Anyone here use their 360 on a regular old TV?

[jkam]

I want to get a 360 but I don't really want to get an HDTV right now (maybe down the line) so I'm wondering if anyone here uses the 360 on a regular old TV? I know I pretty much fall into the category of could care less about HD (Yes it looks good) but I want to know how the 360 fairs on a normal TV.

I might end up buying a cheap LCD computer monitor but I'm not 100% sure I want to do that either.

Maybe someone knows a site with some comparison shots?

[CAG 79]

Well even though HD is highly recommended, SDTV will get the job done. My 360 is hooked up to a 19" TV/VCR combo right now until Christmas when hopefully I will get a new and bigger TV. But I really didn't see that big of a difference between both. (A friend has his 360 w/ an HDTV)

[rly723]

go HD, there is a big difference visually. of course no affect on gameplay, but once you get an HD you'll definitely prefer it

[fraggedbylaggers]

It is still nice on a regular tv. Beware of Dead Rising though...

[thrustbucket]

It looks fine on a SDTV, just make sure your connected at least with component cables and it's a decent tv.

[getmyrunon]

jasonlives you must be blind. I game on both, SD here at school and an HD at home, and the HD absolutely kicks the pantaloons off the SD.

http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=399020&st=0 some screenies there,

and a handful of games - most notably dead rising, but also king kong and some others - don't run well on SDTVs at all (the text is too freaking small).

If you've got $500 you can get a great 32 inch westinghouse from best buy this black friday if you're willing to camp.

[jezebelseven]

It is still nice on a regular tv. Beware of Dead Rising though...

Agreed, although it still is playable with SD, but it was amazingly frustrating to me. I ended up having to use a walkthrough in some parts that I just couldn't figure out what the hell I was meant to be doing, because of the text issue.

But yeah. It's entirely doable to use it on an SD.

[jkam]

It looks fine on a SDTV, just make sure your connected at least with component cables and it's a decent tv.

I'd probably be going Composite or S-video so that's why I'm thinking of going with a cheap LCD monitor and buying a VGA cable when I buy the 360. I've read about the issues with Dead Rising and the like...it's the stuff like that...that worries me.

[thrustbucket]

I'd probably be going Composite or S-video so that's why I'm thinking of going with a cheap LCD monitor and buying a VGA cable when I buy the 360. I've read about the issues with Dead Rising and the like...it's the stuff like that...that worries me.

It isn't that big of a deal. S-Video is bare minimum suck.

Play on a monitor if you can.

[PenguinMaster]

Well even though HD is highly recommended, SDTV will get the job done. My 360 is hooked up to a 19" TV/VCR combo right now until Christmas when hopefully I will get a new and bigger TV. But I really didn't see that big of a difference between both. (A friend has his 360 w/ an HDTV)

Do you have a computer monitor? If so, hook it up to that right away.

I'd probably be going Composite or S-video so that's why I'm thinking of going with a cheap LCD monitor and buying a VGA cable when I buy the 360. I've read about the issues with Dead Rising and the like...it's the stuff like that...that worries me.

Definitely don't play with Composite or S-Video. I play on a 19" CRT Monitor at 1280x720 (720p) and it looks fantastic. If you have a CRT monitor there is no reason to "upgrade" to an LCD. Also, if you use a monitor do not set the 360 to 1280x1024 since it is a 4:3 image and the 360 does not have a native HD 4:3 image it upscales the 480p image which looks significantly worse than the 720p one.

[Richlough]

Mine's hooked up to a regular old 53" Hitachi Ultravision , via component .

[jkam]

Do you have a computer monitor? If so, hook it up to that right away.

Definitely don't play with Composite or S-Video. I play on a 19" CRT Monitor at 1280x720 (720p) and it looks fantastic. If you have a CRT monitor there is no reason to "upgrade" to an LCD. Also, if you use a monitor do not set the 360 to 1280x1024 since it is a 4:3 image and the 360 does not have a native HD 4:3 image it upscales the 480p image which looks significantly worse than the 720p one.

I have a 19" Dell LCD monitor...the only problem is the response time is 25ms which isn't so hot for gaming. I was thinking I could sell it and go with something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824009100

It might be nice to have the widescreen aspect too.

