Image quality question (360)

fragster

fragster

fragster

Associate
Joined
5 Dec 2003
Posts
307
Location
Essex
Hi all,

Been reading the threads on here trying to gather as much info as possible, have a question myself that I hope people will be able to clear up for me regarding the 360.

I have a Denon DHT-500SD and it came with an optical cable which I've attached to the HD cable on the 360, Condemned sounds awesome and so does PGR3. Glad really because I hate the whirring noise of the console itself and this drowns it out :D Thats the sound sorted :)

I'm not convinced it looks as good as what it should though, and maybe this is solely down to my TV. I don't know. I run it at 60hz. I have a Sony 32" Trinitron flatscreen which is a fairly decent telly (DVDs look awesome, much better than my old man's 32" LG LCD he's just bought which is shocking really). I'm using an RGB scart cable (whilst saving for a HD tv).

This is my question, which HD-TV would you guys recommend? I really want to make use of the component output on my Denon and of course the 360. I'd be after something of similar size to the tv I have now. Do the games look 'that' much better or is the difference negligble? Are there any improvements in performance when using HD? Is the cost worth it?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Dave
 
Last edited:
fragster said:
Hi all,

Been reading the threads on here trying to gather as much info as possible, have a question myself that I hope people will be able to clear up for me regarding the 360.

I have a Denon DHT-500SD and it came with an optical cable which I've attached to the HD cable on the 360, Condemned sounds awesome and so does PGR3. Glad really because I hate the whirring noise of the console itself and this drowns it out :D Thats the sound sorted :)

I'm not convinced it looks as good as what it should though, and maybe this is solely down to my TV. I don't know. I run it at 60hz. I have a Sony 32" Trinitron flatscreen which is a fairly decent telly (DVDs look awesome, much better than my old man's 32" LG LCD he's just bought which is shocking really). I'm using an RGB scart cable (whilst saving for a HD tv).

This is my question, which HD-TV would you guys recommend? I really want to make use of the component inputs on my Denon and of course the 360. I'd be after something of similar size to the tv I have now. Do the games look 'that' much better or is the difference negligble? Are there any improvements in performance when using HD? Is the cost worth it?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Dave
Click to expand...

Just one point. The Denon DHT500SD only has a component OUTPUT not input. This is no problem, as all it means is connect the optical out of the X360 to the Denon and then your HD lead of choice to your new HDTV ;)
 
Any Pioneer/Panasonic/Sony Plasma screen. Thats about the best quality you can get in my opinion.

I personally believe HD is worth it as the difference is huge, plus, everything is going HD, BBC will have all their shows made in HD by 2010 and Sky are sorting it for March/April time.

There are no negative performance issues when running in High-Definition.
 
Icebus, sorry, didn't word that right, meant to say 'output' on the DVD player.

How would all of it connect though? I'd obviously want both the 360 and Denon to make use of the component inputs on the new tv (whatever that may be). Would I just have to switch them round each time?

Cheers
 
NokkonWud said:
There are no negative performance issues when running in High-Definition.
Click to expand...

Thats not strictly true. Some games are giving a better/smoother framerate on SD at the moment, although I'd expect that to be rectified by the time the next batch of games come out. Also HD sets often look worse than SD sets when displaying SD material, although this is more apparent on LCD than Plasma.
 
fragster said:
Hi all,

Do the games look 'that' much better or is the difference negligble? Are there any improvements in performance when using HD? Is the cost worth it?
Click to expand...

The jump from SD to HD is nowhere near as big as the jump from CRT to LCD/Plasma display technology. It really depends on the game you are playing and how far you sit from the TV. Games like PGR3 and NFSMW which use a lot of blurring techniques look prety much identical, whereas there is a noticeble improvement in Kameo on HD. I found COD2 to be somewhere in the middle.
 
Sagalout said:
Thats not strictly true. Some games are giving a better/smoother framerate on SD at the moment, although I'd expect that to be rectified by the time the next batch of games come out. Also HD sets often look worse than SD sets when displaying SD material, although this is more apparent on LCD than Plasma.
Click to expand...
Wrong wrong wrong, the 360 renders at 720p and then scales the picture to whatever the display device is set to.
 
I sit about 10 feet away from the tv I would say.

So if I was going to upgrade to something shortly (say around the 40") mark. What are my options?

I'd want the best image quality as possible, not too bothered when watching Eastenders or whatever, the 360 and movies are what matters.

Some people say Plasma, some people say LCD. I don't know now.
 
PiKe said:
Wrong wrong wrong, the 360 renders at 720p and then scales the picture to whatever the display device is set to.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily - for a start PGR3 doesnt render at 720P at all, its about 600P then scaled up. Its also common knowledge that some games, eg NFSMW run noticeably smoother in 480P. Loads and loads of people report this to be the same, and I've seen it with my own eyes. Same goes for certain scenes in COD2, although its only in really intense smoke filled scenes but it is there. The full auto demo was another example

So whilst the MS hype might have said everything is rendered at 720p and scaled in reality its not as simple as that.
 
PiKe said:
Wrong wrong wrong, the 360 renders at 720p and then scales the picture to whatever the display device is set to.
Click to expand...

Yes in theory there should be no performance loss running at a higher resolution but in practice there apparently is with a number of titles. That's the difference between the MS marketing department and the reality.
 
mmm, I always set myself a particular limit when buying big things but after seeing all the models i always end up spending more anyway lol!!

I'm not really sure to be honest with you. I guess I'd be looking at something middle of the road. I've never bought a plasma before so don't really know what the costs are like.

Cheers for your help mate

Dave
 
thanks very much for the links. Will take a look now.

One question I had, I'm not sure I was just looking at a crap plasma screen but my mate has one and the viewing angles on it are ridiculous. You have to be sitting parallel to it to actually see anything. Is this the case with most plasmas? Mine would be going in the corner of the room and I would be sitting at an angle to it...

Cheers

Dave
 
Be very very careful about buying a plasma on ebay! There are load sof scammers using hijacked accounts with good feedback to sell non existant plasmas and lcds then they run off with the money. There have been a few people caught out over on avforums.com because they didnt follow the old adage that if it seems to good to be true it probably is!

As for viewing angles, are you sure it was a plasma? All Plasmas have very wide angles. Sounds more like an old rear projection set?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom