Component vs. VGA for HD Xbox360

Torka · 24th August 2006, 02:58

Anyone tried both and can offer an opinion on differences between them, if any?

Currently outputting 1080i to my Dell 2405FPW widescreen LCD using the supplied component cable, and it looks mint. Just wondering if it would somehow look...minter...if I tried a VGA cable instead.

On the other hand I don't want to waste the money on getting the VGA cable if it turns out there'd be no noticable difference.

Thomas · 24th August 2006, 04:41

I'd be interested in peoples feedback too. Based on what I've seen it seems that VGA delivers a slightly better pic for some. I'm keen to give it a shot but I'm not sure what resolutions the 360 will support with my LCD TV.

Stolen from this thread - http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread.php?t=63044

"VGA is a (progressive) form of RGB whereas Component uses colour differences for the image. It sends out the luminance (black and white image) and chrominance (red/blue) and works out the green from this mathematically.

Basically they should be just as good in theory, but it's how most displays handle them that makes the difference. With most displays, Component is classed as a "video" input, which means it will have all sorts of processing applied to the image such as edge enhancement, overscan, and on many displays - a slight red push. (often thrown in to "enhance" flesh tones) And that's if you've got a display that doesn't do much to the image - many more will do things like dynamic contrast, noise reduction etc.

VGA on the other-hand is typically classed as the "PC" input and when you're trying to display fine text etc, any form of image processing / scaling would destroy that, making it unreadable, so most / all processing is disabled. This typically results in a cleaner, sharper image (well, it depends on how you perceive "sharpness" - you may prefer edge enhancement) with more fine details and more accurate colour. Unfortunately, it seems a lot of displays don't do VGA all that well - you get the benefit of no image processing, but many will leave you with a very "flat" looking image. It's fine for text, but for gaming, you might find component looks better.

With the current Sony BRAVIA LCDs, I found the image to be a bit soft over VGA from consoles (not 1:1 mapped) and it looked very "flat" in comparison to component. With my Sony MFM-HT75W LCD, however, VGA looks significantly better than component with much more detail and depth, as it scales better and due to the gamma controls (which aren't there via component) it doesn't look "flat."

Really, you have to try it to see what looks better to you. VGA should look better in general, but only if it's done right."

Torka · 24th August 2006, 06:01

Hmm, the idea in that post seems to be that VGA should be better because it's truer to what it's being given.

But that assumes that the video output by the xbox isn't designed with the "post-processing" you get with other output formats such as component in mind. Is that a safe assumption?

Bree · 24th August 2006, 08:33

I switch between them on my dell 2405. The VGA outputting in 1330x768 or whatever does remove a lot more jaggies compared to component but the colours aren't quite right. You basicly trade one advantage for the other. I'm currently using component though because you can use it with the pic in pic and pic by pic functions of the monitor where as with the VGA you can't (presuming your PC is plugged in via dvi).
Also some backwards compatible xbox games will not run over the VGA cable. For me there's no clear winner.

ohh, if you use your 360 for playing dvds a fair bit then yeah, VGA for the win as it upscales or uses some kinda voodoo to make the movies look nicer.

24th August 2006, 02:58	#1
Torka	Component vs. VGA for HD Xbox360 Anyone tried both and can offer an opinion on differences between them, if any? Currently outputting 1080i to my Dell 2405FPW widescreen LCD using the supplied component cable, and it looks mint. Just wondering if it would somehow look...minter...if I tried a VGA cable instead. On the other hand I don't want to waste the money on getting the VGA cable if it turns out there'd be no noticable difference.

24th August 2006, 04:41	#2
Thomas Showbiz Opera Walrus	I'd be interested in peoples feedback too. Based on what I've seen it seems that VGA delivers a slightly better pic for some. I'm keen to give it a shot but I'm not sure what resolutions the 360 will support with my LCD TV. Stolen from this thread - http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread.php?t=63044 "VGA is a (progressive) form of RGB whereas Component uses colour differences for the image. It sends out the luminance (black and white image) and chrominance (red/blue) and works out the green from this mathematically. Basically they should be just as good in theory, but it's how most displays handle them that makes the difference. With most displays, Component is classed as a "video" input, which means it will have all sorts of processing applied to the image such as edge enhancement, overscan, and on many displays - a slight red push. (often thrown in to "enhance" flesh tones) And that's if you've got a display that doesn't do much to the image - many more will do things like dynamic contrast, noise reduction etc. VGA on the other-hand is typically classed as the "PC" input and when you're trying to display fine text etc, any form of image processing / scaling would destroy that, making it unreadable, so most / all processing is disabled. This typically results in a cleaner, sharper image (well, it depends on how you perceive "sharpness" - you may prefer edge enhancement) with more fine details and more accurate colour. Unfortunately, it seems a lot of displays don't do VGA all that well - you get the benefit of no image processing, but many will leave you with a very "flat" looking image. It's fine for text, but for gaming, you might find component looks better. With the current Sony BRAVIA LCDs, I found the image to be a bit soft over VGA from consoles (not 1:1 mapped) and it looked very "flat" in comparison to component. With my Sony MFM-HT75W LCD, however, VGA looks significantly better than component with much more detail and depth, as it scales better and due to the gamma controls (which aren't there via component) it doesn't look "flat." Really, you have to try it to see what looks better to you. VGA should look better in general, but only if it's done right."

24th August 2006, 06:01	#3
Torka	Hmm, the idea in that post seems to be that VGA should be better because it's truer to what it's being given. But that assumes that the video output by the xbox isn't designed with the "post-processing" you get with other output formats such as component in mind. Is that a safe assumption?

24th August 2006, 08:33	#4
Bree	I switch between them on my dell 2405. The VGA outputting in 1330x768 or whatever does remove a lot more jaggies compared to component but the colours aren't quite right. You basicly trade one advantage for the other. I'm currently using component though because you can use it with the pic in pic and pic by pic functions of the monitor where as with the VGA you can't (presuming your PC is plugged in via dvi). Also some backwards compatible xbox games will not run over the VGA cable. For me there's no clear winner. ohh, if you use your 360 for playing dvds a fair bit then yeah, VGA for the win as it upscales or uses some kinda voodoo to make the movies look nicer.