Xbox and VGA - what's the story?

[Grasshopper]

I've been researching whether it's possible to connect an Xbox to a VGA monitor but I'm coming across conflicting information.

Some sites suggest that an Xbox can, with a little modification, output a VGA signal. However, from what I've been reading, most of the VGA boxes made for the Xbox actually carry out scan conversion.

So can someone here clarify whether the Xbox can handle VGA natively like the Dreamcast, and if so what have your experiences been?

Thanks in advance.

[SNAAKE]

http://www.x2vga.com/

99% of the xbox games output vga. this is not some bootleg upscan converter or anything. its true vga transcoder and works great !

[whatzcrackn]

http://www.x2vga.com/

99% of the xbox games output vga. this is not some bootleg upscan converter or anything. its true vga transcoder and works great !

If you can find one working and at a good price.

[SNAAKE]

 

just order from them. $60 seems more than reasonable considering how great it looks. back in the day I think I paid like $80 for the older model that only works for the xbox. I might order one of these and sell the one I currrently use for less if you are interested. I will PM you

[tetsu96]

http://www.x2vga.com/

99% of the xbox games output vga. this is not some bootleg upscan converter or anything. its true vga transcoder and works great !

Maybe he's talking about the bios flash for the xbox.  From what I've read on xbox-scene, you can flash with a VGA BIOS and use a breakout cable to output true VGA.  The compatibility wasn't 100% so using a transcoder probably is best for the long run, but I'd be curious to get feedback from someone about PQ using both.

[Grasshopper]

Thanks for all the replies.

Snaake: from what I've been reading that appears to be the converter to get. However, it's a bit expensive. In fact it costs almost as much as I paid for my (new) Xbox plus two games! I'm trying to keep the cost of this project down so I think I'll explore other alternatives first.

Also, it won't work with PAL Xboxes and I'm in a PAL region (I'm not sure whether modding will get round this problem).

I spent hours reading up on this yesterday, and so far I've found out the following:

The Xbox does indeed appear to be able to generate displays at a resolution and refresh rate that a VGA monitor can handle so scan conversion shouldn't be necessary. However, you have to recreate the VGA sync signals. There are several different approaches to doing this. Each has their pros and cons.

I've come across several reasonably simple circuits on the net for restoring the sync signals. This really shouldn't be necessary but it appear that Micro$oft, in their infinite wisdom, deliberately removed the VGA functionality from what is essentially a standard PC graphics chip. 

You need to mod your Xbox but there is a question mark over whether 1.6 Xboxes are yet supported. I'm not sure whether you need to mod the Xbox to get in-game VGA support or whether it's just to enable the startup screen to be in VGA. The sites I've looked at are unclear on this point.

The best links I've found so far are as follows:

http://antibeat.host.sk/vgaguide/

http://xbox-scene.com/articles/vga-cable.php

http://www.360mods.net/News/article/sid=32.html

[whatzcrackn]

just order from them. $60 seems more than reasonable considering how great it looks. back in the day I think I paid like $80 for the older model that only works for the xbox. I might order one of these and sell the one I currrently use for less if you are interested. I will PM you

Yeah I was talking about the oginal one.  Not the new one.  I know atone point they were not taking orders.  I have not been to the site in a while.   

[madgammer]

$60+22 shipping???  Last time I checked UPS ground was only $6.00 for something that size.  What gives?  I would love to get one for my consoles, but at that price I could just get another console!

[Grasshopper]

$60+22 shipping???  Last time I checked UPS ground was only $6.00 for something that size.  What gives?  I would love to get one for my consoles, but at that price I could just get another console!

That's the dilemma I face. I'm pretty sure my Xbox is a 1.6 revision which needs this external box (or something similar) in order to generate a VGA signal. However, from what I've been reading, earlier revision Xboxes can be coaxed into generating VGA signals with just a $5 homemade circuit. So it might be better to just get a second earlier revision Xbox instead if I decide I can't do without VGA.

[madgammer]

Mine says 2002-03-02 what version is that?  I have a REALLY old xbox and if it can be done with a mod that would be the way to go.

[Grasshopper]

Mine says 2002-03-02 what version is that?

Probably 1.1 although it's hard to say for certain. But it's definitely pre-1.6.

http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Xbox_Versions_HOWTO

[ChadTower]

I was thinking about this too... but I have a 1.6 and a Crystal Xbox (which is also probably 1.6).

[madgammer]

Mine says 2002-03-02 what version is that?

Probably 1.1 although it's hard to say for certain. But it's definitely pre-1.6.

http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/Xbox_Versions_HOWTO

Seems like it's a 1.0 because it was made in mexico.  Anyone have a link to the mod that will allow the signal? 

[Grasshopper]

Anyone have a link to the mod that will allow the signal? 

I gave several links earlier on in the thread. As far as I can tell there only seems to be two circuits available on the internet (the same info gets recycled on several sites). One generates the sync signals using a sync separator chip, and the other gets the signals from points on the Xbox's motherboard.

I'm not sure which of the two approaches is best.

I'm leaning towards the sync separator circuit as that would allow for a completely external solution. But I'm a bit concerned that the separator circuit might degrade the green signal in some way.

Can anyone here with electronics expertise provide any advice on this matter?

[ChadTower]

Is it just the sync signal that's different?  That wouldn't make all THAT much difference so long as your R, G, and B are pure, yes?  The sync is either right or it's not, it's the RGB components that are more analog in nature.