VISUAL
This thread will be used as a guide as to which type of HDTV or cable to use in conjunction with your Xbox 360 gaming system.
Contents
-HDTV
-Video Technologies
-Future Technologies
-Resolution
-Interface
- Xbox 360 Elite & HDMI
-Useful Links
-What to look for in an HDTV
HDTV
High-definition television (HDTV) resolution is 1080 (1080p - 1920x1080) or 720 (720p - 1280x720) lines. In contrast, regular digital television (DTV) is 486 lines (upon which NTSC is based) or 576 lines (upon which PAL/SECAM are based). However, since HD is broadcast digitally, its introduction sometimes coincides with the introduction of DTV. Additionally, current DVD quality is not high-definition, although the high-definition disc systems HD-DVD and Blu-ray are.
Video Technologies
CRT HD
These are the TVs we all grew up with. As a technology that has been used for over a century, the cathode ray tube has evolved enough to offer outstanding image quality at a relative low price. But eventually these bulky, heavy TVs will be phased out and replaced by flat panel displays.
The CRT is a specialised vacuum tube that has a positive terminal (anode) and a negative terminal (cathode). There are electrons moving rapidly across this tube from the anode to the cathode and by magnetism the flow of electrons can be directed anywhere against a screen. This flow of electrons is called electron beam (thus, electron gun), which on each pass hits a special phosphor coated screen. Why phosphor? Because it's a material that when exposed to some types of radiation can emit visible light.
Advantages
- Still the best picture quality
- Relatively cheap
- Amazing "blacks"
Disadvantages
- Screen size will probably never exceed 40 inches
- Bulky and very heavy
- Not flicker free (images is created through each line created singularly), even for 100Hz screens
Price Range - $299 to $2,999
Screen size - 26" to 38"
LCD
Liquid Crystal Display TVs use a fluorescent backlight to send white light through two layers of polarised glass that sandwich a deposit of liquid crystals. By changing voltages these crystals can adopt different positions and that way allow or block the passage of the back white light. These deposits of liquid crystals are arranged in rows across the screen.
For colour LCD displays, such as those used in notebook monitors and HDTVs, each pixel is made up of three liquid crystal deposits or cells that act as red, blue, and green filters, following the same RGB model found in cathode ray tubes.
What you need to know about LCD TVs
The reason why everyone wants an LCD TV is because they take up such little space when compared to traditional tube TVs, while offering bigger screens.
Because of the nature of the technology, LCD suffers from some major drawbacks. First, these tiny crystals take some time to rearrange their position which results in some delay at the moment of setting up a pixel bright and colour value. This can create a ghost image when the video source has fast moving visuals, such as those found in video games and action movies (this is what the response time is referring too).
The time it takes a pixel to change from black to white (rise) and then go back to black (fall) is called response time, which is measured in milliseconds. A few years ago these response times were in the order of the 20 to 30 ms, and lately they have been reduced to 16, 12 and 8 ms. The lower the response time, the faster these crystals can reorder and therefore the better the LCD. If one could compare the response times of a LCD with a CRT, we could say that a cathode ray tube has a response time lower than 1ms.
Unfortunately, there is no standard method to measure the response times and that let manufacturers cheat in their measurement procedures by choosing different methods, creating even a grey-to-grey method that allows them to report lower response times. This method is the one used to market these new monitors from ViewSonic and Samsung as 2ms response time LCDs.
The other major drawbacks of LCD technology are that the backlight will eventually diminish and that LCD panels have a fixed pixel structure (also known as native resolution) whether they are on or off, meaning that any video signal with a resolution different than the one of the LCD panel, will have to be scaled up or down to be displayed on the screen, affecting the quality of the image. This can be easily noticed when you watch a DVD movie (480p) in a high resolution LCD. By being up-scaled to a higher resolution, the image looks pixilated or blocky.
Finally, we’d say that because the backlight is always turned on, LCD TVs have a problem drawing black pixels as these crystals don’t entirely block the back white light. In a cathode ray tube, the electron beam simply doesn’t impact on that pixel when a black pixel has to be drawn; that would be equal to turn off the backlight on a LCD to make a real black. This explains why CRTs still have the best blacks.
Advantages
- Large screen size
- Compact (thin) and light
- Doesn't flicker (image is created at once, thus making it a progressive tech)
- Higher resolutions than Plasma for similar size
- No burn-in risk, but image persistance can happen
Disadvantages
- Expensive, especially at larger screen sizes
- Blacks not quite as deep as CRT
- Response time is key to good image
- Image quality not as good as CRT
Price range - $499 to $19,999+ (!)
Screen size - 19" to 60"+
Plasma
You could think of plasma as a combination of LCD and CRT. The plasma display technology is similar to LCD because instead of cells of liquid crystals it uses plasma-filled chambers. When electrical energy reaches these chambers, the plasma (a gas that can emit light) inside them glows like the phosphor coated CRT screens.
What you need to know about Plasma TVs
Because each pixel is lit individually, plasma produces very bright images which immediately catch the eye of consumers. But unfortunately, Plasma biggest drawbacks lie behind its bright images.
Once again, the nature of the technology is the responsible for both its advantages and disadvantages. First, being that the gas found inside these chambers can’t stop emitting light immediately (like a gas halogen light bulb), plasma cannot produce deep blacks as those seen in cathode ray tube screens.
But the biggest drawback found in plasma is the image burn-in. After an extended period of time, static images left on the screen (such as a TV channel logo or a game menu) can produce a ghost or shadow that remains permanently on the screen. This forces you to avoid watching TV channels with station logos or pause video games and DVD movies for long periods of time.
Also, the gas inside the chambers (usually argon, neon or xenon) will eventually fade away, resulting in a typical life span for plasma TVs of 30,000 to 40,000 hours, which means six to ten years of normal TV viewing.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that plasmas have EDTV resolutions in most of the cases and only 50”+ have been able to go beyond a 1366x768 native resolution. Plasmas are also heavier than LCD displays and consume much more power.
Advantages
- Better picture quality than LCD
- Amazing blacks and contrast ratios
- Cheaper than LCD at larger screen sizes
Disadvantages
- Expensive at lower screen sizes
- Burn-in risk
- Lower resolutions than LCD or DLP
- Blacks not as deep as CRT
- Consume lots of power
Price range - $2,999 to $19,999+
Size range - 42" to 82"+
DLP
The "Digital Micro-mirror Device", aka DLP chip, is made of a rectangular array of up to 2 million microscopic mirrors that can tilt back and forth in response to on and off (digital) signals, reflecting the light coming from a light source.
When coordinated with a lamp and a digital signal; this process can create images on screen by pixels turning toward (creating a white pixel) and away (creating a dark pixel) from the light source. With these elements, DLP would only be able to reproduce greyscale (1 bit, aka black and white) images so, in order to add colour, most DLP systems introduce a colour wheel between the light source (lamp) and the DMD mirror panel. As the colour wheel spins, it allows red, green, and blue light (the 3 primary colours) to fall onto the mirrors that, coordinated with the on and off states of these mirrors can produce more than 16 million of colours, which is around what many HD LCD and plasma panels have currently.
What you need to know about DLP TVs
DLP is the world's only all-digital display technology, from start to finish. That means when you have a DLP TV with a DVI or HDMI input, the video signal will remain digital all the way until it is displayed on the screen, contrary to LCD and Plasma displays in which a digital signal will be transformed to analog in the last step (many people see this as a benefit but in the grand scheme of things, it makes little difference).
Unfortunately no technology is free of problems and DLP is no exception. First, rear projection DLP HDTVs require a lamp, which requires a minimum depth of 30cm (12 inches) for the whole system to work and must be replaced every 3,000 hours. Each lamp costs $200+. Also, this lamp takes up to one minute to warm up.