[Weedy649]

I used to play on a 19" or so TV. It looked good, and i was happy. Then i got a 27" LCD HDTV, lets just say its well worth it.

If you want to go the cheap route, try to find a deal on Syntax Olevia tvs, i got my 27 inch for 380 on ebay(local pickup) and ive seen a few threads on CAG with different size models on sale.

So yes you can use it on a regular old TV, but i HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend you get an HDTV. I just switched over 2 weeks ago and its one of the best decisions ive made to my gaming set up.

[PenguinMaster]

It might be nice to have the widescreen aspect too.

To play in HD you have to play in widescreen, so it would be best to get a widescreen monitor (otherwise you'll have to letterbox it).

[jkam]

To play in HD you have to play in widescreen, so it would be best to get a widescreen monitor (otherwise you'll have to letterbox it).

Would my newegg choice work out well then?
Thanks! You've been the most helpful!

[neudog]

I use a regular TV without component cables and the picture still looks good. Though I've been able to play my 360 on HD TV's I can wait for a price drop. If you're on a budget I would stick to SDTV with or without component cables for now.

[PenguinMaster]

Would my newegg choice work out well then?
Thanks! You've been the most helpful!

The monitor you've selected has a resolution of 1440x900 (as most 19" widescreen monitors do) the 360s highest resolution (other than 1920x1080) is 1360x768. So you could either get it looking the best but only use 80% of the screen by having it use a 1:1 ratio or you could stretch it too the whole screen for a slight bit of lower quality. Honestly I mostly use CRT monitors as they're much cheaper (I found my 19" for $30 on craigslist), so I don't know firsthand how good it looks when playing at a non-native resolution on an LCD Monitor, but I've never heard any complaints about it.

[Rozz]

jasonlives you must be blind. I game on both, SD here at school and an HD at home, and the HD absolutely kicks the pantaloons off the SD.

http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=399020&st=0 some screenies there,

and a handful of games - most notably dead rising, but also king kong and some others - don't run well on SDTVs at all (the text is too freaking small).

If you've got $500 you can get a great 32 inch westinghouse from best buy this black friday if you're willing to camp.
Pics on link not working :cry:

IMO it looks a little better than normal Xbox on a normal TV, HD is the way to go, unfortunately for me its unaffordable so I have no 360 at the moment.

[CHARYODA]

Currently my 360 is hooked up to my 27' Sony Wega SDTV via component cables. I think that it looks fine but I'm also in the market for a HDTV right now because I would really like to see the text in Dead Rising and I think that overall it would just be better looking.

But overall I'd say that a HDTV is not needed in order to enjoy a 360 :).

[getmyrunon]

Pics on link not working :cry:


Oops, shoulda been more specific. scroll in the thread :)

[thrustbucket]

But overall I'd say that a HDTV is not needed in order to enjoy a 360 :).

This is key.

Don't listen to anyone that says a 360 is not worth getting without an HDTV. It's utter bullshit.

[deadite76]

This is key.

Don't listen to anyone that says a 360 is not worth getting without an HDTV. It's udder bullshit.

True! Very true!!

[getmyrunon]

If you never see a 360 on an hdtv you'll be pretty satisfied. Once you experience the goodness, you'll feel tiny pangs of sadness every time you boot it up in SD. At least I do :) But don't let it stop you from buying the console. Just don't expect to be blown away graphically.

[ph33r m3]

I play my 360 on both, I don't notice a difference at all actually.

[elsnow77]

i use it on an SDTV, and think it's fine. My friend has his on an HD, and honestly after like 20 mins of playing you get so engrossed in the game you forget the HD part

[DesertEagleXIX]

I've played on both, and perhaps with the extra clarity HD brings, found some problems:

- For me vsync looks worse on HD. Lots of 'page tearing' is appearent. It doesn't seem quite as bad in SD. Maybe it's the aharpness of the image.

- A few people have noted games that run into framerate problems when working in higher resolutions. Call of Duty 2 suffered a bit, if I'm not mistaken.

I also played Dead Rising on a 32" SD set with component cables and could read the text fine.

