The Perfect Gaming Setup — Part 1: High Definition Displays

Ok, put your hands up — if, like me — you’re thinking about switching to this High Definition business? But rather than go for the affordably priced 20-26″ TV, you’d really like that brand label 32-40″ TV that has balls and paint to speak for itself! Might I also be right in guessing that you’ve thought about connecting your 360 to a computer monitor, but not had all the facts? Maybe you’ve even considered installing some surround sound? If this reads like you, then follow on my friend.

You’re not alone, I too want a decent setup — mainly so I can fully appreciate Gears of War. The following guide is compiled from research and not first hand experience. So it is up to you to make the final judgement. If you feel there is anything I have incorrectly stated or could add then please do let me know and I will amend it, thank you.

High Definition Displays

Choosing the right display is probably your biggest and most troubling concern. Not only are there different styles of HDTVs to consider (Direct View, Flat Panel, Rear Projection, Front Projection) but there are also different types of technologies (Plasma, LCD, CRT, DLP, LCoS), different resolutions, different aspect ratios and on top of that the overall quality of the picture. Its probably a good idea to check out HDTV World to recap on this stuff.

But once you’ve decided on the type of HDTV you want (most likely a Flat Panel screen for it’s thin looks and achievable price tag) you’ll then need to make sure the display you choose works well with the aspect ratio and native resolution of your console. If the thought of resolutions and ratios confuses you then it might be a good idea to head on over to the Wiki to help fill in the gaps.

Once you’ve decided on which HD display to get we need to think about what we can do to make the quality of the picture be the best in can be. The most important things I can think of are the type of cable you use and calibrating your display.

This article at cnet shows a list of the different cables available and how they rank in video quality. At the moment the best cable you can get for your Xbox 360 is Broadband Component and VGA as these are the only ones currently available on the market. There are lot of different makes of cable out there each boasting that they can provide a better picture (most notably Monster Cables) but at the end of the day it all comes down to a combination of marketing and what makes you feel good. So I would say it’s whatever makes you happy. As for calibrating you should check out cnet’s guide on tuning your HDTV to get the most out of the colour, contrast and brightness settings on your TV.

Connecting your Console to a Computer Monitor

For those of you who want to play your console on a computer monitor your primary concern will be the aspect ratio and inputs & outputs of your monitor. You might even be posing the question: What’s the difference between a computer monitor and a TV?

From what I know the square CRT monitors run at an aspect ratio of 4:3 and widescreen monitors run at either 16:9 or 16:10/15:9. An Xbox 360 supports both 4:3 and 16:9. However if you were to hook your 360 up to a 16:10/15:9 monitor you would either have to scale the image to fit the screen or have black gaps appear on the top and bottom of your screen. Both look great, but if your considering buying a flat panel monitor in the hopes of nailing two birds with one stone (ie, computer work and console gaming) make sure it’s compatible with your computers graphics card, otherwise it could work out more expensive than anticipated in the short run. There are already a few forums that discuss this but you need to be prepared to skim through a lot of pages. The first place you can try is the Widescreen Gaming Forum and the second is Hard Forum.

You’ll also need to make sure your happy with what inputs the monitor has. From what I know there are 3 main types of input/outputs that support high definition resolutions for computer monitors. They are Component, VGA, and DVI. While DVI is capable of providing the highest quality there are currently no DVI cables available on the market for the Xbox 360, and buying a VGA to DVI convertor seems pointless unless the only input you have on your monitor is DVI. However if you have an Apple cinema display this may be unavoidable because the only input they have is DVI. For more information about whether it is possible to hook your console up to your cinema display, check out the Apple Discussion boards. I know I have seen some convertors around but the one I found has either been discontinued or hasn’t been released yet.

If you decide to opt for a HDTV as opposed to a computer monitor you can generally expect to pay less for more screen space and more features, some displays even have a VGA input.

What to Expect in Part 2

In a couple of days I’ll discuss another important part of home entertainment that often gets overlooked and that is surround sound, lighting and seating.