Also, as a consequence of the colouring system, DLP can produce a so called "rainbow effect", a visual artifact that appears on screen as flashes of red, green, and blue shadows at the edges of the viewer’s peripheral vision. There is consistency with this artifact, but it appears to be more prominent on slow speed color wheels and single-chip systems. Over the last couple of years, televisions manufacturers have developed higher wheel speeds and added two sequences of red, green, and blue on a single wheel, reducing the chances that this artifact will appear, but there are still some instances where the colour breakout (produced by the spinning wheel) can be noticed. Three-chip DLP systems, such as those used in digital cinema, seem to completely eliminate the rainbow effect, but unfortunately a three-chip system is still expensive for the living room (as is with all techonology. Cost).
Advantages
- Large screen sizes
- All-digital tech (not the second coming)
- Excellent image quality (can surpass Plasma)
- Good viewing angle (this plagues LCD)
- No burn-in risk
Disadvantages
- Lamp has to be replaced, which is expensive
- Rainbow effect still prevelant
- Deeper than LCD and plasma
Price range - $1,999 to $5,999
Screen size range - 42" to 80"
For performance I would rate:
1- LCD (best overall for gaming in terms of price, size and quality)
2- CRT (still the best quality and price but bulky)
3- DLP (excellent image quality at low (relative) outlaying cost but lamp etc is expensive)
4- Plasma (good quality but at a price)
PC monitors- side note
Not everyone can afford or is willing to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on an HDTV. The solution: PC monitor. You can pick up a decent monitor for under $200 these days and they may be small but give HD-close picture quality (especially in 1280x1024 or 1024x768 resolutions). Now, you have two options when buying a PC monitor for your 360. Just with HDTV you can either choose LCD or CRT. CRT is still the best for picture quality but they look un-gainly and pretty crap. So, most people would opt for an LCD one. LCD monitors tend to have lower resolutions but are thin and wall-mountable; giving the impression of an HDTV (
). It is entirely up to personal preference but normally I would go for an LCD one as they look better and take up far less space.
If you want to make the experience as HD-like as possible, you can buy a widescreen monitor. These come in a range of resolutions ranging from true 720p (1280x720) and up to 1920x1200 (which is more than 1080p!). Now, the most common resolutions for a widescreen monitor are 1680x1050 and 1440x900. These aren’t offered as output resolutions on the VGA cable so some scaling will be involved to fit on these panels. For a 1440x900 or a 1680x1050 I’d suggest 1280x1024 in widescreen format. This causes the least amount of scaling and is the highest pixel count.
Advantages
- Cheaper than a proper HDTV
- Amazing response times
Disadvantages
- Small screen sizes
- No sound using VGA cable, unless you use a 2-RCA to 3.5mm Stereo adapter
- Very few widescreen monitors have 1280x720, so some scaling does occur
Future Technologies
SED
Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display (SED) panels could also become the next important technology in flat screens and dethrone DLP. It was created through the merging of Canon's proprietary electron-emission and micro-fabrication technologies with Toshiba's CRT technology and mass-production technologies for liquid crystal displays and semiconductors.
SED is a flat-panel display technology that utilizes the collision of electrons against a phosphor-coated screen to emit light, similar to a cathode ray tube but, instead of having one electron beam hitting the whole screen, each pixel has its own emitter since these are distributed in an amount equal to the number of pixels on the display. It’s like every pixel is a miniature CRT, forming a discrete arrangement that will allow SED screens to behave like a digital display such as DLP.
Since SEDs do not require electronic beam deflection, it is possible to build screens of more than 40 inches in size that are only a couple of inches thick.
All this results in a display technology that is as thin as an LCD display, but has none of its drawbacks because it has all the advantages of CRT, with the most important being its image quality-- superior to that found in all current flat display technologies.
Like OLED, SED displays can be manufactured using inkjet printing technology to build the miniature electron emitters and a screen-printing method can be used to produce the matrix wiring. This will allow a very low cost manufacturing process.
