just got my 65inch widescreen hdtv need help

[ALEX DA PIMP]

the ? is should i risk playing on this tv or not. also what is the best hook up for this and does anyone have any care tips for a rear projection tv please help. does anyone know how to tune the picture for best image possible at the store it looked great but it doesnt have that same picture as it did in the store. thanks for ur help

[LynxFX]

Ok first off, nice purchase. Get ready for hours and hours of great gaming. :p

For the connection either purchase the microsoft HD AV pack and replace the component cables with some RCA AV component cables that you can find at Target for like $12. Dispite what Monster might tell you, you do get the same image with that setup instead of their which would cost twice as much. Now if you can find the monster 400x pack for under $40 or so like I think Maximus did then it is a pretty good deal except if you want to use DD 5.1 sound then you will have to buy their hyperly over priced optical cable. (My main reason for really disliking Monster as a company). The choice is up to you.

Now that you got all of your cables home and everything is connected correctly, go into your dashboard on the xbox (turn it on without any games) and go to settings and video. Say yes to 480p and if you want 720p and 1080i, although no games support that yet but it won't hurt setting it there anyway. Switch your video mode to widescreen and you are set.

As for calibration I would highly sudgest purchasing Video Essentials or AVIA. They are calibration dvd's and are most likely what the store used to calibrate their sets in the showroom although it is rare that you even see a correctly calibrated tv in a store. If you don't want to shell out the $50, I can understand you can usually find a place to rent it. I've found a couple stores around me that rent those discs out and believe me it is well worth it. Not only will you get a surprisenly better picture but you will also reduce the chance for burn in since your contrast and brightness will be properly set.

When you do calibrate always turn your tv on for at least 30 minutes before you start and all projection tvs have a settling period so after around 50 to 100 hours of use you will most likely have to recalibrate the set.

Prevention tips:

Don't leave the xbox or any other game paused and leave it that way for extended periods of time.

Be careful of static images on the screen for extended periods of time, like hours upon hours. This goes for tv as well like if you have the CNN on and they have the news ticker going and you leave that on all day you might get some horizontal burn lines.

Vary movie and regular tv watching unless you stretch your regular 4:3 tv shows into a 16:9 format.

Overall just be smart about it. Most of this is over protective and isn't as important as it used to be with older projection tvs but it is always good to be reminded of it.

[justageek]

Good reply with a lot of info. Personally I prefer using AVIA.

Here's my situation: I have a new HDTV *ready* rear screen projector in 16:9 format. I purchased the AV pack and hooked it up. The toslink sound was great but I noticed really bad jaggies in Halo. In fact, I was so distracted by the jaggies it wasn't playable.

I called MS and they said I should get the S-video cables instead.

I purposely purchased HDTV ready so I can choose which set top box to buy when the prices start to drop later this year.

So is MS tech support correct?

Thanks!

Mo

[benz_300sl]

yo alex, i got a question...

how is the quality of the TV, not when u play XBox games, but the actual TV Shows. Cuz i would think that when its that big...it just gets bad...the best TVs are those Trinitron TVs..the quality on those is AMAZING...

well i'm curious, so reply whenever u get the chance, thank man

Enjoy ur TV

[LynxFX]

Justageek,

I take it you bought the HD AV pack with component connections? If not then that is what you should be using with your set, not the S-video connection pack that comes with the Advanced AV pack.

Eitherway, when you switch to component video and run the games in 480p you will get rid of a few jaggies but nothing huge. The only way the jaggies are going away is if the developers use antialaising or they put the games out in higher res like 1080i or 720p. That is what will help that. But going from 480i to 480p does help a bit but there will still be jaggies. Just the limit of the games right now.

As of now I officially declare a ban against all Microsoft support. For some reason they continually give terrible advice or just flat out don't know what they are talking about. It is getting rediculous.:mad:

[ALEX DA PIMP]

well i want to thank you for your input thanks for the help. all of it worked out thanks. and to benz this tv rocks even with a pair of rabbit ears before my sat was hooked up it looked very nice i must say. and now the tvs out are much better now than 2-5 years ago where u had to sit in front of the thing to see anything. i can walk to the front door and have a perfect view at a 45 degree angle about 80 feet away. well thanks for the responses

[sinizuh]

Plasma > Projection

[LynxFX]

Originally posted by sinizuh
Plasma > Projection

Are you talking about the viewing angle? If so then you need to be a little more specific on what type of projection. For a front projection system you can view at nearly any angle compared to a rear projection which does have a more limited viewing angle. A front projection system definately blows a plasma screen away for viewing angle.

