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Using my Laptop's Monitor with my Xbox 360
ftheriaa
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I've been looking into solutions for using my laptop's monitor to play Xbox 360 on. Most of them involve a TV tuner card of some sort, but most information I can find is pretty unreliable (http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_play_a_console_on_a_laptop/ for example...) I was wondering if anyone was successfully playing their 360 (or Wii/PS3) on their laptop monitors, and what equipment they were using. Thanks!
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HOWEVER:
Some TV-tuners have a 'lag' between the input and what's displayed on the screen/played out through audio. This is no issue when you're watching some TV, but if you're playing a video game and dictating what happens on the screen by using a controller, it'll piss you off. I'm really not sure how you'd go about finding out whether or not a specific TV-tuner will have any associated lag or not.
One idea might be to buy a cheap USB tv-tuner at a brick and mortar that has an exchange policy for opened hardware AND several affordable models in stock. That way, if the tuner you try out doesn't work out, you can try some more and hopefully find one without lag.
ALSO:
before buying the tuner, you'll want to verify that you can un-mute the input or mic-in on your laptop so that you know that sound going into it is immediately played through the speakers. You can use software (media player classic for example) to play-back the audio that's coming in through the line/mic-in ports, BUT doing so will cause an annoying audio delay. Just enough of a delay to be really annoying, like you notice that the 'swoosh' sounds don't sync right with the menu changes in dashboard, or lip/sound being off-sync with video. So make sure your hardware will just do it out of the box by un-muting the line/mic and checking with a microphone (I assume the laptop has it's own mic --brace yourself for feedback.)
If line/mic in won't work un-muted, you can connect the 360 directly to speakers with audio converter cables but if you're hooking up to a laptop you might not have speakers to connect to.
To sum, you need the TV tuner, an audio cable with two female RCA jacks on one side and a male headphone jack on the other (to plug into your laptop's line-in or mic-in port and into the 360's left/right audio RCA ports).
And you're in business.
I have all the cords to hook up headphones directly to the 360's output, so the audio isn't a problem. (plus a quick check with a mic confirms that I can unmute the input, so I'm golden there.) I guess I just need to find a TV tuner that doesn't lag hardcore.
Anyone have any recommendations? I have a Dell XPS m1530, so I have USB and an ExpressCard slot at my disposal, and the lack of lag is my highest priority. I would love to hear from someone who actually has this setup up and running.
Drivers were pretty shit though, if you yanked the device at the wrong time XP would bluescreen. It caused conflicts with some of my other usb hardware too.. which also caused bluescreen.
Other than that though it worked great.
Dude!
But seriously, must we have this question all the time? No, you can't directly wire it in. Yes, tuners will introduce lag, from minimal to unplayable levels. The best solution is still to buy another LCD monitor, then you can use it both for your console and your PC.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
I did the research, I'm not stupid. I don't know if you noticed, but I asked for people who actually have this setup and what tuner they are using, not just "duh duh xbox + laptop = poop." The best solution for me is not lugging around a fragile, $100+, LCD monitor when I already have a nice screen on my laptop. And a tuner is going to cost less than a whole monitor.
But seriously, must you crap on my thread?
Ergo why I stated that at least you weren't asking the stupid question, you at least had come to the conclusion that a tuner was needed; however, you're going to get lag, and probably no better than a 480i signal because of S-Video/Composite tuners.
The resistance against a monitor puzzles me, because unless you're powering your 360 off of a battery, you're going to be outlet-tied anyhow. What situation are you going to be in where you're just spontaneously carrying around your 360+laptop and decide "Man, I want to play some games right now" find an outlet and go to town?
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
The resistance against the monitor goes as follows:
a) It's going to be more expensive any way you slice it. I'm in college, I'm poor.
b) I'm not looking for a play anywhere setup, just a play where ever I'm spending the night setup. Most hotels have devices on their TVs to make input from an external device impossible. I'm traveling on the university's dime, so I can't exactly pick my room. (Or it's just a shitty tv.)
c) I want a tv tuner anyways so I can record to my laptop and watch it on the road.
d) I can only take so much stuff with me, and a LCD would just get damaged.
I don't have a TV that's better than my laptops LCD. I'll take 480i, but I _think_ with the right choice of tuners I can do better than that. The lag is the thing that scares me at the moment. Again, I keep hearing that it's possible to do without lag, I just want to find someone who's done it.
I will tell you right now that you cannot. TV tuners that take uncompressed high-definition inputs of the sort that the X360 outputs are 1) not commercially available to consumers and 2) require more bandwidth than an ExpressCard or PCMCIA slot can provide.
If you ever see a "high-definition TV tuner card" it's talking about ATSC/QAM television, which is a pre-compressed MPEG4 stream, not high-def component input.
I'm just saying that you should probably save up your money for a real monitor and do it right rather than go for a halfassed stopgap solution.
If you do go with a TV tuner, though, don't worry so much about getting an expensive one. All you're really using it for are the direct video inputs and not the actual tuner part, and those are usually pretty solid regardless of manufacturer, so you can go pretty cheap.
Also, use DScaler.
edit: Also you will see a noticeable difference by using S-Video over composite. It's still 480i but it's a better 480i.
It will up your cost significantly, but will drastically increase your options. You can get external hardware encoders, which translates to minimum delay. No experience with it myself.
I did s-video through a pinnacle usb dongle on the oxbox, but in those days it was ok because the oxbox couldn't output better than 480p.
That's straight off the wiki. :P
There were perhaps three games that output anything higher than 480p.
Read the thread before replying. plzkthxbai.
a) I can sympathize with that, but spending money to get a sub-par or useless solution won't be any better than spending an extra case of beer's worth to get one that does.
b) If this is what you're after, getting the Pelican Xbox 360 RF Tuner would be your winner. Ten bucks, goes through the cable jack, which any TV - even shitty hotel ones or shitty ones in general - has.
c) Different issue then.
d) Good point, I wasn't expecting someone who's travelling a lot.
At the risk of being further labeled a dick though, is it just impossible to go without the 360 for a night? Pick up a portable console or get some laptop-friendly games - or hell, go out and enjoy the town you're staying in on the university's dime. :P
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
When you've got money to spend on a higher quality experience, it's easy to forget what it's like to be on a budget just trying to get the most out of what you have. Millions of people play 360's on SDTVs, I don't think he'll be too badly off
Don't forget about exchange policies in a store, they can potentially let you try out a lot more tuners for the same cash than if you shell out for one that doesn't work for gaming and just get stuck with it.
I do have an RF adapter, but a lot of hotels have a little thick hard plastic covering that does not allow you to unscrew the cable. It's a pain in the ass. They want you to play on their game service using that shitty N64 controller attached to the back of the tv haha.
If we're in Nashville, Atlanta, Memphis or some other large town, I make sure to get out and hit the bars. (OT: I'm spending New Years in Memphis on the University's check. I'm pretty excited.) The reasoning for the 360 is sometimes we get stuck in some backwater town with a waffle house and a gas station in walking distance of the hotel and that's it. I do have some great games for my laptop, but none of my friends own laptops that are gaming capable, so multiplayer is out of the question. The 360 solves all these problems, I just need something to see it on. There is nothing like drinking a few beers and playing some halo with your buds in some strange town hotel room.
Ego and Daedalus, thanks for the advice on the ATSC/QAM and taking advantage of return policies.
I'll let you guys know how it turns out.
The big question was the 360. It works. It works great. No lag. SD quality is good enough for me, and it looks great. Thanks for all the help!
ok so i was reading this thread cause i actually have the same questions as you, and i saw the product that you got and i was wondering how to work it and how well it works. thanks