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Games Entertainment

Connecting the XBox to a Monitor? 21

Posted by Cliff from the gaming-in-high-quality-video dept.
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."
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Connecting the XBox to a Monitor? More

Connecting the XBox to a Monitor?

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  • 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?)

  • some products to check out... (Score:4, Informative)

    by aderusha ( 32235 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @03:56AM (#2594781) Homepage
    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 [avtoolbox.com]. 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 [extron.com] 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?

  • No go. (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The higher video modes are available in the hardware, however you won't find a title that supports them.

    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.

    • Re:WinTvHD (Score:2, Informative)

      by aderusha ( 32235 )
      this item looked interesting, but after looking into it (http://hauppauge.lightpath.net/html/wintv-d.pdf), i find a few problems. first off, it's a pci card, so you need a computer handy. that's not usually a problem if you're actually plugging into a vga monitor, but it might be if you're connecting to a data projector. the bigger problem however is that it downconverts ALL HD formats to 480i (check the link above) and displays them through your existing video card. 480i is good old NTSC, so you're not realizing any benefit from the HD signal.

  • From the Horse's Mouth: NO (Score:5, Informative)

    by Cy Guy ( 56083 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @11:40AM (#2595979) Homepage Journal
    According to the XBOX.com Support Page [xbox.com]:
    Can I use the console with my computer?

    The Xbox console is a dedicated video game console. Its sole purpose is to provide you with the best video game experience available on the market while connected to your television. You can also use Xbox as a DVD home theater system if you purchase the DVD Playback Kit.

    Can the Xbox hook up to a computer monitor

    The Xbox video game system is intended for use with television sets or television/VCR setups. This focus allows gamers to enjoy the superior visual and sound capacity of high-definition and high-resolution television sets.
    But personally, it seems like it should be trivial to convert the 720p signal to be viewed on a standard PC monitor - IANAEE but primarily it just involves converting the YPrPb 720p signal to RGB 720p. (a product that roughly does the reverse is available here for $159 [digitalconnection.com]) I would hope some EE geek here on SlashDot could look at specs and come up with the necessary wiring diagram and release as an open source solution.

    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 [amazon.com] just to get the HDTV signal out of the XBox.

  • What I would do... (Score:3, Informative)

    by cr0sh ( 43134 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2001 @01:04PM (#2596468) Homepage
    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...
    • hardocp has high resolution pictures of the chips including the traces and the VGA to TV conversion unit on the board. soldering will work but i wouldnt want to try it -- a hauppage wintv board in the computer (or over a USB port..the USB convertor is $80 or so) is a much better solution. its not worth messing around with a $400 piece of hardware and estroying it when a $80 add on will do it for you.
      • Your concerns are a valid point, but sometimes risks are what "hacking" is about...

        If you are careful, and rehearse what you are planning to do, and take a lot of precautions (such as a 15 watt soldering iron with a very small tip, SMT solder, a magnifing glass lamp, and LOTS of patience) - what I suggest is very possible.

        But you have to be willing. I am certain someone out there will be in short time.

        Besides - if you screw up, just clean up the board and take it back for an exchange under warantee, right (personally, I really wouldn't give a f--k - who are you hurting, really? Best Buy and Microsoft? Cry me a river!)?
        • I am not sure how warrantees work in the United States but here they are not valid if you modify your equipment. Therefore if the retailer or manufacturer were to check your equipment (which many in Japan will do if only for their own benefit) you might find yourself in trouble if they catch you!! On a different topic, I request clarification. Perhaps I miss your point so do stop me if I am incorrect. However, you say that when you are hacking, it is sometimes about taking risks? Yet you are able to return your equipment even if you mess up? I do not see where the risk is. I wish we had it so well here ^_^

          • Risks (Score:2)

            by cr0sh ( 43134 )
            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...?
            • I believe that returns are scrutinized heavily because manufacturers wish to know how their products have failed. Perhaps it is also due to larger numbers of customers modifying their equipment. I am sorry I do not have a more accurate answer for you.
  • Get the HDTV tuner card that was mentioned [slashdot.org] a little while back. That will give you HDTV on your computer and allow you to post some phat-diggity screenshots for us!!

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