How-To: Turn a standard Xbox 360 video cable into a VGA cable for make benefit your wallet

Every so often, that console-modding Benjamin Heckendorn wanders away from his lair at benheck.com to share some interesting projects with Engadget.

Recent Xbox 360 updates have allowed the system to spit out resolutions up to 1080p, and with the new HD DVD add-on drive there's more reason than ever to use a high quality VGA signal instead of the more standard 3-cable component. However there's a bit of a catch -- VGA cables for the 360 cost about $40. According to my calculations, that's about 2 pizzas and a case of beer less to game with. WE don't know about you, but we find that a pretty scary proposition -- yours buddies that swing over for game night probably do too.

In this How-To we'll describe how you can turn your existing Xbox 360 video cable into a "multi-out" device capable of VGA. You don't even need to hack inside the Xbox itself, just the cable. Total cost is around $7, including the Radio Shack project box shown above. Ready to save some cash? Let's get in there!

The following mod allows you to use a standard Xbox 360 cable to create a special VGA cable that would normally be purchased separately. The reason we can hack the standard cable in this way is because Microsoft was kind enough to put every pin in the normal connector, even ones the cable doesn't use. Standard plugs on other systems (notably the PS2 and Gamecube) only have the pins the plug needs.

Thank you Microsoft.

Main Tools You'll Need:

• Small pair of tweezers (very useful).
• Metal cutting pliers, tin snips, something along those lines.
• Soldering iron. A lighter powered, 15 watt range one is best.
  
• Solder... WITH lead works best. We know that sounds awful but it'll help you "convert" the lead-free solder inside the Xbox connector and make it much easier to work with.
  
• Multimeter, with circuit testing option. The kind where if you touch the two probes it beeps to indicate a connection.
• Hot glue. Oh yeah, that's right! Don't leave home without it.
• Small, thin flat-bladed screwdrivers, a larger flat-bladed screwdriver.
  
• X-Acto Knife
• Desoldering iron (optional, see instructions).
• Dremel (optional, see instructions).

Where is the "Parts I need" section, you ask? We'll cover them specifically later on, depending on which type of VGA cable you'd like to build. (Breakout box, as shown, or straight VGA cable depending.)

Alright let's get going on this sucker.

Step 1 - Take Apart Your Xbox 360 Video Cable

The Xbox 360's video cable assembly doesn't use screws but luckily it's still pretty easy to take apart. Here's how:

• Insert a small, thin screwdriver at the seam shown in the above photo.
• Press in and towards the label (also as shown) to get around the inner lip.
• Once you breach the lip you should hear a crack. You're in!
• Make a few more breaches like this next to each other, then insert a larger screwdriver as shown below. Twist it and the casing should pop open nicely.

Next, insert the big screwdriver at the seam near the main cable, and twist the case open at this place as well. You can now pull off the bottom portion of the plastic, and then pull the guts out of the top portion. The "TV / HDTV" switch will fall out at this point, save it if you ever plan to revert the cable to its original form (which is becoming less and less likely as this progresses).

Use your small screwdriver to pry up the metal near the TV/HDTV switch, as shown below.

Now pry the metal up and right off the optical audio jack, and bend it down on the right side, as shown below. You can now pull the main piece of shielding metal up away from the rest of the jack. Snip the shielding free of the main cable using your metal cutters.

Now you should come across a piece of material that looks amazingly like electrical tape. (Don't worry, we're sure it's certified next-generation electrical tape.) Remove it and the jack should now look like the below photo. On the left you can see the little circuit board containing the optical audio port and TV/HDTV switch, on the right is the connector itself with all the wires going to it.

Next we need to remove the circuit board from the metal. It is held down by 3 tabs. You can desolder the tabs with a desoldering iron, or wedge your small screwdriver under the board and pry up as you heat the tabs with the regular iron. Since everything on the Xbox 360 uses that lead-free solder, it might help to mix some fresh (ahem leaden) solder onto joints to help them melt. Once you get to the side with 2 tabs (near the TV / HDTV switch) you'll need to snip the metal shielding free of the cables before you pry up the PCB.

• Once the circuit board has been desoldered from the tabs you can unplug the little connector on it and pull it from the main assembly.
• Finally, take your thin screwdriver and stick it between the black plastic and the thin top shielding as shown below. (Sorry the photo's a bit blurry, bigfoot musta been nearby.) Pry the metal up a little and you'll be able to pull the black plug out from the shielding. Be sure to save this piece of shielding for later.
  

The plug pieces should now look like the following.

Finally, cut the end portion off the metal shielding and lay down some electric tape inside it as shown below:

Step 2 - Make the wiring connections

Before we start making the wiring connections you'll need to carefully remove the glue stuff covering the pins, as shown below. Use your tweezers and be sure not to pull the blank pins up with the gunk. If they do bend up, simply push them back down. The glue is pretty easy to remove.

With the glue removed you can remove all the wires from the plug. Simply heat up the solder on each wire until it easily pulls free.

At this time you should put a small bit of fresh, new solder on each of the pins. This will make attaching new wires much easier.

Shown below is the end view of the now wireless plug and a drawing of which pins we'll be using for this VGA mod. Keep in mind this pinout refers to the WIRE end of the plug, looking at it from behind as it would go into the console. The numbering might look a bit weird but it refers to how the connections are labeled on the 360's motherboard.

Note how every pin is either long or short, and almost every other pin goes to ground (GND)

Before we go any further, here's the wire-end view pinout of a VGA port. Pins that we don't need for this project are simply called N/C (no connection). Most VGA-type ports also have the pin numbers etched into the plastic for your added reference.

Download a large PDF version of these pinouts, suitable for framing.

Since we're going to start re-attaching the wires to the connector, you should now decide what sort of VGA cable you'd like to build...

• Breakout box type adapter. As shown at the beginning of this article. Requires buying a few parts (the aforementioned seven bucks worth) but is more useful in the long run.
• Single cable coming off the Xbox. For this you can use an old VGA cable. Slice off the computer end of the plug so you can connect the wires directly to the Xbox 360 video connector. You'll also need some left and right audio cables, plus a yellow cable if you'd still like the option of using composite video.
  

Figure out which is best for you (I recommend the breakout box 'cause it's cooler, but that's just me) and use the directions below:

Method 1: Soldering wires to the connector port for a straight VGA cable (sort of like the one that costs $40 at Best Buy)

Parts you'll need:

• 2 position selector switch (if you want the cable to switch modes). You can use the Radio Shack Catalog #275-409, or just desolder the switch from inside the Xbox component cable.
  
• Left and right RCA phono plug audio cables, such as those from a stereo system. You'll need these since the VGA plug doesn't carry audio. If you plan to just use the optical audio, we'll describe how to wire it in the breakout box section.
  
• Yellow composite (crap) video RCA phono plug cable. You'll only need this if you want the cable to switch modes. A great source for both this and the audio cables are old PS1, N64 or GameCube cables.

What to do:

1. Cut off the computer end of the VGA cable if you haven't already. Strip the main coating off to reveal the wires inside. The main connections you'll need are red, green, blue, horizontal sync and vertical sync. They may or may not be color coded. H and V sync may be a shade of white. Put a little solder on each wire to keep the strands together. This will also help when attaching it to the Xbox connector.
   
2. Using the multimeter, test which wires in the cable go to the correct pins on the end of the VGA cable and connect them to the Xbox connector accordingly. (Use the above VGA pinout for reference.) Please note, they'll be several wires inside the VGA cable that you won't need to connect to the Xbox, such as the data lines used for monitor ID detection. (Labeled N/C in the pinout drawing.)
   
3. All the shielding around the wires you find inside the cable is ground. Also note that a lot of the pins on the VGA connector are ground.
   
4. Solder the wires from the VGA cable to the Xbox 360 connector using the pinouts provided to match up the signals. You can connect all the VGA ground shielding to a single ground spot on the Xbox connector to make it easier on yourself.
5. Strip the ends of the audio cables to reveal the inner wires and copper shielding. Attach the inner wires to the left and right audio spots on the Xbox connector (pins 16 and 15) and the outer shielding to any ground.
6. If you're attaching a composite video option, strip and attach the composite (yellow) video cable in the same way to pin 7 of the Xbox connector.
   
7. The selector switch (either the Radio Shack model or the one from the connector itself) has 3 leads on it. Connect the center lead to ground and the side leads to pins 20 and 24 on the Xbox connector. The switch can now "ground out" one of those two connections to set the video mode. Pulling pin 20 to ground sets the Xbox to VGA mode, putting 24 to ground sets it to composite.
8. If you don't want the cable to select a video mode and just be VGA, connect pin 20 to any ground. This can be done by simply blobbing solder from it to pin 18 or 22 (they're both ground)
   
9. Note: You HAVE to select a mode regardless, if you don't the Xbox won't boot and you'll get 4 red lights as a "Video Cable Missing" warning. (Strange that 3 lights is worse than 4, but whatever.)

You can now insert the black plastic Xbox connector back into the metal shielding we removed earlier and plug everything in to see if it works. (See "Setting the Xbox to VGA", below.) If you have a problem, check out the Troubleshooting section at the end of the article.

Method 2: Making a VGA/Composite Breakbox Box

Parts you'll need:

• Breakout Box. I used Radio Shack Catalog # 270-1802 cause it was the smallest and cheapest.
• D-sub 15 female connector (VGA port). Radio Shack Catalog #: 276-1502, Digi-Key: T815FE-ND Mouser: 523-G17S1510110EU If you have an old PC video card you can desolder one off that if you wish. But a new one is pretty cheap and easy to use.
• 2 position selector switch, if you want the box to switch modes. You can use the Radio Shack Catalog #275-409 or just desolder the switch from inside the Xbox component cable.
• 3 RCA phono jacks, for the audio and composite video. This is the type found on the back of DVD players. Radio Shack Catalog #274-346, Digi-Key: CP-1413-ND (red) CP-1414-ND (white) CP-1415-ND (yellow) Mouser: 161-4319-E. As with the VGA port you may have some old electronics you can pull these off.
• Shielded wires from inside the Xbox video cable.
• Some standard thin wire. Old floppy/IDE drive cable works great and is, best of all, free. Free is great -- it saves you money for things that aren't. Like beef jerky.
• Standoff screws from a PC. These are the type with a "screw within a screw" that are often used under the motherboard.
• Some drill bits. Sizes of 1/8th, 3/8th, and 1/4th-inch will be helpful.

Supplier websites:

www.radioshack.com
www.mouser.com
www.digikey.com

Start by slicing open your Xbox video cable. Remove the main metal shielding to find the individual shielded wires inside:

The shielded wires from the Xbox 360 cable, or as I call them "Buck Rogers Spaghetti."

These will work great for the inside wiring of the breakout box. Cut each wire to about 6-inches long for now, we can trim them shorter later as needed. You'll need 8 of them.

Start by sliding off some of the shielding and stripping the end of the inner wire. Dab a bit of solder onto it to lock all the strands together - this is called "tinning" and will make soldering it to the connector much easier. You can also put a little solder at the end of the shielding to keep it from fraying apart.

Solder a shielded wire to each of the following pins on the Xbox connector, or a regular thin wire as noted. Attaching them in the order specified works best, or reverse if you're left handed.

Top of connector:

1. Red (pin 3)
   
2. Composite video (pin 7)
   
3. Horizontal Sync (pin 11)
   
4. Right audio (pin 15) -- shielding not essential
5. Optical audio data (pin 25) -- use a regular thin wire for this.
6. Optical audio ground (pin 27) -- regular wire
7. Optical audio +5v (pin 29) -- regular wire

Bottom of connector:

1. Green (pin 4)
2. Blue (pin 8)
3. Vertical sync (pin 12)
4. Left audio (pin 16) -- shielding not essential
5. Set VGA (pin 20) -- regular wire
6. Set Composite (pin 24) -- regular wire

When everything is wired the connector should look as shown below:

Now you can slide the black Xbox connector inside the metal shielding. Be sure there's a layer of electric tape inside in case any connections hit the metal shell.


Step 3 - Install ports in your Breakout Box

With the wires soldered to the connector we can get the breakout box itself ready.

• Set the connector against the lid of the box and trace the outline of it with your knife. About 1/4 of the way from the side is best, as shown below.
• Cut out the hole using either a Dremel or by making several deep cuts with an X-Acto knife and then "popping" the shape out by pressing on it with a screwdriver.

The lid of the project box with the trapezoid connector hole.

• Stick the connector through the hole and see how it fits. Adjust the hole as needed. Test this rig by plugging into the Xbox 360 and adjusting the tilt of the lid to the curve of the Xbox, as shown.
• Once it fits fully into the Xbox 360, put some hot glue (yes!) on the inside of the lid to temporarily secure the connector in place. (Don't worry about the hot glue, your 360 is fully accustomed to heat.) Once it's cool and secure, remove the whole shebang from the XBox.
  

• On the bottom of the main portion of the box carve and cut a hole for the VGA port. Once the hole's big enough stick in the port and drill 1/8th" holes in the plastic to match its mounts. Then you can screw in some standard PC motherboard-style screws to hold down the VGA port, just like on a computer. For added security screw on somes nuts on the inside (or just dump in a bunch of hot glue if there's no room for that).
  
• Drill (3) 3/8th-inch holes for the audio and video RCA ports. Space them evenly.
  
• Be sure to keep these ports on the side of the box away from the Xbox 360 connector. That way you know they'll be enough room inside.
  

• Desolder the optical audio port from the small circuit board from the connector. It may help to "freshen up" the solder first before you try to remove it.
• Make a square hole for the port on the opposite side of the box from the VGA port. This can be done by drilling a 1/4th-inch hole and then carving corners from it.
• Insert the optical port as shown below. The pinouts of the 3 center pins are also provided for when you attach it to the main connector. The two side tabs of the optical port don't need to be connected.
• Secure the optical port using... get this... hot glue! Hey, it works.

The business end of the optical audio port. We actually think it's called a TOSlink but optical audio port sounds more... um, universal. TOSlink sounds like some dude from Lord of the Rings.

• Drill a hole between the optical port and the audio ports that will fit the shaft of the selector switch. A 3/8th-inch hole will work for the Radio Shack switches mentioned above, or a slightly smaller one if you're using the switch from inside the connector itself.
• Install the switch using yet more hot glue. Of course be careful not to cover the 3 pins of the switch. Even though it'll be near the Xbox connector this switch isn't big enough to cause a space problem.

The inside of the breakout box should now look like this, give or take 5 pounds of hot glue. As you can see I've wired the grounds of all the ports together.

We can now wire the Xbox connector to the various ports on the breakout box using the pinout charts located several stories above. Some notes:

• Place the pieces of the box together as shown and begin by wiring up the optical port. Cut the wires as short as you can so it's easy to stuff everything in the box.
• Connect ground to the center pin of the three pin selector switch, pin 20 of the Xbox connector to one side, and then pin 24 to the other. This allows the switch to select between VGA and composite modes.

• Connect audio (pins 15 and 16) and composite video (pin 7) to the middle pins of the RCA ports next. The outer rings of the RCA ports should all connect to ground.
• After wiring the RCA ports cover the connections with electric tape. This keeps them from shorting out on all the shielding around the main VGA wires.

• Speaking of that, connect the 5 VGA wires next. Red, green, blue, H-Sync and V-Sync. Check the above VGA port pinout for reference.
• You can now close up the box. Smush the halves together, arranging the wires as you go to make sure everything will fit.
• Screw the case shut -- you're done!

Step 4 - Setting the XBox to VGA

• Ok, plug in the breakout box, or cable, or whatever you ended up making, to your monitor / VGA-enabled TV and Xbox.
• Make sure the selector switch is to "VGA" (pin 20 grounded)
• Switch all your stuff on. You should see the Xbox boot up (it might take a hair longer than usual). If not, skip ahead to Troubleshooting.
• Once you're in, go to Dashboard, then goto the System blade and hit "Console Settings", and "Display"
  
• You can now select a resolution and aspect ratio to fit your screen. The 360 works best with widescreen displays although you can still make it work with square monitors as well. Strangely enough it'll letterbox the game whilst the dashboard and message panels will take up the whole screen. Weird, huh?
• Boot up Gears of War or some other awesome looking game and drool 50% more than usual.

Just think -- now you might be able to read the text in Dead Rising.


Addendum - Troubleshooting

Oh noes! You followed all the instructions but something isn't quite right - is it any of the following by chance?

• 4 red lights (but not of death). Since we've all heard of the dreaded "3 lights of death" a whopping FOUR lights could cause instant heart failure. But don't worry, it's actually just a "Video Cable Missing" warning. Check that the Pin 20 and 24 connections are correct. If neither of them are switched to ground the Xbox doesn't know what video mode to use and assumes there's no cable at all.
  

• Inversed, Andy Warhol-esque colors. Suddendly the Dead or Alive girls all have blue skin... Anime? A strange STD? Nope, you just got your some of your RGB wires mixed up. Now we bet you're glad you didn't slather all the connections in hot glue yet - right?
  

• Ghosting. If you see some ghosting of images on the screen you probably have insufficient shielding. Make sure all the shielding is connected to a ground someplace. If you use a decent VGA cable this really shouldn't be a problem, unless you live in the Bermuda Triangle or something.
  

• Optical audio problems. Be sure you have the ground, +5v and data pins wired to the connector correctly. Is the Xbox set to output this type of signal?
  

Alright well sorry if this how-to seemed a bit long, we just wanted to make sure you knew exactly what to do. Enjoy your sparkling new, crisp, hi-def, life-like (insert your own superlative here) video!

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 4th 2008 7:05PM]

hahaha now you may be able to read the text in dead rising.. i lol'd

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 4th 2008 5:28PM]

hahaha now you may be able to read the text in dead rising.. i lol'd

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2008 12:41AM]

can u make me one and send it to me......... becuz thats some shit i cant do if u can then email me plz............. i need one -_-

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 1st 2008 2:53AM]

Great guide, really! But have the same old defect: focus and low res pictures :(

The text is very well written, but the images should be taken with a cheap 5MP camera and not with your 2MP iPhone camera. Also, having macro should help.

I was about to buying the 40$ cable since I was thinking MS was doing some strange thing inside the cable. But this guide shows is just cable!

Thanks!

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 9th 2008 11:30AM]

i bought a 21 inch Sun and a $10 vga cable off ebay.
Works awesome.
The only prob is at 1080p my 360 won't do widescreen so i have to tweak the display setting to make it all fit(somewhat well).
The picture is stunning and i only paid $50 for the whole setup.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 30th 2008 6:42PM]

Man, seriously. Stop ripping your hangnails off. You need to cut them off with fingernail clippers and consider putting some lotion on. That thumb is just gnarly.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 12th 2008 10:49AM]

Hey this was great, I had to re-arrange the pins because on my cable alot of them were missing? I guess they are trying to stop people from making their own cables. I really appreciate this tutorial! Cheers.

Keep it up!

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 12th 2008 10:54AM]

BTW I also wanna note... money is really really tight around my household, I didnt have even 10 bux let alone 40 to buy a cable... this project was absolutely free for me with parts I had laying around the house. I don't have a TV. So finding this tutorial was the only way I could play. Thanks Ben

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 18th 2008 10:50PM]

i had an xbox 360 component hd av cable
i wanted to keep the original cable and adapter usable
i opened up the connector and ran 2 wires from the av connector to the ends of the cable
i connected the 2 wires to the h & y sync
i took a vga monitor cable and hooked up the r-g-b and the h and v sync to 3 rca jacks and a 2 pin connector for the h and v sync
when my monitor is turned on it says no cable connected and when i plug it in it tells me no signal detected... :(
any help is apreciated

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 19th 2008 12:53AM]

Peter,

Remember you have to Ground the "USE VGA" (pin 20 on a/v connector) to a ground on the VGA connector (that tells the XBOX 360 you wanna use a VGA monitor) . I figured out that you must have at least 2 grounds wired. I hooked "USE VGA" to ground 5 on the VGA diagram, and I hooked grounds 6,7,8,9,and 10 to a random ground on the a/v connector. ground 5 (use VGA) cannot touch ground 6,7,8,9, or 10 (or the color is messed up.)

Also, Microsoft no longer includes all of the pins in the a/v connector. (they only include the cables needed for the specific purpose of your cable. So it might not have all the pins in the right places. Check your cable to make sure it has all the pins. If not, you'll have to take the pins out and re-arrange them to be VGA. I was lucky and had 2 cables, so I could turn one into a VGA cable , and still be able to use the XBOX 360 on a TV if I want with my spare cable.

Use the pictures of the a/v connector and the VGA connector in the original post as a reference.

I didn't see you mention the "use VGA" so I figure this should help...I also don't know how the RCA cables meet up with the pins on the A/V connector... But if its just RGB to the RGB on the A/V connector then your method should work after you ground "USE VGA". Let me know if I can help more.

Cheers

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 19th 2008 1:26AM]

i left the av connector for my 360 completely intact. including the optical audio board with the tv/hdtv switch
the only thing i did inside the connector was solder wired to pin 11 and 12 for the h and v sync
i have the selector switch set to hdtv and my 360 puts out video from the R-G-B rca plugs into a tv
but when i connect the rgb cables into my vga cable and hook up the sync cables my monitor just says no signal detected
instead of soldering the rgb and sync cables from the vga cable directly to the 360 av connector i got 3 rca jacks and soldered the vga's rgb cables to the rca plugs, connected all the grounds, and connect h and v sync. its the same connections that are in the guide but i wanted to be able to use the 360's rgb connectors to use on a tv if needed, not just composite and vga

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 22nd 2008 1:32PM]

anyone??

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 29th 2008 7:27PM]

First off, mods like this are for people like me who like to screw around with gadgets.
Secondly, again for people like me who have been given a dead xbox with the RROD and fixed it, and want to play in HD on a nice 42" LCD or Plasma this mod is awesome. Last of all, give the guy some credit for taking the time to suss this out and upload a great guide to spread the knowledge.

Took me about an hour to mod my existing stock 360 cable, didnt' spend any money as I already have a soldering iron,solder, and an old monitor cable from days gone by.

All in all an EXCELLENT guide, an EXCELLENT mod and saved me the cost of a new cable, or the cost of a cable off ebay.

Now do the math (start -> Run -> calc.exe)

Time to find the guide online - 5 mins
Time to do the mod - 1hr
Cost of the project - $0
Money saved by not buying a HD cable - $14-$52
= shitload of money saved, great time spent on a hobby, free HD on my 42"

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 7th 2009 6:50AM]

Just got a hugely long VGA cable for using with the break box method above. Works awsomely!

http://www.aandcaudio.co.uk/vga-cables-b34

25m for under 20 quid!

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 1st 2009 7:09PM]

My son just walked me through making the box. We added a head-phone size jack so he could use his computer speakers.

The soldering was a nightmare!

He's a happy camper - Thanks!

http://www.mccarthyplace.com/albums/xbox_cable/

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 11th 2009 4:05PM]

Great Hack! But you can get a cable for around the same price $8 on EBAY... http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-COMPONENT-HD-AV-VGA-CABLE-FOR-MICROSOFT-XBOX-360_W0QQitemZ110345521987QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVideo_Games_Accessories?hash=item110345521987&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72:1234|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1308|301:1|293:1|294:50#ht_2610wt_907

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 5th 2009 12:43PM]

Hallo, I made a vga cable. Connected R,B,G sync and ground cables. Tried on xbox but my picture is black and white. What I did wrong? Maybe someone could help me?

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2009 1:44PM]

better idea just got a dvi to hdmi switcher and an hdmi cord and your set plus you get true hd

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 19th 2009 12:35PM]

For the newer XBOX360 Editions- these do have an HDMI port on them. However, it is too close to the A/V port to plug in both. There are two things you can do. (1) Modify your A/V cable to make the plug thinner, thus allowing both to fit without issue. (2) Wedge it in. You may be wondering why in the hell I would say to plug both in, and that is because I have the HDMI cable go to my DVI port on my monitor, but obviously this does not have audio. If you plug in both, you will still get audio out of the A/V cable. Also, I don't feel like buying then stupid HD A/V VGA cable from GameStop....

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 23rd 2009 12:18PM]

thanks for the great information. Great work

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 29th 2009 5:39PM]

to all who think this is to hard just try it as he said it only cost like 7 dollars so if you want to give up and go buy one at least you tried and hey you probably aren't going to use the cord anyways might as well explore it...if you don't use it steal all valuable parts and set the rest on fire? hell i would just do it for fun? wires,messing with microsoft stuff,making other things out of microsofts mistakes? sound pretty fun to me?

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 8th 2009 4:25PM]

Alright...my computer just broke down with a 22" moniter for the 5th time now?...some power supply failure (yes i know i fail at building custom computers) so i give up and am buying a laptop soon... but that isnt the point...i dont want that 22" moniter go to waste so i want to hook my xbox up to it....BUT i also have a Dazzle Capture Card that i cant survive without...sooo, if i make this...will both outputs be usable at the same time?...so that i can be playing vga and recording composite?

[(Unverified) Posted Jun 21st 2009 8:01AM]

i need help

my cord doesnt have H-sync and V-sync

and doesnt have pins 9, 10,11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23 and 30

do you need H-sync or V-sync if you do can some one please tell me how i can make it without those pins

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 7th 2009 5:26PM]

i just built one of these myself, except i used a vga female connector from an old video card and integrated it all into the casing from the plug with 2 male rca plugs for my audio out. it works like a charm.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 1:49PM]

Two questions:
1) Does it appear that an 360 HDMI cable is forthcoming?

2) Is there a VGA DVI/HDMI that I could use with this?

I have a 1080p TV and I am not buying the HD-DVD drive until I know that I will be seeing 1080p.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2007 6:00PM]

Hey just so everyone knows at eb games a used vga cable for the 360 is ten dollars

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 26th 2008 4:45PM]

dude you are incredibly smart but very cheap. only you can to this shit. its probably better to just go and spend $40 rather to mess up.

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 2nd 2008 2:38PM]

I have made it. It took me 2 days to finish it but it works :) It works very good. I conected my 19" monitor to Xbox and I set 1280x1024 resolution. The picture is 100% better than on the TV. I have to say, the box looks ugly but who care :) Thanks to the inventor. I wish you all good luck with making your own ugly box ;)

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 1:49PM]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what the resolution has to be set at for 1080p??

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 17th 2006 3:21PM]

umm 1080p is 1920x1080

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 17th 2006 4:17PM]

1080p is 1920 X 1080...

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 1:49PM]

Stupid comments didn't format properly...

1) Does it appear that an 360 TO HDMI cable is forthcoming?

2) Is there a VGA TO DVI/HDMI that I could use with this?

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 10:06PM]

If you're desperate for hdmi from your 360 you could try this.

http://www.hdtvsupply.com/cotohdco.html

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 3:32PM]

"1) Does it appear that an 360 HDMI cable is forthcoming?"

Possible, though I in my opinion unlikely. The HDMI requires an extra chip to do the encrypt. But from what I've seen, there's plenty of electronics inside the existing plug - there's nothing stopping MS from making a bulkier, heavier version of the existing HD cables that integrate the chip for HDMI out. If there is overwhelming demand, possibly.

"2) Is there a VGA DVI/HDMI that I could use with this?"

I don't understand. Do you mean if you can get 1080p out? The answer is yes, with the VGA cable (or, I suppose, this hack). If you mean if there's a way to get a *digital* 1080p signal out, the answer is no. That said, there *are* 6 unused pins, and I suspect 5 of them would come in very handy if MS ever wanted to do some form of digital output.

FWIW, you would need the following 5 pins: GND, +5V, RED, GREEN, BLUE. If you're really short on pins I *suppose* you could recycle the optical power source, but that's kind of a huge design/standards no-no.

[Andir Posted Nov 14th 2006 1:55PM]

"That said, there *are* 6 unused pins, and I suspect 5 of them would come in very handy if MS ever wanted to do some form of digital output."

Which if I'm not mistaken would require you to buy a new 360 seeing that most companies don't wire up these unused pins internally.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 1:53PM]

Wow, that's a whole lot of work to save $40.

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 22nd 2007 1:25AM]

LMFAO.... same thing i was thinking...

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 21st 2009 11:28AM]

Agreed. Most retailers here in Louisiana, don't have an HDMI, VGA, Component, Composite, or Optical Audio cable, for less than $30. That's just how they are. And also, VGA is not true "HD". It's better than composite but it's not digital...... or High Def....

Good shot at failing though.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 1:55PM]

When you set the video cable to VGA, new options appear in the Display Settings menu that you don't normally see in other modes. I believe it goes up to 1920x1080, though I haven't seen what the new firmware says differently for 1080p. 1080 vertical lines in VGA is progressive anyway. Even 720p (or 1280x720/768 in VGA mode) is a marked improvement. I think the XBox 360 renders all graphics at 720p internally and scales up regardless.

Hope this hack is useful to people!

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 13th 2007 9:58PM]

HOW DO I TURN A VGA CABLE INTO A PLAYSTATION CABLE I'M TRYING TO PUT A 14" FLAT PC SCREEN AND ALXO PLAY MY PLAYSTATION TOO

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 1:56PM]

What is this reference to "high quality VGA" as opposed to component? VGA really has no advantages on normal tvs which have VGA input when compared to component. Are you referring to playing on computer monitors?

I just don't get the reference.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 2:37PM]

VGA Connections have less noise and have more pixel capacity than both Component and DVI (but not HDMI). Also, playing on computer monitors is beneficial, especially if you have a new, higher end LCD that sports VGA. 1080I/P actually stands for a the resolution 1920 x 1080, which is the number of actual pixels you are viewing. Some simple math will tell you that that's about 20.7 million pixels. When viewing this on a smaller screen such as a computer monitor (perhaps 22" wide screen), the detail will be astoundingly deep.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 1:57PM]

I think I'd rather pay the $40 (actually $33 more than the $7 required to do this). Luckily my 42" Westy actually supports 1080p over component.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 2:24PM]

"Luckily my 42" Westy actually supports 1080p over component."

But does the XBox 360? I thought it only did 1080p over VGA.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 10:07PM]

More importantly, Component does not have the necessary bandwidth to give a HiDef picture, at least not with out significant noise (as in rendering image un-vewable)

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 20th 2006 7:49PM]

Your 42 inch westy does NOT do 180p over component, only HDMI, DVI and VGA...

http://www.westinghousedigital.com/details.aspx?itemnum=44#VALUE

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 11th 2008 12:37PM]

It is 1080 just it's 1080i thats the most I can do on the PS3 with component video cables 1080p requires HDMI.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 1:57PM]

This is why I love Engadget! Keep up the good work guys!

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 2:01PM]

For half the price of the official first party vga cable you can get the Pelican brand Livewire 360 vga cable. The trade off is you don't get the optical audio output, but for some people that's not exactly a deal breaker anyway. I initially got mine through Gamecrazy, but it can be found at Amazon.com for a mere $20. I think that's a way better deal for anyone that's not going to use the optical output anyway, and to me it beats hacking your composite cable to do the same thing.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 2:24PM]

Great, now can you explain how to hack a Wii cable to get component video? Those Wii component cables are overpriced!

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 2:37PM]

Yes the 360 with the new update does support 1080p over component

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 2:24PM]

I still don't understand this! Everyone is so concerned about 1080p. On T.V.s less than 108", there is no clear visible difference between 1080 interlaced, and 1080 progressive. Our brain cannot process the difference on screens smaller than 108". When we get into screen bigger than 108", we are talking projectors. You will NEVER notice the difference between 1080i and 1080p on a projector. Ever. What's the big deal with 1080p? It just requires so much more bandwidth and processing power.

You should buy the HD-DVD drive not for 1080p, but for the fact that there are higher capacity DVDs involved.

[ebob9 Posted Nov 14th 2006 3:05PM]

I understand your argument, and in a world of perfect video sources, that would be true.

However, with HD Cable, I can tell a huge difference between 480i and 480p. Same with forcing 720i and 720p. I'm assuming the same would hold true for 1080i and 1080p, if content was output at that resolution by my receiver.

With a HD-DVD, I can't really tell the difference between 1080i and 1080p. Same comparing 480i/p, and 720i/p.

I believe that it has to do with the crappy Cable compression that causes artifacts and tearing when interlaced. I'm not sure, but likely it gets de-interlaced then re-interlaced after compression.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 2:21PM]

I don't know if this is the same thing, but it works for me...

I went and ordered one of these cables to go from the VGA port on my projector to the 360 component cable ends :
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10235&cs_id=1023503&p_id=2170&seq=1&format=2&style=

And one of these, to mate the two cables together:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10401&cs_id=1040107&p_id=3002&seq=1&format=2&style=

I don't have 1080p capability, but this setup works great with the 360 and the HD DVD drive, plus I still can use my original Xbox cable in it's stock form or as a VGA-ended cable.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 7:28PM]

To cking:
Wow, I would have never thought that cable combination would work... What kind of resolution do you get from that component to VGA connection you have? Do you choose resolution on xbox or what? What resolution does your projector display the component inputs at?

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 2:37PM]

Is the optical data format the same as as the format for coax digital?

I'd really like to have the audio come out over coax instead of over an optical cable. It's much cheaper, and you don't have to worry about messing up an RCA/coax cable.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 12:54AM]

yes, they are the same, just hook the optical data to the center pin and ground to the otter and you can have the superior coaxial digital audio output.

Course i've only done this on my orginal xbox and tivo.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 2:37PM]

While I appreciate the effort... all that to save a measly $40.00? I don't know...

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 2:59PM]

Unless you get your pizza from Domino's and your beer of choice is the Beast (*shudder*), $40's is not going to cut it.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 18th 2006 11:50PM]

It so would...
According to xe.com, US$40 is little over AUD$52. Unless you are getting the most expensive pizza and beer you can find, you could manage it easily. You can get a Dominoes or Pizza Hut pizza for AUD$4.95, cheaper if you have a coupon, leaving you with $42 for the beer, and that will get you any beer you want, including the imported beers. Drop down to a mid-range local beer and you could buy gourmet pizza's instead. If you get the cheapest beer and cheapest pizza, you would have enough change to buy a non-MS VGA cable for the 360.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 6:06PM]

1080p over component is for games ONLY, not movies. movies will be displayed at 480p ONLY due to the new update, not 720p and not 1080i/p

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 12:21AM]

since when does VGA allow better resolutions that DVI?
and u said hdmi is better than DVI, its basically the same thing, except for audio

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 12th 2006 12:44AM]

Actually... doing SIMPLE math... tells you this...

720p = 1280x720 = 921,600 pixels

1080i = 1920x1080 = 2,073,600 pixels

Should have used a calculator... Start/Run/calc.exe

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 2:37PM]

"Luckily my 42" Westy actually supports 1080p over component."

I would take this with a grain of salt. Both the 42" Westy's that I returned barely supported 1080p over even the digital inputs, actually only over DVI 1, an issue that is been thoroughly discussed on avsforums. I wouldn't be surprised if the claim of 1080p over component is false as well, not that there are many sources of 1080p over component out there anyway.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 3:05PM]

"Luckily my 42" Westy actually supports 1080p over component."

I would take this with a grain of salt. Both the 42" Westy's that I returned
barely supported 1080p over even the digital inputs, actually only
over DVI 1, an issue that is been thoroughly discussed on avsforums.
I wouldn't be surprised if the claim of 1080p over component is false
as well.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 3:05PM]

I don't mind tinkering with stuff like this but at a much lower level.

With the time one will have involved in making this. The $40 dollar cable will be a steal. Pay the money and use the time to do want you really want, watch a movie.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 2:56PM]

You're kidding...right? That's a ridiculous amount of work to save $40, and it'll uglify your xbox 360 as well. Head over to eBay and buy an unofficial cable for cheap.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 3:08PM]

XBOX 360 VGA CABLE

http://cgi.ebay.com/VGA-cable-for-MICROSOFT-XBOX-360-RCA-Optical-free-DVI_W0QQitemZ150058655558QQihZ005QQcategoryZ122517QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 4:12PM]

Or get your 20 bucks on for a Joytech VGA cable w/ digital out.

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product_Id=4086577&JRSource=googlebase.datafeed.JOY+360%2FVGA

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 3:35PM]

This is the biggest waste of time I've ever seen.

Any mod that has a photo with a picture of metal and a screwdriver with the words "CRACK" is definitely NOT worth the effort to save around $30, not to mention you have that fugly looking box on the back of your 360, and ruined video cables.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 3:41PM]

I think there as alost easier way to do this that came out when the 360 was released and before the VGA cable was even out.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 3:54PM]

Anyone saying "you can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p on a tv that isn't blah blah size" doesn't get it...

I paid for a 1080p TV, which means that if something outputs to 1080p I expect to be watching 1080p. I don't care if my little eyes don't know the difference because I WOULD KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.

Before my 1080p TV I had an LCD TV with a 1366x768 resolution. I then hooked my mac mini up to it and discovered that it would only output at 1280x768. This pissed me off since I knew that every image on that screen was being stretched by 86 pixels. 86 pixels isn't a lot, but that bothered me since my TV was capable of more.

So STOP TELLING PEOPLE THEY CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE. When you can afford to buy a 1080p TV, then come and tell me there is no difference and that I shouldn't care. I'm sure you will be singing a different tune.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 4:40PM]

If that's the case, why would you pay for a 1080p tv?

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 4:08PM]

Wow, Matt, lay off the coffee...
When I bought my HDTV I could afford a 1080p, but I bought a 720p intentionally because very little content has hit the 1080p mark, yet.

That's one issue with buying on the bleeding edge, you have to wait for everything else to catch up to you.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 4:30PM]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought they'd rather pay $20 for an aftermarket VGA cable.

Anyway, one thing you're not getting with this DIY is the high level of electrical shielding the original cable came with. That thing is shielded 100% (look at the first photos), including the part where the cable is connected. Actually very impressed with MS on this.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 4:37PM]

Cultural learnings of Benjamin Heckendorn for make benefit glorious community of Xbox 360 modders.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 6:27PM]

"Luckily my 42" Westy actually supports 1080p over component."

You can carry audio signals through a coat hanger, doesn't mean you get the same results as with high quality audio wire.

And yes, I am saying that 1080p over component looks like shit compared to over vga or dvi

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 5:15PM]

"I paid for a 1080p TV, which means that if something outputs to 1080p I expect to be watching 1080p. I don't care if my little eyes don't know the difference because I WOULD KNOW THE DIFFERENCE."

Why did you pay for a 1080p TV if you can't tell the difference? Either your penis is small or you're just stupid.

"Before my 1080p TV I had an LCD TV with a 1366x768 resolution. I then hooked my mac mini up to it and discovered that it would only output at 1280x768. This pissed me off since I knew that every image on that screen was being stretched by 86 pixels. 86 pixels isn't a lot, but that bothered me since my TV was capable of more."

I'm not ruling out that your penis is small, but you are stupid for sure. Mac's are made to be usable by the most limited retard, and yet you still can't get it to output into 1366x768. It is possible, and easy to do, but I guess beyond your brain capacity.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 5:20PM]

For the people whining that you can't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p: pay closer attention.

I have a 21" 4:3 aspect ratio CRT, and I sure as hell can tell the difference when I'm using the desktop, or playing games.

Yes, I'm not using widescreen there, but the equivalent 4:3 sizes:
1280x720 vs 1280x960
1920x1080 vs 1880x1440

Using the desktop, there's a *huge* difference. In games, it's significantly more subtle, but I can still tell the difference. It's like having extra layers of anti-aliasing going on - everything is smoother.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 10:39AM]

OK so it's obvious you're a tech. By definition anyone who can do this project is probably so busy with paying work that they can easily afford the 40 bucks to buy a ready made cable. I earn 60 euros an hour doing this kind of thing, as well as other more technical stuff, and I see close to an hour on the bench with a soldering iron and the rest in those pictures, not even includingg the time I'd need to jet down to the radio shack, try to find the components that are more often than not out of stock, wait in line and get back to the work bench.
Nonetheless, you look like you've done a great job, and if you're not gainfully employed I guess the 2 pizza and beer argument caarries a lot of weight. Have fun! Robert

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 7:27PM]

One thing sticks out at me, where do i put my wifi adaptor?

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 10:48AM]

They are not the same.

The inputs at the fiber are 5v power, data, and ground. The data is a TTL data line which is 5V peak to peak. Coax standard has the same data format, but the spec says that it should be 0.6V max peak to peak floating.

You need to divide it down or risk damaging your equipment (xbox). Use 100nF cap to couple the data to a divider circuit. The divider circuit is a 330ohm resistor and 100 ohm resistor in series. Take the output for the coax off of the top of the 100 ohm resistor. That will divide the voltage down from 5vpp to 0.56Vpp.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 7:28PM]

Everyone saying this is a lot of work to save 40 bucks is missing the point. Yes Ben is saying that you can save 40 bucks by doing this hack but he's saying that like a marathoner saying. "I like to run the marathon for all the free pasta the night before we run". He does this stuff for the love of the art not for the money. He's sharing this so you nerds can admire the craftsmanship and maybe even become inspired to do this hack yourselves.

P.S. I am not a nerd, I'm a geek - there IS a difference.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 10:47AM]

Thank you. I'm glad SOMEONE out there gets it. You then obviously are feeling the same disgust at the whiney little rich brats that had mommy and daddy buy them their 360 and HiDef TV for their room and their car and their insurance and... Yeah, you get the point. All you tools that are complaining about "its too much work to save $40" either have everything bought and done FOR you (ie. you are the afforementioned 'rich brat') or you are one of those stuck up pricks that have never got your hands dirty in your life, and can't possibly fathom building something yourself. Either way, do the world a favor. Stop reproducing. You make me sick.

And Anthony, you're right, there is a difference... Us geeks get laid.. :)

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 10:06PM]

Rick wilson -

I was a bit surprised that it worked also, but it was cheap enough to try, and I could always use the cable and coupler for something else. I had originally bought the MS VGA cable the other night when I got my HD DVD, but then I got the bright idea to try the VGA-to-component with coupler, remembering I had seen these cables at a local specialty cable store. Anything to save a little $$

I just checked, my projector reports the 360 video feed as 1080i @40hz, and in my 360 console settings, I have it as 1080i widescreen. The other resolutions also work fine, and 1080p *sorta* works, but the image is all stretched top to bottom. My projector is a Mitsubishi PK20 Pocket Projector that runs natively at 800x600, or can also do 1024x768, if that helps you at all...

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 10:07PM]

I would like to retract my former statement on the grounds that I am a doof and got component and composite mixed up.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 10:11PM]

That title made my day!

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 10:45PM]

Just get a Playstation 3

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 14th 2006 11:46PM]

Curious...is it possible to wire up the optical javk in parallel to an RCA jack, so you have coax S/PDIF output as well?

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 10:46AM]

People cannot get it. Hacks are for hackers, for people that LIKE to do on cheap, and has the guts (balls?) for doing it by him/herself. You are a lazy-ass guy with too much money in the pocket? Go ahead and buy it original from microsoft! But if I have the composite cable, don't want to spend 40 bucks and have all the toys and tools home, why not?

Sorry to say that, but americans are getting lazy. learnin' by doing' still is a way of life :)

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 10:48AM]

Awesome hack Ben! I can't wait until someone takes this and adds in their own missing functionality. I love the pic that's labeled "CRACK!" Keep hacking.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 10:48AM]

Yeah, you guys ARE missing the point. I'm not saying I would do this, and I probably would break down and buy the cable if I had a VGA-equipped TV, but this project still blows my mind. I've always loved taking stuff apart and seeing what else it can do, so I can definitely appreciate the crazy stuff that Ben does.

Also... Optical audio, so that's what that hole in the cable is. My girlfriend picked up the cable the other day when I first got my 360 and poked at the hole... "What the hell is this? For molesting your 360?"

She's weird, but I love her.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 10:48AM]

Anyone who says "it's too much work":
a.) is Wrong
b.) Obviously is frightened by the insides of electronics... seriously, it takes an hour and I can't even solder worth shit. You pop open the cable, retreive whatever shielded wire you can, unhook the connector, and follow Ben's diagram. Cut holes in a small project box for each connector, connect it all, add a drop of solder to each end of each cable, verify connections, and you're done. This is not only a hacker fetish, this is an economicable solution. For you electronically inexperienced, this is an IDEAL project to go ahead and try your hand at basic soldering, and the payoff is satisfying!

Or you can just wait until the PS3 comes out...it's graphics are like 100x better than 360 and the next final fantasy game will have like....4 hours of video for every 5 minutes of gameplay, so I heard it's gonna be pretty sweet

(ok that's not relevant to anything, but yeah, I hate the PS3).

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 10:49AM]

I like the title! great film

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 10:49AM]

Great hack. Its not about saving the $40 its about doing it yourself.

This also brings me to ask, could you put in the component connections as well?

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 11:04AM]

Trust me this hack is easy - the how to's length/detail makes it seem harder than it is. Had I done this without taking pictures, logging my work, it would have been 1.5 hours TOPS.

If you can crank this out during your free time (which, despite what TV ads try to tell us, people still have, otherwise who's watching the ads?) you know, on a weekend or something, then it's worth it. It's not like we're trying to tell you to complete this over a lunch break.

The real point is figuring out a way to do something good WITHOUT buying an expensive sold-separately part. Look at all the complaining with the Wii components cables almost not being sold in stores (they are now, but are probably expensive) All 3 new consoles are trying to nickel and dime us with add-on crap so why not fight back a little?

Unless you have unlimited amounts of money, what's wrong with saving some for GAMES?

RE: Foust - yes I was going to mention component but it would have made the long article even longer :) You just use the R G B pins of VGA for the R G B colors of component cable and connect pin 28 to ground to select "component"

[(Unverified) Posted Feb 15th 2007 7:49PM]

Can you or someone make another guide that outlines everything and every connection? It would be a great help seeing as you're the ONLY tut on the internet period! lol

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 11:23AM]

Cool hack, nice to see people trying the homebrew stuff!

With this or one of those $20 VGA cables for the 360 will it upconvert normal DVD's to 720p or 1080i (what my tv supports). I've read that with the fall update only VGA connections will upconvert standard DVD's to higher resolutions.

I would have to go from VGA to DVI to HDMI unfortunately but would the 360 think I'm using VGA and then allow upconverting?

Thanks allot.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 12:26PM]

Thanks for the response. I will begin construction on the "uber breakout box" this evening. Another question if I may. I assume the unused at the top would be for s-video?

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 15th 2006 12:28PM]

Actually I'm not sure where the S-video is. It's possible the S-video cable has a RGB to NTSC S-video conversion IC in it.