Playing Xbox 360 on a monitor

lkalka

Hi,

Were a little short of space in my sons room and I'm looking to get rid out of his bulky TV out of his room.

I want to get a monitor that allows him to connect his Xbox 360 and play it on there instead of the PC.

I think I already know the answer but I would just like confirmation i.e. can I connect the 360 to something like : -
http://www.misco.co.uk/HPSinfo/~129506~WW~/HannsG%20HU196D-FS%20DVI%2019in%20TFT.htm

or do I need something like: -
http://www.woolworths.co.uk/ww_p2/product/index.jhtml?pid=50743236

obviously theres a big difference in price.

I notice they both have a DVI connection but I presume it's only possible with the 2nd one.

Thanks for the help.

C_Ronaldo

the thing with the second is that it doesnt tell you any more than whats there, how much do you want to spend,

wolfman

No, the first is easily possible. It's what I currently have. I've got my PC and 360 hooked up to my 17" tft (ie LCD monitor, not TV). I just switch input mode depending upon which I'm using. So in other words, option one will do you fine.

You will need a VGA cable, the standard 360 one won't work. Something like:
http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/741485/Joytech_XBox_360_Digital_VGA_Cable/Product.html

It's £10, quite a bit cheaper than the official one. Nicely made too. Mine's been great.

lkalka

wolfman wrote:

No, the first is easily possible. It's what I currently have. I've got my PC and 360 hooked up to my 17" tft (ie LCD monitor, not TV). I just switch input mode depending upon which I'm using. So in other words, option one will do you fine.

You will need a VGA cable, the standard 360 one won't work. Something like:
http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/741485/Joytech_XBox_360_Digital_VGA_Cable/Product.html

It's £10, quite a bit cheaper than the official one. Nicely made too. Mine's been great.

Thats superb, I was nearly sure that I needed something like the first one which mentions 'TV'. Thanks for pointing me in the direction of the cable as well, any thoughts about the monitor - seems a good price to me.

lkalka

Pity the cable is out of stock, I'll have a look around.

The only additional thing I would need would be a £20'ish TV card for the PC and then basically he can watch TV, play the 360 and use the PC on the monitor.

C_Ronaldo

thats a very good price for a 19 inch tft,

wolfman

lkalka wrote:

Thats superb, I was nearly sure that I needed something like the first one which mentions 'TV'. Thanks for pointing me in the direction of the cable as well, any thoughts about the monitor - seems a good price to me.

If you're planning on running the PC on it too, that'll have to go via the DVI connection. The monitor you mentioned has DVI and VGA inputs. The X360 will run on the VGA, hence the PC will need to be on DVI. This means the PC must have a DVI output. Look where the monitor plugs into the pc, it needs to have an output that can take the white connector in the picture below (the purple one is VGA).
http://www.sanwa.co.jp/product/syohin_img/K/KC-DVI-HD1_MA.jpg
If your PC doesn't have DVI, the alternatives, are either switching the cable each time you want to use the Xbox or PC, or buying a VGA switch box.

I personally usually spend a bit more on monitors, although I'm very much into technology. Yeah for the price it seems very good.

For a TV card, one worth looking at is the Freecom USB card.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Freecom-Digital-Stick-Freeview-receiver/dp/B000ALAWQ6

It's cheap and works very well. There are BDA drivers, which in simple terms, are "universal" drivers so you can run all types of software.

For software, GbPvr is one of the best tv apps, and it's free. Have a look at the link below.
http://www.gbpvr.com/
I've got this exact setup, it's reasonably easy to setup. There are plenty of places that you can get help if you get stuck, such as here, and the GbPvr forums.

The only bad thing about the Freecom is the aerial. It's fine for me, but I'm zone 2 in London so reception is very good. If it's not great, just plug another aerial in. Any will do like the typical ones you get with small tv's.

lkalka

I have another question for the 'techie experts'.

The monitor I listed above has 2 connections i.e.
1 x VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15)
and
1 x DVI-D - 29 pin combined DVI

The DVI I would use to connect to the PC and that would be digital to digital so I would expect really good performace.

My questions relates to the VGA, which I would use to connect to the xBox i.e. is the VGA a digital connection ?

It does sound like it i.e. VGA - 15 pin HD D-Sub butI always thought VGA was an analogue connection.

I'm asking because obviously I would expect a much better connection if it's
digital to digital.

Looking at the cable it says 'Joytech XBox 360 Digital VGA Cable' so it does sound like it.

Basically I'm a little confused !!

wolfman

I don't think there is yet a DVI cable for the 360.

The VGA cable is fine (yes it's analog). The difference in quality will be barely noticable if at all though. It's usually things such as colours where digital is more accurate, as analog signals have to be "interpreted" whereas digital are exact.

The big difference with the 360 is running it on a standard tv (where its resolution is much lower, something like 720x512).

Running it in HD (high definition) will improve the picture, as the resolution is higher. 720p, is the HD standard the 360 will run at which is basically 1280x720.

By using the VGA cable, you'll be able to run the 360 at such resolutions. I think mine's set at 1280x1024.

lkalka

Thanks a lot Wolfman you've been really helpful. I hadn't read your previous post when I posted last time. My graphics card does have a DVI connection so the PC's no problem.

It doesn't make much difference to me but if I can tell my son it will be HD then he'll be sold on the idea even though it's a lot small than his 26 inch SD TV he currently plays his X Box on.

Cheers for the tip on the TV card. I have had problems with the certain USB dongles before so I would have been more likely to go for a PCI one but I'll have a think.

Cheers Again.

Mick

lkalka

I went for this in the end

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hanns-LCD-Silver-Black-DVI/dp/B000GYHS6Y/sr=8-1/qid=1160754605/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/202-6419384-2555049?ie=UTF8

slightly more expensive but it's widescreen, better spec and every review I found was either 4 or 5 stars (90% were 5).