360 VGA Adapter

heyfergy

heyfergy

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Hey dudes, I have a few questions about using a vga adapter. I have never used one or seen one being used so i'm sort of clueless....

First of all...how do you use it? I am using a PC monitor so would I take my monitors vga plug and connect it to the xbox vga adapter? or...??

Second...does the brand matter at all? Will there being any difference in quality between the microsoft brand, madcatz, and the random korean plugs on ebay?

Third....anyone have one they want to sell me? :)
 
1) It plugs into a VGA slot on the monitor, so if you are trying to use a CRT I believe you'll need an adapter.

2) Alot of people will say the MadCatz/Korean ones work fine but this isn't really something to cheap out on.

Go with the offical ones from MS.

3) No :lol:
 
a vga cable is a vga cable, it doesn't have to say microsoft or monster on it for it to work just as well.
 
Okay...the vga slot......so do some monitors (mine is a crt) have an output and an input?? I am fairly sure mine does not have an input.

[quote name='Sporadic']1) It plugs into a VGA slot on the monitor, so if you are trying to use a CRT I believe you'll need an adapter.

2) Alot of people will say the MadCatz/Korean ones work fine but this isn't really something to cheap out on.

Go with the offical ones from MS.

3) No :lol:[/quote]
 
i have $20 generic VGA cables for the 360....they are great and currently the only way to get HD DVD's in 1080p .... your computer monitor should have a vga input
 
some monitors had poor design and had the vga cable built into the monitor so there was really no vga input

that could be the case with op
 
If you use a VGA gender changer (one comes with the official MS cables), you should still be able to use the VGA cable with a monitor that has a VGA cable built into it.
 
Contrary to what people say, a VGA cable wouldn't be something to cheap out on. You'll most likely see the difference between the retail, and no-name cables. VGA is still an analog signal, so cable quality is going to make a difference in visual quality. HDMI however, when available, buy whatever the cheapest cable is you can find (monoprice 4tw,) digital signals don't lose visual quality due to cable quality.
 
[quote name='halfbent']Contrary to what people say, a VGA cable wouldn't be something to cheap out on. You'll most likely see the difference between the retail, and no-name cables. VGA is still an analog signal, so cable quality is going to make a difference in visual quality. HDMI however, when available, buy whatever the cheapest cable is you can find (monoprice 4tw,) digital signals don't lose visual quality due to cable quality.[/QUOTE]

QFT!

When talking about analog signals its all about: Shielding; Shielding; and Shielding.

A good cable with good connections can make a huge difference. However, I don't know enough about the off brands to say whether or not they are high quality, so I will leave that to others...
 
[quote name='DCriminal']QFT!

When talking about analog signals its all about: Shielding; Shielding; and Shielding.

A good cable with good connections can make a huge difference. However, I don't know enough about the off brands to say whether or not they are high quality, so I will leave that to others...[/quote]

He's right. The difference in quality among the VGA cables (I've tried the $8, and $19 versions from Play Asia) is astonishing. Both cheap cables have at one time or another borked the signal to show imperfections and "noise", while at the same time having ever-so-slight sync problems. The $19 cable looked alright for the first few minutes you turned on the 360, but noise creeped in as you played games, particularly ones on DVD (rather than the XBLA).

The 1st party cable is much better and worth the extra money. It wasn't too expensive a theory to test, but both 3rd party vga cables I got have hit the trash in a few weeks. The MS cable has worked flawlessly since I bought it. As for analog cables... I am not going to believe the hype on some of the price points (monster, I'm looking at you), but paying a little bit more for a better built cable makes all the difference in the world...

As for HDMI, shielding is unimportant (as you mentioned) and $8 is just as good as $80... they just don't want you to know that at Best Buy. heheeheh. It's amazing that someone can actually pay $79 for an hdmi cable... :)
 
Bleh, Monster cables are just rediculous. They take every little thing they can and max it all. The composite/component connectors scare the crap out of me whenever I have to unconnect one, always feels like I'm going to rip the female end right off the board.
 
I picked up one at Playasia (or Play-jah as Wombat says it) for about $14 shipped and it works great. 1080p looks great! :D
 
awesome, thanks for all the great info everyone. I couldn't really find a whole lot of information about them anywhere. I think I am going to go ahead and buy the Microsoft brand one just to be safe, and because it comes with the adapters.
 
So these things work on most monitors? Mines a Dell (about 17 inch I believe), but I know next to nothing about computer hardware (let alone VGA cables), but this sounds really tempting to buy. So do the VGA Cables from Microsoft have audio as well? Or is it just video (does audio need to be purchased seperatley?

Or better yet, anybody know of a guide that can explain this to me?
 
[quote name='Azumangaman']So these things work on most monitors? Mines a Dell (about 17 inch I believe), but I know next to nothing about computer hardware (let alone VGA cables), but this sounds really tempting to buy. So do the VGA Cables from Microsoft have audio as well? Or is it just video (does audio need to be purchased seperatley?

