Setting Up Xbox 360 With A PC Monitor

[FlamesPuck12]

So I had enough with my non-HD TV and I just can't play my Xbox 360 games on it without having to squint while sitting about a meter away from it just to track down the little puck while playing NHL 09. And to add to that, I can't even read the letters or the numbers displayed. (I once came online to play EASHL and saw that we were over .500, but turns out that the number was something like 60-95 not 60-45 or whatever I saw at that time)

Anyway, I'm trying to set up my 360 to be displayed on my computer monitor. I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas on how I could do this.
I tried googling this topic but the information posted elsewhere was very vague and I had no idea what to do.

So the monitor I have is:
http://reviews.cnet.com/lcd-monitors...-32627601.html
(From the reviews I've read, it sounded like an okay monitor for gaming purposes)
Signal input methods are DVI-D and VGA
I'm currently using 1440x900 resolution.

How should I set this up? What are some of the components I need to get in order for this to work? Also, how would I be able to set up the speakers? (It would suck to not have any sound while playing any games)

Also, my monitor and the speaker is currently attached to my computer, so will I need some kind of switch to alternate between the two set up? I'd hate to unplug everything from my computer and plugging them into my xbox and vice versa, everytime I want to play some games.

Just one last question, will this setup with the PC monitor be alot better than the TV setup I currently have? Will this set up be close to HD display?

[Cliche]

Easier for 360 users to use a monitor than ps3. Of course, you'll need to make sure your monitor will support the 1080i 720p resolutions.

http://www.coldforged.org/archives/2...nd-hd-dvd-faq/

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360vgahdcable/

[FlamesPuck12]

How do I know if my monitor will support 1080i 720p?

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by FlamesPuck12

How do I know if my monitor will support 1080i 720p?

a) Read the manual.

if not

b) Google the specs.

if not

c) Plug it in and see if it works.

?

[FlamesKickAss]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

a) Read the manual.

if not

b) Google the specs.

if not

c) Plug it in and see if it works.

?

I would do it in reverse order

[photon]

Originally Posted by Cliche

Easier for 360 users to use a monitor than ps3. Of course, you'll need to make sure your monitor will support the 1080i 720p resolutions.

http://www.coldforged.org/archives/2...nd-hd-dvd-faq/

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360vgahdcable/

Actually with that VGA cable you can change the resolution of the xbox so direct 720p support isn't necessary, the 360 will scale it to your monitors resolution. Just do a search to make sure the 360 supports your rez. Or buy the cable from somewhere you can return it to.

I had my 360 on my 1680x1050 monitor which doesn't support 720p or 1080i

[photon]

Actually it might not support 1440x900 natively google searches say no but they have updated over time. Worst case is you'd set the 360 to 1280x720 and let the monitor scale it up. Not ideal but much better than a SD tv.

[Rathji]

I suspect that unless your TV is not alot larger than your monitor you might not be getting the improvement in picture that you are desiring. However it might be enough to make it worth it.

If your monitor is HD, then it will certianly be worth it.

Edit: I just reread this post and it seems unclear.

restated: If your monitor is close to the size of yout TV and not HD ( ie does not supports 720i/p or 1080i/p) you might still get some improvement but perhaps not all you are wanting. If your monitor is HD it is a no brainer that you will get better results.

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by FlamesKickAss

I would do it in reverse order

What if the manual or specs have specific warnings against "plugging it in and seeing if it works?" I'd only plug in blind after I tried for the manual. I don't see how it would be damaging, but dumber things have happened.

[FlamesPuck12]

Alright actually, I returned that monitor and I'm going to reconsider which one I'm going to purchase. Which monitors can you recommend for the HD game plays? I want to get something within a reasonable cost. I'm thinking of getting the same brand except 22"
http://reviews.cnet.com/lcd-monitors...-32908354.html

Anyway, any suggestions?

[Vulcan]

I don't know what the Xbox requires but in order to do 720p or 1080i, the monitors DVI connection should be HDCP compliant. Acer says it is, so it should be OK.

[photon]

HDCP is just an encryption scheme, not necessary to display 720p or 1080i, only necessary if the source device requires HDCP.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by photon

HDCP is just an encryption scheme, not necessary to display 720p or 1080i, only necessary if the source device requires HDCP.

Yeah, all PC monitors are HD and will certainly be better than a SD TV. Being HDCP compliant gives the monitor more flexibility, so it's guaranteed to display 720p or maybe 1080i or p if the Xbox won't display the native 1680x1050. As I said, I know little about the Xbox, so I don't know if it needs HDCP or not.

[photon]

HDCP doesn't guarantee the monitor can display 720p or 1080i/p, it just means that it can act as a secure display for any output that requires HDCP encryption.

The 360 itself doesn't require HDCP, though the HD-DVD drive addon does when playing an HD-DVD movie.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x...defdetails.htm

Those are the resolutions supported by the 360 FlamesPuck12.

