Xbox + widescreen TV = 4:3 signal ???
 

I just got a new TV (a Sony 37" plasma if it makes a difference) and all the required accessories/config (I think[1]) however while the green Xbox screen (the main menu w/ settings and music) comes up as 16:9 whenever I go to a game it reverts back to a 4:3 signal. Does that sound right? I've tried a variety of them now (Full Spectrum Warrior, Samurai Warriors, Halo 1 to name a few) and they all come up as 4:3. Are the games themselves not in 16:9? Are there any games that are 16:9? Do people just switch to "full screen" mode while playing games or do you usually leave it w/ the framing bars off to the sides?

TIA

[1] The HD connector is all that is needed right? I have the component cables connected directly to the back of the TV, I went to the Xbox video menu and switched it to "widescreen"

You probably have to turn on 480p (and maybe 720p/1080i for the few games that support it) too, though I'm not sure. Remember though, a lot of games have it where the menus and such are in 4:3 but the game itself is widescreen. While most games I've tried do support it, I think there are games that don't, I can't vouch for the ones you mentioned. I keep my TV in stretch mode for the xbox.

Is your Xbox set to HD? You have to do that in the dashboard first. My tv automatically stretches all games to widescreen, I'd assume yours has a similar mode. Play around with that to see which one works best for you.

Under the "widescreen" setting on the Xbox I enabled all three options (480/720/1080) and it obviously works for the "splash screen" but as I mentioned whenever it gets to a game though it reverts to 4:3. I could set the TV to fill the screen, but that's just a 4:3 image morphed/distored into 16:9 right? I'll try the rest of my games to see if I can get any different response.


That's under the video options right (normal/letterbox/widescreen)? It's set to wide.


thx

Sounds like you have it setup right, just make sure the games should be in widescreen:

http://www.hdtvarcade.com/xboxlist.htm

You should pick up some HD games, they look really amazing, night and day really. Amped 2 is one of my favorites. Tony Hawk 4 is also HD.

I noticed recently that the menus in Full Spectrum Warrior are 4:3 but it switches to 16:9 during gameplay. Did you go further than the menu?

Sounds like everyone has covered the requirements: widescreen, 480p, 720p and 1080i in the dashboard and you should be set.

:cool: Thanks for the list. Off to check the games and play around a bit more :D

Well I'm not sure what's going on. I tried all the games on that list that I own:

Conflict: Desert Storm
Full Spectrum Warriors
Freedom Fighters
LotR: Fellowship of the Ring
SW: Clone Wars
Unreal Championship

The only one that came up in 16:9 by default was Freedom Fighters (Clone Wars had a menu setting for "widescreen" the compensated for the expansion to "full" screen but it was still coming in as a 4:3 signal). Looking over the list FF is also the only one that is 720p so I'm not sure if it's a matter of something w/ 480p not working correctly (the TV supposedly supports it maybe I've got to activate it some how or I've got the game connected to the wrong input [guess I've got to dig up the manual :(] ;)). If someone can verify any of the above does actually come up into 16:9 I'd appreciate it.

BTW DVD play back seems to be ok but IIRC that's 480i.

Well 480p seems to be working correctly (atleast when I turn it off on the Xbox the signal is reported as 480i, when I turn it back on it goes back to 480p) but still no 16:9 :( If someone can independantly verify the any of the above titles do acutally come through w/ a 16:9 signal I'd appreciate it.

Thx

I have the same problem. I just got the HD component cable this past week and I found the games all are 4:3 (except for kill.switch) and I had to check my settings again and again to make sure I had all the right settings. I only have Soul Calibur that's 720p, but it looked great on the S-video component anyway.

Try Halo 2

Well if Freedom Fighters is working, one thing to try if you haven't already, is to disable 720p and 1080i within the xbox dashboard and try FF, see if it comes up in 16:9 still. If it doesn't, then there is probably an issue with the way your TV is handling the 480p signal.

And sorry if I'm repeating myself, but I'm not sure if you responded in the affirmative to this or not. Make sure you go past the menus and into the actual game. I thought the same thing you did when I popped in Project Gotham Racing 2, because the game is entirely 4:3 until you get into the race itself.

