I got a pal xbox. Ive changed mode to ntsc with enigmah and done everything to get 720p. I activated 720p in video options, selected widescreen and choosed 16:9, widescreen and 720p in xbmc. I bought myself a component cable. Everything works well but some games wont start or crashes. I think this is a region issue but its something Ive never experienced when I had my box in pal mode. I got both ntsc and pal games. The main reason for posting this message is that when I set my box into ntsc mode I get a very soft layer of flickering waves going over the screen, just like a bad antenna connection. Wont my tv or component cable handle NTSC signals? I got a new Hyundai 40" LCD.

I run 1080i, I don't really see any performance difference between 720p and 1080i, everything I put through the machine seems to work fine - with the exception of a 720p DVD that I tried to play. I guess Xbox 1 processor couldn't handle it.

Running 1080i on a 32inch LCD using PM3 skin, XBMC360 skin runs jittery and needs the ram upgrade to function well. 1080i looks way sharper than 720i on my tv and runs very well. Yeah 720i loads a little smoother but barley noticeable on my xbox. comparison to the video quality between 720 and 1080, my choice is with the better video quality.

I just have a quick question that I was hoping somebody could answer for me

I am planning on connecting my xbox to my new HDTV tomorrow and I was just looking at the original Microsoft dashboard so that I would know how to change the systems resolution but I did not see anything that would allow me to do that

Will that option only show up once the component cables are connected?

If youre a PAL user. You have to set your box in NTSC fist.

I have a NTSC system

Just wondering, has anyone been able to get their xbox to play games in 480p widescreen or higher? I can get it to work if I run Halo 2 by loading up XBMC and then making that go to the MS Dashboard to change the settings. Only issue with this is since there are mods running, I can't sign onto Xbox Live, and I can't figure out a way to get to the MS Dashboard without loading up XBMC first. Is there any way to boot directly to the MS Dash so that it can save my video settings?

Xbox in bedroom: 720p on a 57" Hitachi
Xbox in family room: 480i on a 32" Toshiba
Xbox in guest room: 480i on a 20" Magnavox

I just got a component cable for my XBOX to use with my HDTV which can do up to 1080i and am very confused on what to do after it is connected. If I go to the normal XBOX dash I can set the resolutions my TV supports (480p,720p,1080i) which I turned all 3 on, if I should only have the max my TV can do instead of all 3 let me know. After doing that I went to XBMC (with MC360 skin) and in the settings I can still only choose 4:3 NTSC.

I could really use some help. Thanks.

Sorry for the double post, but I found a solution to my problem found on these very forums.

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?s=&...t&p=3937047

More specifically this part:
"HOW YOU FIX IT
This is easily cleared up by launching your default MS Dash while IN XBMC.
You can get to this as Stated : by clicking your right thumbstick in, and using the "dashboard" launch button.

If for some reason your XBMC reboots itself or hangs when you attempt to load your default dash:
restart XBMC, use your file browser, under your extras tab, and go to C:/xboxdash.xbe

Boot that up.

if that loads up your MS dash, mine says "live is not available",
navigate to your settings and enable the ntsc 480 720 1080 options...

save and cut your xbox off and restart and head on back into XBMC.
this should solve your problem.
This utilizes your Second or "virtual/shadow C" and "virtual EEPROM" and saves the HDTV enabled settings."

I followed those steps and it worked just fine. Awesome!!

Sony Wega 27" CRT, Component, 16:9 @ 480i NTSC

Ummm.. why would you be running 480i on your hdtv?

Sony WEGA KS-27FS100

Y, PB, PR Inputs — A component video input connection for a superior picture quality (480i only).

just wondering I have a HDTV, but have no idea high to higher the resolution settings

I run 1080i wide and have had no problems thus far with video rendering. I have had no hiccups or memory issues on my 1.0 Xbox.

