[Urien Rheged]

I have a Panasonic AE500E Projector and have connected it to my new XBOX 360 using the Microsoft component leads supplied with the XBOX 360.
Will my AE500E show a true High Definition picture and do the XBOX 360 justice? The PJ is stated as being a "High Definition" projector and has component and DVI sockets but doesn't have the HDMI socket. Will the component cables deliver true HD to my PJ? I have changed the XBOX 360 settings to HD and the picture looks very good. Compared to the LCD TV's they use in the shops to demonstrate the XBOX 360 though , it doesn't look as good. It seems a lot darker picture and not quite as sharp. Is this just the difference between an LCD projector and a LCD TV?

Can anyone clarify whether I am really getting true HD with this projector and what I can do to maximise the picture quality?

Thanks

[stripe]

Yes you will get a true HD picture out of an AE500, as it is a 1280 x 720 projector.

[T800]

I've found that 360 Component on Panasonic projectors looks dark and not very sharp(some sort of image smearing), I saw it on the writing on games like PGR3.
VGA on the other hand is too bright and not quite as colourful but after setting it up it looks amazing, I can't bring myself to put my 360 back on my normal TV now I had it on my projector for 2 weeks.
Go with VGA you won't regret it but finding one ain't easy. There's Ebay but it's quite expensive.

[chic]

Originally Posted by T800

I've found that 360 Component on Panasonic projectors looks dark and not very sharp(some sort of image smearing), I saw it on the writing on games like PGR3.
VGA on the other hand is too bright and not quite as colourful but after setting it up it looks amazing, I can't bring myself to put my 360 back on my normal TV now I had it on my projector for 2 weeks.
Go with VGA you won't regret it but finding one ain't easy. There's Ebay but it's quite expensive.

i got my vga cable from vg+ http://www.videogamesplus.ca/product...ducts_id=10023 will cost around £30 including shipping, will arrive in about a week

[Urien Rheged]

In Game they were demonstrating the XBOX 360 on a Samsung LCD TV and the picture looked amazing. Incredibly sharp and bright. Much better than on my AE500E. Why is this? Is it because shops crank up the contrast and brightness levels really high due to the shop lighting? I cannot seem to replicate this quality of image on my AE500E. Is it possible?

P.S thanks for posts so far.

[Anim]

Originally Posted by Urien Rheged

In Game they were demonstrating the XBOX 360 on a Samsung LCD TV and the picture looked amazing. Incredibly sharp and bright. Much better than on my AE500E. Why is this? Is it because shops crank up the contrast and brightness levels really high due to the shop lighting? I cannot seem to replicate this quality of image on my AE500E. Is it possible?

P.S thanks for posts so far.

Dont forget that your watching a much larger version on a projector so will see more detail (which can actually degrade the image as you see more flaws). A simple test is to shrink you pic down to the same size as the LCD TV (Move the projector closer to the screen, no zoom) and then see if its similar.

VGA and Component are both Analog signals but use different colour spaces (RGB and YPbPr), it could also be this that makes a difference too.

Anim

[Urien Rheged]

Would the VGA cable give better results than the Component cable?
I thought that one was no better than the other and the VGA cable was for use with PC Monitors?

[T800]

Have you even read what I posted ?

[Urien Rheged]

Yes I did, but many other threads state that component is better than VGA, that VGA gives a washed out picture and worse colours. I was just looking for some more experiences from other people thats all.
It just seems strange that in the shop the picture looked amazing on a Samsung LCD TV yet on my LCD projector all the games are very dark. PGR3 and COD2 are particulary bad. Other threads state that this may be a problem with the games themselves, yet COD2 looked incredibly bright in the shop. Do they use component or VGA cables to demo the games in those XBOX demo Pod's? Has anyone else got darkness problems using a projector and any other suggestions on fixing it?
I appreciate any suggestions.

p.s. should I be running the xbox on the highest setting (1080) or the middle one (720)?

[Miniholic]

I would try both and see which you prefer, the AE500 has a native resolution of 1280x720, so theoreticly 720p should give a better image as the PJ won't have to do any scaling, but there is no reason why you shouldn't use 1080i if you prefer.

[cyberheater]

Both component and VGA look stunning on my PJ (TX100). VGA for some reason is a fair bit brighter then component so I have to bring the brightness down by quite a notch to attain the same level of blackness. This also significantly improved the colour satuation.

Both cables give a great picture but i'm sticking with component because the 360 sends a 576p signal on component but only a truely craptastic 640 x 480 video signal when using the dvd player.

So:-

Component = great dvd playback
VGA = crap dvd playback.

You have been warned.

I hope the next range of LCD projectors (Z5, AE1000) are full 1080 X 1920 HD resolution.

What are the chances?

[T800]

Many posts in many forums do state that Component is better than VGA but when you read what they are saying it's that VGA is too bright and the colours are washed out. When you adjust the brightness the colour falls into line. Most problems to be had with Component are ringing (ghosting?).
PGR3 on my AE900 and AE300 is way too dark and has poor sharpness due to the ringing.

The LCD in the shop is smaller and that is why it looked really good it's like when you download a small trailer it looks good small but poorer the bigger it gets plus the 360 component doesn't look to good on a Panny projector.

Obviously this is just my opinion but I had the same issues you had with MS component leads (best component leads for 360) and VGA sorted them.

This forum below has loads of people talking about Component ringing and VGA too bright and poor colour.

http://forum.oxm.co.uk/viewforum.php...09e2c6bdacce1b

[cyberheater]

T800: I'm willing to bet that the ringing that folks are complaining about is due to there tv's/projector sharpness being on too high.

On my TX100. Setting 3 (out of 5) seems to produce a normal image with no edge enhancements and no jaggies.

[Lizard]

In theroy (from what i understand and correct me if i'm wrong) Component as it sends the signal in YPbPr should give you the best picture, in reality VGA will for most people give the best. This is because on most displays (all but the very best/latest) the YPbPr signal is converted back to an RGB signal by the display (this is why the high end sources allow you to send either signal type over componet), so by using a VGA input you are missing out a conversion stage and getting a better picture as a result.

[paulmcp2403]

I tried to connec tmy pc via dvi to hdmi lead over 7 metres and the picture quality was terrible - even with a geforce 6800 card....

I believe hdmi and dvi over 7 feet causes issues with the signal quality...

the whole pc to projector via a lead is a sore one as most of us are finding out....

[T800]

Originally Posted by cyberheater

T800: I'm willing to bet that the ringing that folks are complaining about is due to there tv's/projector sharpness being on too high.

On my TX100. Setting 3 (out of 5) seems to produce a normal image with no edge enhancements and no jaggies.

Possibly for some, my sharpness was completely turned off on both connections on both projectors.