Good idea on the Freedom Fighters thing... wish I'd thought of it ;)

Also just wanted to confirm for all the games I tested I did bring up the game itself and none of them switched to 16:9. I also talked w/ a friend who has pretty much the same set up (he has the next larger TV size though) and he said he just configured the TV to auto fill the screen so he wasn't sure if he was getting 16:9 or not he was going to check some of them tonight though.

Also unfortunately I don't own Halo 2 yet so I can't check that out :(

oh and one more thing to get your dashboard in 480p hold in both triggers and push down on both analog sticks. 480p dash. and if that doesn't work um i'll just come hang out with you and bring my copy of halo 2 cause um a tv like that shouldn't ugh be used for bad games, just good wholesome games like halo and halo 2. :johnwoo:

Some updates...

Doing the dashboard trick mentioned by BeanDip when I'm in 480p it's 4:3 w/ 480i it's 16:9.

For Freedom Fighters if I have 720p turned off it reverts to 480p and 4:3. If I turn off 480p it goes to 480i and back to 16:9.

I rented Halo2 on my way home and it comes up 4:3 whether it is in 480p or 480i. So this should be 16:9 at some point right? It's not just a matter of the monitor "faking" it? I mean I can make it full screen but it's a bit distorted.... just thought I'd check.

:hscratch:

Well, that is really odd. Could it be a setting on your TV?

Halo2 is 16x9 all the way.

I can't imagine what... I've gone over everything and the fact atleast one game works w/ the setup I have means something is setup right. :( :hscratch: :(

I even connected the Xbox back up to the receiver/video switch and it's still 4:3. I can switch back and forth between a DVD running and the Xbox and it'll switch from 16:9 to 4:3... could it be a bad HD module? Kind of an odd way for it to fail though :hscratch:

Have you tried all the various "screen" modes on your tv?

I assume you are talking about "wide" "full" "zoom" etc? Yep and some of them will obviously fill up the screen but it's a distorted image... or are you talking about something else?

Are you positive they are all distorting? I believe Halo 2 is widescreen for me on "Wide Full" or some such setting, not the standard 4:3

Have you tried a 720p/1080i game?

I'm pretty sure it is. When I put it on "full" mode the circle for the aiming in HALO2 becomes squashed. When I try "zoom" or "wide zoom" (the other two settings besides) the top/bottom edges get cut off. I'm mainly taking it from the info obtained when I hit the "display" button, it'll tell you what type of signal you are getting (NTSC, 480p, 480i, etc) and the ratio (16:9 or 4:3). BTW I also just discovered ever w/ the cheap ass cable rate I'm paying for (the basic/slightly better than broadcast) I do get HD Fox and CBS :D I might have to start watching shows instead of recording them as 24 looked great :up:


I joined the HV game club thing so tomorrow I'll exchange HALO2 for something that's 720 from that list given above.

Thanks for the help everyone :D I also asked over here http://www.ddconsult.com/blogs/illum...es/000008.html to see if this person can help. I'm 1/2 tempted to take my Xbox and HD pack back to Best Buy to connect to their floor model to see what happens ;)

Thanks for this thread. This should be pretty useful info for me. I just got a 42" Plasma TV yesterday. Haven't picked up a HD pack yet, but plan do so today. I did try my PS2 using a cheapy Mad Catz componant cable I picked up at BB. Put on GT4. Here's my reaction:
:jawdrop:

Which brand? Was it the Sony? Let me know how it turns out... I can't find anything on the net of anyone having a similar problem to this which means either my Xbox has a problem or the TV does (given all indications so far are the TV is doing everything it is supposed to do)... either way :(

Didn't Halo 2 have some sort of glitch that wouldn't render a progressive
signal or something?
I ask cuz I want to know if I dreamed reading it.
I went over to my nephews house, and tried playing halo 2 on his HDTV widescreen tv. Halo 2 looked WORSE than regular 480i. I couldn't believe how
butt ugly it was. But when we broke out Soul Caliber 2, in 720p, it looked amazing.

So was there ever a halo 2 HD glitch?
I tried searching, but couldn't find it.