[justageek]

Originally posted by Lynxfx
Justageek,

I take it you bought the HD AV pack with component connections? If not then that is what you should be using with your set, not the S-video connection pack that comes with the Advanced AV pack.


Yes, that's what I bought. But it looks really bad. MS tech support said it's because it's not HDTV, only HDTV ready. Which
really did not make any sense. Component cables are always best. Makes my DVD movies look incredible. The jaggies just suck.
I guess I am too used to playing with a Ge Force 3 with 2X AA. :)

[Azazel]

Lynx,
I dont understand why you said to get rid of the component cables? I thought that those were the best you could get? You seem to clearly know more than me, so I was curious cause I use the HD pack with component cables?

[LynxFX]

justageek,

Again, MS tech support showing their ingorance. Your set says HDTV ready because it doesn't have an HD decoder used for over the air HD signals. You would have to purchase that seperately vs. a full blown HD set with it built in. Otherwise you have all of the same features that an HD set has and can take full advantage of those resolutions.

I hear ya about the jaggies. I'm a huge pc gamer and loved high res gaming and the introduction of AA plus high res. I just hope that they will start to use AA more on xbox games. It is there in the hardware so start using it people....please.


ty818,

I didn't mean get rid of component cables all together, just the ones that come with the HD AV pack. They will do but aren't the best quality especially if compared to the Monster cables. But you can easily purchase seperate component cables of higher quality that will match that of Monster cables and still be cheaper all together. Plus you can get any length you want since MS went with the dongle approach. There is still question whether that dongle is shielded but I've been using it and I haven't had any problems with it. I also switched out the component cables. Sorry for the confusion.

[ALEX DA PIMP]

so where do i hook up the cables in the back. do i hook them up to the hd input side or just the other side

[LynxFX]

Alex, sent you an email.

[justageek]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Lynxfx


Again, MS tech support showing their ingorance. Your set says HDTV ready because it doesn't have an HD decoder used for over the air HD signals. You would have to purchase that seperately vs. a full blown HD set with it built in. Otherwise you have all of the same features that an HD set has and can take full advantage of those resolutions.

I hear ya about the jaggies. I'm a huge pc gamer and loved high res gaming and the introduction of AA plus high res. I just hope that they will start to use AA more on xbox games. It is there in the hardware so start using it people....please.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, I am qiute aware of the difference between HDTV & HDTV ready. I purposely bought it that way so I can choose which set top box to buy later this year as the price drops. I research big ticket items like crazy before plunking down my cash. :)

The jaggies are too much for me. I may be looking to sell my hardly used X-Box soon.

[mahalan]

Hey there!

I read your message with interest because I'm using a 65" widescreen HDTV as well (Toshiba with built in line doubler).

I've not noticed substantial jaggies playing Halo especially none which I would say make it unplayable. Blown up to that size, the graphics still look good -- much better than what I see on a PS2. I'm wondering if you have your video settings configured properly.

[justageek]

Originally posted by mahalan
Hey there!

I read your message with interest because I'm using a 65" widescreen HDTV as well (Toshiba with built in line doubler).

I've not noticed substantial jaggies playing Halo especially none which I would say make it unplayable. Blown up to that size, the graphics still look good -- much better than what I see on a PS2. I'm wondering if you have your video settings configured properly.

I have a Mits with a line doubler. What settings are there to set besides 16:9? I just choose another video mode in order to play.
What am I missing here? Don't you just choose a video mode and adjust brightness, contrast, etc. ?

[l Maximus l]

I just bought a 43" Toshiba HDTV Widescreen....and, I also notice a few jaggies in Halo...nothing to complain about, though. It's because the game is formatted to 480p...when games are 1080i, we won't see any jaggies whatsoever.

The fact that the XBox has settings to 1080i demonstrates that they will be making games that support 1080i...I can't wait!!

All I know is that I am seriously loving my new HDTV...I won't ever go back to a tube again! I had my brother over with a friend of his...and we linked two XBoxes together...my friend and I were on my HDTV, and my brother and his budyd were on a 27" tube TV...and, I couldn't believe the difference! WOW!!!

The HDTV with Component Video was amazing! The 27" had the regular composite cables...and, in comparison, the 27" looked horrible!! :D

[mahalan]

First thing I'd check out is to make sure you've got 480p set to "on" in the xbox config screen. Second, I'd check out the video configuration settings on the tv set (can't help you here since I'm not familiar with the mitsubishi options but I doubt this is the problem since I can't imagine the tv would replace portions of the signal it received with interpolated images). I'd wonder if it was a defective line doubler in the tv set if it weren't for the fact that you've said dvd's look awesome (should be apparent there too).

