Connecting PS2 to LCD Monitor

leonkennedy

I have a Playstation 2, a component AV cable for PS2 and an 18.5 inch flat lcd monitor with 1366 x 768 native resolution.

I want to hook up my PS2 to this monitor using component AV cable.

I am aware that this could be possible using a VGA box.

But I don't know which one would be compatible or give me the best results with the weird native resolution of my monitor.

Because everywhere I see, all the brochures for every VGA box, have tons of resolutions uptil 1600x1200, but there is no 1366 x 768 to be seen in that long list of compatibility!

This really annoys me because I never knew my monitor would be so weird...

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Here is the video with the PS2 running on an LCD monitor (not 18.5 inch) using an XCM mega cool VGA BOX:

damn they are not allowing me to post the youtube vid link!

Ok simply type in XCM MEGA COOL VGA BOX in youtube and you will get a video in search results which is 9:53 minutes long.
Play it.

Thanks in advance.

leonkennedy

Now come on 56 views and still no replies!
Somebody has to...please!!!!!

Lum

What inputs are on the back of the monitor? just DVI and VGA? Also I'm going to assume it's a PAL PS2 and you don't have it chipped to play NTSC games.

If you can find a VGA box that will output 768x576 (horizontal resolution isn't too important, but the vertical needs to be 576) that would be the optimal resolution to use. The reason for this is that PAL devices output at 576i by default so by sticking with this resolution you'll not be doing any scaling. The scaler in your TV will then go straight from 768x576 -> 1366x768.

If you output any resolution other than 576 then you will be scaling twice which will introduce lag and quality loss.

There is one important exception to be aware of. Many games offer to run in "60 Hz mode". Where this option is available it is recommended to use it as most PS2 games were originally written for NTSC. If you are using 60 Hz mode then you should have your VGA box output 640x480

Lastly. It used to be possible to get a VGA cable for the PS2. This isn't recommended as most games don't supported. It was intended for use with PS2 Linux.

leonkennedy

Lum wrote: »

What inputs are on the back of the monitor? just DVI and VGA? Also I'm going to assume it's a PAL PS2 and you don't have it chipped to play NTSC games.

If you can find a VGA box that will output 768x576 (horizontal resolution isn't too important, but the vertical needs to be 576) that would be the optimal resolution to use. The reason for this is that PAL devices output at 576i by default so by sticking with this resolution you'll not be doing any scaling. The scaler in your TV will then go straight from 768x576 -> 1366x768.

If you output any resolution other than 576 then you will be scaling twice which will introduce lag and quality loss.

There is one important exception to be aware of. Many games offer to run in "60 Hz mode". Where this option is available it is recommended to use it as most PS2 games were originally written for NTSC. If you are using 60 Hz mode then you should have your VGA box output 640x480

Lastly. It used to be possible to get a VGA cable for the PS2. This isn't recommended as most games don't supported. It was intended for use with PS2 Linux.

Aw..you just don't know how you showed me something real!
Everywhere I found lame answers which were good for nothing.
You really sound like you know much about the TV stuff!
Thanks a zillion Lum!

And yes, let's not stop our conversation here.
I would like to let you know that I have an NTSC PS2 which is chipped and now it is able to play PAL as well as NTSC and JP games too!
So now what do you think should I have?

I will show you the options that I have narrowed down.

- XCM mega cool VGA box at xcm official website supports 480i, 576i 480p,576p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p
- High Box at Gamemanx forums, Delivers crystal clear 480i, 576i, 480p, 576p, 720p(50Hz/60Hz), 1080i(50Hz/60Hz), or 1080p(50Hz/60Hz) displays on standard VGA/LCD monitors.
- Supera Color HD(includes TV Tuner) and HD GAME BOX(excludes TV Tuner) on Geniatech website are the same products support support 480 i/p 720i/p and 1080 i/P
- HD BOX PRO at hdboxpro official website supports 480i, 480p, 576i, 720p(60Hz/50Hz), 1080i(60Hz/50Hz), 1080p(60Hz/50Hz)

I added links to them, but I am sorry as a new user they are not allowing me to post links to these products with specs. Sorry to burden you with the pain of going to those links manually.

Please see all these and let me know which one is the best for me. Thank you very much again sir!

Lum

To be honest, any of those will do. What you are trying to achieve is to NOT have the VGA box scaling, so you really don't need one that outputs anything other than 480p and 576p

Basically. NTSC TV (and 60Hz PAL) is 480i, PAL TV is 576i. These two old standards were co-opted into the new naming scheme when HDTV came along

The problem with your monitor is that it's native resolution is 1366x768 which is not an HDTV standard, as a result of this your monitor is going to have to scale ANY input before it is able to display it, regardless of whether it's 480i or 1080p, your monitor is going to scale it.

