Best Picture for a UK Xbox?

[wod]

well i'm still using the lead from what i got with the xbox cause i couldn't find a decent one. plus its still quite good, outrun 2 pic is ok

[randombs]

hmm

i think the xbox rgb isn't up to much, but then i don't think the ps2 rgb is up to much either. i love the dc's and saturn's rgb, and the gc's rgb too is really bright. heck, since all i do on my xbox nowadays is play games on xbox live, i've reverted it back to pal50/60 instead of ntsc and just use my composite cable on my little telly (the telly dispays rgb really dark and the brightness needs to be set to full and also rgb causes the regular tv channels to show the console's picture which is annoying if i wanna play something between adverts etc).

my big telly downstairs doesn't do component but i use the advanced scart cable on it (i know it isn't exactly advanced per se, but i needed it for optical out. i've recently done the coax mod as my dvd player only has optical out on it)

[Leon Retro]

I have a component tv which is Hi-Def.

I had an original Pal Xbox with a 3rd party RGB lead. It produced a really good quality picture. Halo was very sharp and clear, crytal clear in fact. Ralli Sport was ultra clear also, aswell as many other games.

The thing is, some games do look murky like there is tracing-paper over the screen. A few crappy games I have played have this problem. It must be the way the games are programmed, the people that make the clear sharp looking games obviously know something the makers of the murk-o-vison games don't.

I am obsessed with picture quality, so I bought the official RGB lead and it definitely made at least a 20% improvement in clarity, with the sound also being stronger.

I have recently swapped my Xbox for a new Pal crystal machine, and it doesn't have a better picture, in fact it's 100% the same. Halo2 looks stunning, at times it looks like a hi-res pc game.

I bought a top-end component cable for ?40 a while back, and it didn't make an ounce of difference. In fact, it caused things to look a little ragged around the edges. I guess, the Pal Xbox doesn't really support component, so thats probably why.

At the end of the day, it isn't the cables or the machine. The problem lyes with the developers of the games, some look sharp and others like SEGA GT have the muddy murky look.

I do agree though, the Dreamcast has exceptional RGB.

[Pikman]

A little Off Topic, but my chipped multiregion JP Xbox doesn't have a PAL 50/60 setting, the only video settings are 480P/720P/1020P.

It's running 480P through a Monster component cable and I'm pretty pleased with the results, but could it output a better picture by fitting a new chip that let's me choose PAL 50/60?

[yashiro]

Better picture than 480p? No.

And you don't need a new chip. You just need to run the enigmah app to change your video mode to pal.

[anephric]

480p runs in 60hz anyway... you'd only need to run in Pal 50/60hz if you had one of the (very few) Pal games that hates 480p (Vice City, Halo etc).

[Pikman]

So games can't be run in PAL 60 and 480P simultaneously?

[EvilBoris]

use avalaunch, then set it to a pal region console and enable all the 480p options

[Super Monkey Balls]

Frankly, Xbox component out is crap too. It's worth it for 480p obviously, and 720p blows everything away, but the standard 480i output from my Xbox isn't as good as PS2 or GC and it's noticeably darker. I have to use a different picture setting if an Xbox game doesn't have brightness/contrast options.
I do agree that games vary though. Recently got DOAU and with a bit of tweaking to to gamma/brightness/contrast settings, it's one of the nicest uses of 16:9 480p I've seen. Beautiful game and it sounds fecking awesome too.

[Lyris]

So games can't be run in PAL 60 and 480P simultaneously?

PAL60, RGB60 and 480p are totally different things.

To answer what I think you're asking, 480p is a 60hz mode, yes.

[Pikman]

Sorry, I didn't word that properly.

I've been led to believe that PAL is better than NTSC in terms of resolution, so I was wondering if it's possible to run the Xbox in PAL progressive, and if so how?

[EvilBoris]

like i said try using avalaunch and enabling the prog scan modes , but not turning on pal60. who knows it might work

[anephric]

Pal progressive is the devil's work because it only refreshes at 50hz...

You're better off with 480p and 60hz. Honestly. I don't think you can force Pal PS out a 'Box anyhoo...

[wod]

which xbox scart leads u guy recommend ? i want outrun 2 is some rgb lovelyness

[Pikman]

Cheers for the info EvilBoris and anephric. Seeing PAL progressive is 50Hz I figure I'll stick with 480P.

wod, IXOS do a quality Xbox RGB cable. Looky here: http://www.hificables.co.uk/ProductD...e-292c91e15492