MadCatz's Xbox 360 HDMI Conversion Kit up for pre-order

Well, what have we here? No, seriously, what is this thing? Considering the absolute dearth of information given on GameStop's pre-order page, we're left to surmise that the Xbox 360 HDMI Conversion Kit exists (er, will exist) simply to allow those who purchased their Xbox 360 before the days of built-in HDMI to utilize one of the dusty HDMI sockets on their TV / receiver. Granted, we're sure hoping there's more to this thing than that, or else we're left wondering who's desperate enough to drop $89.99 to free up a single component input.

Update: Turns out this thing does indeed support 1080p, and it'll come with "free" HDMI and optical audio cables, too. Check out the PDF here. Thanks, PerfectVirus!

[Thanks, David]

[Tatta Singh @ Dec 19th 2007 6:18PM]

gonna get this 4sure.

[Andrew @ Dec 19th 2007 7:02PM]

How do you know it's going to "play 4sure"?

[tom @ Dec 19th 2007 9:03PM]

my 360 is a POS, red ring of death and got it replaced. Keeping my finger cross this thing won't die on me.

The fan is like a jet engine!

[Mike @ Dec 20th 2007 8:18AM]

Do us a favour and buy a PS3, then you can stop pissing and moaning.

[Richard @ Dec 19th 2007 6:18PM]

Why provide an optical out if HDMI handles sound as well? Am I missing something?

[Brucie B @ Dec 19th 2007 6:31PM]

I'd assume if you don't have HDMI, but do have DVI.

[austin @ Dec 19th 2007 6:32PM]

if you want to send the sound directly to your sound-box instead of sending it to the tv then to the sound-box

[Richard @ Dec 19th 2007 6:43PM]

Ah, ok. My receiver has HDMI so I just use the one cable. Good to know though!

[amfs @ Dec 19th 2007 7:06PM]

If you were going to send to your stereo, you could still send the HDMI assuming your receiver is newish enough and has room for it, or you have an HDMI switch connected. The main point of the optical audio is that HDMI sound (for those who love sound) sucks. It is just regular sound, nothing special. Optical can carry full surround, 7.1, where HDMI cannot. The best thing you can get to make HDMI sound right over a stereo is an upconverting HDMI receiver, but it sounds about as good as an upconverting DVD player looks.

[greg @ Dec 20th 2007 12:44AM]

@ afms: Do you always make stuff up? None of what you just said about optical vs hdmi makes the slightest sense.

[optV @ Dec 20th 2007 12:54AM]

Some TVs won't pass dolby 5.1/7.1 from hdmi through the optical out on the tv itself. My TV for example (Sharp LC-37gp1u 1080p) supports 5.1 audio out through the optical out from any other source, however, if my xbox360 is hooked up via HDMI, then only stereo sound is outputted through the TV's optical out, however, if I go directly from the optical on my 360's hdmi cable, I do get dolby 5.1.

[KC @ Dec 20th 2007 12:56AM]

@amfs, what bullshit are you talking about lower quality audio on HDMI?

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2007 6:20PM]

It might free up an audio input too if that makes your $89.99 feel any better.

[Jonathan @ Dec 19th 2007 6:21PM]

I'd love to see an Xbox with all the addons plugged in. Would look ridiculous.

HD drive, extra cooling pack, this, etc. Not really an all in one.

/love xboxs though.

[ToonPac @ Dec 19th 2007 6:52PM]

The HD fits well into the look and you don't need a cooler, just leave your 360 somewhere cool with airflow...

[LckyLuciano @ Dec 19th 2007 6:23PM]

Does this actually change the output of the 360 or just convert the signal with no increase in quality or bandwidth? I went in search of this when I got my TV with HDMI and was surprised that it didn't exist yet. I was told it didn't exist because its simply not possible to get true quality HDMI output from a 360 made before they built it in.

[Ironhide @ Dec 20th 2007 4:21AM]

My guess with this is simply an onboard switch that takes the vga resolution output at 1920x1080 and converts it to hdmi like a dvi to vga switch. So essentially you're getting a true 1080p signal, just in essence an analog to digital conversion.

[Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Dec 20th 2007 9:14AM]

Unless this is externally powered, there won't be any digital signal processing. And it doesn't look like its externally powered.

[Andrew @ Dec 19th 2007 6:26PM]

Supposedly, in the somewhat near future, in order to play DRM content (read: any video on Xbox Live) you'll need to play it through HDMI. That's what this is for.

[PeterF @ Dec 19th 2007 6:32PM]

The problem is this won't help. It is still being output from the 360 through component, so it will still have the limitation.

[Ryan Smith @ Dec 20th 2007 12:21AM]

What you said isn't true in the first place, MS will never force you to use HDMI for it's video service, that would be suicide for the 360.

[Ryan P @ Dec 19th 2007 9:44PM]

but HDMI is digital. Components is analog. Are they actually doing a conversion?

[epsilon343 @ Dec 19th 2007 6:27PM]

Hmm, this is actually a slightly tempting offer for me. My 360 doesn't have HDMI and I've been considering a swap to get the output for my new TV. If the price was brought down I could really see this being taken into consideration by myself.

[AL3X @ Dec 19th 2007 6:28PM]

Being the owner of a Sony Bravia XBR, it's the only way to get some 1080p out of my 360. Sony decided to cockblock ME for some reason.
But seriously 90 frakin' bucks? what is it with HDMI related peripherals (i.e.cables) and robing people?

[Penguin Warlord @ Dec 19th 2007 6:47PM]

You can't get 1080p with VGA on your TV? That must suck. But the reason that HDMI is so expensive is for the same reason that a painting that costs $40 will never sell but if it costs $2000 it will sell in an instant. A high price gives the illusion of quality.

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Dec 19th 2007 7:04PM]

Yeah, but that doesn't work all the time.

There were plenty of electronics in the past that were failures because of their absurdly high prices.

[OBM @ Dec 19th 2007 6:32PM]

This is so unbelievably pointless! It won't improve video quality at all, component is basically the same as HDMI, I bet 99% of people couldn't tell the difference. AS for the DRM content, this won't work either, the HD-DVD addon doesn't use it, which is (if I remember correctly) basically illegal but MS found some way round it, either way, if the future is HD-DVD and the high level DRM software is used, this won't help at all.

[nycmikewp @ Dec 20th 2007 2:06PM]

While I agree this may be pointless because all its doing is up converting a component signal, I think you are completely off your chump if you think component and HDMI are basically the same! HUGE difference! You may need a new TV respectfully.

[epsilon343 @ Dec 19th 2007 6:45PM]

Well I can see some use for it. My cable box is hooked up through component which would be a hassle to change the cables back and forth every time I want to do the other thing. At the current price point it's a little bit ridiculous, but $30-$40 would be a little bit more appetizing.

[alexhrose71 @ Dec 20th 2007 9:39AM]

Its not useless at all. There are many HDTVs out there that can't get 1080p over component or VGA but do support it via HDMI. Using this lead, you can now get a full 1080p image if your set only accepts it over HDMI.

For those with HDTVs that can accept 1080p over VGA or component, yeah its a complete waste.

[Dave @ Dec 19th 2007 6:43PM]

"wondering who's desperate enough to drop $89.99 to free up a single component input"

The same people who drop over $100 on a single premium monster cable at the big box stores.

[Richard @ Dec 19th 2007 6:44PM]

Are you saying I got ripped off??

[umm....hello??? @ Dec 19th 2007 7:07PM]

yes, definitely got ripped off.

[Richard @ Dec 19th 2007 7:09PM]

Haha, it was a joke. I do have monster cables, but I got an employee discount. Didn't pay more than 15 dollars for them. :)

[atomicmatt @ Dec 19th 2007 6:47PM]

This is somewhat old news, there is already a product like this out there, and yes I have it. It is the XCM HDMI converter. It works great. I need this to have HDMI because my component slots are already taken up by other items. I did not notice any difference between this and Component (why would there be any difference) it is not upconverting or anything. Just for those that need the HDMI input. you can get it is the usual places like divineo.

