Component cables...

[gokuss4]

If I were to buy a component cable for an xbox, for a SDTV even.. would the quality between s-video or composite be much of a difference to tell? I do notice the definite image quality between s-video and composite (sharper, less blurry, better contrast).

 

[Doomulation]

I would say yes, but it really depends on how each person interprets video quality. However, composite are higher quality cables than S-video, since they transfer data in the way TV interprets it. I think anyway.

 

[Poobah]

TVs that feature S-Video inputs can interpret S-Video and therefore benefit from the higher quality signal. It significantly better than composite, from my experience.

gokuss4, Doomulation is right; it depends on the person. Just keep in mind that the quality improvement from S-Video to component shouldn't be as significant as the improvement from composite to S-Video. I think the major difference will be an improvement in colour quality, but I don't have a component-capable TV, so I can't guarantee anything. If you do some Google searches on the topic, you should be able to find some comparisons to judge from.

 

[Toasty]

With composite, luminance and chroma are all combined into one signal. S-Video improves things a bit by separating luminance and chroma into two separate signals. Component separates chroma into two signals, making it the most accurate of the three for colors (plus it's the only one of the three capable of producing pictures with more than 480 interlaced lines on NTSC or 576 interlaced lines on PAL, not that it matters on a regular TV). I would venture a guess that the difference from S-Video to component would be negligible, unless your TV has progressive scan, in which case component is the clear winner since it's the only one capable of producing progressive frames. The best way to find out is to try it out though, since picture quality varies from set-to-set.

 

[gokuss4]

Well, I can definitely tell the difference. Damn! What's funny now is my bro just bought an XBox 360.. the full package, so it comes with the component with the optical hook up, and... wow. He needs to get more games for it though, but Ghost Recon is not a bad game