HDCP Monitors & 360's

[Hitoshura]

I hear you can hook up a Xbox 360 to a monitor with HDCP via VGA cable. Question is, is it any good? I really want to consider buying one. If anyone can recommend a good monitor to go with it would really help.

[Furtwangler]

as far as I know you can get full HD out with the vga cable so just find a good monitor to use it on, and frankly you can't get one that looks -bad- just look for something in your price range and look at reviews for said models.

[Hitoshura]

Really? OHHH ok from what I am reading on HDCP it only applies to DVI anyway. Sweet! So any monitor will work as long as it has a VGA input? Going to need a monitor and some speakers..

22 inches will do it for me, it's going to be on the same desk as my other 22 inch. Going to be really hard to play games though considering the PC is like right there. QQ

[Kaisha]

I was under the impression that you can only use HDCP over DVI & HDMI. I don't really see the problem though since the only thing that'll make use of HDCP are BluRay movies, which the 360 doesn't have an add-on for yet.

Anyways, is there an official VGA-out solution? Wouldn't mind hooking it up to the one on my monitor and just use the RCA cables for audio if the 360 allows it.
(my monitor only has 3 ports on it. An empty VGA, DVI for the PC, and HDMI which the PS3/360 have to share)

[Hitoshura]

Yes there is.

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/Prod...oduct_id=40681

There is a used one for 10 bucks at my GS. That shit is mine.

[Furtwangler]

friend of mine has the VGA cable and he just has a kvm switch between his pc/360 to his 20" tube monitor haha, it may be old but like I said he runs HD with it (HD for tv is nothing for even older monitors) it should at least take 720p, not sure specifics.

[mootsfox]

I believe the XBOX360 can only do 720p over component/VGA.

HDCP is High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection and applies to guess what, digital signals only. VGA, Component, Composite and S-Video are all Analog signals, so it does not apply to you. You DO NOT need a HDCP monitor to play HD material over an analog signal.

So, you can buy the cable, you don't need a HDCP certified monitor and you could use it with a KVM switch, or just use DVI from your computer and switch between them.

[Hitoshura]

Bah I prefer not to switch so much, just going to either wall mount it or set them side by side even though I probably won't play as much that way... lol.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Fallso]

22" monitor won't go up to 1080p anyway (1920X1080), max I've seen on 22" is 1600X1200 and the VGA cable only goes to 720p but that's not too much of a problem since I don't know of tooooo many games that run at 1080!

[Hitoshura]

There are a few monitors on sale this week at Best Buy. Acer, Westinghouse, and Samsung. $209 for the 19 inch and $279 for the 22 inch Samsung. The Acer looks really nice too, $159 for the 19 inch, just not sure which I should really go with. Anyone of you guys try an Acer monitor? They seem to have damn good ratings on newegg.

[Furtwangler]

been using a 21 inch wide acer for the past 2 years and it is good quality, and has held up to being moved on a monthly basis from place to place as I take it to a friends house sometimes, I'd go with it.

[mootsfox]

There are a few monitors on sale this week at Best Buy. Acer, Westinghouse, and Samsung. $209 for the 19 inch and $279 for the 22 inch Samsung. The Acer looks really nice too, $159 for the 19 inch, just not sure which I should really go with. Anyone of you guys try an Acer monitor? They seem to have damn good ratings on newegg.

I use a 24" Acer, X243w.

It's a bit dry, but better than my 22" Westinghouse, 22w2.

I paid $299.99 for the 24" and $199.99 for the 22".

[Hitoshura]

Dry? Hmm pretty sure it's much better than my SDTV... lol

[mootsfox]

It's not glossy in any way it just looks, dry. I kinda like it, but most don't.