HD Component Cable Advice Please!

I heard as long as you don't get the really cheap ones. You'll be ok. But it's always nice to get the good ones. Then you'll have them.

I prefur Component to HDMI and have been useing the official MS lead. I have done some research on this and the monster component lead seems to be the best one to get. I have recently bought one off ebay but it has not arrived yet so I will keep you posted if I think it gives a better image to the official MS lead.

HDMI is superior to component for a few reasosns (the most important being)...

1: It's digital. There is no need for digital to analog, then analog back to digital conversion, which can cause a loss of PQ.

2: It's one cable. With component, you have to run three seperate connections for the video, plus whatever audio you'll be running.

3: With digital, you don't have to worry so much about quality. Since HDMI sends a series of 1s & 0s, all they have to do is get where they're going. Quality is not much of a factor beyond actual defects. With component cables, you will see a lower quality picture with lower quality cables. Where with HDMI, you should see no difference between a $5, $100 or $1,000 cable, so long as they are all working.

And do not buy Monster. While Monster is by no means a top of the line brand, it is overpriced for what it is (basically a mass market brand that on the surface appears better than cheap, no-name brands). Monster is one of, if not the biggest joke in the A/V world.

I like the Microsoft component cable (for whatever reason their component cable set includes a composite video output as well).  The component cable includes the video as well as the RCA audio, there is also a jack included in the cable to use a toslink cable for audio.

You can usually find them pretty cheap on Amazon, they retail for 40 I believe, but I've never paid over 20 for a set.  Recently bought a set for less than 10 bucks on amazon.

Visually the difference is negligible between component and HDMI.  The human eye really can't discern the difference......it's like changing the bass setting on your amplifier from 250Hz to 280Hz.......is it different?  Sonically, yes can your ears really tell the difference.....no.  The other benefit to the component is if you use Turtle Beach headphone you don't have to buy that silly adapter to use them that you need for HDMI.

I recived and set up my 360 with my monster lead this morning. There is hardly any diffrence between that and the official lead but the image does seem a touch smoother and the colours a bit more lush but not by much. My advice would be get the offical MS lead off ebay but if you see the THX monster go for that if its going cheap. I only paid £13 inc postage. The offical one is £26 in Blockbuster.

[quote user="Skin2k"]

I recived and set up my 360 with my monster lead this morning. There is hardly any diffrence between that and the official lead but the image does seem a touch smoother and the colours a bit more lush but not by much. My advice would be get the offical MS lead off ebay but if you see the THX monster go for that if its going cheap. I only paid £13 inc postage. The offical one is £26 in Blockbuster.

Monster is a joke. The only thing they make that is worth buying is their screen cleaning kit.

After useing the monster for a few hours on a few diffrent games I am sure that the monster lead gives me a slightly smoother lusher image. reds seems redder blacks seem blacker. The colocurs look closer to when I use a HDMI lead but the image is less jaggie which is what I dont like about HDMI. My TV is a 4 years old 50hz 32 inch Sony Bravia which wont do 1080p and the max resolotion I can get is 1080i. Perhaps thats why component looks beter for me that HDMI.

I have to ask.. did you plug this new HDMI cable into the same port on your TV that the old one was in? If you plugged it into a different one all of the differences you described could easily be observed as picture settings could be different. Redder reds being higher colour, blacker blacks being dynamic contrast, and less jaggies being no edge enhancement. Just saying..

I spent days fiddling with loads of diffrent settings and spent hours scouring the web and forums to try and see if I could improve things via HDMI but I am still conviced I got a nicer smoother image via component.

Also, after a few more days with the monster lead I am even more convinced it gives a slightly better image than the offical lead.