wraggster
September 5th, 2006, 17:21
Following the news that the HDMI-equipped PlayStation 3 will ship without an HDMI cable, it appears that the Xbox 360 - which has no HDMI-out port - is about to acquire an HDMI cable.
How do we know? Well, EB Games in the US is taking orders for just such an object, priced at $99 (which is rather steep for a cable).
Which may sound like another coup for Microsoft at Sony's expense -- but is it? Not necessarily, we'd have to say. For a start, HDMI is an intelligent connection standard -- it auto-senses the maximum resolution at which your TV can run, for example -- and it is highly unlikely that those sort of features would work without an HDMI-out socket.
Indeed, it is questionable whether you would see any benefits in quality over the standard Component Video lead currently included with the Xbox 360. HDMI is, however, physically a smaller and neater format than Component Video, as it encapsulates both video and audio signals.
Still, if you're convinced that buying an HDMI cable for your Xbox 360 will lead to an improvement in the picture and sound you see on your TV, it sounds as if you will be able to do just that in the near future.
How do we know? Well, EB Games in the US is taking orders for just such an object, priced at $99 (which is rather steep for a cable).
Which may sound like another coup for Microsoft at Sony's expense -- but is it? Not necessarily, we'd have to say. For a start, HDMI is an intelligent connection standard -- it auto-senses the maximum resolution at which your TV can run, for example -- and it is highly unlikely that those sort of features would work without an HDMI-out socket.
Indeed, it is questionable whether you would see any benefits in quality over the standard Component Video lead currently included with the Xbox 360. HDMI is, however, physically a smaller and neater format than Component Video, as it encapsulates both video and audio signals.
Still, if you're convinced that buying an HDMI cable for your Xbox 360 will lead to an improvement in the picture and sound you see on your TV, it sounds as if you will be able to do just that in the near future.