HDMI Cable/HD Cable

[Hunter]

Okay, what is the difference between the default HD cable which comes with the Xbox360 and an HDMI cable?

Which is better?

[Futzy]

HDMI does up to 1080p, RGB only does up to 1080i.
You don't need it.

[Hunter]

You say RGB ONLY does up to 1080i. So is 1080p better quality?

[Cortexian]

HDMI is better than HD component cable, it's a digital signal instead of your usual A/V signal.

Component:
http://secure.llamma.com/catalog/images/xbox_360_hd_cable_component.jpg
(1080i maximum)

HDMI:
http://cdn1.gamepro.com/article_img/gamepro/110489-14.jpg
(1080p maximum)

Yes, 1080p looks better than 1080i if your display supports it.

[Maniac]

Would a display that did not support 1080p have a hdmi input?
In other words, if my display has hdmi input, is it 1080p?

[Hunter]

Okay, cheers :) Just looked in the back of my TV and I don't have a HDMI slot :( Thought I did, think I might get a new TV next year :)

[Futzy]

1080p doesn't actually look any better. Most people cant tell the difference between 1080p and 1080i, so its not worth the $50 cable.
e: pooted

[Donut]

so my tv has those red green and blue plugs in the back, and i guess the channel that the tv supports it on is called composite component. when i go to my xbox's video settings and set it to anything but 480 the picture kills itself and theres lines and static everywhere.

someone said the RGB cables could spit out 1080i which i think would be kind of cool since im only using 480 atm
E: its component, not composite.

[Abdurahman]

If you have a 1080p tv, get the HDMI cable. If you have a 720p tv, use component. HDMI Only around 3 dollars at amazon. I got one for a friend's ps3, and it works great! I have a 32 inch 720p tv in my room, so I only need the component cables to get 720p. I don't need hdmi.

By the way, most 360 games only go up to 720p/1080i.

[Futzy]

so my tv has those red green and blue plugs in the back, and i guess the channel that the tv supports it on is called composite. when i go to my xbox's video settings and set it to anything but 480 the picture kills itself and theres lines and static everywhere.

someone said the RGB cables could spit out 1080i which i think would be kind of cool since im only using 480 atm
rgb is component.
Make sure you put the switch on the xbox cable to rgb too.

[Donut]

it has two settings: TV and HDTV. im assuming i switch it to HDTV
E: when the cable is switched to HDTV, the picture is all fuzzy and you cannot tell wtf is going on. also the sound doesnt work.
when its set to TV and i go to switch it to 1080i with the component cables plugged in, the picture gets all fucked up again.

i think its worth noting that when its on 480, the picture comes through fine using the rgb cables. the yellow isnt plugged in.
E2: so i opened notepad and typed down exactly how to move my controller in order to get to the video menu so i can do it even when the screen is all fuzzy. when the switch is set to HDTV and i set it to do 1080i it still doesnt work. it changes to a different kind of fuzziness, but it dosnt work

[Futzy]

ya, i just forgot what they labeled it as.

[Phopojijo]

You say RGB ONLY does up to 1080i. So is 1080p better quality?RGB does 1080p... it's basically identical to VGA (slight difference in the signal... but not much)

The problem of course is that the BluRay spec said NO 1080p over RGB because they're afraid of 1080p over analog. Why have HDCP when you can just attach the bluray player to a recorder over component? Well that simply won't do... lets set an artificial limit on component for anyone who wants to make a Bluray player?

And that's why proprietary formats of any type... BluRay, Windows, iTunes, hell anything Apple, the consoles, etc. are all VERY STUPID IDEAS. You create a gatekeeper who can say what he, she, or they wants and you can't say anything against them because you already gave them your money.

As for what resolution RGB can take -- it gets a bit dicey because it can go REALLY high -- but then you reach a point where neighbouring colours bleed (and that point depends on how far the cable goes, etc. but -- well -- VGA cables can go ~50ft and still carry a 1600x1200 signal perfectly... at least to what my eye can tell... so -- not sure where that point is) -- so is it really operating at that resolution?

HDMI/DVI cables are better in that respect because each pixel is mutually independent of every other pixel... but that makes them have lower resolution because they have to completely describe every pixel independently... you get the idea.

