How does the original Xbox look on HDTV/LCDs?

[BlueWeasel]

I'm currently thinking of getting a x360 but will probably wait a month or so (maybe indefinitely). Honestly, I've never played one, but the status may change after I go over to a friend's house and play Halo 3 and Gears of War.

I've long given up upgrading to the latest and greatest hardware in order to play the newest PC games. I'm the kinda gamer who enjoys classic games and rarely buy new games anymore. I think the last 2 games I bought were HL2 and COD2. :Q

Having said that, I still enjoy playing the original Xbox and use it as mainly for XBMC. The screenshots of XBMC on HDTV/LCD's look great. I'm considering picking up a 26 to 30-inch HDTV (LCD) and was wondering how much of an improvement Xbox games would look compared to SDTV.

Also, I have Xbox component cables -- do I need anything else or will these suffice for the HDTV connection?

 

[Modeps]

Considering the original Xbox is not a high definition device, I would take a guess and say that the difference really would be negligible. If you're using composite cables, your first step is to get svideo or component immediately. Those will give you the biggest jump in quality over nasty ass composite cables.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Originally posted by: Modeps
Considering the original Xbox is not a high definition device, I would take a guess and say that the difference really would be negligible. If you're using composite cables, your first step is to get svideo or component immediately. Those will give you the biggest jump in quality over nasty ass composite cables.

Oops, my mistake. I'm already using component, not composite cables. (Edited the OP).

Even on a 24" SDTV, there was a pretty big difference between RCA and component cables.

 

[CKDragon]

Honestly, I forget which games support 720p, but I know that there seemed to be quite a few towards the end of the Xbox's life cycle. But XBMC output in 1080i was downright dreamy even if it didn't have the horsepower to play 1080i content. If you have a use for it, HRHD video content and pictures shared from my media PC looked excellent with the increased resolution.

EDIT: HD Xbox Games database link

I suppose there weren't as many as I thought, but two of the last games I played on the original Xbox were Marvel: UA and The Warriors and both those supported 720p. Note that the list I linked to doesn't include M:UA so it does not have every game. This probably means that late life cycle games that were more likely to be 720p are not included.

 

[azazyel]

I'm kind of like you, I just stopped upgrading my pc to play games so I just bought the Xbox. HD really does look nice on it but I bought a 32" LCD for Halo3. Personally I love it and am still happy with the purchase. I didn't go high end, I just bought a Vizio but IMHO it looks great.

Edit spelling

 

[Evander]

I've got a 27 inch HD and Xbox and it looks awesome (hooked up with cheap 3rd party component cable). Don't worry if the game is not 720p, it will still easily look better than on a standard TV b/c of the sharpness and color

 

[fatdragondzc]

If you are planning on getting a 360, dont worry about how your original xbox game would look like on hdtv. Play it on xbox 360, it up converts the game.

 

[CKDragon]

Originally posted by: fatdragondzc
If you are planning on getting a 360, dont worry about how your original xbox game would look like on hdtv. Play it on xbox 360, it up converts the game.

If he's anything like me, he'll still want to use XBMC. As someone who has been consistently annoyed at the WMC extender interface, nothing on the 360 comes close.

EDIT: Addressing your point more directly, the 360's backwards compatibility list is still rather lacking for my tastes. My old Xbox actually died and I never replaced it.

About once a month my fiance asks if the Karaoke Revolution games will work, yet. I keep telling her to wait and she can sing for me in Rock Band.

 

[BlueWeasel]

Well, I made the jump from a 36" Sony SDTV to a 42" LCD HDTV.

Finally got around to hooking up the Xbox1 to it tonight via HD component cables, and XBMC looks amazing at 720p and 1080i. A few games that I have support 720p and it looks like a completely different system.

The only drawback I see is the Xbox just doesn't have the power for 720p in some games. For example, one of my favorite games, NCAA Baseball 2006, looks great in 720p, but plays terrible. There's a constant frame drop and makes the game essentially unplayable.

 

[CKDragon]

Originally posted by: BlueWeasel
The only drawback I see is the Xbox just doesn't have the power for 720p in some games. For example, one of my favorite games, NCAA Baseball 2006, looks great in 720p, but plays terrible. There's a constant frame drop and makes the game essentially unplayable.

As I PMed, congrats on getting your new setup up and running, but that's ashame one of your favorite games isn't working well. I never noticed a problem with the games I ran in HD, but I never did a comparison with them running in 480i vs. 720p.