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Connecting the XBox to a Monitor?
purple asks: "I'm looking to find a way to connect my new XBox to a computer monitor. I understand that the XBox has HDTV out, with up to 1900 lines of resolution. Since I have a standard television, but a large high quality monitor, I wanted to figure out how to do this. There were "VGA Adapters" for the Dreamcast, but as I understand it, they were only available because the Dreamcast had explicit internal support to output VGA; the adapter itself had very little electronics in it. My question is, 1, can the XBox itself output a VGA signal? and 2, is there a standard HDTV->VGA adapter that I can purchase, perhaps from an AV store."
I have asked myself the same question, and i have not been able to find any hardware allowing this yet. I read a review somewhere of thps2x, and it said "...It will run a silky-smooth 60 frames per second, and will also include VGA support for discriminating gamers...". So maybe Microsoft is planning to release one in the near future. My opinion is that it should have been built in, considering that the xbox is basically a proprietary computer (it couldn't be that hard to do, right?)
"I hate people, but i love Gatherings. Isn't it ironic?" -- Randall Graves, Clerks
i'm not sure what the xbox is using for output, but you're probably best served waiting until they release a real vga adapter. if you absolutely cannot wait, you have a couple options. first, you can go the cheap route with a cheese box from AV Toolbox. these boxes will upconvert a standard ntsc composite or s-video signal to be displayed on the monitor. none will use the high def output though.
:)
if you want high def, expect to pay upwards of $2000 USD. check this guy out from www.extron.com. extron makes all sorts of very nice broadcast quality conversion equipment, if you have the pockets deep enough to afford it.
my suggestion? wait till MS releases the $40 vga box
Why don't you just phone some AV stores and ask them instead?
My other account has a 3-digit UID.
try lik-sang.com - they have all sorts of cables i dont know if they have exactly what you're looking for though.
no i dont work for lik sang heh.
Microsoft yanked the higher resolution support from the TRC ages ago because games would bog at the higher resolutions; console programmers are too used to working with a single target.
At the most, what you might get right now would be post-render antialiased stretch of the game screen, but most HDTV class televisions and PC TV display cards will do this for you anyway.
Haupege(sp?) makes it, its cheap and does both HD and ntsc/pal. Now you just have to get the XBox to do HD, which I'm pretty sure just takes a different adapter.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
The 1020i signal (the 1900x1020 max resolution XBox is capable of) would likely pose a much greater challenge since you would need scan-converter circuitry, and thus a buffer.
Finally, don't forget you still need the HDTV adaptor add-on just to get the HDTV signal out of the XBox.
Work for Change & GET PAID!
If I owned one of these boxes (which I never will - not because I couldn't afford one, but rather because of reasons which are not part of this thread), I would:
1. Open it up.
2. Trace back from the video out connector to the nearest IC(s).
3. Write down all of the info for those ICs.
4. Find the manufacturer (on the web or elsewise).
5. Bother them (ie, email or phone) until they either:
a) Gave me specs
b) Sold me the specs
Typically, if you dig deep enough on the web, you can find specs for just about ANY IC you care to name, unless it is made ultra custom for the system at hand. So do your web searching first.
One of those chips is doing the conversion from a digital video signal (RGB, HSYNC, VSYNC) to composite. It may be that with the specs, you could find out which pins have the digital signal coming in, then with an o-scope, figure out the p2p voltage level, and see if you need to do any kind of conversion, etc to run it into a monitor. It could also be that the chip is connected directly to the video buffer, and only outputs composite - but IC manufacturers rarely do this - typically they will cram as many functions on one IC as they can, unless it is custom (which in this case, it could be). If it is a standard video chip, then maybe the VGA or digital RGB output pins are merely disconnected (or hey, they might be connected to a header somewhere for that "future" upgrade)...
Of course, I am the kind of person who likes the smell of melting solder, so take my opinion however you wish...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Get the HDTV tuner card that was mentioned a little while back. That will give you HDTV on your computer and allow you to post some phat-diggity screenshots for us!!
Well, yeah - you have a point that if you can take it back, you have no risk.
Most stores here in the states employ idiots. Others employ people just making money, don't care about the return, let the manufacturer handle it. Most of the time the store will simply look in the box to make sure all the parts are there, and that there isn't any major damage. They won't take the thing apart.
Interesting that they do a thorough inspection in Japan - I wonder if that is because of major hacking on new stuff, causing a lot of returns, or what...?
Reason is the Path to God - Anon