VGA Box for the X-Box - but it will cost you.

[LiQiCE]

Here's my guide on what to buy to enable you to play X-Box games on a VGA monitor at 640x480 @ 60hz (aka 480p aka Progressive Scan):

Link

Posted at xboxhacker.net (mentioned on C|Net News.com) ... You can purchase your own Audio Authority 9A62 box from Here ...

Nothing complicated in what I did, I just spent the money to test it out, and it worked (good thing too or else I was out $150+)...

I found my box on FleaBay for $125.00 + $20.00 for the HD-TV Pack for the X-Box (from BestBuy)

If you have any questions post here, but I probably wont be able to get back to it until I get home from work tomorrow. xboxhacker.net should be posting my digital pictures soon too!

 

[LiQiCE]

Wow, nobody is interested in a VGA Box for the X-Box? I received more responses on my question on how to change the X-Box resolution from 480i to 480p (although none of them answered my question!)

 

[BD2003]

I dont think theres much of a market for an VGA box that costs half as much as the system itself.

 

[LiQiCE]

BigDee2003,

I understand that, but now that people know its possible, I'm sure someone will be interested in either trying to make their own VGA cable directly to the X-Box (which would be much cheaper), or trying to make a cheap copy of the box that I have (which really doesn't do all that much except convert from component video to RGB which doesn't sound like it really should cost $150, but Audio Authority is the only one that makes this right now, except for Key Digital, but their converter is $299!)

Since a lot of people seemed interested in the VGA box idea, I thought people might be curious about it Maybe its just me!

$150 is also a lot cheaper for me to buy a converter box rather than spend $1500 on a HDTV. Granted a $1500 HDTV would be 32" and it'd also display 1080i on top of 480p, but this box is a lot cheaper than $1500, and the box also allows me to use a Progressive scan DVD player or any other HDTV 480p signal (including GameCube!) on my VGA monitor.

 

[BD2003]

Whats so bad about playing it on a TV with s-video? The games are developed with the TV in mind.

 

[XMan]

Whats so bad about playing it on a TV with s-video? The games are developed with the TV in mind.

Hmm . . . 36" TV, 17" monitor . . . no contest, I go with the TV.

 

[spidey07]

why on god's green earth would you want to play x-box on a computer monitor????

 

[Johnlee]

Thanks for the thread dude. Pretty interesting. I doubt I'll do it, but nice to know anyway.

 

[tasslex]

<< why on god's green earth would you want to play x-box on a computer monitor???? >>


I can see wanting to do it if it's your only option, but I'd rather play on my 27" TV.

 

[Nefrodite]

consoles need the blur but i guess if you don't have a tv..

but this box is a lot cheaper than $1500, and the box also allows me to use a Progressive scan DVD player or any other HDTV 480p signal (including GameCube!) on my VGA monitor

well you could just use a software player on a comp

 

[Thanatopsis]

My poor college friend plays the XBox on his computer monitor, through his Voodoo3 3500 TV Tuner.

Then again, he is a bit odd... he has a Dreamcast, PS2, XBox, hundreds of games, and a computer, but no TV...

 

[GodBlessTheUSA]

I just picked up a VGA adapter for my dreamcast. It rocks.

15 bucks for the DC one is a far cry from 150 though.

 

[DaLeroy]

<< why on god's green earth would you want to play x-box on a computer monitor???? >>



Take the 'portable' X-Box to work and play it during lunch...

 

[GodBlessTheUSA]

<<

<< why on god's green earth would you want to play x-box on a computer monitor???? >>



Take the 'portable' X-Box to work and play it during lunch... >>



And get workmans comp for the impending hernia.

 

[Nefrodite]

My poor college friend plays the XBox on his computer monitor, through his Voodoo3 3500 TV Tuner.

Then again, he is a bit odd... he has a Dreamcast, PS2, XBox, hundreds of games, and a computer, but no TV...

yea thats probably good, gives you the tv blur on your comp monitor i use a tv card all the time

 

[LiQiCE]

Well, bigger isn't necessarily better. Yes a big TV is nice, but if you're playing the game on a standard TV, the resolution is only 640x480 interlaced, or essentially 320x240. With the X-Box VGA box, you get to play your games at 640x480 non-interlaced, or progressive scanned. This makes the picture much sharper than playing the game on a TV. If anyone has used the VGA box for Dreamcast and compared the output of the Dreamcast with VGA versus the Dreamcast with S-Video on a 32" TV, the difference is amazing... the VGA box looks alot better. In any case, yes you're playing on a small monitor, but its a cheap way to get a high definition signal out of the X-Box. I remember a lot of people asking if there was a way to up the resolution of the X-Box, and this is one of the ways.

