Using your pc components to play next gen consoles

[dporter]

One of the biggest complaints about the latest editions of consoles on the market is that the games just look absolutely crummy on standard definition T.V's. If you've ever played a game on the 360 or ps3 that has text that appears on the screen and you've seen how blurry it is, you know what I'm talking about.

Although HD TV prices have become more affordable, the majority of the sets are still well above the price range of the average working individual. Or, there's people who don't have HD programming from the cable company and the standard definition channels look 100% better on the older tube tv's then they do on the newer lcd tv's so they see no need to upgrade.

The good news, is that there is a much more affordable way in which to enjoy the consoles HD picture with a fraction of the cost of a HD TV. The best part about it is that for anyone who owns a home pc, you already have most of the equipment you already need (at least the most expensive part anways). All you really need to enjoy your next gen console is your home computer's monitor. Even an old CRT will work (for the 360 only not the ps3). I did a test at home on an old apple monitor from the early 90's and it actually worked!

One of the nicer aspects of using a home monitor for those who have an lcd which is 19" or bigger is that the resolution on monitor is better then that of the larger 720p lcd tv's. When you get into the 22 and 24" categories of monitors the resolution gets even better for playing the console.

Now I'll demonstrate how you can set up a console at home using an example of a monitor that I really like and recommend from Hans-G. Here is some information on the HW-223DPB. Some of the best features of this monitor include the gobs of cables that come with it, decent built in speakers, nice contrast ratio, and a low 5ms.

Now here is an image of the cables that come with the monitor. Several of these cables are very important for console players.

All right, lets start with hooking your xbox 360 to this thing and the different ways you can do it.

- The first and easiest way to hook up your system using the monitor can only be done if you have the latest version of the xbox which has the hdmi port in the back or if you have the halo or elite versions of the console. All you need to get it to work is a $6 to $10 hdmi to DVI cable where the hdmi end plugs into the console and the dvi end plugs into the monitor and then the sound will automatically come out of the built in speakers.

- The other way you could hook the console up to this monitor would be to use the DVI-I to YPbPr cable that comes with the monitor. The first thing you'll notice is that the cable has male ends (why? I don't know), and that the component cables that come with the xbox also have male ends. To get it to work you will need to pick up a component coupler (usually only $2 to $4 most places online). It will look like this.

Now that will get you picture, but now you need to be able to hear the game. You can actually get sound two different ways from here. You will need the RCA audio cable shown in the picture above with all of the other pc cables and you can either plug the black cord into audio in port on the monitor shown here:

Or you can plug it into the audio in port on your pc. If you have good speakers you'd probably want to go this route. Here again you notice that the rca plug has male ends and so do the audio plug ins for the 360, so once again you'll need another coupler that looks like this.

(And of course you'll need two of those. One for the red side and one for the white)

Now to connect the PS3 to this monitor you can use the exact same methods as above but I would only recommend using the hdmi to dvi cable since component cables do not come with the console and it is cheaper to get a hdmi to dvi cable from monoprice.com then it is to buy the component cables. The picture quality is better as well through HDMI.

Now what about monitors that only have a VGA port? Well, first of all, I'll start by saying you can not connect a ps3 to a vga only monitor so we will not go down that route. But, if you have an older version xbox 360 you can actually still hook up the console to your monitor with this cable here:

The vga end plugs into the monitor and then you have two audio cables as well which will need to be hooked up either to the monitor (If you have built in speakers) or to PC according to your preference using the RCA audio cable.

Here is another note for those with a PS3 interested in using their monitor for their console. The PS3 is somewhat picky about the monitors that it will play on. The monitor does have to be HDCP compliant (for xbox 360 it does not have to), but even on some HDCP compliant monitors users have had problems getting the PS3 to work with it. The best way to figure out if it will work is to research the monitor first since reviewers often state whether they use it on a conolse or not.

Another easy alternative is to just find a monitor that has component hookups and built in speakers (almost evey monitor I've seen with component hook ups has built in speakers). Then you can just plug it in and go without have to turn on your pc.

[Rocky]

What an awesome write up, absolutely spot on. Did you write that or is it from a website?

Or, there's people who don't have (much) HD programming from the cable company and the standard definition channels look 100% better on the older tube tv's then they do on the newer lcd tv's so they see no need to upgrade

Word.

I bought the cable to connect my X360 (when I had one) to my 21" LCD monitor, connected it all up then realised my Samsung monitor didn't have speakers LMAO! I couldn't be arsed trying to figure out how to get the sound through my PC's surround speakers so I ended up seeling the unused cable with the X360 a few months later lol.

If I had read the above back then, I might be playing my 360 still today!

[dporter]

What an awesome write up, absolutely spot on. Did you write that or is it from a website?

Or, there's people who don't have (much) HD programming from the cable company and the standard definition channels look 100% better on the older tube tv's then they do on the newer lcd tv's so they see no need to upgrade

Word.

I bought the cable to connect my X360 (when I had one) to my 21" LCD monitor, connected it all up then realised my Samsung monitor didn't have speakers LMAO! I couldn't be arsed trying to figure out how to get the sound through my PC's surround speakers so I ended up seeling the unused cable with the X360 a few months later lol.

If I had read the above back then, I might be playing my 360 still today!

I wrote it up from my personal experiences of getting consoles to work on monitors. For me, if a pc monitor is big enough for my pc games then its plenty big for my console gaming. It's nice too if you have people come over with consoles you can just bring your smaller monitor instead of lugging a big HD tv around and you can have some fun times.

Sorry, it is not the most organized post. I was at work and in a hurry since I had some other things to get done. Hopefully this will help others as I know I had numerous questions about all this before I did all the homework.

If anyone has any questions, or is unclear on anything please ask and I'll do my best to help you out.

Edited February 13, 2008 by dporter

[krise madsen]

Good job dporter

Respectfully

krise madsen