Bad picture quality - Xbox 360

[Otaillon]

Hi everybody!

So yesterday I finally bought myself an Xbox 360 Elite. So I set the thing on my monitor (Asus VH236H) that I use for my Macbook too. I bought an HDMI cable for 15$ at Wal-Mart. Now I'm a lil bit disapointed with the image quality. Everything seems low-res... Nothing is really sharp at all.

I've tried various games like Lego Batman and Dirt 2. It's the same in game and for the menu. I don't know if I'm forgetting something here.. Could it be my cheap cable? Or my monitor isn't as good for an HD console? (It's supposed to be 1080p) So thanks for your recommendations!

(Sorry for my english, my primary language is french )

 

[JackAxe]

The majority of 360 games are 720p, so it's not that your screen isn't good, it's that like most LCDs they have to interpolate lower rez input up to the screen's native rez and not all LCDs are equal at doing this task. This is why things appear low-rez and not sharp on your 1080p screen.

There are a few 1080p games on the 360, that would look sharper on your screen.

 

[upaymeifixit]

Are you sure your Xbox is using it's full quality?

It may be that you do not have the settings correct on the Xbox. Go to (I think this is a valid directory): Dashboard > Settings > Display > Display Quality, and select yours (nothing should be grayed out).

 

[Gav2k]

1 change your dashboard settings.
2 use the included hdmi cable.

 

[Otaillon]

The majority of 360 games are 720p, so it's not that your screen isn't good, it's that like most LCDs they have to interpolate lower rez input up to the screen's native rez and not all LCDs are equal at doing this task. This is why things appear low-rez and not sharp on your 1080p screen.

There are a few 1080p games on the 360, that would look sharper on your screen.

I've tried games that are 1080. And isn't the Xobx' menu supposed to be hi-res?

1 change your dashboard settings.
2 use the included hdmi cable.

I've tried every setting. There was'nt any hdmi cable with the system

 

[Huntn]

I've been playing my 360 on a 60" Mitsubishi projection tv (about 3 years old) and the 360 generated picture looks outstanding.

 

[MRU]

The probability is that it's your monitor and it doesn't handle scaling very well, or it has extra options for HDMI configuration (like selecting between video/pc signal) that you have not adjusted.

To be honest. The 360 is best connected to any monitor via VGA than HDMI.

 

[Gav2k]

The elite includes a hdmi cable mate.

 

[MRU]

The elite USED to contain a HDMI cable mate.








When recent price drop, M$ decided to no longer package the machine with a cable, much like the ps3.

 

[Gav2k]

Hmm ok uk version seems to still have it in the box. Nice way to price drop

 

[MRU]

Any uk stock with hdmi cable is old stock. New stock does not contain one. Check out the new forza elite. Check what the box contains. It says hdmi port, not hdmi cable. Clear distinction

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d.htm...02-1257652?qid=1258887002&a=B002PU9UCM&sr=8-1

to be honest though, with hdmi cables available for 5-10 pounds then most people would rather have the price reduction on the console.

 

[Gav2k]

Any uk stock with hdmi cable is old stock. New stock does not contain one. Check out the new forza elite. Check what the box contains. It says hdmi port, not hdmi cable. Clear distinction

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d.htm...02-1257652?qid=1258887002&a=B002PU9UCM&sr=8-1

to be honest though, with hdmi cables available for 5-10 pounds then most people would rather have the price reduction on the console.

Maybe it's just me but if you buy a hdmi device it should come with the cable same rule for printers if it's USB then the bloody cable should be in there. It used to be the plus point of the elite. EVERYTHING was included.

 

[MRU]

^ My biggest gripe with the lack of the cable with the 360 (moreover than the PS3) is the fact the Optical Out port / dongle no longer comes with it, and that being a non-standard part, means that your only option is to either pay £35 for the offical HDMI cable & optical dongle, or get the stanley knife out and butcher the composite cables casing so that it fits in the machine along with a hdmi cable.

 

[Otaillon]

Thanks for your replies guys!

Today I'll tried with a VGA cable... and I see that they are 2 audio cable with this one so I'll be able to use my desktop speakers. With the HDMI, sound was with the built-in monitor's speakers, and that was bad!

 

[MasterDev]

Thanks for your replies guys!

Today I'll tried with a VGA cable... and I see that they are 2 audio cable with this one so I'll be able to use my desktop speakers. With the HDMI, sound was with the built-in monitor's speakers, and that was bad!

I don't know anyone who uses the built in speakers for sound...

Also, I don't get this VGA > HDMI talk. An HDMI is better, if you were talking DVI, then that is a different story.

All HDMI cables are the same. All made in china, and even if it's gold plated, it will produce the same results as a standard one.

Last, you could also check your Xbox 360 auto detect settings... My Xbox -> Console Settings -> Display -> HDTV Settings ->Optimal Resolution. This will detect the screen on startup.

 

[MRU]

Also, I don't get this VGA > HDMI talk.

Clearly.... no-one said that HDMI wasn't better - what was said is that most monitors (not TV's) that have HDMI connections do not have great in built scalers. Similar problem exists with monitors with component connections (compared with a TV with component).

Therefore in this instance - it is often better to revert to VGA as the monitor is capable of producing a better result with it than HDMI (without built in scaling).

 

[ezekielrage_99]

Try a HDMI to DVI cable, you are getting interference from the embedded audio signal... I connected a Blu-ray player up to a Dell 24" monitor and had the same issue, after using an HDMI to DVI the image quality improved.

 

[MasterDev]

Clearly.... no-one said that HDMI wasn't better - what was said is that most monitors (not TV's) that have HDMI connections do not have great in built scalers. Similar problem exists with monitors with component connections (compared with a TV with component).

Therefore in this instance - it is often better to revert to VGA as the monitor is capable of producing a better result with it than HDMI (without built in scaling).

Ah, my bad... For some reason I was thinking TV's... But most computer monitors that come with HDMI usually come with DVI (Well the few I have bought recently), so DVI > VGA. But who knows what other connections they have.

 

[Cromulent]

Ah, my bad... For some reason I was thinking TV's... But most computer monitors that come with HDMI usually come with DVI (Well the few I have bought recently), so DVI > VGA. But who knows what other connections they have.

I know on my monitor DVI is used by the computer. I use composite for my 360 as I don't have an elite and I wanted the separate audio cables to plug into my amp and at the time of purchase I did not know what the situation was with the VGA leads.