[ar1stotle]

OK, wow, I can't believe I have to ask this but I just can't figure it out. I have an Xbox 360 and I was trying to get some HD output. My parents got a new 50" Panasonic plasma TV, which is supposed to support 720P (supposedly it was cheaper since it wasn't 1080i). So the 360 came with the regular composite cables, which looked alright but I wanted to get better, so I picked up some component HD cables from EB Games. Well, in the dashboard, if you go to system settings, you can set the output quality. It had defaulted to 480p, so I figured I'd pump it up to 720p and get HD goodness. Well, to my surprise, it didn't seem to work that way. After switching it to 720p, the 360 dashboard appeared to be zoomed. It wasn't showing the whole picture. I then tried 1080i, but it was showing the exact same thing (picture appeared zoomed, and the same level of zooming). Anyone have a clue what's up? I'm so embarrassed that I can't figure something out on a game console lol.

[yeshuas]

OK, wow, I can't believe I have to ask this but I just can't figure it out. I have an Xbox 360 and I was trying to get some HD output. My parents got a new 50" Panasonic plasma TV, which is supposed to support 720P (supposedly it was cheaper since it wasn't 1080i). So the 360 came with the regular composite cables, which looked alright but I wanted to get better, so I picked up some component HD cables from EB Games. Well, in the dashboard, if you go to system settings, you can set the output quality. It had defaulted to 480p, so I figured I'd pump it up to 720p and get HD goodness. Well, to my surprise, it didn't seem to work that way. After switching it to 720p, the 360 dashboard appeared to be zoomed. It wasn't showing the whole picture. I then tried 1080i, but it was showing the exact same thing (picture appeared zoomed, and the same level of zooming). Anyone have a clue what's up? I'm so embarrassed that I can't figure something out on a game console lol.

Are you talking about the red white and yellow rc jack cable here or composite cables.

What is a component HD cable? I am familiar with RC jack cable, composite cable (Red Blue and Green) and HDMI cable.

[yeshuas]

Are there any adjustments on the TV inself that you can change????????? There should be some settings in setup

[kanaloa]

I was thinking it could be the TV set on a ratio that's odd too, maybe adjust the different ratios and see if that works. The input from the game consol should be fine (or so I'd think). Just make sure it knows your using the component cables. I don't think composite cables or s-video can do HD can they? I thought only HDMI and Component could.

Edit: I originally got my component and composite reverse above. Fix now.

[leo27]

hey just a heads up it's component that can do HD (the cable with a green blue and red video and a red and white audio cable) along with hdmi of course. Composite video cable can only do standard definition along with s-video.

Now for the problem

if the plasma is new than it should have hdmi in which case using this would give you the best quality. Also check in your tv manual what resolution your tv can recieve over component video, since even though the cable can handle HD your tv might not be able to recieve 720P over component.

[mnemonicj]

John, you have them reversed. Component does HD, composite does not. Composite is the single 2-wire video cable often with a yellow connector and often with white and red audio cables.

S-Video is a 4-wire cable to handle video only, Component is three 2-wire cables that have connectors in green, blue, and red.

Component can handle 720p and 1080i HD signals, but not 1080p.
HDMI and DVI can handle 1080p

You might have an EDTV instead of an HDTV. An EDTV has a maximum resolution of 480p where a normal TV can only do 480i.

[kanaloa]

Thanks, I do always get those reversed. I'm glad I posted though - I learned something new too, we just got an 1080p TV to replace the 780p TV and we are still using the Component cables from our HD-DVR. I'll switch it back to the DVI to HDMI connection (unfortunately our DVR only has a DVI output at the moment). I am hoping we can get a HDMI DVR soon, and put the old one upstairs with the 780 TV.

[yeshuas]

I had them switched two obviously, I did know the Red, Blue and Green cables were the better cable, just get the names messed up.

[ar1stotle]

Well, I figured it out. For some reason, after I set it to 720p output, turned the TV on/off, and re-set the picture format to "full", it worked. I guess maybe when I turned it on initially it set itself to a 480p resolution and didn't want to change. Only thing is, I don't notice a huge quality difference, but for $15 it's not a loss. Thanks for the replies though, glad yall learned something

[yeshuas]

John, you have them reversed. Component does HD, composite does not. Composite is the single 2-wire video cable often with a yellow connector and often with white and red audio cables.

S-Video is a 4-wire cable to handle video only, Component is three 2-wire cables that have connectors in green, blue, and red.

Component can handle 720p and 1080i HD signals, but not 1080p.
HDMI and DVI can handle 1080p

You might have an EDTV instead of an HDTV. An EDTV has a maximum resolution of 480p where a normal TV can only do 480i.

Component cable does do 1080i and 1080P.

I also found a really informative article comparing DVI, HDMI and Component cables which says the only difference is 2 are digital and component in analog, and that the component cable would basically have to be an extended length or really long in order for degradation to be a factor