As for HDMI/DVI cables -- get the cheap ones... if they work, they work perfectly -- if they don't work (ie: two of the ones I bought had faulty solders between the connector and the head) -- return them and get functioning ones.

I'd say go up to -- at max -- 30$ CDN for a 6-foot cable... you can get some 10$ ones that work just as well though. 210$ HDMI cables literally mean nothing... in fact some of them have LESS bandwidth and cannot carry 1440p signals, etc... when the 10$ ones can... if you have a 1440p signal to send.

[Abdurahman]

I'd say go up to -- at max -- 30$ CDN for a 6-foot cable... you can get some 10$ ones that work just as well though. 210$ HDMI cables literally mean nothing... in fact some of them have LESS bandwidth and cannot carry 1440p signals, etc... when the 10$ ones can... if you have a 1440p signal to send.


Amazon has perfectly working ones for $3.50

I tried em. 6 ft. 1080p for ps3. Amazing.

[sdavis117]

Would a display that did not support 1080p have a hdmi input?
In other words, if my display has hdmi input, is it 1080p?

I have a TV that only supports 720p and it has 2 HDMI inputs.

[Abdurahman]

I have a TV that only supports 720p and it has 2 HDMI inputs.


HDMI doesn't only support 1080p. Supports 720p as well. My 720p tv has 2 HDMI inputs too.

[Phopojijo]

HDMI doesn't only support 1080p. Supports 720p as well. My 720p tv has 2 HDMI inputs too.If DVI can support it, HDMI can support it.

(That means even 480i works)

[DEElekgolo]

While we are at it...

I just got a new monitor and I was wondering if I should go out of the way to finding my DVI cable to replace the VGA ones that they are using now. Is the quality difference worth it?

[Phopojijo]

If you can get a cheap enough DVI cable -- it could be worth it. If you're running at the really high crazy resolutions... just make sure you get a dual link cable and it should be at least noticeably better than VGA. At lower resolutions... like 720p... probably not.

That said, I never really benchmarked it though.

The weird one was when I had a Geforce 5700 Ultra... I softquadroed it to an O/C'd Quadro FX 1100... and the text especially become MUCH more clear. It was quite funny actually.

I was also weirdly immune to that Brothers in Arms nVidia slowdown when I was using Quadro drivers... though all the games had about a 2-3FPS hit from GeForce simply because the drivers were bloated as fuck. (They're Quadro drivers... of course they're huge...)

[Phopojijo]

RGB does 1080p... it's basically identical to VGA (slight difference in the signal... but not much)Actually I should clarify myself to anyone looking...

RGB is an identical signal to VGA... component cable's red, green, and blue cables are not sending an "RGB signal"... they're sending YPbPr (even though component cable's colour is Red, Green, or Blue).

That goes back to the old Black and White TV days... Y is black and white... Pb is black and white minus blue... Pr is black and white minus red. Using some simple analog signal math (add/subtract waves... scale waves by a constant...) you can get Red, Green, and Blue from that.

An example of an RGB signal, as stated above, is a VGA cable... where Red, Green, and Blue are directly given.

[TheGhost]

I just got a new monitor and I was wondering if I should go out of the way to finding my DVI cable to replace the VGA ones that they are using now. Is the quality difference worth it?

At work I have two identical monitors side by side. One of them is hooked up via DVI and the other VGA. The DVI one is noticeably crisper. The pixels on the VGA one seem a bit blurrier and there is definite ghosting/streaking.

[flibitijibibo]

Seconding Ghost. I had my 24 inch monitor on VGA all semester, and when I finally got it on DVI at home, it was... too much nicer.

Never again.

[SMASH]

So hey, if I have a 1080p TV/Monitor and I have my computer attached to it and my video card has HDMI and VGA and DVI (can't do DVI cause there's no input on the TV) HDMI would be the best option right?

Right now I got this 32" 1080p attached VGA style and it doesn't seem too crisp but I should be getting a HD 5770 for christmas and switching it over to HDMI.

[Phopojijo]

HDMI would be best... it's the same as DVI (you could literally buy an adapter to convert one to the other...) -- the only real difference is that HDMI can connect your soundcard to your videocard to output surround sound. Technically REALLY high resolutions will only output on Dual Link HDMI... but yeah... you know...