Resolution
Resolution, or the number of pixels (short for picture element, using the common abbreviation "pix" for "picture" is a single point of a graphical image) that a display is made from is the single-most important parameter for the quality of a graphical image. In the previous generations, the resolution has remained pretty much constant for entire duration of the consoles' life. For instance, for the last generation the standard was 640x480 but now that we're at the dawn of the High Definition era, there is a virtual plethora of options available to the consumer. This not only makes things difficult for the game developers in terms of creating the properly designed games to look good each type of display (a great example of this was Dead Rising's performance on Non-HD displays) but it also confuses the consumer into what is actually necessary in terms of what will make their experience it the best it can be.
From the diagram above one can see that the truth of the matter is slightly different from what the marketing teams tell you that is necessary. For the most part, 720p, as you can see is more than enough for the average consumer whereas 1440p is nearly negliable for consumer use in the home.
480p
This is the industry term for 852x480 in a progressive image form. The original Xbox was able to output this res (to the benifit of early HDTV and EDTV gamers), for the likes of Halo 2 and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory. It technically isn't High Definiton, so is referred to as Enhanced Definition. The Xbox 360 is capable of this resolution with the use of either the composite, component or VGA HD cables and is the main-stay of many a plasma TV.
720p
1280x720 is the current king of resolutions as it is the perfect trade off between high resolution sharpness and low-processing load so that game developers can really design games that not only looks amazing in terms of effects but also have the amazing clarity that we have come accustomed too over the last 10 months or so. Buying a 720p TV today isn't actually possible (on the whole) as many manufacturers have adopted the non-standard 1366x768 resolution for their latest panels. With this, it is appropriate to use the HD VGA cable if possible on your set as it maximises the pixel mapping on your screen and removes any scaling done by your TV that can distort the image.
1080p
With the next 360 dashboard update imminent, we can expect full 1080p support. This will come in two ways; component and VGA. Now, we know that the 360 is distributed with said connection, but for 1080p it is less than ideal. Firstly, we have a lack of bandwidth and over-saturation of colours, but maybe the most important point is that very few, if any 1080p TV's have a component video input. This is a major drawback if you don't wish to buy any more cables/ adaptors etc. There is also the compatibility issue:
Via component
HD DVD - 1080i
Games - 1080p
DVD - 480p
This is less than optimum as we don't get any movie viewing in 1080p, although, 1080i is very similar in it's native res compared with 1080p; for movies especially. Now, if we compare this to VGA (which most 1080p HDTV's support):
HD DVD - 1080p
Games - 1080p
DVD - upscaled 1080p
This is a much better option. Now, you may be wondering how you can take a 720p game and make it look good on a 2 mega pixel panel. It is all done by a software update that allows the scaler to up-scale the 720p render to 1080p (not optimum but will look better than 720p, on a similarly performing 720p panel).
For resolution, I'd go for 720p if you don't have the money just now to fully take advantage of 1080p, but in the near future this will become standard in the industry.
1080i
Interlaced-scan is a relatively old and less recommended for of image display as it is created by every other (even) line being produced in one frame, then the others (odds) on the next. This means it takes 2 full frames to have one complete image. This makes fast-paced media such as video games less than appealing, visually. Comparing this to 1080p is not as easy as it would seem. 1080p at 30 frames/second has the same pixels/second rate of 1080i at 60 frames/second, thus in theory they should look the same, if you can natively produce 1080i (most CRT HDTV’s are 1080i native), but in practise this is rarely the case.
Using the component HD lead that is supplied with the 360, you can utilise this resolution for your HDTV. According to rumour, the resolution is an interlaced 540p render, which technically isn’t 1080i (this rumour is further enforced by the lack of 1080i as an option on the VGA HD cable).
Cables/interface
Component HD video
This is the cable that is supplied with the Xbox 360 premium. It is more than capable of handling 720p/1080i but many HDTV's do not support an analogue interface such as this, any more so usage and compatibility is now limited.
