XBox VGA Adapter...Anyone tried this?

[chizow]

Just made the plunge to Xbox yesterday and tried hooking it up to my Dell 1900FP. My Ti4200 Turbo doesn't have native VIVO support, so I had to connect to the breakout box on my Asus TV Tuner card. The picture quality is somewhat lacking, mostly b/c I think its using video overlay and its not using the 480p capabilities to display properly on a VGA monitor. So now, I'm stuck with a less than stellar picture or waiting for M$ to get off their azzes and make a damn VGA adapter.

I ran a search on google and found this intriguing little XBox VGA Adapter. It seems to have everything I want to hook up to my PC and HT system.....toslink cable and VGA adapter. This would be perfect for my 1900FP as I could use the VGA input for my Xbox and keep the DVI input from my GF4. Anyone try this before? I don't want to shell out $70 if this thing sucks. The Redant one apparently is just a line doubler, but I found the one above as well as one on a German site that supposedly use the 480p capabilities from the Xbox connection.

TIA,

Chiz

 

[BeeVo]

I would be interested to know also since I am getting a xbox here for christmas.

 

[datalink7]

Off topic.

Have you purchased Splinter Cell? If you haven't, get it now

 

[chizow]

LoL yah...I did Got Splinter Cell, Mech Assault, Live Starter Kit and Xbox yesterday and got the $30 GC 2x. I think the CSR messed up. I haven't even set up Live w/ Mech Assault b/c I can't take Splinter Cell out Anyways, its friggin annoying as with any console how you gotta spend another $100 to get the system to live up to its potential. I forked out another $20 on the Advanced A/V connector for the S-Video and Toslink for 5.1. 5.1 DD is just awesome. The S-Video looks a lot better to my TV Tuner card than the component video, but still doesn't look great. I found a German site with a VGA adapter that claimed 480p..but now I can't find it!!!! And that link below provides no details

Chiz

PS I can't wait for NCAA 2k3...Terps are gonna win again...and again....and again

 

[BeeVo]

My 4200 has VIVO. Will I be able to hookup the xbox to it? What will I need?

 

[geno]

Hey do they have these for PS2s?

My monitor + Z560's = kickass gaming


EDIT - just found some on eBay - I want one!

 

[chizow]

BeeVo, you'll just need the Xbox Advanced A/V kit if your 4200 has S-Video in. I'm guessing you have a break-out box which connects to an S-Video in, so you could also hook it up using the composite video (yellow cable) that comes with the standard connector. S-Video is definitely an improvement over RCA (Composite) video, but neither take advantage of the "HDTV" signals the Xbox is capable of.

Geno, PS2 has an adapter, but again, I think its just a line doubler. Basically fills in the dots of the poor resolution that goes to normal TV sets. The Dreamcast IIRC had a VGA adapter that actually had a higher resolution signal than standard TV, and I know that was all the rage a few years ago.

I don't want just a line doubler I want something that gives 480p on my monitor...its possible....just wanna know if anyone has found a good one

Chiz

 

[AnyMal]

I am not trying to poop here, but doesn't playing on your PC monitor kinda defeats the purpose of playing with console? I thought the whole idea was to enjoy it on a large screen while hooked-up to a nice home theater for good sound.

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: AnyMal
I am not trying to poop here, but doesn't playing on your PC monitor kinda defeats the purpose of playing with console? I thought the whole idea was to enjoy it on a large screen while hooked-up to a nice home theater for good sound.

If the VGA conversion is done directly from the frame buffer of the console, the image quality will far exceed the quality that any television is capable of. The Dreamcast had a VGA adapter that did exactly that.

This, however, does defeat the purpose since you're converting from a low quality signal to VGA - you gain nothing.

You might as well use one of the external boxes that convert any monitor to a TV - About the same price, & you'll get a tuner as well.

Viper GTS

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: AnyMal
I am not trying to poop here, but doesn't playing on your PC monitor kinda defeats the purpose of playing with console? I thought the whole idea was to enjoy it on a large screen while hooked-up to a nice home theater for good sound.

Well the thing is, the TV in my apt. isn't mine, its a 32'' Wega that my roommate owns. They don't have much interest in video gaming, which is why I've rigged up my computer to be a 2nd home theater system. Point is, I can game at my leisure without having to take breaks b/c Friends is on. I already have the Advanced A/V kit, so I'd hook it up to the main HT system and TV if we had people over that wanted to play. But for my room, I'm trying to get away from the TV. I put my 20'' in the bar area b/c I didn't want to have it taking up space in my room now that I have a TV tuner. Now that I went out and got an XBox, I need to find a viable solution to keep a TV out of my room.

Viper, yah thats what I mean, I want something that isn't a downsampling the video output, b/c Xbox is capable of "HDTV" quality. I'm really trying to get everything working off my 1900 FP as it rocks and its tiny With a true VGA adapter, it'll look better than regular TVs and take up 1/10th the space. I actually found the link for that German VGA converter, but its $92!!!!! Here's the linky:


German Xbox VGA converter

I'm sure its what I want/need, just hard to justify for $92 bucks. Wanted to see if anyone was using something similar and what their results are, as the S-Video to my Tuner card is pretty good.

Chiz

 

[shurato]

I'm also sort of interested in a good way of hooking my xbox up to my monitor. Roommate is always watching TV so id rather just hook it up in my room. How about that viewsonic tv tuner external box...forget what its called but it was advertised with people like you in mind i think. Don't know if the quality is better than a pci tuner card.

 

[chizow]

Yah I don't think an external tuner box will improve IQ any, as it will still be using the original NTSC feed which looks bad on computer monitors. The breakout cables from the Xbox are the issue I think. Once the video feed is downgraded to NTSC, they lose their HDTV qualities and any adapter can at best change it from interlaced to progressive scan (line doubling).

Anyways, I think I'm gonna hold off a bit unless someone has tried this for sure and knows it works. $92 on an adapter is kinda expensive, especially if M$ puts one out sometime for $30 (may never happen). I'm pretty pleased with my picture quality now though once I switched to S-video instead of composite.

Chiz