Only problem I'm having with Halo is how dark the game is (have the same problem with other games too -- some of the tracks in PGR are nearly impossible when the car drives into shadows). I know the answer to this problem for me. I've got the television calibrated for optimal movie viewing. This is much darker than most people have their tv's set up for.

Back to your problem, though. I'd guess one of three things is wrong:

a) you don't have 480p turned on,
b) your xbox has a video malfunction, or
c) your definition of acceptable is VASTLY different from mine.

[Chronman420]

Lynxfx, about the calibration DVD.

#1) What stores in your area rent it?

#2) What kind of store could I buy it at? Best buy, Circuit City or would I have to go to some sort of specialty store?

#3) Do I have to get the projectors themselves calibrated or just the TV settings?

For the record I am using a panasonic 51" HDTV. Thanks in advance man, you seem to be very sharp on this subject.

[LynxFX]

Chronman420

I found a store near me that is just a corner store that happens to have the largest DVD selection in Denver. Go figure. I purchased mine though online. Check out www.dvdpricesearch.com and put in AVIA or Video Essentials. Maybe you will find it for a good price. I found mine for $15 during a rare DTS sale.

I have seen it at Best Buy and Circuit City before. It is in their specialty section. Usually it is expensive though unless they are having a hard time getting rid of it. Ask around.

You just run this dvd on your set and it will go through, step by step on how to properly set your settings like contrast and brightness, sharpness color etc. It puts up test signals and patterns to help you get it right.

[clintb]

Yeah, I got in on some deal for the Avia disc at some nutty price. Under $20 I think. As Lynxfx stated, one of those (Avia or VE) are the ones to get.

In the interim, you could pull out a disc that has the THX Optimode calibrations to get a decent baseline. Terminator2, Fight Club, X-Men and others have it. Not complete in comparison, but will give you the basic tests that you'll need to dial in the Black level & contrast to keep from killing your guns.

If you really want to get into calibrations, check out http://www.hometheaterforum.com. There's other sites, but I haven't hit them in a while and can't remember the url's.

Take care

[justageek]

First thing to do is take it out of torch mode. Sets ship from the factory with the brightmess & contrast set very high. Too high!
This will impact the life of a rear projection television. It will seem to be very dark at first after watching tube TV's for many years, but you have to turn it down Also, watch it in different modes (stretch, narrow, etc.) as you break it in (first 100 hours). After it's broken in, then do the calibration. Not before. The disk will walk you through it & display various test patterns. You can do it all with your remote. No need to open the set up!

Check your local big chain rental store like Blockbuster for the AVIA or VE disk. I ordered mine from amazon.com. Also , the makers of AVIA have a great, informative web site. If both are available for rental, I'd suggest the AVIA disk.

[justageek]

Originally posted by mahalan
First thing I'd check out is to make sure you've got 480p set to "on" in the xbox config screen. Second, I'd check out the video configuration settings on the tv set (can't help you here since I'm not familiar with the mitsubishi options but I doubt this is the problem since I can't imagine the tv would replace portions of the signal it received with interpolated images). I'd wonder if it was a defective line doubler in the tv set if it weren't for the fact that you've said dvd's look awesome (should be apparent there too).

Only problem I'm having with Halo is how dark the game is (have the same problem with other games too -- some of the tracks in PGR are nearly impossible when the car drives into shadows). I know the answer to this problem for me. I've got the television calibrated for optimal movie viewing. This is much darker than most people have their tv's set up for.

Back to your problem, though. I'd guess one of three things is wrong:

a) you don't have 480p turned on,
b) your xbox has a video malfunction, or
c) your definition of acceptable is VASTLY different from mine.

No, I don't think my tastes are vastly different. I'll have to check out if it's set to 480p. Doh! For now, I'm still having fun with satellite with my Direct TV Tivo. I got the standalone TiVo when it first came out and gave it to a family member. Being able to record 2 shows at once with this one rocks.

I too have mine calibrated for movies as I have a high end DVD player that I use a lot. With progressive scan on, it's silky smooth even in fast action sequences. And I agree, most people never take their rear projection TV's out of torch mode! The set line doubler works fine. I probably didn't change it to 480p in the X-box menu. Or at least I hope that's it. I still have not hooked it back up, so I can't check the settings.

Btw, I'm the only middle-aged chick I know that's into a decent home theater system and first person shooters!.:D

[ALEX DA PIMP]

its nice to know that everyone from all shorts of backgrounds is in to the xbox and thanks again for all the help. i hope that everyone enjoys there xbox as well as there tvs as much as i do. cant wait for the xbox to start taking advantge of the system and make there own games instead of porting them over just to have games. they should make games for us and then letting them tone them down for all the other systems to be able to play them