What is the best way to connect a 360 to my LCD monitor?

alexjholland

alexjholland

alexjholland

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8 Oct 2006
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322
Hey,

I am going to part-ex my Wii for a 360 next week, which is pretty exciting. Although we have a nice 42" Panasonic plasma at home, at uni I would like to keep the 360 in my room to use on my pc monitor and 2.1 speakers.

Equipment List:

XBox 360 (60GB premium version).

Desktop PC with Soundblaster Audigy 2ZS Platinum soundcard (so I can run optical and/or composite sound sources through to my speakers with little/no latency).

HP w19 (19" widescreen LCD monitor with 1440x900 resolution, one DVI input and one VGA input


- The most obvious solution is to get an HDMI-DVI cable and run this between the 360 and monitor. Would using an HDMI cable with a DVI convertor make any difference here (it would be cheaper than buying a seperate HDMI cable for when I take it home).

- The other solution is the official Microsoft VGA cable.

I feel more inclined to go with the first option, but does anyone know what kind of resolution options will be offered? Will I be able to run my 360 in any kind of HD on my monitor?

ALSO: Now that all 360s come with HDMI as standard, am I correct in thinking the only incentive for purchasing an elite is the bigger hard drive?

Is the actual HDMI outputted image and machine performance otherwise identical to a 60GB version?

Thanks very much,

Alex
 
Is the 360 second or first hand? Not all 360s have HDMI yet.

It's also worth checking out the official Xbox 360 VGA adaptor, which you can use on PC monitors and a large variety of HDTVs. Console gameplay performance is the same across the board regardless of 360 type, size or output. I have no idea about the HDMI to DVI conversion, I do have one myself, I might try it out later and report back to you.
 
Thanks. I'll be buying a brand new premium model - I'll make sure that it has HDMI, as this is important to me.

I'm interested in the VGA adaptor.. It would make sense in many ways as I can keep my PC plugged into the DVI slot and not have to unplug constantly..

But if I can get higher quality with HDMI then I might go down that route. Also, it might be harder/more expensive to find a VGA cable in town, and there is NO way I am not getting the 360 up and running the day I buy it!
 
I'd go for the VGA cable also. It smooths the edges but the colors can look a little washed out. Also doesn't your monitor have to suppot HDCP to use HMDI > DVI?
 
Ive just not long got a premium 360 and used the official VGA Cable (£19) to plug it in to my LCD. Tried it in both my Samsung 19" and my LG 22" Wide and in resolutions 1280 - 1024 and 1600 - 1050 respectively and its looks oustanding. As good as my mate's 32" 1080i TV if not better to be honest which might sound strange, but looks crisper and nicer colours but that could be down to the monitor obviously.

I would recommend the VGA Cable 100%

A well know highstreet retailer who specialise in such device's :) dont think i can say more than that, sell the official 360 VGA Cable and thats where i got mine.
 
Not sure about linking those sites mate, you may get in trouble here. Competitors links etc.

But yeh i wouldnt go for a non official one because i spent a lot of time reading about it before i got mine and heard a lot of bad things about them, not just the game one but other ones like madcatz also.

Honestly its worth a days wait if you have to order online because the picture quality is superb.
 
XBox 360 --> VGA with audio AV £6.49 delivered, some auction site you may know of.

Got it next day and am using with my Samsung 22" Widescreen. I think it looks a lot better than when using HDMI with my 32" LCD.
 
Well both this and another forum I post at seem to be unanimous in their decision - as my pc runs into the DVI slot it makes a lot of practical sense to.

I'm definitely going VGA now, but do you think there is likely to be any quality loss from a third party cable?

I'm pretty picky and will definitely go for official Microsoft stuff if there is the slightest chance I might lose out by buying a GAME ownbrand model, what do you think?

Thanks Very Much!

Alex
 
alexjholland said:
Well both this and another forum I post at seem to be unanimous in their decision - as my pc runs into the DVI slot it makes a lot of practical sense to.

I'm definitely going VGA now, but do you think there is likely to be any quality loss from a third party cable?
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I do this, I would go with official. I have both the official and Joytech ones and can't tell the difference, but a lot of people have had bad experiences with 3rd party. Its best to just play it safe and get the official.
 
Shamikebab said:
I do this, I would go with official. I have both the official and Joytech ones and can't tell the difference, but a lot of people have had bad experiences with 3rd party. Its best to just play it safe and get the official.
Click to expand...

Another vote for the official cable.

The third party ones give a very washed out image apparently.
 
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