I use 720p in a Samsung Slim Fit 32" CRT.
The 1st time I got the xbox to a HDTV was in a Hitachi 42" plasma TV, then i tried 720p and 1080i resolutions.
Since then I preffer 720, 1080 fonts were too small even in a large screen tv.. and i always seen slow animations in 1080.
Now I saw that 1080i uses a lot of memory, that's the reason that 720p it's the most common resolution.

So i've voted

720p in 16:9

screenshot:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i195/betoloco/IMG_2982.jpg

Greetings ^^

Using 1080i on a 32" LCD.

I've actually never encountered a video that won't play at 1080i, the only reason for me to use 720p is that the interface is slightly laggy at 1080i, and also some of the fancier visualizations lag a bit. However, at 1080i things like album covers and DVD covers are much sharper while navigating around, and little aesthetic touches like that really please me.

Sadly, since getting an HDTV, I found that HD resolutions break many of my favorite skins and themes. Oh well.

I'm using 720p on a 42" NTSC Sanyo Vizzon LCD HDTV. 16:9 aspect.

Just modded a Halo edition box for the bedroom (2nd XBMC in the house).
As soon as I upgrade the HDD....It will be 480i on a NTSC 4:3 SDTV.
When taxes roll in it will change to 32" 720p 16:9 NTSC HDTV.

576i 4:3 lol

720P, I found 1080i had too many memory/performance type issues.

Finally got an HDTV! Running 720p on a Panasonic 50" 1080p Plasma. Looks great. Animations were a little slow for me in 1080i.

Congrats!!!!! jcaspar1 on your new HDTV!!!! Doesn't it look soooo much better!!!!

Thanks FourTwentySmiles. It looks so good sometimes I turn on the xbox just to look at the startup page! Really didn't know what I was missing...

JUSt a little 411 for every one.... 720p is a better resolution than 1080i due to the fact of 1080i being interlaced. It splits the picture and only displays half at a time so its 540 not 1080. It switches so fast our eyes can not see it unless there is a lot of fast movement. 720p is progressive and it displays the whole picture the whole time. So technically it goes 480i, 480p. 1080i, 720p, 1080p

Hope this helps!

PimpTwzt - Informative yet simple to the layman. Excellent. How it should be. And in reply i use 37" 16:9 @ 720p. Once youve seen a HD Xbox you wonder how you ever put up with it in the past.

16:9 720p

720p 16:9 with no overscan

Also run stevewals XDSL linux at 720p with zero overscan.

I just got my RGB cables yesterday and got everything setup on my 46" samsung

I'm running 16:9 720P only because when I choose 1080i the whole media center slows to a crawl... I also had to disable 1080i in the xbox dash as even if i set XBMC to use 720P my videos would still load in 1080i and everytime i toggled between video and XBMC there'd be this aweful delay and my TV would display the input connection info (as the res. changes everytime)

whats the deal with that?

also, how do you disable the icon shadowing? Im using mc360

Sorry, but you are mistaken. 1080i not only has higher resolution than 720p EVERY frame or field, it requires more bandwidth, and more processing. It may be interlaced, which does come with drawbacks in some instances, but it is not a "lesser" format than 720p by any means.

I discussed the details in this thread on xbmc.org:
http://xbmc.org/forum/showthread.php?p=225001#post225001
The details come in several posts, so you'll have to read that post, and continue to the next page or so.

It's fine if someone PREFERS 720p over 1080i, but to say that 720p is technically better than 1080i is just wrong. In most cases, qualitatively, it's a wash, and when you do the numbers, 1080i comes out slightly (very slightly) ahead of 720p for bandwidth, processing requirements, and sheer resolution.

The big key to keep in mind is that displaying HALF of the lines of an image (as is done for interlaced video every 60th of a second) does NOT cut both horizontal and vertical resolution in half, the horizontal resolution is intact. So, a 1080i FRAME is 1080x1920, and a 1080i FIELD is 540x1920, which is still more than 720p (720x1280). "540p" would be 540x960, which is much less than 720p, but it doesn't exist, so fuggedaboudit.

