StickyMicky

anybody use the VGA lead?

i have just read that using this will upscale regular dvd`s to 720p, and the component lead leaves them at 480p!

i got ripped off on ebay a year ago and when i bought an "official" component lead (it was in the official packaging) it arrived, and had been VERY cleverly opened and the lead replaced with a replica/glued, after posting on here about it a good few months after i used it when i realised it it did not have any MS stamps or logos on it, i discovered i had been swindled

anyway, i was watching aliens 3 yesterday and noticed some fuzz on the screen in places, thinking it was because i only paid £3 for the film, i tried another disc, same fault

started playing assasins creed, same fault, looked like the screen was out of tune.

it got worse and worse, and it ended up with me taking the back of the TV off (samsung plasma) thinking that some v-scan adjustments i had made to the set 8 months back must have caught up with me

after tweaking the v-scan and va-adjustment pots back i never saw any improvement, but did see an improvement when i unplugged the 2 audio cables from the hdtv lead

tried the stock "core" av lead and the fault was gone

****e replica lead has failed so i need a new one today, do i buy VGA or component?
read about the colours being washed out a little with VGA but getting regular SD DVD`s to 720p "for free" has tickled my fancy

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

I'm currently using the official VGA cable on my Loewe LCD. The picture is great, although I can't really see much difference from the component cable. I get a little bit of static towards the top of the screen, but I also get that from the official Wii component cable

DVD's do look great using VGA (with no static), as do HD DVD's.

mart360

i tried he composh*te lead that comes as standard. it sucks, reds ring and blur

i purchased the gen u ine RGB lead, and all is as it should be


(my monitor wont accept component feed )


Mart

StickyMicky

sweet

i always thought the 360 sets regular dvds to whatever you have the dash set at to be honest!!

hail-hail

Slight hijack, sorry.

DJ Dunk, I also have a Loewe LCD (xelos) with the seperate signal box and all the connecitons etc. I have sky HD connected to the Component and Wii connected to a standard Scart.
I have tried to connect sky using the DVI but cannot get any sound through.

I want to buy an Xbox 360 but not sure how I will connect it up. Does the VGA cable connect directly, with sound? Does it give true HD?
Is the VGA cable standard?

thanks

PeteBrant

Not HDMI?

DVI doesn't carry sound. You either need to use a couple of Phono leads from the audio out of the skybox to the telly (or amp) or ideally use the HDMI to an amp, or failing that the optical out to an amp
Ideally you will want to use HDMI - Again, to an amp and then to the tv -Failing that, through Component or VGA with the optical out to an amp.

As standard, the component and VGA leads come with two channel sounds in the form of a couple of phonos that you put directly into your TV , you will get stereo, not True HD.

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

Neither Component, DVI or VGA carry sound I'm afraid, I use an separate AV amp for sound using the optical cable. VGA does however support full 1080p. What audio inputs do you have ?

Edit: Doh, was having a conversation and Pete beat me to it

hail-hail

Pete / DJ thanks for the help.

The main crux of my issue is that my TV signal box does not have a HDMI in connection.
I bought a HDMI to DVI cable and this transfers the picture fine, obviously no sound. I have tried a multitude of different connections but no joy. Component works fine, with sound transferred from sky directly into Audio in on the signal box. If I swap to DVI on the telly I get no sound even though the sound is connected directly from Sky to the signal box.

I think I wil just accept defeat and connect sound from SKY HD to a sperate surround sound system. This will allow me to use the DVI input.

If I go down this path then I assume I can just connect the XBOX to the VGA in and send the sound seperatly to the surround sound system?

PeteBrant

Simple bit first.


On the VGA/Component leads, there is a connector for an optical out to take to your surround amp.



It sounds to me like when you plug in the HDMI, it disables the phono out from the sky box, and is sent down the HDMI connection automatically. And its obviously "lost" in the DVI connection.

(It obviously still allows you to use optical out, because that's what I am using on my HD box - HDMI & Optical)

It;s allowing you to use component with sound, beacuse the Audio outs are enabled because the HDMI connector is not in use.

That would be my guess anyway.

I can't remember off the top of my head, but can you go into system settings and force it to use the Audio out regardless of whether you are using HDMI or not?

messiah

I always used component and thought it output DVD's at 576p...

I tried the VGA leads and thought they were horrendous, colour was way too washed out so went back to component, however, after seeing HDMI on the PS3 the quality of that is far superior so I'm gonn ahave to get me some sort of switchbox seeing as I've got an Elite...

StickyMicky

yea i did read about washed out colours on VGA, but i do recall reading somewhere that one of the dash updates changed this so it was fine, or at least much better then before.

lead should be here in the next few days, so i will give it a test, need to put the rear cover back on the plasma as well

jsh

When you plug the HDMI cable into a Sky box, it does NOT disable the audio outputs.

One of the great things about the Sky HD box is that all outputs are live all of the time.

I have installed many HD boxes into systems with both Plasma screens and projectors and used the HDMI and component simultaneously, using the optical output into the cinema amp and the analog audio outputs into a multiroom audio system with no problems.

Also it is a common misconception that HDMI is better than component. As far as a Sky box is concerned, I personally think that component is better for picture quality.

Dont forget that HDMI is ONLYY with us so that the signal can be copy protected - nothing at all to do with quality!

Jason

PeteBrant

That's not quite true.

Component is an analogue signal (as is VGA)
HDMI is a digital one.

LCDs etc cannot display an analogue signal, therefore a Analogue to Digital conversion has to take place, which, by default is goign to degrade the signal depending on the quality of the conversion (which will vary from set to set).

On a sky box, the conversion is actually happening twice - The Skybox outputs a digital signal, which is converted to analogue, which is then converted back to digital

If you use HDMI, you are "straight through" with a Digital signal.

For the cleanest, purest signal [i]from a digital source[/] HDMI is unquestionably the best connection to use.

HDMI is also with us for many other reasons - As well as copy protection - It offers a single connection for Digital HD Video and multi channel audio.

StickyMicky

vga lead has arrived, will test when i get home

StickyMicky

right lead on

the samsung plasma did some kind of auto setup thing when i turned on the xbox

picture looked VERY washed out and a bit blurry

but i was in 640x480 screen res

changed that to 1024x768 and the blurryness was gone
when useing the VGA lead a dash update lets you choose another setting to do with the IRE, switch this to "expanded" and the blacks fix themselves.


now i can only compare with my knackered old replica component lead, but the picture is much clearer IMHO

the colours do look a little different, but when the samsung plasma did its auto setup, it reset all the callibration settings for the colours on every channel, so i need to go and set everything back up again!

StickyMicky

played around with the settings a bit now

the colours are different a little, cant really say if they are better or worse, they are defo worse until you set the new dash options to "expanded" but once set, they seam a little different, the clarity of the image is vastly superior in my case, i am actually very impressed,

what i have also noticed is that i can now see more of the screen like my picture was zoomed in a little over component (is this overscan?)

the dash blades are not at the outside of my screen, i have a bit more viewing around the outside, same with bejeweled 2, seamed to be more picture in view around the outside.

not had a chance to test any other games, but i did stick the first dvd that i pulled from the shelf (the perfect storm) and the picture looked a bit clearer, although i should really test it with something i have watched more then once, to make a proper judgment

i have the xbox running in 1024 x 768 screen res

found this on the net