anybody have the digital component video cable for the gamecube. I have a new hi def TV, and I really want the hi-def cable, but the only place I can find it is by ordering online from Nintendo for 45 canadian. Does Mad catz, pelican, anybody make a 3rd party version of this thing????

The Gamecube is capable of 480p, but not high def. 480p is also known as EDTV. HDTV is 720p or higher.

Anyway, you can ONLY get the cable from Nintendo. The reason being is that the Gamecube' s digital out is just that... pure digital. The cable itself actually has the DA converters inside and that converts the signal to component analog. You' ll still need the regular cables as the component cables do not include the audio for some bizarre reason.

Once you get the cable, plug in a game that supports 480p (like F-Zero GX) and hold down the B button as it boots up. The game will ask you if you want to enable progressive mode. Say YES. After that, you' ll never need to hold the B button again for any game ever. If a game supports progressive it will automatically ask when you turn it on. If after this you remove the component cable, play the GC and then later plug the component cable back in, you' ll have to hold down B again for the first progressive game you play.

Also, Nintendo stopped making Gamecubes that are compatible with the component cable, so make sure yours has the digital out before ordering!

My bad, I was aware that it only output 480p, I should have used the words progressive scan. I know mines progressive scan capable, I bought it 3 years ago, but I' ve only had the hi def tv for 1 month now. It would be great to play my games on 480p, because my TV can convert all 480p signals to 1080i which is hi-def. I know since the original signal isn' t hi-def, it' s not th same, but the results are pretty fantastic. DVD' s coming from a 540p source look soooooo much better converted to 1080i. Stupid Nintendo for not supporting this feature, and even stupider nintendot for having a pure digital out, and not including digital audio!

Are you in a PAL country? I have never heard of DVDs having 540p. Only 480p. My TV leaves 480p at 480p and I prefer it that way.

The Gamecube can be hacked to allow for a digital audio output, but it would be kind of useless since no games take advantage of Dolby Digital or whatnot.

I' m from canada, so we use NSTC format, however I can assure you that some DVD players do indeed output 540p. I have the samsung p240 which will either output 540i or 540p. Stupid me for not getting one that can output 1080i, but no going back now. After some serious searching on the internet to try and find out the difference between 540p and 480 p, I came up with a bunch of people asking the same questions in other forums, and no good answer. Sounds like it isn' t much though, just a little different sampling rate, and perhaps some line doubling.

It is best to watch things in their native format without upscaling. When you go from 480p to 1080i you lose the " progressive" qualities of 480p. I assume that only PAL discs are authored at 540p Actually maybe it is 525p. I don' t remember. All NTSC discs are authored at 480p or 480i. I know there are some players that do upscaling, but you can' t add information that simply isn' t there in the first place, so it' s not true HD. We' ll have to wait until HD-DVD and Blu-Ray for that.

Blu-Ray all the way!

I agree with you totally about the whole native resolution thing Joe, you' re right, you cannot add information that is not there (well not uless you use some fancy programming) It' s not a choice of me upgrading from 480-540p, I don' t have a choice, my player only outputs at 540p, but, I will tell you this. You take that 540p image, and convert it to the 1080i image, and ....WOW. No kidding, image quality is waaaaay better, even thought the original NSTC dvd signal is 480. Here' s a rediculously long page, that explains some of it: http://www.adstech.com/products/HDUP1500/intro/HDUP1500intro.asp?pid=HDUP1500


And... Blu-Ray now way!! HD-DVD all the way! Actually, it ain' t looking good for the blue-ray camp, I just read another list of suporters for the HD-DVD format. Funny thing is they' re both great, but it' s just who supports what. I hope that doesn' t turn into a whole beta VHS thing. I' m still fuming over that.

I like Blu-Ray better because it has a much larger storage capacity and is much more forward-looking. More storage means higher bitrates. Higher bitrates mean better looking video. it also means you can have a full extended edition Return of da King on one disc at a very nice bitrate and full bitrate DTS-ES audio as well. No compromises.

I see zero advantages of HD-DVD.

The only advantage I see to HD dvd is the increased support. Sony tried to push beta through by itself, and even though it was the superior technology, it failed. They also tried to do it with there mini-disc format, and no other companies really bought on that either. PS3 will help, but will it be enough?? I' d be nervous if I was Sony.

It is a popular misconception that Blu-Ray is all Sony. Panasonic owns more financial stake in Blu-Ray than Sony does. There were flaws in Beta, such as the shorter recording time and stuff like that which helped make it fail, I think. As for Minidisc, it really wasn' t competing against anything except the compact cassette (to which it destroyed) and is still around today. Now it must compete against hard drive music players like the iPod. It will absolutely lose to that, no doubt.

Here' s a couple links Joe, since we both seem to be interested in this issue.

http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/nea/200411/covst_340318.aspx

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116846,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp

One of these articles is a little older, so I' m not suer how accurate the info is anymore. Interestingly the older article seems to indicate that bluray has more supporters, but I know I just heard the oposite on a television program somewhere, I wish for the life of me I could remember which one it was so i could check their facts.