When connecting your XBOX to a TV or screen, you’ve probably asked yourself if there was a way to get better quality, better sound or more sharpness. The key to these aspects is knowing your way around the different ways of connecting an XBOX to some form of output, and this is what I will discuss in this article.
As an XBOX user you’re already limited to analog connections only. This means no HDMI or DVI. This doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t get good quality! What you have at your disposal are two different means of transporting video and audio which can, together with adapters, become four different connectors!
Composite and SCART
Composite is the default way of sending XBOX video and audio signals to a TV or screen. It’s the yellow (video), red (right audio) and white (left audio) cables which are the default cables that arrive with you XBOX. They can, using an adapter, become a SCART connector.
Composite is, as you might assume, the connection with the least quality (in terms of visual quality). You will not have support for higher resolutions such as 720p (1280×720) or 1080i (1920×1080) using composite, however the sound will be at the best analog level you can get. It is usually very widely supported amongst both CRT and LCD (flat) TVs.
Component and VGA
Component cables is the visual connection that guarantees the highest quality. Using component cables you will be able to reach 720p and 1080i and you will be pretty surprised at how good it actually looks. Component is divided into green (Y), blue (PB/CB) and red (PR/CR) – to get audio you need the red and white connections from the composite cable.
A retail XBOX does not have component cables, however for a fairly cheap price you can get such cables from most computer resellers. If you purchase component cables and a VGA adapter, you can connect your XBOX to your computer screen at a pretty good quality!
Summary
To summarize all this I would like to mention, again, that the best visual quality is achieved by using component cables. Audio quality does not vary as much as video quality – use the red and white composite cables and you will be alright!
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