So after looking at the game selection, and realizing that I just spend $1500 on an HDTV, I'm not getting an XBox 360 for myself for XMas.
However, I'd like to do at least 480p on my current XBox.
The official Microsoft HD AV Pack is $$$ -- like hell I'm paying $50. There's some 3rd party ones on EBay for $15-$20 with component cables (after shipping), does anyone have any experience with those?
Or is there anyone that's upgraded and has an official one lying around that I could buy?
I was going to ask a simliar question myself. I have an Xbox 1 with the Microsoft HD AV pack and I hooked it up to a 55" Sony HDTV and man it didn't look any better than standard definition. I went into the console and enabled 480p but the games still look like a jagged turd. Either I did something wrong or 480p on a 55" screen isn't all that hot.
Do NOT buy a cheap ripoff. I went through two of them before giving up, they're all pieces of shit with ghosted double images on the output. I ended up buying the monster cable HD pack from an amazon reseller for $15 and the monster cable optical audio dongle thingie for another $30. It wasn't a real high point for me.
Check your local EB/Gamestop. Stuff like this is traded in all the time and you can often pay a very reasonable price for it. I got a Logitech wireless controller for the Xbox for like $15 some time ago.
Gamestop/EB gets used first party xbox component cables on and off. When they are in stock they are usually $10. I'll second on avoiding 3rd party cables as some of them are just horrible. I've bought 4 of them.
*sheepishly raises hand*
What's 480p supposed to look like? I've never played a console on HDTV before so I don't what to expect. Will there be any jaggies at all?
Remember to turn on 480p, 720p etc in the dashboard or you won't see any difference!
Yes there will be. It's a noticeable difference, but not much.Originally Posted by JMR
480p is going to look a bit smoother than 480i, which is what you're using now. Yippee skippee. It isn't like you're really increasing the resolution - you can almost think of it as simply doubling the refresh rate.
The main benefit is that a lot of HDTVs have noticable latency when forced to deinterlace/scale a 480i signal to their native res of 720p or 1080p. Component cables and having the source come out at 480p can alleviate this latency on many sets.
Sound is a big part of the experience as well. You may want to consider making sure any cable you get has the digital optical out for DD5.1 surround. Many cheap cables lack that, especially any which are multi-system.
I was in Sears (of all places) the other day, and they had the HD pack for like 10 bucks. I don't know if they were just trying to clear shelf space for 360 stuff (they've got a very limited games section here) or if it was a one day thing. But there you have it. Maybe you just need to look in an odd place like that for cheap.
there is a decent list of ps2/xbox1 titles that support HD on hdtvarcade.com if you need it. there are a smattering to xbox1 titles that run in HD (the warriors is nice and sharp) and it also lists the ones that run in 480p (a ton)
gamecube has good support too, and ps2 has a *few* titles that run in HD (gran turismo 4 runs in 1080i) and a smattering of 480p ones.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote