Connecting the 360 using a DVI-I port, need help please

A

Aldur

n00b
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
Messages
39
I just bought a westinghouse 37" about 3 weeks ago and the picture quality is superb. I have my 360 put into the vga port and all I have to say that this is the best gaming TV ever! My only complaint, there is only one vga port. I really want to hook my regular xbox up since its modded and can upscale dvd movies to 720p. But it is such a pain in the ass to go behind the tv and switch cables every time I want to watch a movie. So I found out that my DVI ports are DVI-i, which means that they will accept digital and analog signals. So i figured that I could plug my xbox into one of them using a vga to DVI adapter. When I did that I got a no signal message on my TV. I called up westinghouse and they basically had no idea what was going on, all they could do is confirm that I have DVI-i ports.

Can somebody help me out, what am I doing wrong here??
 
360 doesnt support DVI and You can't go VGA -> DVI (atleast not easily).
 
use the component out on your TV....


Easy solution

720p on component will look the same as 1280x720 with VGA.
 
Aldur said:
I just bought a westinghouse 37" about 3 weeks ago and the picture quality is superb. I have my 360 put into the vga port and all I have to say that this is the best gaming TV ever! My only complaint, there is only one vga port. I really want to hook my regular xbox up since its modded and can upscale dvd movies to 720p. But it is such a pain in the ass to go behind the tv and switch cables every time I want to watch a movie. So I found out that my DVI ports are DVI-i, which means that they will accept digital and analog signals. So i figured that I could plug my xbox into one of them using a vga to DVI adapter. When I did that I got a no signal message on my TV. I called up westinghouse and they basically had no idea what was going on, all they could do is confirm that I have DVI-i ports.

Can somebody help me out, what am I doing wrong here??
Click to expand...

360 is analog only. You'd need an expensive analog-to-digital conversion box to do what you want to do. I'd suggest going component out :)
 
steviep said:
360 is analog only. You'd need an expensive analog-to-digital conversion box to do what you want to do. I'd suggest going component out :)
Click to expand...

You wont even notice a difference on that size tv, it'll be just fine.
 
I'm running component on my Saumsung HDTV, and have been incredibly impressed with the picture quality, and colors. I've also tried with the VGA cables since I have a VGA input as well, and it looks much better in component for some reason. The colors just looked flat with the VGA cables.
 
I'll agree - component looks better on my projector, but VGA is brighter, and my projector needs more brightness for dark scenes in games, so I stuck with VGA, but the component does in fact look better colorwise.
 
steviep said:
360 is analog only. You'd need an expensive analog-to-digital conversion box to do what you want to do. I'd suggest going component out :)
Click to expand...

Correct me if im wrong but I thought that a DVI-i port accepted both digital and analog while a DVI-d port only does digital. When I talked to the tech people at westing house that is what I was told. I was also told that a vga to DVI-i adapter should work fine without a expensive converter. I think I said this in my OP but oh well...

I would just use component cables with the xbox but I see a good amount of ghosting with dvd playback. I've used 4 different brands of cables and so I do not think it is the cables. When I hook up the xbox to the vga port I get a great picture with no ghosting. The tv has 2 DVI-i ports and one vga and so I'd like to use on of those DVI-i ports. A vga switch box is a good idea but Im afraid of losing some of the signial quality.
 
Soem of these people don't know what they are talking about.

Most DVI cables are compatible with both digital and analog signals. You can get many types of converters from boxes, to straight up "one end VGA, one end DVI" cables, and they will work just fine. Go to an electronics store, or on most any electronics store websites and search "VGA to DVI adapter" and you will find what you need.
 
Aldur said:
Correct me if im wrong but I thought that a DVI-i port accepted both digital and analog while a DVI-d port only does digital. When I talked to the tech people at westing house that is what I was told. I was also told that a vga to DVI-i adapter should work fine without a expensive converter. I think I said this in my OP but oh well...

I would just use component cables with the xbox but I see a good amount of ghosting with dvd playback. I've used 4 different brands of cables and so I do not think it is the cables. When I hook up the xbox to the vga port I get a great picture with no ghosting. The tv has 2 DVI-i ports and one vga and so I'd like to use on of those DVI-i ports. A vga switch box is a good idea but Im afraid of losing some of the signial quality.
Click to expand...

There is a problem with this whole thing. The XBox has no DVI plug. It only has a VGA plug. You can go from DVI-VGA most of the time, but you can't do VGA-DVI without one of those afformentioned boxes. VGA = analog, DVI = digital, that's why you can't go VGA to DVI easily.
 
You want one of these. Just make 100% sure your TV has DVI-I in and not DVI-D; but then again it is only $3.99, you don't have much to loose.
 
steviep said:
There is a problem with this whole thing. The XBox has no DVI plug. It only has a VGA plug. You can go from DVI-VGA most of the time, but you can't do VGA-DVI without one of those afformentioned boxes. VGA = analog, DVI = digital, that's why you can't go VGA to DVI easily.
Click to expand...
The thing is, though, is that DVI is almost always natvely compatible with analog signals as well, up to a certain Hz level.
 
lesman said:
The thing is, though, is that DVI is almost always natvely compatible with analog signals as well, up to a certain Hz level.
Click to expand...

That is completely dependent on the DVI standard the device uses.

DVI-A: This is an analog only connection. It is basically a VGA connection in a DVI connector. This is quite rare, although I do own a old Gateway 15" that is DVI-A.

DVI-D: This is a digital only connection. This will not work with an analog connection. You need to use a converter box. This is what a good 95% or more of the LCDs and TVs on the market use.

DVI-I: This connection can accept both analog and digital signals. Basically a combination of the previous 2 standards. This is the standard output on video cards, and the reason you can use DVI to VGA converters on them.
 
TVs that conform to the HDCP standards (i.e. copy protection, i.e. 99.99% of TVs) won't take an analog signal over DVI. Good luck :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top