Technically speaking, this is not really true. Comparing interlaced (for this example 1080i) to progressive (for this example 720p) is kind of like comparing apples and oranges. While you could make the argument that 720p is more of a "complete" picture, it is unfounded to compare it to 1080i.

Reason being, you have to consider what you are watching to decide which format is "better" for your given programming. For example, I wouldn't want to watch sports in 720p, because it would look and feel weird (not to mention impractical, given that 1080i represents fast motion better than progressive formats)...sports have always been shot interlaced and displaying them as progressive would be just odd. For the same reason, movies are shot in progressive because they're supposed to feel different.

Always consider the content! There is no definitive answer here.

And as a side note, "resolution" is defined as pixel depth, so your argument about 720p having a better resolution that 1080i is false. 720p is 1280x720, whereas 1080i is 1920x1080. But again, read my last post...I make note of the breakdowns there.

While I agree with your overall point, your claim that sports are better shown in interlaced format is a little off. Any high-motion event is going to have fewer motion artifacts if it is both videoed ("filmed") with a progressive camera, and broadcast in a progressive format. An interlaced camera will result in combing during high motion scenes when viewed at 30 fps on a standard HDTV.

Movies are inherently progressive not because they're supposed to "feel different" but because celluloid film is by it's nature a progressive source. Movie film cameras record to celluloid film at 24fps, and each image is captured "all at once" not scanned (as is the case with video). So really even the term "progressive" is misleading when referring to film, because "progressive" implies some sort of scanning, and film frames are exposed in their entirety all at once.

It's debatable whether sports are better in 720p or 1080i. 1080i will result in more motion artifacts when viewed at the standard ~30 frames per second on a home HDTV than 720p at 30fps. But when viewed field-by-field at 60Hz (say by an instant replay judge?) each field will have higher resolution in 1080i than 720p, thus 1080i might make instant replay calls more accurate.

To answer the question, I run the latest XBMC with PM3.HD @ 1080i (programs menu in use), flicker filter set to 5, and it looks *almost* like 1080p (the scrolling RSS feed looks very smooth), much better than the regular PM3 skin @ 1080i or 720p.

I run 720p and it looks nice. I don't have any problems running 1080i like some others, probably has to do with the year it was made. I think all the 720 vs. 1080i has too many variables to say one is better than the other. Smaller LCD screens (32" and under) don't seem to have a big difference between 720 and 1080i, but the smaller plasma screens do look better in 1080i. The larger screens (32+") look better in 1080i, especially the plasma. I have noticed that the the lower priced hdtv's perform better at 720p for some reason, who knows why.

Flicker filter doesn't even work in 480p, 720p and 1080i AFAIK.

bit off topic but not .. i just picked up a brand new still in package set of monster HD cables for the xbox for $10 .. awww ya .. now i have monster cables on both my xbox's / TV's :] .. digital sound on one only tho , toxlink adapter is pricey and hard to find.

Yeah, I've also got the Monster component cables for both my Xboxes. Got them for cheap on eBay Canada :]

I find the picture quality on the Monster cables to be slightly better than the official MS component cables.

I use 720p/16:9 on a 24''LCD... with a VGA cable.
But I have a problem (CROSSPOST!): if I launch a game, the screen shift to the upperleft out of the "LCD-Screen" about 100pixel... I have tried some settings with XBMC/M$DASH: nothing happens...

720p / 16:9 on a 42' Pioneer 436xde plasma through a component cable

'WOW'

That was the first word I inadvertently uttered after plugging in my new component cables and running XBMC at 720P/16:9 on a 40" HD LCD (Sony Z). Having used XMBC for a few years on a SD TV I couldn't believe the difference. Amazing!

I switched my PAL XBOX to NTSC using Enigmah-X. 720P seems to allow XBMC to run a bit faster than 1080i.

