racketboy.com

Hey guys, I picked up these cheapo oXbox component cables:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281751219694

...and while the picture does look crisper, there are some random lines/noise at times. It is almost non existent at times and terrible at others. I thought it might be my console (or TV not liking the signal) but after some Googling, I saw others with the same issue with cheap cables. The official cables or Monster cables fixed the issue. Unfortunately these run $40 to $50 for component.

Any one have solid results with a cheaper component option?

I was also considering the official s video cables ($13) below as a step up from composite, buy obviously losing 480p and HD games in the trade off.

S vid:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/310325050374

What do y'all think?

Screenshot of TV?
3rd party cables not a big deal unless really cheaply made with thin cables. Monster cables on the other hand a bit of overkill, the weight of the cable an issue hanging off the jack. SVideo a step up from composite, but component even better especially for achieving 480p mentioned. If a switchbox involved, also could be the issue?

FWIW I have the same experience regarding cheap chinese cables, shimmery pixel artifacts and questioning whether or not to drop big bucks on better quality cables. Nothing to add, but interested in the outcome.

@CRT, I have the composite cables hooked right now. Playing back through Halo CE and didn't want to deal with the "noise." I'll get the component going & see how well this shows up in a picture.

No switch box involved, straight to Vizio which has no issue accepting component signals from other consoles. There's also 2 component inputs. Tried them both.

@WAR, Hm, I feel your pain. Your experience along with a couple forum post I found verifies it is the cables. I've historically had good luck with cheap cables. Part of me wants to drop the $50 now before the offical cables reach GameCube component cable prices :/

I might settle on S Video but I know my old gameroom TV is on borrowed time and S vid has been phased out today. Component would be future proofing a bit. I just bought a 4K for downstairs and luckily it has 1 component input.

... Ok, just read a review of some other cheap component cables & a buyer mentioned their particular power surge in use was causing interference. I'll try plugging directly into wall.

Some of those reviews also mentioned poor quality picture while other loved it. Maybe it depends in the cable itself (different batches, bad quality control, etc) or the users expectations.

I'll also trying running game off disc and off HDD to see if that somehow makes a difference. Shouldn't.

Will report back

Okay, bypassing power surge and removing possible electrical interference didn't help. I tested from both HDD loading & disc. Problem is not there with OEM composite cables.

Pic below. Hard to capture. It's actually worse in person. Look just above the lower horizontal tree branch & then right at the second level of the dock. There's usually a couple traveling up and down.

Same problem you're having WAR?

I might settle for s video for the time being. I can always pick up pawn shop TVs in the future with more "older" inputs. Eventually I'll pick up a XRGB or OSCC. $50-$60 on a single cable could go towards another TV in the future or one of the scalers/line doublers.

As an update, I did pick up the official/OEM S video cables linked above.

I justified it because some oXbox emulators didn't work via component on my gameroom set but should work fine over s vid.

Of course, it should also clean up the 480i picture for retail oxbox games. I'll let you guys know how the results look versus composite.

I may roll the dice on another cheap component cable in the future but I hate to throw away $7.

You might consider getting the "Xbox High Definition AV Pack" (what I use).
Ebay is definitely overpriced, but Amazon has a couple right now in the $20+ range.
Looks like it's starting to go up in price, just like Gamecube Component cables did (it won't get as bad as that, but still worthy of concern).

The component pack ("Xbox High Definition AV Pack") looks a lot like the one you are getting (which says "Xbox Advanced AV Pack"). It is definitely good, as I have one of those too, but S-video, not component.

That said, there are a few games that play ONLY in 480i, like Serious Sam. If you have a TV that has S-video and a "Game" mode to reduce lag (or just an old tube TV), it's definitely nice enough for Xbox.

nightrnr wrote:You might consider getting the "Xbox High Definition AV Pack" (what I use).
Ebay is definitely overpriced, but Amazon has a couple right now in the $20+ range.
Looks like it's starting to go up in price, just like Gamecube Component cables did (it won't get as bad as that, but still worthy of concern).

The component pack ("Xbox High Definition AV Pack") looks a lot like the one you are getting (which says "Xbox Advanced AV Pack"). It is definitely good, as I have one of those too, but S-video, not component.

That said, there are a few games that play ONLY in 480i, like Serious Sam. If you have a TV that has S-video and a "Game" mode to reduce lag (or just an old tube TV), it's definitely nice enough for Xbox.

This guy?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00068B9 ... op?ie=UTF8

I think they're only lower due to a duplicate item listing. Check out here for $42 and up. Seems to be the same.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00005R6 ... ref=plSrch

That product yes.
I see 3 sellers offering the item on amazon at different prices, 2 of them around the $22 (shipped) mark.
The main listing is the product itself; you have to click the "buying optionsb link to see the sellers available. There shouldn't be any duplicate listings. Amazon uses generic pics for the product.