Xbox to Standard Res Arcade Monitor, HOW??

[Anonymously]

Does anyone tried to do this??  I was looking around to find some information about the video connector pinnout of xbox and here is what I found so far.

http://www.siliconice.net/XBOX/Guides/video_pinouts.shtml

http://www.gamesx.com/avpinouts/xbox.htm

[tom61]

Someone here is already trying that:  http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=4;action=display;threadid=5859

There are also other people that have posted about this.

[Anonymously]

I was also reading that thread, but for some reason I can seem to follow up since I don't know much about electronic.  
I've read that they were able to connect ArcadeVGA to SCART monitor.  
I was thinking of buying a Xbox SCART adapter and hacking the cable to display it on the Arcade monitor almost in the same manner on Identifying the Red, Green, Blue, Ground, Vsync, and Hsync.  Also I have to Identify the Audio Input Left and Right for that matter.

I already have windows running in my Cabinet   (thanks to Andy), but just pushing my project and the arcade monitor to the limit.

[Anonymously]

Hmmn I guess no one have tried this.  

Anyways I got my xbox to SCART adapter and I went ahead and hack the cable Identifying the RGB Ground and Sync and to my suprise it actually works .

But here is the problem there seems to be a image disturbance on the picture see the pictures below.



here's another one.



This is how I did this by using this Diagram on the SCART end

RED = 15
GREEN = 11
BLUE = 7
GROUND = 5,9, & 13
SYNC = 16 & 20

I even tried to change the ground to 21, thinking that it might be the ground but still the same.  Any Idea?  

[Dave_K.]

You may have a more stable picture if you split the sync.  You list 2 wires with sync, I assume you are then attaching to the composite sync on your monitor?  If the SCART cable already gives you seperated H and V sync, use those inputs respsectivly on the monitor.  If you only get composite sync out of the SCART cable, then use an LM1881 to split the sync.  This is covered on gamesx.com (there is a pointer to it from the consoles section on this site).

Another solution is to use a transcoder...at least then you have the option of playing on an arcade monitor or a VGA monitor (at higher resolution in 480p).

[Anonymously]

Thanks for the reply Dave_K.  Unfortunately my arcade monitor only have a C sync, that's why I combined the cable 16(blanking) & 20(VIDEO/Sync/Luminance Input).  (see picture below shows RGB ground and sync)  



So if I use a spliter for the sync how am I able to connect it to the monitor?  Do I have to combined it again or do I have to modify the monitor input?

[BombProofPlane]

i think one of those pins isn't giving sync at all when i was  hooking my arcade vga up one of the sync wires on the hacked vga cable broke and you could get picture but there was that exact type of distortion in the middle

[Dave_K.]

Thanks for the reply Dave_K.  Unfortunately my arcade monitor only have a C sync, that's why I combined the cable 16(blanking) & 20(VIDEO/Sync/Luminance Input).  (see picture below shows RGB ground and sync)  
...
So if I use a spliter for the sync how am I able to connect it to the monitor?  Do I have to combined it again or do I have to modify the monitor input?

Ok, see the pin between the ground and comp sync (aka H.Sync), well thats V.Sync.  You can verify this by looking at your monitor schematic (if you don't have one you should be able to find on on the internet).  So yes, hack the monitor input connector.

Next, some monitors don't like to have video information in the sync line...you need to split the video out of the sync with an LM1881, and at the same time you get v.sync.  You shouldn't need the blanking line from the scart cable.  This is the standard way to hookup scart to an arcade monitor (I have done this successfully with a Playstation scart cable).  This is covered in the "Game Consoles" section on this site with appropriate links to gamesx.com.

[truffelzwijn]

I'm still having trouble hooking up my xbox to an arcade monitor.

When i don't use the video amplifier (www.ultimarc.com) it works although the picture is way too dark. The composite video of the scart cable goes to the sync input of the monitor.

When i hook up the video amp, i get a picture but it seems like it's not syncing. Also the colors of the image keep on getting brighter and brighter until after 10 seconds the picture is completely white.

