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[Nathan561]

QUOTE (seteo-bloke @ Nov 12 2003, 11:13 PM)

Hi everyone, I apologise for this very newbie question, but can someone tell me what the default hz for a PAL non-modded Xbox is?. My reasons being that I'm looking to get a VGA adapter (for use in LAN gaming) and I know my monitor doesn't support 50hz so there would be a problem. Also, what are the recommendations for a decent VGA adapter?. I just got one off Ebay and man it's crap on a CRT. I was looking at this one here, but am unsure whther it will be any good still?. Thanks in advance.

The default is 50hz, unless you use MXM or something to force 60hz however a couple of PAL games don't enjoy being forced into 60hz such as Halo.

The VGA adapters you are looking at are double liners, they take an interlaced image and double it for display on a monitor.  Because of this none of these will look very good.

The best VGA adapters are those which take the component High Definition Progressive output of the xbox and convert it into a clear VGA image such as the X2VGA (www.x2vga.com) of the Key Digital X-Blaster, however sadly you must mod your xbox and switch it into NTSC to enable this so if that is out of the question you are stuck with double liners.

The one you are looking out seems pretty good but i am not an expert on double liners.

Hope i didn't just confuse you even more  

[seteo-bloke]

One thing I'm a bit stumped about though is that I had completely forgotten that in the Xbox setup there is an option for enabling 'PAL 60', which I must have set when I first purchased my Xbox many months ago.

So are you saying that some games (eg. Halo) reduce themselves back down to 50hz to play correctly?.

If most games can play at 60hz, would it then be feasible that if I were to purchase that VGA adapter I was looking at it it should look fine on my monitor (which can only support down to 60hz, not 50hz) ?.

[Nathan561]

QUOTE (seteo-bloke @ Nov 13 2003, 10:06 PM)

Thanks for the info Nathan. One thing I'm a bit stumped about though is that I had completely forgotten that in the Xbox setup there is an option for enabling 'PAL 60', which I must have set when I first purchased my Xbox many months ago. So are you saying that some games (eg. Halo) reduce themselves back down to 50hz to play correctly?. If most games can play at 60hz, would it then be feasible that if I were to purchase that VGA adapter I was looking at it it should look fine on my monitor (which can only support down to 60hz, not 50hz) ?.

I am not 100% on what PAL games support 60hz but it certainly isn't all of them.
Many, mainly older ones only play in 50hz even when PAL60 is enabled.

In the case of Halo, it will play in 60hz when PAL60 is turned on however it is a bit jerky and plays much smoother in 50hz. Bungie confirmed it was accidental programming when they did this and it isn't infact supposed to support PAL60 at all  

You can try searching for a master list of PAL games which support PAL60 but i am not certain if one even exists.

The way to solve all your VGA problems is to just get your Xbox modded  

[seteo-bloke]

QUOTE (Nathan561 @ Nov 13 2003, 11:13 PM)

QUOTE (seteo-bloke @ Nov 13 2003, 10:06 PM) Thanks for the info Nathan. One thing I'm a bit stumped about though is that I had completely forgotten that in the Xbox setup there is an option for enabling 'PAL 60', which I must have set when I first purchased my Xbox many months ago. So are you saying that some games (eg. Halo) reduce themselves back down to 50hz to play correctly?. If most games can play at 60hz, would it then be feasible that if I were to purchase that VGA adapter I was looking at it it should look fine on my monitor (which can only support down to 60hz, not 50hz) ?. I am not 100% on what PAL games support 60hz but it certainly isn't all of them. Many, mainly older ones only play in 50hz even when PAL60 is enabled. In the case of Halo, it will play in 60hz when PAL60 is turned on however it is a bit jerky and plays much smoother in 50hz. Bungie confirmed it was accidental programming when they did this and it isn't infact supposed to support PAL60 at all   You can try searching for a master list of PAL games which support PAL60 but i am not certain if one even exists. The way to solve all your VGA problems is to just get your Xbox modded

Yeah I've got modding my Xbox on my 'Wish List' at the moment, just waiting on selling a few things on Ebay first.

The main reason for asking these questions is because myself and a few mates are intending on doing some LAN days, but don't want to lug small TV's around. So the convience factor of using monitors is perfect (because we're doing at my workplace), but it sounds like there maybe probs with doing it that way unfortunately.

Seems a new plan is in order!.

[Nathan561]

It's a cruel world, whoever invented the PAL/NTSC rift should be thrown into Bloodgulch and left there