Question for pal xbox users: xbox rgb quality?

[schmuck]

I bought rgb cable for my xbox to get better picture quality but it seems like it doesnt make much difference, it looks just like composite. Its very murky dark and washed out. I have rgb on all my other console(exept n64) and they all look vibrant and great so its not my tv or something like that.

Ive noticed other people have the same problems but ive never heard any good explanation.

Also does it get better with progressive/interlaced component ?

 

[Fox5]

Maybe you're not getting RGB? I know European unofficial RGB cables for gamecube often only output composite instead of RGB.

 

[ector]

XBox RGB looks great. I've got an el-cheapo $7 or so rgb cable from lik-sang and the picture is nice. Much much MUCH better than composite.

 

[Farid]

Yep, same thing as ector here, the result with RGB look a hell lot better than the cross-coloration/shimmering mess that composite is.
Both RGB cables I bought at my local store were cheap stuff, and both work perfectly fine, on two different TVs.

So, you might indeed have a problem with your cables.

BTW, why do Sony/MS/Nintendo keep on selling their consoles in Europe bundle with this composite crap? That's just wrong, especially since they don't seem to care about selling S-Video/RGB cables.

 

[AlNom]

BTW, why do Sony/MS/Nintendo keep on selling their consoles in Europe bundle with this composite crap? That's just wrong, especially since they don't seem to care about selling S-Video/RGB cables.

They do it in the US as well, so perhaps they do it everywhere.

What's really odd about MS's S-Video pack is that it has the composite output as well as the S-Video output, and it doesn't include a composite cable. I'm puzzled as to why MS would do that and still produce the regular composite cable bundle that comes with the xbox...it's quite redundant.

As of now I have all 4 video packs (RF, stock cables, S-Video, RGB). Surely they could just get rid of the stock cables and bundle the S-Video pack and add the composite cable... It just doesn't make sense...

 

[Murakami]

In my opinion, RGB cable for Xbox is good: the difference between it and composite cable is not so big because the Xbox has the best composite video out from among all present consoles.
Besides, you have to be sure to use a RGB SCART connector (usually, if your TV has more than one, only the first will be RGB compatable).

 

[schmuck]

You who say rgb is good do you have any experiance of rgb on other consoles such as dc, psone, ps2, saturn etc?

Because rgb quality on these consoles are almost as good as a vga monitor.

Also how old are your xboxes? Mine is an 1.1.

 

[hey69]

i find RGB output to my xbox very good !

schmuck make sure you put your SCART plug in the FIRST scart connector on your TV/.
a lot of TV's have 2 scart plugs on the back but only the first one is a REAL RGB scart input. most of the time (not always mind you) the second one is Svideo trough a scart plug and if there is a third one it is most guaranteed composite.
I have a philips 32" widescreen pal tv . 2 Scart connectors on the back
1st is RGB, 2nd is svdieo

my brother has a sony 32" widescreen tv and he has 3 scart connectors.
the first 2 scarts are RGB , the third is svideo

 

[schmuck]

I know..But its not that.

My tv auto selects when rgb is connected to the right slot, and it does. So everything is connected the right way.

 

[London Geezer]

Oh and just to clarify, Unless you mod your console and play NTSC games on it, you will not be able to play in progressive scan on stock PAL Xbox's. Same for PAL GC.

 

[hey69]

if its dark and a bit washed out, i suspect your AV out port on your xbox.
did you try another persons xbox for a test?

 

[London Geezer]

Oh and also, i bought one of those crappy third party "RGB cables" for PS2 a few years ago, and well... it wasn't really RGB, it was just composite.
So i would check the cable. Or maybe it's something to do with the Xbox settings? Never ventured into the Xbox settings so i'm not sure about that.

 

[hey69]

Oh and also, i bought one of those crappy third party "RGB cables" for PS2 a few years ago, and well... it wasn't really RGB, it was just composite.
So i would check the cable. Or maybe it's something to do with the Xbox settings? Never ventured into the Xbox settings so i'm not sure about that.

I second that, beware of fake rgb scart leads. i missbought myself once one for my ps2 i had a loong loong time ago when animals could talk and pigs flew

 

[schmuck]

Like i said it is rgb since it auto selects the rgb channel on the tv.

I have a joytech cable btw.

And its nothing "wrong" its just that it doesnt look as good and sharp as rgb should.

But anyway thanks for the answers..

 

[arhra]

The early xboxes had a pretty crap RGB output, i believe, which if you have a 1.1, might explain it. I have a later revision (can't remember exactly which, but i think it's either a 1.2 or 1.3), and the RGB output is every bit as good as my cube and PS2. IIRC, they switched suppliers for the video encoder chip at one point, which would probably explain the differences between different revisions...

 

[London Geezer]

Also, many users have noticed how the Xbox output seems very "soft" in interlaced mode, at least compared to PS2's super sharp but jaggy output.
Couple that with the fact that some Xbox games have AA which blurs the output even more, and maybe we have the solution, maybe u're just mistaking composite for rgb.
The proof would be to put on a game with a very bright Red next to contrasting colours like Blue or Green. With composite, there should be some serious flickering where the 2 colours meet, pixels jumping all over the place. With RGB there shouldn't be any flickering.

Check that. If there's no flickering and the output is just "soft" as you put it, then it's probably just the way it's meant to be.

 

[hey69]

so you admit ps2 has jaggy grafix ?

 

[London Geezer]

so you admit ps2 has jaggy grafix ?

It's not for me to admit. From my experience, all current consoles have jaggies, even when the developers swear to be using AA. PS2 seems to have a very sharp output that makes the jaggies more visible in most games. GC usually has a flicker filter which helps, and Xbox is usually blurry.
I'm only speaking about interlaced output.
Progressive is a whole different story and i can only testify for PS2 pro-scan output since PAL GC's and Xbox's games don't have it.

 

[hey69]

i knew that, was just joking with you

 

[Murakami]

Where may i check Xbox version?