Xbox 360: HDMI vs VGA

[MarioMark]

I know (think) there was a thread about Component/VGA and I hope this is the correct place to post this.

I've had a 360 since day one and had it hooked up through component from the first day. I kept reading on here and AV Forums that VGA was better but I wasn't having any of it. So after upgrading to a new HDTV I tried the (official) VGA cable again and I was blown away by the results once getting the TV picture settings right. Although it might seem a little washed out, the colours are so much better and the graphics are anti-aliased (no jaggies).

After buying the Elite a couple of months back I went to HDMI and thought yeah it's ok, and was maybe lying to myself that it's better and using the HDMI cable to justify the ?300 upgrade. I still thought the PS3's HDMI looked better but that's another argument

Now the novelty of owning an Elite has warn off a little I decided to try VGA again to make my final decision... and woah! Halo 3 looks amazing through VGA. I'm testing it on the covenant level, the one in the day light with green hills, and I have to say the colours seem so much more rich looking, the red laser on the Spartan Laser stands out much more and the whole game seems anti-aliased, the jaggies on the trees are near none existent now!

Anyone else with an HDMI enabled 360 still using VGA?

[El Leone]

Yup. I found that VGA looked alot better than the HDMI output. Apart from the improvements it does the image, I like how it hides the jaggies better : ]

[MarioMark]

Yup. I found that VGA looked alot better than the HDMI output. Apart from the improvements it does the image, I like how it hides the jaggies better : ]

Cool, glad to hear I'm not going crazy. HDMI is still good, and maybe better on some games, but the majority of games I tried I preferred through VGA. I'm sticking with VGA, SD DVD playback looks better as well.

[Rick]

Depends on your TV i guess, but i found Component to be better

[Largo]

Really? wow i gave up my vga once i picked up hdmi tv, ill have to hook it up right now and check this out, thanks for the heads up

[MarioMark]

Really? wow i gave up my vga once i picked up hdmi tv, ill have to hook it up right now and check this out, thanks for the heads up

It's only arguably better though. One of my mates still prefers HDMI. Like I said it seems a little washed out but the colours are better and there's a lot less aliasing; PGR 4 looks mint.

[HaHaUK]

I tried out the HDMI on my premium for a few days but then reverted back to VGA because I found it to be sharper and I had only one HDMI slot on my telly, which was being used by the PS3.

[Rick]

although i will be switching to HDMI, as the new plasma im awaiting only does 1080P over HDMI (Panasonic PZ70). My last Plasma died

[ezee ryder]

I also used HDMI for a while and reverted back to VGA and found for most games the VGA cable is actually better, Halo 3 being the best example.

[EvilBoris]

I'm still using VGA on my HDMI console as my TV doesn't offer a non overscan or 1:1 pixel mapping mode for HDMI.

If you have that then HDMI should give you a better picture, although it is negligible how much of an improvement that makes. If not then VGA all the way

[WazMeister]

I thought this may have been a topic on HDTV to VGA on a monitor.

Whats the diffrence between a HDTV and VGA on a monitor.
Anything at all?

[Freddo]

nothing really, except a monitor will generally leave the signal unmolested wheras with a TV you're at the mercy of whatever marketing buzzwords you're manufacturer feels like smearing your image with.

to be honest VGA/Component/HDMI are all so near to identical in terms of their technical profficiency that any percieved image difference is far far more likely to be a result of the way your TV handles the different signals.

[ShadowDancer]

I prefer component to vga on my 360 (no elite as of yet) but when i had my dreamcast hooked up, VGA was asbolutely amazing.

PS3 was hdmi when had it, thought it looked perfectly fine, so didn't bother with alternative connections.

I think you make a good point freddo, although i'd of never known that, being the least technical person on the planet.

[k0pp0]

I've only got a EDTV sony widescreen, so I can only have 480i/p or 576i. Poo.

[bignige]

I'd been using vga since the 360 came out and have recently swapped my machine for a HDMI version. My Samsung 40" does 'just scan' which I think is 1:1 pixel mapping (HDMI port1). I've noticed via HDMI port 2 I get an extra setting in the Xbox dash - Optimal Resolution at 1360x768.