Connection Confusion

[Ducky]

Hey guy! I'm new to the forums, by the way, so nice to meet you all!

I'm in a confusing situation where I want to have all my game consoles to preform to their best. I'm too poor to buy myself a pretty HDTV so I decided I would use one of my PC monitors and convert everything from their best connection to VGA. It seemed a lot more cheaper to me. But I'm not sure what is the best connection for each of my consoles and how I will convert them in the most effective and/or the cheapest way.

Here are the consoles I want to connect up and how I think I will connect them:

Wii - Component to VGA
Nintendo 64 - RGB to Component to VGA
PlayStation 2 - Component to VGA
Xbox 360 - Component to VGA or VGA
Dreamcast - VGA

I thought I'd use something like X2YGA 2 because it has two Component inputs and one VGA one. I'll use a multi Component cable that leads out to the Wii, the PS2 and the 360 for one of the Component inputs, and have an RGB convertor in the other Component input for the N64. And then I'll have the VGA input especially for the Dreamcast.

I assumed that this would be the best forum section (Game Room) to put it in. If it isn't, I apologise...

Any better way to do so? Thanks to all who submit sugestions!

Cheers,
-Ducky

[lordofduct]

Well with the 360 and Dreamcast do strait VGA obviousily.

As for the rest of them... well... you're in Europe right? Well RGB is a great feature out there on you PAL systems (and conserves the best video quality when converting to VGA). N64, PS2 and Wii all have RGB capabilities.

PS2 you have to designate Component or RGB in the BIOS Settings (pretty easy). The Wii is weirder, pins 8 and 10 have to be shorted out to put the console into RGB mode. If you buy the PAL RGB Scart cable it should do just fine.

You should check your monitor and see what kind of inputs it supports, try for something that takes composite sync low frequency RGB on its VGA port and freakin' wire in. If it doesn't, then get yourself a scanline doubler to up the frequency of the RGB signals from the 3 consoles named and run with that shit! The other thing is this covers all the bases on all three consoles in one device, where as if you used the X2VGA you're kinda shit out of luck with the N64 and the quality isn't as good if you used the RGB.

[Ducky]

Well, my monitor is just a casual PC Screen so it only posseses a single VGA Output for when you would usually put in your computer. So, that is where I lack in as I am stuck with the one port...

I live in New Zealand (It's another PAL country), so I don't really live in Europe, but I guess you could consider me as one! We don't use RGB but I'm sure it's compatible.

Also, another thing you should know is that my Nintendo 64 is NTSC and the rest are PAL (Well, I don't really have my Xbox 360 yet and my Dreamcast is coming in the mail, so I'm planning ahead). But, if I dig into my N64 and preform a RGB mod, all things should be peachy as I don't really want to put up with an S-Video connection.

I'm unsure about "composite sync low frequency RGB" because right now I'm on holiday and am in Europe at the moment. My Monitor is at home so I wouldn't be able to check until a month or so. How would I be able to figure that one out.

Would the scanline doubler be a better investment? Could you explain how it works and what a decent (...but cheap) brand/model is?

And last of all, I'll need an RGB to VGA convertor that has three RGB inputs. And then I'll need something that I could attach to the end of the single VGA port and gives me three extra (One for the RGB convertor and the two for the 360 and the Dreamcast).

And last of all... Sound. The 360 VGA cord will have white and red leads so they will easily sit in my Stereo. But if I get a convertor for RGB, I will need to make sure that they will give me the white and red leads also. With the Dreamcast I can just get a Headphone jack to read and white cord convertor (sorry, don't know the correct names for the sound cords so it's going to sound like a load of crap).

Cheers again!
-Ducky

[lordofduct]

A scanline doubler is what converts composite RGB (the RGB in your console) to VGA. VGA is basically RGB, but the refresh rate is at a much higher frequency (as low as 30khz horizontal scanrate), where as composite RGB is only at a mere 15khz horizontal scanrate (this is what I meant by composite sync low frequency, composite sync is the kind of sync signal, low frequency is the fact that the Horizontal scan rate is only 15khz).

A scanline doubler will up the horizontal scan rate so that it can be displayed on a VGA monitor that doesn't support low frequencies like 15khz. They cost a lot of money though (around 100 to 150 bucks) so it is always best to check if your monitor can handle such low frequencies and just wire up a 15 pin D-SUB to your systems instead. But if you send to weak a signal to the monitor you can risk damaging the console or monitor (probably not, but you certainly won't get a picture).

Lastly you're gonna have a hard time finding any converter that does 3 inputs simultaneousily. Instead what you'll probably want to find is 2 quality VGA switch box's... OR 1 VGA switch box and a SCART switch box (as you'll probably get all your RGB cables in SCART form). And go from there.

www.gamesx.com - also check out this website here for tons of information on RGB, different mods for consoles to get RGB, and other good stuff.


Oh and you can check out the XRGB-2, this is a device that amplifies the scanrates allowing RGB to be used on VGA monitors that doesn't support such low scan rates.

[Ducky]

Yeah, I thought it would be troubling to hunt down a multi-input converter... So I'll need a VGA switch box with 3 inputs (one for the Dreamcast, one for the 360 and one for the RGB input), an XRGB-2 (does that amplify the picture or convert it, aswell?), an RGB-VGA converter (any paticular brand?) and several RGB cables.
Is it also possible to convert the Composite/S-video on the Dreamcast VGA Box to RGB on the Switch Box for the Dreamcast games that don't support VGA? Because then, I'll always be getting a clear VGA-esque image!!
Sorry to play the fool, again, but what exactly is a 15 pin D-SUB?
Also, finally, why do you sugest RGB rather than Component? Is it cheaper? Clearer? More Convineant? More vibrant colours?
And will I be able to find an RGB converter that leads off VGA and the two stereo sound leads that are red and white? (I think it's... RCA?)

Well, thanks again!
Cheers,
-Ducky

[lordofduct]

the XRGB-2 is the RGB to VGA converter... so you'd just need a VGA switch box and the XRGB-2

15-pin D-Sub is the name of the kind of connector that VGA uses. That trapezoidal connector with 15 pins.

I suggested RGB merely because nearly all consoles output VGA (but not component) and because component is a YUV signaling process where as VGA is RGB. Upscaling RGB to VGA will have less degradation of video quality then converting component to VGA. RGB and component are pretty close in quality, and it is personal preference between the pros and cons of each of them.

[Ducky]

Right, so XRGB-2, VGA Switch Box and several RGB Game System leads! Got it!
Now, is there some sort of RGB cable that leads up to multiple consoles like this component cable, here? http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-10z ... -1smg.html
Something like that would save me a lot of money and refrain me from buying more several odd cables and an RGB switch box.
And finally, is lack of Progressive Scan going to hurt me at all? I've never had to use it since that I've been stuck with Composite, but is it really all that much of an issue?

Cheers,
-Ducky

[Ducky]

Thanks for all the help prior, lordofduct! But, thing is I have another problem, guys...
I can't find even find a XRGB-2. Do you know where I could find it?
And also, is Progressive Scan lack going to be an issue? Because PS support is included in XRGB-3 so would it be more worthwhile to get that?
Cheers,
-Ducky