XBMC is unrool.

Cool, that's what I plan on doing as well since the flicker is killer on the xbox unless I set the flicker filter to 5 but that just blurs everything.

What XBOX version do you have?

Not sure My Xbox was manufactured late 2003, so I think it is V 1.4 (PAL)

Hi,
Having just introduced myself to modding xbox`s, I now find myself with 3 of them all soft modded and running XBMC.
Excellent piece of kit, i have them all networked to my home pc where all my movies and music are stored.
Now only problem i seem to have is the resoloution on 2 of the box`s.
I think it is prob down to the quality of the leads, as the 2 box`s that the picture quality is not so good on is the machines that have the standard composite leads, the other came with an xbox advanced scart lead and the picture/resoloution is so so much more clear and crisp.
Im in the uk so all machines are PAL. I have tried all settings i can think of on the other box`s but still the clarity of the text is poor, blurred and shadowed.
Any hint or tips on the correct settings appreciated.
Do i adjust the settings in the unleash x dash or xbmc?
I dont have the option of selecting 420, 720 or 1080 its no hi lighted.
Do i have to change my xbox to NTsc?
Im a bit lost as to what to do.
I intend to source new leads(which r best?) which i assume will give me a better quality picture.
The TVs i have are pretty stanard
1 X 32" LCD non HD
2 x 28" CRT
Enjoying this forum emensely.
Regards.

This was more or less already answered in your other thread. It's nothing to do with the quality of the leads or the settings on the Xbox, it's a fundamental limitation of the resolution of composite video, or the quality of your CRT TVs, or a combination of the two. SD CRT TVs just have poor resolution.


Before you buy advanced SCART leads (RGB) for the CRT TVs I'd check the TV manuals to see if they even support RGB over SCART, and try them with the advanced SCART lead you already have. If your CRT TVs don't support RGB over SCART, and don't have RGB or component inputs, then new leads will make no difference.

Sorry Heimdall.
I guess im a little impatient.
The more i read the more i confuse myself, i was reading about an Enigmah prog and wondered if it was something i also had to do?
Yes, i did try the other TV`s with the advanced scart lead and worked fine.
Even my daughters pink barbie 14" TV runs perfect with it.
I have leads ordered and cant wait to get them to see the quality i will get on my own TV.
Regards.

I was just about to post about switching your Xboxes to NTSC. To enable the HD modes you need to switch your Xbox to NTSC, and to do that you have to run Enigmah. For it to work you have to bypass virtual eeprom (how you do that depends on which softmod you used - see this post for details).

However, switching to NTSC might have a downside. Not all PAL TVs will support NTSC, and if your TVs don't then you'll have to switch back to PAL again.

i keep mine at 720p for everything i do because i watch 720p movies on my xbox.

If you don't want to monkey around with the Microsoft Dashboard, going under "video hardware" in the settings enables the same option as in the original dashboard. This was always a pain to find. It works just fine for me when I move my xBox to a high definition telly. They hid the option in such an obscure place however, most people just think that the original dashboard is their only option.

- 2 Bunny

Running on 1080i just fine on my xbox. 720 runs a little smoother but my xbox can handle 1080i very well and it looks a lot better on my 32'lcd.

does anyone know if I run 720p with the skin MeadiaStream Redux? Will it display, and look good?

42 Inch LG Plasma from 2006 running XBMC on an Xbox from 2001 with Basics-Vision as the skin in 720P. 1080i is just too pokey for my taste and it screws up some of my videos anyway. 720P looks great, so it is all good!

I tried MediaStream but it is pokey and hard to navigate for me. I used PM3 for YEARS (literally like 3 years) before I discovered there were more skins. It has been Basics-Vision ever since.

I have it alongside my XBOX 360 because it handles files that the 360 couldn't dream of handling (and it doesn't sound like a freight train). I use the 360 now only for Blue Ray rips because the Xbox chokes on those.

Fun is a wonderful thing.