In any case, if you don't care about the picture quality or don't care enough to sacrifice your big screen TV, then the VGA box probably doesn't mean squat to you. Personally I find it very interesting.

 

[Sugadaddy]

<< Well, bigger isn't necessarily better. Yes a big TV is nice, but if you're playing the game on a standard TV, the resolution is only 640x480 interlaced, or essentially 320x240. >>




hmmm, no... Interlaced simply means that the frames are drawn in two passes, an upper field and a lower field. (lines 1,3,5,7... on the first pass, then 2,4,6,8... on the second pass)


You still have the exact same number of lines, and same fps. (30 fps for progressive, 60 fields/second for interlaced) The reason it looks sharper is because the frames being drawn all at once reduces the shimmer you get when drawing 2 fields, which is mostly noticeable with straight lines...


So it will make a difference, but I'd rather be playing on a 27inch TV with a little shimmer than on a 19inch monitor. It might be more interesting when games actually start using higher res., but for now I think it's a waste of money unless you don't have a TV.

 

[LiQiCE]

Sugadaddy,

Oops, ok well 640x480 Interlaced then ... Oh well, looks like nobody gives a hoot about a VGA box for X-Box, so I'll let this thread die

I seriously thought there would be interest in the VGA box, since there was quite a bit of interest in the Dreamcast one. Obviously the Dreamcast ones were much cheaper, which probably is making the difference here, but when they first came out they costed $50 and upwards for the better ones (I paid $60 or $70 for mine which had a Passthrough port for VGA to let me use my monitor on my PC and my Dreamcast at the same time). So there is the possibility of someone developing a similar setup for cheaper for the X-Box/GameCube! Anyways, I've babbled enough

 

[Time2Kill]

X-Box VGA Box


Hmm...only $40 though they are out of stock, the other day on the front page they said they had another shipment coming in soon.

 

[LiQiCE]

The Lik-Sang VGA box is *NOT* a true VGA box, it simply takes a 480i signal and "upconverts" it to 640x480 (in other words a line doubler). The image quality will be improved over 480i, but it is not nearly as good as a real 480p signal (which is what the box I have offers). If you've even seen TV or video-in on your computer monitor, this is similar to what the Lik-Sang VGA box provides. The VGA box I have "made" tells the X-Box to render at a true 640x480 (aka 480p) signal and output it. The signal remains unchanged (except for the conversion from Component video to RGB video) the entire way through.

 

[Linglan]

mmm...

do you know anything about XBOX to BNC monitor??? Since that VGA box is so expensive, don't know if direct BNC connection will be cheaper.


Linglan

 

[mithrandir2001]

What is so unusual about the X-Box that forces its VGA adapters to cost ~$150? I bought my Dreamcast Interact box for $30 used. There has to be some heavy-duty machinery in an X-Box VGA adapter to drive the price that high...or is it "new system high-priced accessories" syndrome?

 

[Daovonnaex]

<< What is so unusual about the X-Box that forces its VGA adapters to cost ~$150? I bought my Dreamcast Interact box for $30 used. There has to be some heavy-duty machinery in an X-Box VGA adapter to drive the price that high...or is it "new system high-priced accessories" syndrome? >>

I'm willing to bank on the latter.

 

[Sugadaddy]

<< What is so unusual about the X-Box that forces its VGA adapters to cost ~$150? I bought my Dreamcast Interact box for $30 used. There has to be some heavy-duty machinery in an X-Box VGA adapter to drive the price that high...or is it "new system high-priced accessories" syndrome? >>





It's because MS doesn't want a VGA adapter for Xbox. That's why people are trying to convert the 480p through component cables to VGA, and those adapters cost a lot. It would be cheaper to just make a direct VGA cable (Xbox is certainly capable of outputting it)...

 

[Katana]

<< The Lik-Sang VGA box is *NOT* a true VGA box, it simply takes a 480i signal and "upconverts" it to 640x480 (in other words a line doubler). The image quality will be improved over 480i, but it is not nearly as good as a real 480p signal (which is what the box I have offers). If you've even seen TV or video-in on your computer monitor, this is similar to what the Lik-Sang VGA box provides. The VGA box I have "made" tells the X-Box to render at a true 640x480 (aka 480p) signal and output it. The signal remains unchanged (except for the conversion from Component video to RGB video) the entire way through. >>



How do you know this? From the pictures on their site you connect the VGA box directly to the AV multi out on the back of the Xbox then connect a monitor to the VGA output on the VGA box. You don't connect a composite or svideo cable to the VGA box so it will render on a monitor like with the video in on a video card.

Link to VGA box

btw-they say they should have it in by 12/20