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OG Xbox Forums => Hardware Forums => Xbox Audio/Video Technical => Topic started by: diznanl on January 18, 2007, 11:10:00 PM

Title: Xbox On The Pc Monitor
Post by: diznanl on January 18, 2007, 11:10:00 PM
I have been doing some homework, and I'm totally excited about my new purchase of my Sceptre 22" Gamer widescreen LCD monitor:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16824112005

I have the original xbox with a Duo2 xecuter 2 modchip in it (I didn't put it in, but it works like a charm).

I wanna play my games in HD on the monitor.

I have been looking at a few different combos ... I could go with the:

1. YPbPr to RGBHV VGA Box by May Flash (along with the 400x Monster Cable)

2. X2VGA+

3. X2VGA2

4. VD-Z3 Component by VDigi

I want to hear from people who have actual experience with these products and widescreen monitors.  Will the lack of 480i be a problem for me?  It doesn't seem that any HD VGA boxes support this.

What are peoples' opinions who have these combos?

Thanks!   pop.gif
Title: Xbox On The Pc Monitor
Post by: Foe-hammer on January 19, 2007, 11:01:00 AM
QUOTE(diznanl @ Jan 18 2007, 11:17 PM) View Post

I have been doing some homework, and I'm totally excited about my new purchase of my Sceptre 22" Gamer widescreen LCD monitor:
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16824112005

I have the original xbox with a Duo2 xecuter 2 modchip in it (I didn't put it in, but it works like a charm).

I wanna play my games in HD on the monitor.

I have been looking at a few different combos ... I could go with the:

1. YPbPr to RGBHV VGA Box by May Flash (along with the 400x Monster Cable)

2. X2VGA+

3. X2VGA2

4. VD-Z3 Component by VDigi

I want to hear from people who have actual experience with these products and widescreen monitors.  Will the lack of 480i be a problem for me?  It doesn't seem that any HD VGA boxes support this.

What are peoples' opinions who have these combos?

Thanks!   pop.gif

I've owned the x2vga, and am currently using the vga bios that frosty patched for FULL COLOR 720p.

I'd recommend going the vga bios route if your monitor supports sync on green, because building a vga cable for the xbox will require no hacking at all, but just getting a component to vga cable, and then connecting it to the MS component cable.  Plus while the x2vga is an excellent product that produces a true vga image, it still is not native vga.  The only drawback to the vga bios is a select few good games do not support it, and revert to green after initial booting.
Title: Xbox On The Pc Monitor
Post by: diznanl on January 20, 2007, 01:42:00 AM
I have no idea if my monitor supports "sync on green" (it appears they do)


Taken from Acer 1-20-2007
"Sceptre LCD Panels Apple (Macintosh) compatible?
Yes, they are. However, they have ether to be connected to Power Macintosh either using an IBM VGA card  or the Macintosh with separate sync on video sync signal output . The LCD panels are not compatible with conventional Macintosh because  it  uses sync on green  on video sync output."

I will read up on how to install the VGA bios, but If I wanted to go the least technical way... what would I do?  X2VGA+ or X2VGA2 or DIGIV or what?

Again, I'm unversed as to the advantages of the VGA bios ... would I still need the YPbPr connector from Monster?
Title: Xbox On The Pc Monitor
Post by: FrostyTheSnowman on January 20, 2007, 12:29:00 PM
The least technical route would be the 'X2VGA2' way. (X2VGA's are known to have a slightly fuzzy picture due to the changing of the signal.)

The 'best looking' but more technical route would be the VGA BIOS way.  happy.gif
Title: Xbox On The Pc Monitor
Post by: diznanl on January 21, 2007, 11:06:00 PM
If I go for the modded way, what hardware will I need?

Do you (Frosty) or does someone have screenshots to illustrate the differences between the VGA BIOS mod and X2VGA+ or X2VGA2?

Thanks!   uhh.gif
Title: Xbox On The Pc Monitor
Post by: Foe-hammer on January 25, 2007, 10:30:00 AM
The difference is negligable.  They both produce a 'true' vga image.  But just knowing that i am using 'native' vga (no chance of signal loss, like there is with a transcoder in where conversion is going on) via the vga bios helps me sleep at night. tongue.gif

Go with the x2vga2 if price is not an issue.  The image quality is great and there is no xbox/emulator compat support like there is with the vga bios.
Title: Xbox On The Pc Monitor
Post by: rudeboie on January 27, 2007, 09:12:00 PM
Are modern LCD's still problematic with scaling resolutions?

Saw this post on TeamXBox:

"LCD’s can only display their native resolution really well, and everything else doesn’t look as great. Most Xbox games are displayed natively in 480p, which transcodes to 640 X 480. Since most LCD’s have their native resolution to be much higher than 640 X 480, games are going to look blurry. The VD-Z3 produces a really sharp image, and unfortunately the bold sharpness and the blurriness don’t cancel each other out—instead it produces a mess. By all means avoid using an LCD with this product if you plan on hooking it up to a game console"

I had been thinking of getting a 24" LCD along with a X2VGA2
Title: Xbox On The Pc Monitor
Post by: FrostyTheSnowman on January 28, 2007, 05:39:00 PM
Actually, I use my VGA-enabled XBOX (NKPatcher v10-vga10) on my 19" Acer LCD all the time, and it looks gorgeous.

It's the actual VD-Z3 and X2VGA2 that cause the blurryness due to the transcoding. If you are using a REAL VGA BIOS, then the picture is sharp and crisp.

Unfortunately though, the VD-Z3 and X2VGA2 are known to have a blurry image on any kind of monitor...  sad.gif
Title: Xbox On The Pc Monitor
Post by: tonemgub on February 06, 2007, 06:49:00 AM
I have an X2VGA2, and the picture is fine (at 480p and up), but for some reason it stays at 480i when playing games of the harddrive. Is it supposed to do that, or is there some way I can change it?