As for that specific monitor, personally I can't stand cheap TN panel monitors so I'm the wrong one to ask

[FlamesPuck12]

^
I was just reading some online articles about the different technologies of LCD and it seems like for gaming, TN Panel is recommended due to the low response time or something.

Anyway, just a quick question, so for that monitor it says its native resolution is 1680 x 1050 and that's not a supported resolution. From the xbox HD page, for 16:10 it supports 1920 x 1080 which won't work with that monitor. So what kind of resolution will be displayed if I used 1680 x 1050 monitor with my xbox? Do I have to use the smaller 16:10 resolution or can I use anything else? If I use something else, how will the games be scaled? Like will it just black out the areas of the monitor that it doesnt uses (Like watching Widescreen on a fullscreen TV, the top and the bottom of the TV has the black blocks)

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by photon

HDCP doesn't guarantee the monitor can display 720p or 1080i/p, it just means that it can act as a secure display for any output that requires HDCP encryption.

The 360 itself doesn't require HDCP, though the HD-DVD drive addon does when playing an HD-DVD movie.

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x...defdetails.htm

Those are the resolutions supported by the 360 FlamesPuck12.

As for that specific monitor, personally I can't stand cheap TN panel monitors so I'm the wrong one to ask

Well the only output that requires HDCP is a digital HD output, so if it's HDCP compliant, I'd say it's pretty safe to say the display is HD, which is at least 720p.

As you say the Xbox doesn't appear to require HDCP as Computer monitors seem to be only able to be connected via VGA, which is an analogue connection.

TN panels are okay for me and the average user and a lot cheaper. They also have good response times for gaming. Myself, I've had good luck with Dell, Samsung and Benq. Acer is known as a budget monitor and if you can find a Samsung or Dell at a competitive price, I'd go for it. Try and find a review though.

The cheapest non TN panel that I know of is a 24" Benq for around $500, if anyone is interested. This site also has links to reviews and has reader reviews also for a wide variety of monitors.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...nufacture=BENQ

[photon]

Originally Posted by FlamesPuck12

^
I was just reading some online articles about the different technologies of LCD and it seems like for gaming, TN Panel is recommended due to the low response time or something.

They do have low response times, but S-PVA and S-IPS panels have low enough response times (for me anyway, and I'm pretty picky, I've returned a few monitors because I couldn't game with them) to make them worth looking at, and the image quality is so much better IMO. But then again gaming isn't my sole use.

It's a personal thing though, I always tell people to a) buy a monitor from somewhere they can exchange/return it and b) get something you are happy with.

Anyway, just a quick question, so for that monitor it says its native resolution is 1680 x 1050 and that's not a supported resolution. From the xbox HD page, for 16:10 it supports 1920 x 1080 which won't work with that monitor.

Correct

So what kind of resolution will be displayed if I used 1680 x 1050 monitor with my xbox? Do I have to use the smaller 16:10 resolution or can I use anything else? If I use something else, how will the games be scaled? Like will it just black out the areas of the monitor that it doesnt uses (Like watching Widescreen on a fullscreen TV, the top and the bottom of the TV has the black blocks)

That depends on the monitor itself. My Dell monitor allows me to do display it any way I wish.. so if I want I can select 1360x768 and choose 1:1 and have it fill most of the monitor with a black border all around, but I have a "pixel perfect" display with no scaling (or rather the 360 is doing the scaling). Or I can select the 1280x768 and stretch it full screen since the aspect ratios are almost the same. Or if I want I could select 1280x1024 and select stretch vertically to fill the screen and have black bars on the sides (though that'd be a dumb choice obviously).

So check your monitor and see what its scaling options are, not all monitors are as flexible.

I do like the Dell LCDs, though they haven't been as good lately as they once were gaming wise.

[FlamesPuck12]

Hmm, yeah I agree that Samsung and Dell are much better than Acer.
Anyway, I'm stuck between these two monitors and I was wondering if any of you experts could tell me which one would be a better purchase.
http://accessories.dell.com/sna/prod...-5205,320-7438

E228WFP seems to be more expensive (Before the $50 discount) but I don't see why that would be more expensive considering the fact that S2209W has more features, including the full hd 1080p.

What do you guys think?

[photon]

Originally Posted by Vulcan

Well the only output that requires HDCP is a digital HD output, so if it's HDCP compliant, I'd say it's pretty safe to say the display is HD, which is at least 720p.

Well true but only by virtue of HDCP arising with HD content (the whole point of HDCP being to protect HD content), there's no requirement in the HDCP spec for it.

As you say the Xbox doesn't appear to require HDCP as Computer monitors seem to be only able to be connected via VGA, which is an analogue connection.

Newer 360s have HDMI which should be able to be converted to DVI. However I don't know if the 360 supports the different resolutions over HDMI (I doubt it).

I agree, I've had good success with Samsung, Dell and Benq as well.

Also surprisingly HP if it's the right ones.

[photon]

Neither, I'd look at this one, but that's just me

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mon...ion-l220x.html

EDIT: or a used Dell 2005 or 2007FPW which has an S-IPS panel.