VGA vs. S-Video vs. Component Video

[uneffected]

Hey, i am in a perdicament..

I have a good computer monitor, but a ****ty t.v.. (like 15 years old, no a\v input).

So heres the question... if i was to buy a TV, (on a budget of like 500 canadian) would it be better to get a VGA box or a cheap component video tv, or find a decent s-video tv.. i heard somewhere that component vs. s-video only matters if the t.v is really good... anyway..

one more question...whats better s-video, component or VGA?
(better means less jaggies, crisp.. blah blah.. what looks the best)

I hope that made sence... anyway.. this forum rocks..

[Frostberg]

i seriously doubt you can get a television with component hookups for $500 USD...now canadian...I dont think its possible...even if there was component hookups, the tv is cheap so the quality of the hookups wont matter if the tv sucks...now you can get an ok s-video television, but than again for the price it wont be all that great...but id say better than playing on a computer monitor...depends on sixe of your monitor. Personally, Id save up and buy a bigger, better television wih component hookups...

Component hookups wont anti-alias your picture, and I dont know why so many people expect it to. Different component methods are just splitting up the colors more...thats all. Of course this makes it look a whole lot better, but it isint improving how many polygons are on the screen or something like that.

I dont personally know how great the xbox will look via VGA now, because nothing is official and I cant see how an xbox game could look like a PC game if the xbox was hooked up to a monitor. It just seems as if you would lose quality in the cheap parts third parties put in converters.

Component is the best. S-Video is next, and much farther behind is A/V then down falling endlessly in the bottomless pits is RF. On your current televison you will have to use RF, and that doesnt show anything even close to what the Xbox has to show. The colors arent lifelike and vivid. Only ok if you have no other option...but id say it is nearly pointless to buy an xbox without having a good tv...

[uneffected]

well dreamcast *sorry* looks **** good on vga (exept capcom games), so i expect xbox too.. Has anyone played it on VGA?

yes i have seen component for about 500 canadian.. but its tough to find.. s-video is more common.. is there a big leap from s-video to component? on a low-med end tv?

[DIGITAL]

go with the s video,you can get a good size tv an a decent tv for what your looking to spend svideo does look very good thats what im playing with

[Frostberg]

Originally posted by uneffected
yes i have seen component for about 500 canadian.. but its tough to find.. s-video is more common.. is there a big leap from s-video to component? on a low-med end tv?

Well even if you could find that tv, it wont look any different, because the tv itself isint that good. You can get a better svideo tv for the same price...but id still advise waiting to get the best, and if VGA looks alright play with that in the meantime, and start up your fund to get like a 32" Sony Wega or something, where you can at least take advantage of the quality component has to offer

[wizkid918]

i had a viewsonic external TV Tuner and it had the ability for the RCA jacks to plug in and it looked like crap, dont know if a straight converter would be better

[Azazel]

Component video looks much better, but my tv cost me $2200 about three months ago, so its not cheap. If you can afford it go with the best. High Definition!