1) Do i need to pass the sync signal through the amplifier for the amp to work? Would i need to install a LM1881 to separate the sync signal?

2) Where do i put the capacitors that are on the end of the RGB lines of the SCART cable? Leave them on BEFORE the amplifier or AFTER the amplifier or REMOVE them completely?

3) What do i put in the ground input of the video amplifier. I have the 3 RGB grounds, the composite video ground, the monitor ground and the 5V-ground.

Thank you very much

[Dave_K.]

truffelzwijn, I haven't seen/used that video amplifier so I'm not sure.  So you are using both the video amp and caps in each rgb line??  Maybe you have the caps reversed?  For polorarized caps, neg side should go towards the monitor right before the monitor inputs.  Anyway, try without the video amp, the caps should lighten up the picture enough.

Regarding your ground question: again not sure, as you may have 2 seperate grounds on the video amp board (one for power ground and one for signal ground).  Again, try without the video amp first.

[Dave_K.]

Ah, I just read through the other thread, sorry for not doing so before.  Combining all those grounds to one point on the video amp is not good.  Most likely that is only the power supply ground.  

Also, I noticed the caps you were originally had in the cable were 100uf, you should try 220uf (without the video amp) just to see if it makes a difference.

[Anonymously]

Thanks Dave_K.  After reading your reply about the blanking I went ahead and try it without the blanking.  As a result a very stable picture.  So now I'm playing my Xbox in my arcade monitor.  
I just have to finish up with the sound to connect it to my speaker.
 
Thanks again.

[truffelzwijn]

Wow good for you!

Still, i'm not getting it to work. The capacitors have not been removed from the scart cable so they should be in the right direction.

Dave_K how would you suggest i set up the amp?

The inputs are as follows:

R, G, B, sync, ground, +5V

The ouputs are as follows:

R, G, B, sync


I really want to get this thing working. Any suggestions?


-edit- I just read a post on the ultimarc message board that describes my problem:

I tried hooking this connector up the RGB connector to my JPAC, and the following strange thing happened: The image on the monitor was perfect (normal color, no double image

[Dave_K.]

I don't know anyone who is using the video amp for consoles...so this may be new territory.  Could be the rgb output is above 1v.  Unfortunally I don't know exactly how the 220uf capacitors help...just that they bring the rgb voltage from most consoles to the proper range for arcade monitors.  If it worked for anonymously, I'd first try just swapping out the 100uf's for 220s, and leave out the video amp for now.  Hopefully you will have a stable enough picture with composite sync that you won't need the lm1881.  If you can get this far, and the picture is still to dim for you, then try adding the video amp into the mix (again +5 and Gnd are from your power supply only).  Just take it one step at a time.

<mod>The ultimarc video amp may have been designed for PC rgb line voltages only (I don't know the spec, but it has been discussed here awhile ago...maybe a search of the forum will bring it up).  One other note (sorry if this is obvious), but you can also adjust the brightness/contrast on your arcade monitor (I'd do it only after upgrading to 220uf caps).  I have 2 cabinets (one for Dreamcast, and one for Playstation2) and I've had to futz with this (as well as individual r/g/b gain values for awhile so I could get lightgun games calibrating correctly. </mod>

[truffelzwijn]

Dave_K thank you very much for your help.

I tried removing the capacitors and then hooking it up to the amp and this works! Well, not totally, because i had to bypass the composite video for it to work.

Still, the monitor doesn't sync well. Only does it sync on non-moving images. As soon as the action starts it loses sync. I guess the monitor isn't too happy with the composite video as a sync signal (or it is simply too weak).

i will now build a LM1881 and try if this will work to strip the sync signal and amplify it

I'll keep you updated!

[truffelzwijn]

HURRAH it works !!!!

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

I build the LM1881 circuit and used this to trip and amplify the sync signal from the composite video and this worked.

Now all i need to do is adjust the colors and brightness but we have a stable and very clear image.

Thanks to all you people who helped me out especially Dave_K, tom61, Andy Warne and Cave (for suggesting the video amp from ultimarc.com). You guys are great!