Or better yet, anybody know of a guide that can explain this to me?[/quote]

The VGA cables offer two ways to connect audio. One is the composite (ie white and red) connectors that you have been using for the last decade for sound. In addition, at the base of the cable (where is plugs into the xbox) there is a connector for an optical audio cable, which will allow for 5.1 surround.
 
[quote name='Malik112099']i have $20 generic VGA cables for the 360....they are great and currently the only way to get HD DVD's in 1080p[/quote]

This is completely untrue. You can get HD DVD in 1080p via component. You can't upscale SD DVDs over component, but HD DVDs are fine.
 
Some monitors don't support 1080p via component, but they do accept 1080p via the VGA hookup. That may be where the confusion lies.

For example, my Dell 24" does not display a 1080p resolution unless it is hooked up via the VGA cable. I think its a problem with the monitor, not the 360.
 
[quote name='geko29']This is completely untrue. You can get HD DVD in 1080p via component. You can't upscale SD DVDs over component, but HD DVDs are fine.[/quote]


no..you can't....the highest resolution for the HD-DVD player is 1080i through component.....

http://www.hometheatermag.com/xbox/207micro/

the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) protection will not allow copyrighted movies to play at 1080p over component video, even though the Xbox 360 is technically capable of doing so. But it can send 1080p over VGA, the Xbox 360's other high-end video-output option.
Click to expand...
 
Ah - Thanks for the clarification, guys.

However, does this limitation apply to games and the dashboard as well? I get an out of signal error on my monitor when I set the 360 to 1080p via component.
 
[quote name='DCriminal']Ah - Thanks for the clarification, guys.

However, does this limitation apply to games and the dashboard as well? I get an out of signal error on my monitor when I set the 360 to 1080p via component.[/QUOTE]

that means your monitor cant support 1080p i guess
 
[quote name='rly723']that means your monitor cant support 1080p i guess[/QUOTE]

that, or the monitor in question will not accept 1080p over component... some 1080p monitors will ONLY accept 1080p over hdmi/dvi.
 
[quote name='ashram']that, or the monitor in question will not accept 1080p over component... some 1080p monitors will ONLY accept 1080p over hdmi/dvi.[/QUOTE]

I would imagine that this is the case. The monitor is capable of 1:1 1080p via the VGA interface on the monitor, but only goes up to 1080i over component. I assumed that this was an issue with the 360. I stand corrected.
 
What do you guys use to connect the stereo rca of the vga cable to your computer speakers, which typically has a male mini jack?

Is there such things as a female stereo rca to female mini jack adapter? I've googled it and came up with nothing.

Or am I stuck with having to route the audio through the pc audio card?
 
Question

I just got the MS VGA and the only one I can set is 1024 x 768. Does anyone know what's the equivalent that is to? 720p?

It feels like I'm downgrading myself from 1080i via component just so I can upscale my DVDs.
 
[quote name='grendel19']What do you guys use to connect the stereo rca of the vga cable to your computer speakers, which typically has a male mini jack?

Is there such things as a female stereo rca to female mini jack adapter? I've googled it and came up with nothing.[/quote]

I just feed it through the line-in on my computer soundcard. Both stay connected that way. You can also use an RCA splitter and plug them both into the speaker connecter on the soundcard if it doesn't have a microphone/line-in jack (most probably have both tho.)


[quote name='geowong78']Question

I just got the MS VGA and the only one I can set is 1024 x 768. Does anyone know what's the equivalent that is to? 720p?

It feels like I'm downgrading myself from 1080i via component just so I can upscale my DVDs.[/quote]

I assume your TV is widescreen? You should have some 16:10 or 16:9 options in the video settings, as long as you have it set to widescreen before changing the resolution. My TV is 1360x768 I believe, wikipedia says 720p is ~1280x720 - not sure what my TV does for the difference. =P
 
[quote name='ashram']i second the post above.. 1080p hd dvd is by vga only.[/quote]
I stand corrected.....borrowed a friend's addon today to test, and my info bubble changed from "1920x1080p" to "1920x1080i" when the movie started playing when connected via component. re-connected with VGA and it was back at 1080p. Sorry for the misinformation.

FWIW, there's no perceptible difference in HD DVD (or Blu-Ray) between 1080i and 1080p with current equipment, except on TVs with really awful deinterlacers. The big step will be switching from 30p to 24p (which no players and VERY few displays currently support). I'm fairly confident that the 360 will never have that ability, however. It'll be left to the high-end standalone players.

[quote name='grendel19']What do you guys use to connect the stereo rca of the vga cable to your computer speakers, which typically has a male mini jack?

Is there such things as a female stereo rca to female mini jack adapter? I've googled it and came up with nothing.

Or am I stuck with having to route the audio through the pc audio card?[/quote]

The MS VGA cable comes with an adapter something like this
 
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