[Penguin Warlord @ Dec 19th 2007 6:48PM]

Yes.

[Steve Wallen @ Dec 19th 2007 6:55PM]

For what its worth, there is a big difference between Component and VGA: you can do 1080p over VGA. Wonder if this guy will support 1080p.

[Erwos @ Dec 19th 2007 9:46PM]

You can most certainly do component over 1080p. Not all TVs accept it yet, but it's perfectly possible.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Dec 19th 2007 6:58PM]

For less or about the same price as this HDMI conversion, one could easily buy a switch box for component video and gain a few extra input jacks.

[Joey @ Dec 19th 2007 7:06PM]

howcome i get 1080p output with my component cable...? is it not really 1080p? i baught the core edition, and then got a 3rdparty component cable recently, and there is an option for 1080p output in the dashboard.

[Andrew @ Dec 19th 2007 7:44PM]

If your TV supports it - and it looks like it - you're getting 1080p. It's just that there are quite a few TVs that don't accept 1080p over component for some reason (maybe technical, maybe political). I personally use 1080p over component as well.

There's no way the picture will look better with this addon if your TV can already accept 1080p over component.

[DarkLightConnection @ Dec 19th 2007 7:12PM]

If this takes the component out and converts it to HDMI, then this isn't really worth it...

If this takes the VGA out and converts it to HDMI, then it is worth it (if your TV doesn't have VGA in)

For those who don't know: the VGA output of the XBOX 360 is way, Way, WAY better quality than component out... if you haven't seen it on VGA, you have not seen it's full graphic potential

[mrdelayer @ Dec 19th 2007 7:29PM]

Too bad it doesn't support 16:10 aspect ratio.

[Penguin Warlord @ Dec 19th 2007 8:21PM]

Not true. I have tried both on a 50inch Sharp Aquos 1080P set and there isn't a difference. The difference is that most Tvs can't except 1080p over Component and therefore it comes in as 1080i or 720p. But if your TV does support 1080p over component then it looks the same.

[Bill @ Dec 20th 2007 11:20AM]

I agree - I have seen a BIG difference on both my Samsung 50" DLP (720p) and my Epson 1080 projector. VGA is much sharper and more defined than component. I have read comparisons online that show that VGA is extremely close to HDMI from an Elite, in fact the difference indistinguishable to most.

I know some of you disagree that there's a difference, and I can only assume that's because your displays, for whatever reason, has much better component processors or something. For me it was an obvious difference, and I would suggest anyone who has a VGA input on their display to give it a try.

This MadCatz adapter, IMO, has to be a VGA to HDMI converter or something. I just don't think the plug on the back of a standard 360 outputs a digital signal. I would definitely wait for some image quality reviews before buying this thing.

[Dave @ Dec 19th 2007 7:12PM]

BONUS! Includes HDMI & Optical Cables
• Convenient right-out-of-the-box
• Everything included inside – just plug and play

So in other words for about the same price as your average HDMI cable from Monster you get:
- a converter
- an HDMI cable
- an optical audio cable

Sure you can purchase HDMI cables cheap on line, but walk into a bestbuy and about the only thing on the self is premium Monster cables.

[Robotochan @ Dec 19th 2007 7:16PM]

Pfft for an extra £10 you can get the Joytech Component switch

[Dave @ Dec 19th 2007 7:27PM]

The xbox 360 will do a max of 1080i over component.. If you want 1080p on the older 360 VGA was the only option, and MANY HD sets do not support 1080p very well over VGA. So Yes there might be a reason to get this..

[Dale @ Dec 19th 2007 7:41PM]

I must have a unique 360 then as mine supports 1080p over component...

[Andrew @ Dec 19th 2007 7:45PM]

1080i max is ONLY for HD-DVD addon. Not for dashboard or games.