else getting them cheap. Could always buy online though.

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where are these 3 dollar HDMI cables? i'd like to know. Here the cheapest in-store is like $20, online you can get them for around 5-7, but with shipping it's more like 12.

anyway, i'd go with HDMI. never tried component on the 360, but now on HDMI and loving it. The visuals are crisp and have a bit of an old school raster-arcadey look to them, if you know what i mean. colors are very vivid. i like it more than VGA, which is what i was on before, even though VGA looks smoother and more PC-like.

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HDMI is better. I got my 6 foot cable for like $3 online

Yes, Monoprice.com has great quality cables for super low prices.

Also component can work great too, and is required in some cases. My 5.1 receiver has 3 HDMI ports, but doesn't pass through video. So I need to do component to my TV, and optical TOS/LINK to my receiver. Video looks great, hard to tell the difference between it and my HD-PVR or my computer (playing 1080p h.264) over HDMI.

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You know HDMI cables here are still like $20-30 bucks for a 3 footer.. Don't know why they are so expensive still. When I hear about everyone else getting them cheap. Could always buy online though.

Dont buy from retail stores, use the internet. Retail stores still charge over the top prices because they know they can get all the people who dont have a clue to buy them.

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I have tried comp. and HDMI and personally HDMI looks much more vibrant and crisp. No need to for comp.

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where are these 3 dollar HDMI cables? i'd like to know. Here the cheapest in-store is like $20, online you can get them for around 5-7, but with shipping it's more like 12.

anyway, i'd go with HDMI. never tried component on the 360, but now on HDMI and loving it. The visuals are crisp and have a bit of an old school raster-arcadey look to them, if you know what i mean. colors are very vivid. i like it more than VGA, which is what i was on before, even though VGA looks smoother and more PC-like.

Look up two post. $0.58 + $2.98 shipping = $3.56

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Most definitely not.

No you don't however if your using optical sound, you will need to crack open the pastic casing on your component cable where it connects to the 360 so it will fit along side the hdmi cable.

Youtube tags arent working for me :(

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Dont buy from retail stores, use the internet. Retail stores still charge over the top prices because they know they can get all the people who dont have a clue to buy them.

QFT, this cant be said enough. They are just evil on how they charge all that money for cables you can get at 1/100 of the price at times. I remember when buying my tv they tried to get me to buy $120 cables, I found mine for like $3 online. Also dont get caught up in the hype about tv calibration either. Best Buy is the worst on this. They have 2 identical tvs setting side by side claiming one is calibrated and the other isnt when actually one is on hdmi and the other is on component plus the one source is blu-ray and the other is standard dvd.

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No you don't however if your using optical sound, you will need to crack open the pastic casing on your component cable where it connects to the 360 so it will fit along side the hdmi cable.

Youtube tags arent working for me :(

Except using that method restarts the 360 if you change away from the channel the 360 is on as the AV part kicks in and finds no output. Trust me I tried it and so did several of my friends, we all ended up purchasing the official hdmi lead with the optical dongle. (It only costs ?25 online)

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Yeah that restarting drove me nuts, but when I bought my new sound system it did audio over HDMI so I only need an HDMI leaving my 360 now :)

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QFT, this cant be said enough. They are just evil on how they charge all that money for cables you can get at 1/100 of the price at times. I remember when buying my tv they tried to get me to buy $120 cables, I found mine for like $3 online. Also dont get caught up in the hype about tv calibration either. Best Buy is the worst on this. They have 2 identical tvs setting side by side claiming one is calibrated and the other isnt when actually one is on hdmi and the other is on component plus the one source is blu-ray and the other is standard dvd.

That's funny if that's the case on the Calibration, I work at a Best Buy and we do have one setup however I'm smart enough to know that setting up a demo needs the same player and same cables using a HDMI switch, and it's worth having done. If you are ever in Pittsburgh let me know haha ;) Also, what store was it?

Anywho, HDMI is best, and really the differences in cables result in two things, quality (easy or not to break) and shielding. If you want the least interference, spend a few bucks, if you want something to work (not all cheap ones do at 1080p mind you) spend $5. I've tested all our cables and if you get a ps3 and a dynex cable, good luck watching blu-ray movies, failed 3 out of 4 times with that cable.

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My XBOX came with the component cables and I never bothered to get a HDMI cable. Mainly because I dont want to spend the $50+ on a new cable when component works just fine.

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