Weird Xbox 360 Graphics Problem

JDUB X

JDUB X

CAGiversary!
This started about 2 months ago and has been driving me insane since I first noticed it. I am experiencing a weird graphics problem that causes weird jaggies and segmented lines to appear in almost every game I play.

First thing I should say is that I realize that console games have a big lack of anti aliasing compared to PC games and I don't expect perfection. I am just going nuts since things don't look nearly as nice as they did for the past 5 years I have played my 360. I have played my 360 every day for years now and this problem is very new.

A good way to explain my problem is that lines that should be straight are often jagged, have little pointed triangles, little dots or segments, sometimes look fuzzy and often flicker as I move my in game camera or character. Sometimes lines are just completely broken up. Most lines on the screen just do not stay still and flicker like crazy when I move around.

There seems to be some sort of connection to both the way lines are lighted and how close I am to an object. For example, straight lines that have special lighting or reflection on them appear segmented or dotted at a distance. When my character or camera moves closer they clear up.

I also notice that this does not happen with 2D games that I play such as Super Meat Boy. It seems to only affect 3D games.

I already know about lowering the sharpness and turning off special processing modes on the TV and none of the options on my TV change anything. I have had this TV for a year now and it has looked fine until now.

My TVs resolution is 720P and lowering or raising the resolution on my 360 does not change the problem. I have tried both component and HDMI.

I have a few videos I made of the problem at it's worst:

YouTube - 360 Hard Edge Visual Issue
YouTube - 360 Graphics issue
YouTube - 360 graphics issue pt2

Here is where it gets strange. I did everything I can think of to fix the problem. I tried my other spare 360, multiple TVs, and different cables. I get the same problem across any combination I try. I even tried hooking it up to a 1080P computer monitor using HDMi. I'm kind of dumbfounded and have no idea what the heck is going on.

The moving dots/lines is definitely the most annoying problem of the bunch, but as I said before I also get general fuzziness and jagged triangles too.

Does anyone know what is happening and if there is anything I can do to fix it? I really want to get back to enjoying my games again.

I wish it was as easy as my 360 being messed up but like I said, I have tried another one and get the same issue.

If anyone can help me it would be a major life saver
 
[quote name='JDUB X']I tried my other spare 360, multiple TVs, and different cables. I get the same problem across any combination I try.[/QUOTE]


There is no problem, you are just annoyed by dumb things.
 
[quote name='Malik112099']There is no problem, you are just annoyed by dumb things.[/QUOTE]

Gee Thanks!
 
Ignore Malik. And by that, I mean put him on your ignore list.

Anyway, I had this issue with Enslaved. The graphics are good, but with aliasing issues as you note. It's probably the first time I've noticed it which seems odd. I need to go back to Red Dead and see if I see it there too. Could this be a game-specific issue? I don't really know, but I sympathize. Unlike Junior Boy. Also wondering if the Dashboard update brought along some bugs, because I don't recall ever seeing it either, and that's the only thing to change recently. However, I didn't have Enslaved before that. I will check out Read Dead tonight and see if I can find anything similar. What's that other game?
 
[quote name='crunchewy']Ignore Malik. And by that, I mean put him on your ignore list.

Anyway, I had this issue with Enslaved. The graphics are good, but with aliasing issues as you note. It's probably the first time I've noticed it which seems odd. I need to go back to Red Dead and see if I see it there too. Could this be a game-specific issue? I don't really know, but I sympathize. Unlike Junior Boy. Also wondering if the Dashboard update brought along some bugs, because I don't recall ever seeing it either, and that's the only thing to change recently. However, I didn't have Enslaved before that. I will check out Read Dead tonight and see if I can find anything similar. What's that other game?[/QUOTE]

It happens in almost every game and did indeed happen before the dashboard update. The videos I posted are the worse case scenario but the stuff is all over every game.
 
It's the moving dots you see on sharp, angle lines. Look at the rudder of the plane in the Red Dead video. It's an aliasing issue, I believe. I use to see this all the time with DVDs before we had progressive scan and upscaling. Something that occurs to me: could this happen if the video being sent to the TV is 1080p and is getting scaled down to 720p? I've got a 720p set too. A lot of Xbox games are only 720p, but some are 1080p. I think including Red Dead, but I'd need to check the box. Still, the game ought to be putting out 720p to a 720p set. Also, I'm not really sure if downscaling would cause it. I'm just speculating here.
 
The red dead looks pretty normal to me. It's just the way that game is. Sometimes the aliasing is not that apparent but if you have an edge with high contrast it can stick out

The only explanation I can come up with for why you seem to just have noticed it is that I think as games have become more graphically intense, there has been less and less antialiasing applied in the engines as the developers have needed more capacity to render the game and can't spend as many resources on antialiasing?

Ruahrc
 
Your post is pretty comprehensive, OP; it sounds like you've tried just about everything within reason. One thing I'm wondering though: have you gone back and played your old games that never exhibited this problem before? Do they exhibit the problem now?

I honestly can't figure out how this can be troubleshooted if it manifests in any combination of console, monitor/TV, cable, and settings. I wonder if this is something that might have arisen when Microsoft pushed through the update for non-standard monitor resolutions a while back.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top