Do I need a widescreen hd tv to make full use of a 360?

Thorbar

Hey lads, I'm trying to decide between a 360 and a wii for this christmas. I have a old TV at the moment, its quiet big but it also old and can only display up to 50hz. It only has a scart connection at the back as well. I'm not even sure if this can handle an xbox 360 and I think a lot of the next gen benefits will be seriously lost if I don't splash out 350 euro for a 20inch lcd screen or 1000 quid for a 32 inch flat screen.

Has anyone used the 360 on a non-hd tv? Does it look at better? Does playing the 360 on a small lcd screen make for a good experience?

00sully

i would seriously say that without a hd tv of over 26" there is no point in buying a 360

Clank

Yes ive used it on a normal TV, it looks only marginally better than the Xbox to be honest.Not a fault of the Xbox 360 but the limits of your tv have been reached that's all.

It really depends what games you want to play that should decide which console you get.

Thorbar

What's the cheapest 26in HD ready TV you can get?

GrumPy

Thorbar wrote:

What's the cheapest 26in HD ready TV you can get?

26LA5

Power City €599

Thorbar

I'm after finding a 26in HD ready LCD for 308 <edit>sterling plus 14 sterling</edit> delivery from pixmania.com.

http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/451214/art/hannsg/jt261-hd-ready-26-66-cm.html#fichetechnique

Is this too good to be true? It has a reponse time of 18 ms, this sounds kack compared to the 5 ms you see on LCD 20" monitors.

<edit> doh page was in sterling</edit>

Tusky

Thorbar wrote:

Is this too good to be true?

yep.

308.00 GBP = 457.776 EUR

postage = 14.00 GBP = 20.8047 EUR

I have a 37 inch LCD hd tv hooked up to the 360, looks good but Ive never played it on a normal TV so I cant really comment. I dont even have HD hooked up properly yet. Does it make much of a difference ? Anyone got any screenshots to show the dif ?

Thorbar

So basically for a 360 to really be worth getting, you have to splash out at least 600-1000 euro on a TV? Is it just me or is that a little insane?

Lord Spence

Thats not so I had a 28" widescreen when I first got my 360 and I found it fine you would only miss the HD if you had it before, Hd does look way better on the 360 but if you only have a standard tv the 360 still has lots to offer like Xbox Live and Wireless connestivity plus games like gears of war and Dead rising mind you they might require at least 60hz.

xanthor

Thorbar wrote:

Is it just me or is that a little insane?

Yes, but on the other hand some may say there's no point buying a 360 unless you have equipment to make full use of it's power.

LCD monitor would probably do fine.




As for the TV thing..... it is of course up to you, but i'd strongly suggest spending a little more and buying something you can be sure of.

Samsung are one of the top LCD screen makers.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=319622

voxpop

that is insane - the xbox360 looks fine on a normal tv, even a *shock,horror* 4:3 tv. It will look very nice on a hd tv but you dont need a hd tv for an xbox360.

Be careful with lcd tvs and the xbox360 - there are some horror stories of tearing, lag and blurred images - have a quick read of this -> http://gear.ign.com/articles/720/720303p1.html

Clank

Thorbar wrote:

So basically for a 360 to really be worth getting, you have to splash out at least 600-1000 euro on a TV? Is it just me or is that a little insane?

People just dont get this......its a limitation of your current TV!Dont blame the 360, PS3 will be exactly the same!
Yes itll look good on a normal TV, but on a 32" HDTV it looks great and on a 100" HD Projector it looks spectacular.

Julez

Tusky wrote:

I dont even have HD hooked up properly yet. Does it make much of a difference ? Anyone got any screenshots to show the dif ?

Its really really nice in HD, get it hooked up properly, even the thought of you having it set up in SD when it takes little effort to get it to HD makes me ill, really ill, lol. Seriously tho, its pretty sexy in HD! I couldn't go back now!

omalleyTown

xanthor wrote:

As for the TV thing..... it is of course up to you, but i'd strongly suggest spending a little more and buying something you can be sure of.

Samsung are one of the top LCD screen makers.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=319622

Yeah I got that one aswell from komplett. I still cant believe it was so cheap when I think about the tech inside it and the connections on the back. It made a huge difference to my 360 games but they were perfectly playable on a standard television.

