Running an Xbox360 through a PC monitor and PC speakers, HDMI to VGA Adapter....possible?....

[Oinkusboinkus]

Ok, this has been rehashed a million times I realize, but I'm venturing into it and thought I'd get some insights from some people who may have successfully done this.

Long story short - I would like to try to run my new Xbox 360 by connecting it to my LCD monitor, and running the sound through the PC speakers. Reason is I already have a full entertainment center of gaming consoles and movie players, this is a 2nd Xbox for the house that I'd like to have with my PC as a single gaming station at my desk. The goal is to be able to leave the PC set up as it is unmolested, and have the Xbox connected to the monitor at the same time.

My LCD monitor has a DVI port(which is committed to the PC obviously), and a VGA port. It does NOT have an HDMI port.

I've seen tutorials claiming that you can use an adapter that will allow HDMI to VGA connection to the monitor: Something like this I believe?:

http://www.amazon.com/Nexhi-HDMI-VGACONVERTER-Audio-HDMI-Converter/dp/B0015YWV1G

I also saw individual cables that do this, but that don't have the audio portion.

Unless I'm reading that wrong, would that device be all that would be needed to complete the connection? I read down the reviews, and I saw that some people had problems with certain resolutions not being supported, or only supported up to a certain point, (which is a whole separate problem on its own). Also saw people reporting issues of the screen shape being distorted.

So, basically, I'm asking is this feasible? Can you get gaming console HDMI quality picture at high resolution doing this on a PC monitor?

Or is it better to just scrap the idea and get a small HDTV for another room?

 

[getochkn]

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Xbox360-HDMI-RCA-audio/?ALLSTEPS

 

[nukemaster]

You will need a bit of luck. The adapter should be active for sure(so not just a cable). This is because the HDMI port does not generally have the analog needed for a passive adapter.

The problem is so many places sell converters of all kinds of qualities.

You would have better luck with HDMI -> DVI(this can be passive[cable with DVI-D on one end and HDMI on the other] since HDMI is just DVI-D[single link] + Sound) and seeing if VGA works ok for your computer use(at least this way you can see how your screen deals with VGA to begin with.).

Getting audio is just like the above user shows on older units, not sure about newer 360's

 

[pauls3743]

you want one of these I think

http://www.tesco.com/direct/xbox-360-vga-tft-av-cable-23m/432-1448.prd
http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/719745/Official-Xbox-360-VGA-HD-AV-Cable/Product.html
http://www.maplin.co.uk/xbox-360-vga-tft-av-cable-2.3m-221902

the original port (not hdmi) natively supports vga

 

[nukemaster]

you want one of these I think

http://www.tesco.com/direct/xbox-360-vga-tft-av-cable-23m/432-1448.prd
http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/719745/Official-Xbox-360-VGA-HD-AV-Cable/Product.html
http://www.maplin.co.uk/xbox-360-vga-tft-av-cable-2.3m-221902

the original port (not hdmi) natively supports vga

Now THAT is an answer for sure.

 

[lostmenoggin]

Yea, I've done this. Just use a HDMI -> VGA adapter to hook up the monitor and a RCA female -> 3.5mm female adapter so you can hook up your RCA cables from the xbox to computer speakers.

 

[Oinkusboinkus]

you want one of these I think

http://www.tesco.com/direct/xbox-360-vga-tft-av-cable-23m/432-1448.prd
http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/719745/Official-Xbox-360-VGA-HD-AV-Cable/Product.html
http://www.maplin.co.uk/xbox-360-vga-tft-av-cable-2.3m-221902

the original port (not hdmi) natively supports vga

Oh dang, no kidding! Wow! And here I thought I was stumbling upon some recent innovation, lol. They make specialty cables purposely for this very thing, well I'm humbled.

Thank you for the links!

 

[Oinkusboinkus]

Yea, I've done this. Just use a HDMI -> VGA adapter to hook up the monitor and a RCA female -> 3.5mm female adapter so you can hook up your RCA cables from the xbox to computer speakers.

Man, you guys answer lightning fast, this is the coolest community on the face of the earth!

Thanks for the info!

 

[Oinkusboinkus]

you want one of these I think

http://www.tesco.com/direct/xbox-360-vga-tft-av-cable-23m/432-1448.prd
http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/719745/Official-Xbox-360-VGA-HD-AV-Cable/Product.html
http://www.maplin.co.uk/xbox-360-vga-tft-av-cable-2.3m-221902

the original port (not hdmi) natively supports vga

Now THAT is an answer for sure.

I'll say! Three links to cables that specifically address the entire setup.

 

[Oinkusboinkus]

You will need a bit of luck. The adapter should be active for sure(so not just a cable). This is because the HDMI port does not generally have the analog needed for a passive adapter.

The problem is so many places sell converters of all kinds of qualities.

You would have better luck with HDMI -> DVI(this can be passive[cable with DVI-D on one end and HDMI on the other] since HDMI is just DVI-D[single link] + Sound) and seeing if VGA works ok for your computer use(at least this way you can see how your screen deals with VGA to begin with.).

Getting audio is just like the above user shows on older units, not sure about newer 360's

I was wondering about that myself, if I could actually use my VGA port to connect to the video card on my PC, and utilize the DVI port for the Xbox. I can't remember, I know I was told at one time when my PC was being built about the difference between connecting a graphics card using VGA as opposed to DVI, if there was one at all. Probably a resolution difference, I would imagine, but maybe not.