Scaling will introduce a bit of lag (delay between your character moving on your PS2 game and that movement actually appearing on screen) and can cause a reduction in picture quality, one round of scaling is fine and is a normal trade-off that you make for having an LCD or Plasma TV rather than a bulky CRT, it's not that bad at all. We just don't want to introduce a second round of scaling.

I haven't looked at the specs for those VGA boxes, but what you want is one that will deinterlace but nothing else. ie. if you input a 480i signal, it will output 640x480 (aka 480p) if you input a 576i signal you get 768x576 or 568p. Converting from I to P is fine, this is a process known as deinterlacing, or if you want to get really old school, call it "scandoubling". This sort of kit is nothing new, they used to sell them for the old Commodore Amiga back in the day. It should also be quite cheap by now. I paid £70 for one back in 1998 but that only did S-Video and Composite.

I'd suggest reading the manuals for the products in question, you'd save a lot of money by getting one that isn't capable of scaling as scalers aren't cheap.

leonkennedy

Lum wrote: »

To be honest, any of those will do. What you are trying to achieve is to NOT have the VGA box scaling, so you really don't need one that outputs anything other than 480p and 576p

Basically. NTSC TV (and 60Hz PAL) is 480i, PAL TV is 576i. These two old standards were co-opted into the new naming scheme when HDTV came along

The problem with your monitor is that it's native resolution is 1366x768 which is not an HDTV standard, as a result of this your monitor is going to have to scale ANY input before it is able to display it, regardless of whether it's 480i or 1080p, your monitor is going to scale it.

Scaling will introduce a bit of lag (delay between your character moving on your PS2 game and that movement actually appearing on screen) and can cause a reduction in picture quality, one round of scaling is fine and is a normal trade-off that you make for having an LCD or Plasma TV rather than a bulky CRT, it's not that bad at all. We just don't want to introduce a second round of scaling.

I haven't looked at the specs for those VGA boxes, but what you want is one that will deinterlace but nothing else. ie. if you input a 480i signal, it will output 640x480 (aka 480p) if you input a 576i signal you get 768x576 or 568p. Converting from I to P is fine, this is a process known as deinterlacing, or if you want to get really old school, call it "scandoubling". This sort of kit is nothing new, they used to sell them for the old Commodore Amiga back in the day. It should also be quite cheap by now. I paid £70 for one back in 1998 but that only did S-Video and Composite.

I'd suggest reading the manuals for the products in question, you'd save a lot of money by getting one that isn't capable of scaling as scalers aren't cheap.

Thanks a zillion for responding so readily and helpfully!
I will surely look into it and reply back as soon as possible.
Till now based on all of my research I have narrowed down to the XCM MEGA COOL VGA BOX.
Let's see if my risking 80 dollars works or not.

aliEnRIK

Your going to pay 80 dollars for a converter box to feed a cheap flatscreen monitor? First up, the conversion process WILL degrade the signal to a degree. 2nd ~ it may not even work!
Its designed to be used with a tv so my suggestion is use it with a tv (Or anything with an S-Video input)

leonkennedy

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Your going to pay 80 dollars for a converter box to feed a cheap flatscreen monitor? First up, the conversion process WILL degrade the signal to a degree. 2nd ~ it may not even work!
Its designed to be used with a tv so my suggestion is use it with a tv (Or anything with an S-Video input)

No it's not designed for a TV, if you read its specifications anywhere on the internet.

I am talkin about the XCM MEGA COOL VGA BOX.

You may even watch the youtube video from dcemureview where the user has connected it to a Benq lcd monitor.

These VGA boxes are made to connect the gaming consoles to the LCD Monitors.

And this one has stood as the winner so far.

aliEnRIK

I ment the PS2 is designed to be used with a tv

leonkennedy

umm..yea ur right, but then, this box is also designed to make ps2 work with an lcd or even hdtv!

leonkennedy

Moreover, if you play on lcd or hdtv using the bundled composite av cable, the quality is going to be the worst. But this box enables a user or simply allows for the use of a component av cable which is designed especially for PS2 so that it can produce the best picture quality. That means, the 480i signals are converted to 480p signals using these cables and the box upscales these signals to show on the lcd monitor.
So the quality is going to be far better than on the tv using composite cables.
Yes, but it wont be that great compared to the component cables going directly from PS2 to an HDTV with component inputs.