i bought a xbox 360, pretty much for halo 3 and iv been using it to watch movies as well. the game looks fantastic but the dvd's look like crap. im thinking i need to move from the component cables that it came with and get hdmi. the "xbox" labeled ones are 50 bucks but i'v seen hdmi cables for a lot less.

are there any cables that you guys have bought on the net that are cheaper but still good quality?

 

Don't see how that is going to make that much of a difference really. The Component cables are more than suitable for regular DVD resolutions.

Most all of the cables will be of decent quality. I've got a $50 HDMI cable and a $20 cable, I cannot tell the difference at all to be honest.

 

I got the VGA cables, and my DVD movies shows pretty good! I'd say, near HD quality!

 

VGA and HDMI are the only way the xbox will upres standard definition DVDs, or play games and hd-dvds in 1080p.

The problem, as with my TV, the parameters in my TV arent set up for the VGA color space so it looks like crap.

So, HDMI is definitely the way to go, and it does make a big difference on the upresing of you regular DVDS because the scaler in the xbox is so good.

You can find decent priced HDMI cables from amazon.com or monoprice.com

 

My dad is 50-some years old but he sure does love his Xbox games and whatnot so when his 360 fried, he upgraded to the Elite (w/ HDMI). He had a spare Monster Cable HDMI cable that I believe cost $80-$100 and he says he can tell a definite difference in the image quality of his games. I am not sure if this applies to DVD's as he does not use the 360 for that, but he says the quality overall is much better. Hope I was a help.

 

Did not know that it upscaled DVDs... I stand corrected.

I have the same problem with color too when using VGA.

 

www.monoprice.com

I have purchased the cheaper cables through them and runn all of my HD components with no probs.

 

I bought my HDMI cables from monoprice for like $2 a cable when they were on sale. No difference at all between higher priced cables.

HDMI is a digital signal, meaning, on or off, there or not, signal or no signal. There is absolutely no difference in how a signal is sent from cable to cable. Save yourself the cash. Monster Cables are one of the biggest ripoffs.

 

x2

 

x3

 

Monoprise FTW and I suggest going with Component cables if you have a relatively smaller TV (40" or less). The difference by using HDMI comes on bigger TVs.

 

re-read my post.

And my tv is 40" and the difference is huge.

 

Yeah the color do look washed out, but the image is crispier(sp?). My TV(26in LCD) doesn't have HDMI. It has DVI, though.

 

Sorry, I skipped your post

It's a very subjective thing to notice a difference between HDMI and Component cables. For me, I see no difference between the two on my 32" LCD.

 

i cant figure it out. im not even saying it looks halfway decent. the picture is incredibly CHOPPY. it looks like hell, it really does. i wish i could somehow show it you guys. ill try the hdmi see what happens but my tv is only 32". would it even do anything? are the components cable that come with the 360 good?

 

um... i hate to be a douchebag but will this cable be the only thing i need or do i also need a audio cable?

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

 

Do you need 15 feet? If you don't need the extra distance, don't get it. I've got on the the 6ft 24 gauge w/ net jacket (see under the "High-Quality 24AWG HDMI Male to Male Cable") section. The lower the gauge #, the thicker/better the wire. You'll also see that they are selling cable rated for hdmi 1.3a. You xbox isn't going to use the newest hdmi, but newer version fo hdmi re still backwards compatible. If you want to possibly use the cable on something else that does 1.3a later on, get that one.

You do not need an audio cable; HDMI is video and audio. If you were hooking up to a seperate surround system you might want to do that...but you probably aren't.

As for your choppy dvds:
- are they 'copied' discs?
- is the disc scratch free?
- does it play fine elsewhere?

 

I'm using the HDMI cable that came with my 360 and it works fine.

 

Do you need such a long cable?


This should be fine... http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

And if you want to spring for the net jacket, get this...
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2


As for audio cables. Depends on your configuration. If you just have everything through your TV, then the HDMI cable is all you'll need since it carries both video and audio. If you have your audio through a receiver, you'll need separate audio cables. I'd recommend a digital audio cable. Huge difference over RCAs....