Entering the world of HD

So I’ve taken the plunge. I realised that without HD I was missing out on some of the “next-gen-ness” of the XBOX 360. After a bit of searching around (and some recommendations from Dan), I settled on an Acer AL1916W 19″ widescreen LCD monitor. These are currently going for around £170-£180 for a standard retail version, or around £120 if you can find an online retailer that sells them as an open box unit (meaning that there will be something missing as it is a return - perhaps a power cable or manual).

When you consider the price of the nearest competitors (Dell’s 20″ offering weighs in at around twice the price for the extra inch of space) you really start to appreciate just what good value the Acer is. Connecting it to the 360 could not be simpler, and I picked up a third party VGA cable (as the Microsoft ones are still very difficult to find, except for at twice their retail price on e-bay) for a very reasonable £12 from a marketplace seller on Amazon. Plug this in instead of the standard AV cable that comes with the XBox, and plug the other end into the monitor (note the cable that I got has a male plug and the monitor a female socket - the perfect combination. However some people are reporting the need for a gender changer for their VGA cables and so it’s best to check what your cable connection is beforehand). A quick change of the resolution to 1368*768 and that’s all it takes.

The first thing I noticed was the clarity of the picture. Even with the XBox 360 dashboard, the picture is far more clear than on a Standard Definition (SD) screen. I had been using a 14″ portable TV for my 360, and so stepping up to this is quite a leap forward. Flicking between the blades there is no discernible ghosting or flicker.

Where the screen really comes alive is in the games themselves. On loading an EA title (Need for Speed: Most Wanted for example) you are greeted with a large “EA HD” screen before what can only be described as a gob-smacking introduction. This intro looked good on SD but on HD it really comes to life. The collisions look better, complete with realistic flying sparks. As the cars fly past there are elements where you believe that you might be watching a movie chase rather than a computer generated game introduction. Within the game itself the change is incredible. With the use of widescreen there is so much more on the screen, and all in much higher detail that the difference is palpable. The textures look right, the reflections look photo realistic, and the speed blurring effect (of which so many people have been critics) is right, it just works.

Madden is the same. The introduction could be taken straight from a live broadcast, such is the realism in the pitch, the player models, and most impressively, the stadium. All in all, HD does these games justice.

So in summary, is the AL1916w a good monitor? Absolutely. Would it make your SD XBox 360 gaming experience far better? Without a doubt! Will it make the XBox a victim of it’s own success?? Quite possibly, although this must refer to HD in general and not just this monitor. The problem being that when something looks more realistic, it is far easier to see the flaws in it. Look at something that is blatantly a simulation of the real thing, and you don’t notice the flaws so much as your mind accepts it’s a simulation.

So where does this leave us? Given £1,000 would I buy the Acer? Probably not. I’m not saying that it’s the best screen on the market, by any stretch of the imagination. However, this is a great screen for those of you who, like me, don’t have that £1,000 to spend. It brings games on the 360 to life, and it makes you appreciate just why the 360 is currently the most powerful console on the planet. As an entry level option the AL1916w is the best, bar none. It would easily hold up against it’s nearest rivals, and to be honest, at half the price, I believe Acer may have gotten a jump on their competitors.