Anyone playing a 360 on a non-hd TV?

[sportdan30]

The main issue I have with Showtime, and probably it has some to do with my LCD tv is that in general, the screen is too dark. I don't want to mess with the video settings too much as channels such as ESPN and Discovery look great.

[Sport73]

Jack,

If you're waiting on an HDTV, you should get the 360 and spend $30 on the VGA cable and hook it up to your computer monitor. You'll get HD-like resolutions on the 360 then, and it will look much better than a standard TV; good enough to tide you over until July at least.

[snaz16]

Jack,

If you're waiting on an HDTV, you should get the 360 and spend $30 on the VGA cable and hook it up to your computer monitor. You'll get HD-like resolutions on the 360 then, and it will look much better than a standard TV; good enough to tide you over until July at least.

Sport, I've been thinking about doing that with the ps2. Is that all I need is a vga cable? Or do I need a converter? I too am waiting,saving for a HDTV,and playing MLB The Show on a standard set as opposed to playing MVP(modded version)on the computer,MVP is just so much nicer looking.

[redneck]

Get the 360 first and then decide if you want better graphics. IMO, HD isn't worth the money.

red

[Sport73]

The main issue I have with Showtime, and probably it has some to do with my LCD tv is that in general, the screen is too dark. I don't want to mess with the video settings too much as channels such as ESPN and Discovery look great.

LCD panels have a tough time representing blacks, and tend to 'crush' the black segments (producing fewer shades of grey than conventional sets, resulting in an image lacking in visual detail during 'dark' scenes). That said, a properly calibrated set will do wonders for those scenes while making bright channels like ESPN look even better (assuming you prefer a natural picture to an over-saturated, pumped contrast one).

The best thing for a novice is to pull out a Star Wars DVD or another movie with a THX Optimizer and use the basic tools there to set your contrast (white level) brightness (black level) and sharpness (yes, there is such thing as too high! my set is currently at 25% Sharpness; high sharpness tends to create 'noise' in contrasted segments like text and fine details).

One MAJOR step better is to get a DVD like AVIA to tune your set.

Most TV's ship with the contrast set too high (resulting in noise surrounding white areas, and 'blown out' colors) and brightness set too high (resulting in duller blacks and too little detail in dark segments).

Your LCD isn't going to produce deep inky blacks, but properly calibrated it should be able to display more detail in darker segments (like movies on Showtime).

[slyguy]

Thanks sport i'm thinking of picking up an LCD in a couple of days