Xbox 360 through VGA

Grizzly_Addams

I have this monitor:

http://computers.pricegrabber.com/flat-panel-lcd-monitors/m/27241334/

I enjoy it immensely. It's crystal clear, bright as hell, and as far as I can tell, never has visible latency.

This, however, is with a DVI-D (digital) connection from my computer.

In the interest of not wanting to monopolize the TV from my wife (the TV and my computer are feet away from each other, I will most likely just be moving the system back and forth depending on the situation) I want to connect my 360 to that monitor with the MS VGA cable, which I assume is analog. My 360 does not support HDMI, and my monitor does support both analog and digital.

How should I expect the picture and playability to be on the monitor, and where can I get the cable for less than $40? I've searched Froogle, but it's hard for me to tell which sites are reliable, as I only shop online once or twice a year.

Edit: Also, my monitor appears to have Scaling and Stretching capabilites built in, but I've never used them. Will this be crucial in playing 16:9 games on my 16:10 monitor?

MistaCreepy

I use a monitor with the 360 VGA cable. Looks flawless.

Dusda

I also use a monitor (a 19" LCD) with my 360. It is also flawless. You might have better luck on eBay, but $40 is pretty much the price of admission for a 360 VGA cable.

Raslin

Don't think you'll find a cable under 40, but its possible. I think mine was 50; worth it though.

Picture is great, and vga allows you to upconvert dvd's up to 1080p, if thats your thing.

davidbarry

I'm currently using the XBox VGA cable as well, but on a 4:3 lcd screen. It looks fantastic, and as an added bonus it'll make the 360 upscale DVD's to whatever resolution you're running at. (To my knowledge, if you use the standard component cables it'll only output DVD's in 480p)

I can't speak to scaling issues with a 16:10 monitor, unfortunately.

Grizzly_Addams

So with the gorgeous picture i get on my 22" monitor I'm practically retarded for not having done this yet?

What's the deal with something like this:

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=205880672&listingid=11227021&dcaid=17902

Raslin

Scaling with a 16:10 works great for me.

Nitsua

A friend of mine bought one from Gamespot for only $12... so if you look around at stores like that you could find it for much less than $40.

Evangir

I play on a 22" monitor on both my PS3 and 360. I have absolutely no complaints. It looks unbelievable, and was sure a hell of a lot cheaper than buying a new TV. The scaling seems to be just fine.

MistaCreepy

My official cable was 30 bucks and the day I ordered it I saw a 3rd party 360 VGA cable for 20 bucks at Target... I almost canceled my order, but fuck it.

Evangir

MistaCreepy wrote: »

My official cable was 30 bucks and the day I ordered it I saw a 3rd party 360 VGA cable for 20 bucks at Target... I almost canceled my order, but fuck it.

Curse you thrifty jerks! I paid $50.

(In my defence, it was like a year ago, before prices had adjusted to the higher Canadian dollar).

Bartholamue

Damn, it's still $50 at most places.

Dark Shroud

XBOX 360 VGA CABLE $9.39 @ monoprice.

Grizzly_Addams

Oh, another question for those of you who are doing this same thing, what are you using for audio?

Naughty_Sauce

Grizzly_Addams wrote: »

Oh, another question for those of you who are doing this same thing, what are you using for audio?

I use an RCA-to-stereo mini jack adapter to connect my PS3 to the line in jack on my sound card. Although I'm looking to upgrade my current sound card (Audigy 2 ZS) to something that has an optical (toslink) input.

SporkAndrew

I take my audio out into a switch, which also collects the DVD audio which is then fed into my amplifier and speakers. The official MS cable comes with a phono -> 3.5mm stereo jack so you could then take that and plug it straight into your computer speakers if you lacked a reciever / amp.

Scaling / stretching is entirely game dependant as far as I can tell. On Dead Rising cutscenes I get some really visible tearing, but everything else comes out flawlessly on my 24" Dell.

Evangir

Grizzly_Addams wrote: »

Oh, another question for those of you who are doing this same thing, what are you using for audio?

My solution is very messy. I've got both my 360 and PS3 connected to RCA->3.5mm adapters, which are then connected into a 3.5mm splitter (one of those cheap cables people buy to split an iPod between two different sets of headphones... totally not designed for what I'm doing), which is then connected to my PC's sound card, which is an incredibly cheap Audigy 4 SE. Soon-ish (ie, when I can find a cheap cable that's long enough), I'll be getting rid of the split and just use a toslink cable to connect my PS3.

Audio quality is surprisingly good in this setup, but I have to have both of the consoles on at the same time for it to work. If only one is on, the sound is almost inaudible.

NailbunnyPD

Evangir, I've attempted a similar setup, and found that trying to use that kind of splitter to merge two sources would not work. That's interesting that it works for you.

Einhander

Everything I've heard about third party 360 VGA adaptors has been that they are shitty (like, from a butt), so make sure you spring for the official one, even if it's $10 more.

It sucks you don't have HDMI. I picked up an HDMI to DVi adaptor for my 360 and had it hooked up through DVi to my 19" widescreen LCD, and it looked absolutely glorious. I've since had to sell the entire setup, but my memory lives on.

In terms of audio, an RCA to minijack converter is like $3, and will allow you to plug the audio cables from the VGA adaptor directly into a minijack (like your computer speakers), so that is the cheapest route to go. The one I used is made by Logitech, and it supports surround sound. It's a little box a little bigger than a matchbox, and thicker, so it's easy to hide behind a desk.

Your monitor itself has a 5ms response time, which is pretty good. You probably won't see too much ghosting. The monitor also has VGA, which I'm assuming you're using for your PC.