[DT778]

I'd probably be going Composite or S-video so that's why I'm thinking of going with a cheap LCD monitor and buying a VGA cable when I buy the 360. I've read about the issues with Dead Rising and the like...it's the stuff like that...that worries me.i play on an sdtv w/s-video and it looks great. But if you're going to spend money on vga cables and a monitor you might as well get an hdtv.

[Technique]

I play on a regular old curved tube 17" Magnavox, and let me tell you something, it takes the enjoyment out of my 360. All of my friends have nice HDTVs and it's a huge relief to me when I play 360 at their place. They always ask me if I'm getting the new games that are coming out and I will usually always reply with, "Dude, I have to get a new TV first before getting any new 360 games, my TV takes all of the fun out of it." Seriously, it's playable, but HD is just that much better. I'm sure it will look good on a flatscreen non-HD, but HD is the way to go in my opinion.

[Number83]

I did, until my 32" Sony Trinitron died...It was 7 years old...I loved that TV and the 360 lookd great on it, but man am I so glad it kicked the bucket. Or else I would never have realized how awesome a 32" LCD TV could be.

[captainfrizo]

I have my 360 hooked up to a 27" SDTV and it looks fine (although I am looking to upgrade to something bigger and HD). Just because you don't have a HDTV doesn't mean you'll be getting N64-style visuals out of the 360.

Actually, I think it's more important to have a sound system for the 360 than HD.

[D4rkN1ght]

I got a 36 inch panasonic HDTV, i used to play on a 19 inch OLD ASS TV with a glass shield and a big round tube behinde it... anyways hd is the way to go, i got my 36 incher for 300 bucks, they are all over the placed used.. try Craigslist, thats where i got mine... heavy as shit, but i love it

[Chuplayer]

I run my 360 through a fairly large SDTV. I use the composite cables because it gives the graphics the photoshop filter effect. It doesn't look as sharp as component cables (which I tried), but composite video hides the imperfections of the graphics. If you get a full screen TV, make sure it has a 16:9 enhanced mode. The widescreen display will look letterboxed, but you won't lose any resolution that way.

Even running my 360 on that TV through component cables makes the graphics look less realistic. I don't think higher resolutions will make the graphics look any more convincing.

That's what pisses me off about the 360. All these games are made for high def gaming, but if they optimized a game for SDTV, imagine how realistic the graphics will be! The 360's horsepower is being used in the wrong place, so you've got to use shittier quality video hookups to get the most convincing picture possible.

[zewone]

360 looks fine on SDTV, but looks AMAZING on HDTV.

I recommend at least getting a 19-21 inch monitor ($150-$200) and a VGA cable ($7).

[CYRiX]

I think otheres may have a similar situation as I do.

I have an HDTV, but everyone of my friends (except for one) or course uses their SDTV's, and honestly it makes the games looks like xbox 1 games to me, maybe i'm just spoiled or something.

[jkam]

i play on an sdtv w/s-video and it looks great. But if you're going to spend money on vga cables and a monitor you might as well get an hdtv.

Well the monitor\HDTV difference for the same 19" widescreen would be about $300.

[KingDox]

This is key.

Don't listen to anyone that says a 360 is not worth getting without an HDTV. It's utter bullshit.

I've got a regular tv and I have a blast on the 360. I'm sure when I get a HDTV I'll re-play all my games in super pretty mode. But for now it still looks great.

[sinistaminista]

I use a 19" Acer AL1914 monitor and the graphics look great. I also hook it up to my 32" JVC flatscreen SD with components and it looks good too. You can def tell the diff between the monitor and the TV but its not enough to make me not want to play on the tv. Dead Rising worked fine on the TV too although the text in game was more difficult to read it was still possible.

[fishface45]

I'm playing on a 27in JVC TV right now.. But I will be buying a Sharp 46 or 52 1080p in a month or so..

[bortle]

I use a 32" SDTV with composite, it's fine. Of course I'd prefer HD but it's not really in the cards right now. Dead Rising was a pain though.

[dcswirl]

I play mine on a 27 inch through s-video. Not a big spender when it comes to TV'S.

[mvp828]

I played mine on a shitty old tv from launch until this past august and it really wasn't too bad. Then I picked up a 15" Insiginia EDTV from Best Buy on sale for 199.99 and am currently playing it on that.