VGA OR HDMI CABLES?

which will give the better picture when playing on a xbox 360?

(11-07-2010 08:43 )newark red Wrote:  which will give the better picture when playing on a xbox 360?

In theory all other things being equal HDMI will give you the better signal as it is a digital transmission. Whether you'll notice the difference will depend on how much interference a VGA cable will pick up. I don't use consoles so can't comment directly on the xbox but in my experience a normal user will be hard pressed to notice quality differences between VGA and HDMI.

(11-07-2010 13:59 )Red Wrote:  

(11-07-2010 08:43 )newark red Wrote:  which will give the better picture when playing on a xbox 360?

In theory all other things being equal HDMI will give you the better signal as it is a digital transmission. Whether you'll notice the difference will depend on how much interference a VGA cable will pick up. I don't use consoles so can't comment directly on the xbox but in my experience a normal user will be hard pressed to notice quality differences between VGA and HDMI.

I have to agree with Red on this one.... but I to would also ask whether or not you would notice the difference.... If you already have one of these cables give it a go and see whether or not you are happy with what you are seeing.

Might not be relevant here. But I see a huge difference between a 1.3 and a 1.4 hdmi

(11-07-2010 21:48 )loulo12 Wrote:  Might not be relevant here. But I see a huge difference between a 1.3 and a 1.4 hdmi

Well you shouldn't. The only thing that improves picture quality between 1.3 and 1.4 is extended support for colour spaces and high resolutions for screens that support them

Seeing as consumer grade TVs aren't colour calibrated accurately as far as I'm aware and most people don't have the hardware to do this themselves then this is unlikely to be the reason for the better quality. Add to the fact most equipment is still running 1.3 standard and is not firmware upgradeable and that suggests you are mistaken or had a poor quality 1.3 cable

I believe it'll be down to the TV whether HDMI gives a noticeably better picture.

With an older monitor I had I couldn't tell any difference between the VGA and DVI (digital) connections. With my current monitor the quality through the VGA isn't so hot though. I think it's the analog - digital converter that varies in quality between screens.

Best bet would be to borrow an HDMI cable and if you like what you see, you can get them very cheap now. Don't be fooled by much more expensive cables that claim to be better.

you should see an improvement in picture quality on lcd from vga to hdmi. being vga is an analog output and hdmi is digital and the colour should be more accurate. at least thats the sales pitch, but as red says on a tv thats 720p it would be hard to notice. that and vga only supports 480p where as hdmi supports 720p and 1080p...

(13-07-2010 02:15 )Hexit Wrote:  you should see an improvement in picture quality on lcd from vga to hdmi. being vga is an analog output and hdmi is digital and the colour should be more accurate. at least thats the sales pitch, but as red says on a tv thats 720p it would be hard to notice. that and vga only supports 480p where as hdmi supports 720p and 1080p...

Really? I'm not exactly using state of the art equipment here but my VGA cabling on my desktop unit has had no problem dealing with 1600*1200 (AKA 1600p)
I think what you might be pointing at is a limitation of the screen. I should have mentioned before More than a few LCDs don't support their full native resolution on their VGA connections. Check your manual

(13-07-2010 12:08 )Red Wrote:  

(13-07-2010 02:15 )Hexit Wrote:  you should see an improvement in picture quality on lcd from vga to hdmi. being vga is an analog output and hdmi is digital and the colour should be more accurate. at least thats the sales pitch, but as red says on a tv thats 720p it would be hard to notice. that and vga only supports 480p where as hdmi supports 720p and 1080p...

Really? I'm not exactly using state of the art equipment here but my VGA cabling on my desktop unit has had no problem dealing with 1600*1200 (AKA 1600p)
I think what you might be pointing at is a limitation of the screen. I should have mentioned before More than a few LCDs don't support their full native resolution on their VGA connections. Check your manual

I think what Hexit is referring to is that VGA, unlike DVI/HDMI, doesn't support AACS content protection, and that some media (most likely bought and paid for BluRay discs) will force HD outputs to downscale to 480p if they don't support AACS, not sure how many actual BluRay discs enforce this though and whether this would affect things like Xbox 360.

The screen limitation is probably a more likely reason...

(13-07-2010 01:32 )Red Wrote:  

(11-07-2010 21:48 )loulo12 Wrote:  Might not be relevant here. But I see a huge difference between a 1.3 and a 1.4 hdmi

Well you shouldn't. The only thing that improves picture quality between 1.3 and 1.4 is extended support for colour spaces and high resolutions for screens that support them

Seeing as consumer grade TVs aren't colour calibrated accurately as far as I'm aware and most people don't have the hardware to do this themselves then this is unlikely to be the reason for the better quality. Add to the fact most equipment is still running 1.3 standard and is not firmware upgradeable and that suggests you are mistaken or had a poor quality 1.3 cable

I'm certainly not mistaken. There is a vast improvement, both in picture and sound. I must have had a dodgy cable then. It was a Amazon basics, the one I have now is XO PLATINUM HDMI Cable. I would provide the links, but do not know if that's breaking some rule or another.

My TV is just a samsung LE32A456

Interesting