1up.com was even saying how well Gears of War has translated to SDtv and I know Oblivion looks good as I was playing it on SDtv since May with no problems

Lord Spence

I am running my 360 on a 50" Sony Bravia 3LCD HD TV and my god is it amazing you can pick one of these Tv's up now for €1499 they are the business and don't waste your money on a plasma or LCD unless your gonna be hanging it on the wall. Mind you I would love a TV that can output 1080p but thats Just silly Money.

GrumPy

00sully wrote:

i would seriously say that without a hd tv of over 26" there is no point in buying a 360

:rolleyes:

That's a ridiculous statement.

GrumPy

Lord Spence wrote:

I am running my 360 on a 50" Sony Bravia 3LCD HD TV and my god is it amazing you can pick one of these Tv's up now for €1499 they are the business and don't waste your money on a plasma or LCD unless your gonna be hanging it on the wall. Mind you I would love a TV that can output 1080p but thats Just silly Money.

Iv'e seen these screens next to 50" lcd's, and they pale in comparsion.

Lord Spence

How much is a 50" LCD gonna cost you nowhere near €1499 i bet more like €5000+

GrumPy

I'd say 2,700-3,800 max.

Your paying for quality.

chrislad

The question is does he need a HDTV to get the most out of a 360? The answer is yes. Do you need a HDTV to play it? No, but it was designed for one, and if his TV is that old, I would go for the Wii

00sully

well the answer is simple. if you play on a SDTV it will of course be fine to play on and will look better than current gen etc...

BUT when you see it on a HDTV how could you go back realising the difference? its like saying i can play my snes on a black and white 14" tv or a 21" colour

yes HDTV's are expensive but coming down all the time and everyone WILL eventually have them like it or not so its just a choice of when you want to get one i suppose?

again Irish grumpy, ever here of compromise? yes LCD's piss over sony 3lcd RP's but the price differential is too great for the "actual" quality increase vs size. compare the 50" RP to a SDTV and theres no comparison - only a videophile could really justify the difference of lcd vs. 3lcd rp imo

CiaranC

Ive been playing GoW on a 4:3 19" monitor, and the black bars top and bottom make it feel like im playing on a PSP. Same with Pro Evo 6. Widescreen is fast becoming a must.

Thorbar

Clank wrote:

People just dont get this......its a limitation of your current TV!Dont blame the 360, PS3 will be exactly the same!
Yes itll look good on a normal TV, but on a 32" HDTV it looks great and on a 100" HD Projector it looks spectacular.

I agree completely the PS3 is going to have the exact same problem, the whole lure of a 360 or a PS3 is amazing graphics, what I was trying to find out was whether you had to drop over a grand or not to get those amazing graphics.

None of the games that have come out for the 360 yet having interesting enough game play to warrant the cost of a premier console, and I can't justify the cost of a LCD 26-32 at the moment so that cuts out the really amazing graphics.

I might just pick up an old xbox with a bundle of games on ebay.

I'm really considering going with the wii now, well I was going to get a wii anyway but I think I'll leave the 360 for another 6 months to see if LCDs drop in price any more.

Thanks for the info lads, was very helpful.

xanthor

Thorbar wrote:

.
I think I'll leave the 360 for another 6 months to see if LCDs drop in price any more.
.

I'm inclined to think that prices aren't going to move much in the next 6 months.

Anyways, you can pick up a decent LCD monitor for under €300, and speakers for a farily nominal amount.

Gummy Panda

I play on one of these in my room.

Great quality and ideal for a bedroom

GrumPy

Gummy Panda wrote:

I play on one of these in my room.

Great quality and ideal for a bedroom

It's a very nice screen, But you could pick up a 23" HDTV for not much more.

Gummy Panda

Yeah but most of the ones I seen near that price were crap makes.

Samsung is a good brand. The LCD does 720p and sits nicely on my chest drawers

god's toy

Not 23" but I got this 20.1" LG HD compatible TV/Monitor for €440
Built in multi card reader (works without PC) and two USB 2 ports on the side.

Alkers

How does it fair with Pc monitors as opposed to LCDTV's. Namely http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=325763