Things to note:
- Colours seem over-saturated
- Bandwidth isn't as high as VGA
- Limited resolution options
VGA HD video
Since the original Xbox, many gamers have been crying out for a 1st party VGA cable. Our prayers have been answered. This cable is suitable for most HDTV's and almost all PC monitors. It offers more bandwidth than component aswell as more resolution options.
Resolutions supported
640x480 (480p NTSC)
852x576 (480p PAL)
1024x768 (standard PC resolution)
1280x720 (720p)
1280x768 (another HDTV standard being adopted)
1360x768 (the new standard)
1280x1024 (high-end PC resolution)
1920x1080 (1080p)
Things to note:
- More resolution options than component
- Many more HDTV's support VGA (especially 1080p sets)
- Possible better image quality over component - depends on TV
With the official Xbox 360 VGA HD cable (
Here), you get a VGA Female-Female adapter (shown below) which allows you to connect to monitors with permenantly attached to the monitor itself.
DVI/HDMI - digital interfaces
After much conjecture, it was revealed that the Xbox 360 Multi-AV output wasn't quite a "multi" as we'd hoped. It is purely analogue which means you can only use HDMI on the Xbox 360 Elite.
DVI-I (the upper connector on picture)
DVI-I is an integrated interface that allows both analogue (high-res VGA) and digital (DVI-D) to be inputted to the device. This would allow one to use a VGA-DVI adapter for their HDTV if no VGA port is present (of course, a DVI-I port would be necessary). DVI-I is more common on current/last-gen HDTV's.
DVI-D (lower connector)
This is a purely digital interface, thus an adapter between this and VGA isn't easy and rather expensive. Many PC GPU's have a DVI-D interface and most monitors nowadays do aswell. Not as "handy" as DVI-I but a very good connection, nonetheless.
HDMI
HDMI has been labelled thetotal interfaceby the industry. This is because it transfers both digital video (like DVI) but can also transfer loss-less digital audio (in 5.1 or 7.1 form).
HDMI supports any TV or PC video format, including standard, enhanced, or high-definition video, plus multi-channel digital audio on a single cable. It is independent of the various DTV standards such as ATSC, and DVB (-T,-S,-C), as these are encapsulations of the MPEG movie data streams, which are passed off to a decoder, and output as uncompressed video data on HDMI. HDMI encodes the video data into TMDS for transmission digitally over HDMI.
There are a number of versions of the ever-changing, ever-improved interface:
HDMI 1.0
Released December 2002.
* Single-cable digital audio/video connection with a maximum bitrate of 4.9 Gbit/s. Supports up to 165 Mpixel/s video (1080p@60 Hz or UXGA) and 8-channel/192 kHz/24-bit audio.
HDMI 1.1
Released May 2004.
* Added support for DVD Audio.
HDMI 1.2
Released August 2005.
* Added support for One Bit Audio, used on Super Audio CDs (SACD), up to 8 channels.
* Availability of HDMI Type A connector for PC sources.
* Ability for PC sources to use native RGB color-space while retaining the option to support the YCbCr CE color space.
* Requirement for HDMI 1.2 and later displays to support low-voltage sources.
HDMI 1.2a
Released December 2005.
* Fully specifies Consumer Electronic Control (CEC) features, command sets, and CEC compliance tests.
HDMI 1.3
Released 22 June 2006.
* Increases single-link bandwidth to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbit/s)
* Optionally supports 30-bit, 36-bit, and 48-bit xvYCC with Deep Color or over one billion colors, up from 24-bit sRGB or YCbCr in previous versions.
* Incorporates automatic audio syncing (lip sync) capability - which is unnecessary for home applications
* Supports output of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio streams for external decoding by AV receivers. TrueHD and DTS-HD are lossless audio codec formats used on HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. If the disc player can decode these streams into uncompressed audio, then HDMI 1.3 is not necessary, as all versions of HDMI can transport uncompressed audio.