Basically, check and see how much it would cost to get a KVM splitter to allow both the 360 and the PC to use the VGA port, and then compare that price against whatever it will cost you to get the 360's VGA signal converted to DVi.

Then go with whatever is cheapest.

Evangir

Einhander wrote: »

Everything I've heard about third party 360 VGA adaptors has been that they are shitty (like, from a butt), so make sure you spring for the official one, even if it's $10 more.

It sucks you don't have HDMI. I picked up an HDMI to DVi adaptor for my 360 and had it hooked up through DVi to my 19" widescreen LCD, and it looked absolutely glorious. I've since had to sell the entire setup, but my memory lives on.

In terms of audio, an RCA to minijack converter is like $3, and will allow you to plug the audio cables from the VGA adaptor directly into a minijack (like your computer speakers), so that is the cheapest route to go. The one I used is made by Logitech, and it supports surround sound. It's a little box a little bigger than a matchbox, and thicker, so it's easy to hide behind a desk.

Your monitor itself has a 5ms response time, which is pretty good. You probably won't see too much ghosting. The monitor also has VGA, which I'm assuming you're using for your PC.

Basically, check and see how much it would cost to get a KVM splitter to allow both the 360 and the PC to use the VGA port, and then compare that price against whatever it will cost you to get the 360's VGA signal converted to DVi.

Then go with whatever is cheapest.

Just glancing at his monitor's specs, he shouldn't need to use a KVM. He has both DVI-D and VGA on the monitor (and mentions using DVI-D for his PC).

Einhander

Evangir wrote: »

Just glancing at his monitor's specs, he shouldn't need to use a KVM. He has both DVI-D and VGA on the monitor (and mentions using DVI-D for his PC).

Yeah I seem to have glanced at that and missed it somehow. I thought he was using the VGA connection for his PC.

Grizzly_Adams, the 360 will look great on VGA. It will make you wonder why you didn't do it sooner. You'll be losing a bit of screen size going from a twentysomething or higher inch TV to a 22" monitor, but 22" is still pretty large, and you won't have to battle the lady for the television.

Grizzly_Addams

Einhander wrote: »

Evangir wrote: »

Just glancing at his monitor's specs, he shouldn't need to use a KVM. He has both DVI-D and VGA on the monitor (and mentions using DVI-D for his PC).

Yeah I seem to have glanced at that and missed it somehow. I thought he was using the VGA connection for his PC.

Grizzly_Adams, the 360 will look great on VGA. It will make you wonder why you didn't do it sooner. You'll be losing a bit of screen size going from a twentysomething or higher inch TV to a 22" monitor, but 22" is still pretty large, and you won't have to battle the lady for the television.

It's actually a 51" Sont RPCRT. But it's getting old now as has some burn in, and is just not that bright anymore. Plus it's so my wife can watch Biggest Loser and One Tree Hill in peace while I play Lost Oddysey.

LordOfMeep

OK, I'm getting a 360 soon, and I don't own an HD (And don't have the budget for one) and I don't want to end up playing Mass Effect or something and have a really hard time reading text because the font wasn't designed to be viewed in SD. I've got plenty of VGA PC monitors lying about, so this sounds like a pretty nice solution.

My questions are:

Is the end of the VGA cable that goes into the monitor male or female? If it's male, is there a converter I can get that'll let me connect two male ends together? Both monitors I have have malle connections at the end.

Is there any way to convert the stereo audio plugs into something my PC speakers can use (Or the Line-In jack on the back of a spare stereo)? They're rinky-dink, run-of-the-mill PC speakers. If not, I'll probably have to use some backwards-ass solution involving playing the audio out a TV.

Yes, I'm really stupid when it comes to these kinds of questions, so I won't be surprised if anything I just asked was completely unrealistic and that I'm fucked and will have to simply play through my SD TV like I always have.

Lunker

Dark Shroud wrote: »

XBOX 360 VGA CABLE $9.39 @ monoprice.

I'm using this set right now on my 40" LCD TV, and it works flawlessly. Looks as good as the $40 first-party ones that I bought and then returned a few days later when the monoprice one came. Also, IIRC the official VGA cables are on sale for $15 at Toys R Us...? I forget where I saw it, I think it was CAG. You may want to check it out.s

RainbowDespair

LordOfMeep wrote: »

My questions are:

Is the end of the VGA cable that goes into the monitor male or female? If it's male, is there a converter I can get that'll let me connect two male ends together? Both monitors I have have malle connections at the end.

I'm pretty sure that the official Microsoft VGA cable comes with a converter so either way, you're fine.

Is there any way to convert the stereo audio plugs into something my PC speakers can use (Or the Line-In jack on the back of a spare stereo)? They're rinky-dink, run-of-the-mill PC speakers. If not, I'll probably have to use some backwards-ass solution involving playing the audio out a TV.

The Microsoft VGA cable also comes with a converter for changing the stereo audio plugs into a PC plug, although you may need to go and pick up a cheap $3-5 male or female converter at Radio Shack if you can't plug directly into your speakers.

Anyway, I highly recommend the official VGA cable. On my 19" widescreen monitor, everything looks fantastic.

JerikTelorian

I'd highly recommend using your monitor with the MSoft VGA cable. Once I bought it, three of my roommates went out and got the cable too, and none of us have looked back.

ThrustinJ

I use a non-MS cable on my 42" Sceptre. It looks great. Not sure why it wouldn't look great on a 20".

Shady3011

If anyone is looking for the official Microsoft VGA cable, your local Toys R Us might have it for $20. It's worth a look since that's half off the normal retail price.