* Availability of a new mini connector for devices such as camcorders.
HDMI 1.3a
Released 10 November 2006.
* Cable and Sink modifications for Type C
* Source termination recommendation
* Removed undershoot and maximum rise/fall time limits.
* CEC capacitance limits changed
* RGB video quantization range clarification
* CEC commands for timer control brought back in an altered form, audio control commands added.
* Concurrently released compliance test specification included.
HDMI 1.3b
Testing specification released 26 March 2007.
Xbox 360 Elite & HDMI
From above, the Xbox 360 Elite consists of:
- Xbox 360 Component HD cable
- Xbox 360 Optical TOSlink adapter
- HDMI cable
The adapter shown (second from left) was designed to allow the use of the Optical output (to get digital audio) if your HDTV or surround sound doesn't have an HDMI input. Also, it allows for analogue audio if you have a simpler setup.
With the release of the Xbox 360 Elite, Microsoft has changed its strategy and gone for the more Home Theatre experience to rival its main competitor. In doing so, it has opened up a previously locked tight pandora's box of HDMI-ness.
Whilst the Xbox 360 Elite was released long-after the HDMI 1.3 standard (thus allowing uncompressed audio streams), Microsoft for whatever reason (either for cost-effectiveness or they felt it unnesessary) stuck with HDMI 1.2. This means that the Xbox 360 Elite is limited to Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS Digital 5.1. Digital Optical (TOSlink) is unable to transfer 7.1 or uncompressed PCM audio streams therefore you are limited to the older codecs. These are still more than enough for impressive audio quality.
As you can see from above, the Xbox 360 Elite has an HDMI output just below the standard "Multi-AV" out. This means you can use the fabled digital interface.
Despite much hype from the gaming industry, the truth is that HDMI offers no more picture quality than VGA or Component. Do not fall for the hype yourself.
Links
I would like to add a few sites I recommend for extra reading and TV reviews:
Tom's Hardware
Good site with complete electronics reviews, not only TV's.
Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more
Still the cheapest I've seen for most electronics. Good reviews on there aswell.
TrustedReviews - The UKs premier source of IT News and Reviews
Good review site for TV's and other electronic gadgets.
Reg Hardware: Product News and Gadget Reviews from The Register
Similar to trusted reviews but more news articles.
New Links courtesy of Sharky:
HDTV World - CNET.com
HDTV Almanac: Your source for independent HDTV information from an industry expert you can trust.
Plasma TV, DLP TV, LCD TV, Home Theater Projectors and Plasma TV HDTV
What to look for in an HDTV
With all the technical jargon I've fed you in the last 5000 words, I thought I'd add a Jargon Buster of sorts...
Contrast Ratio - The contrast ratio figure is the ratio of luminosity (brightness) of a panel. It is the difference between the brightest colour and the darkest colour the panel can produce. The higher this value is, the more natural the colours and lighting will look and the deeper the blacks will be. A Value of 1600:1 and above is acceptable. It should be noted that CRT TV's have an almost infinite Contrast Ratio as they can not display any light to a particular region of a screen - thus true black.
Brightness - This is the maximum luminance that the panel can produce, in terms of Cd/m^2. This is per-unit-area so the size of the panel doesn't effect the brightness but obviously a massive screen will light up a room more than a 12". The standard for Brightness is around 500CD/m2.
Response Time - The time it takes a pixel to change from black to white (rise) and then go back to black (fall) is called response time, which is measured in milliseconds. A few years ago these response times were in the order of the 20 to 30 ms, and lately they have been reduced to 16, 12 and 8 ms. The lower the response time, the faster these crystals can reorder and therefore the better the LCD. If one could compare the response times of a LCD with a CRT, we could say that a cathode ray tube has a response time lower than 1ms.
Whilst there are other parameters that make a TV great, these are the only true technical ones that as a consumer you should take note of.
