I@N has an Xbox, starts modifying...

I@N · Post by **I@N** » Thu May 02, 2002 3:48 pm

Well today I bought an Xbox and I have to say that I am impressed, I expect to become addicted to Halo over the bank holiday weekend.

Anyway, the console comes with a standard AV SCART lead which I find unacceptable. I could not find any of the shops in town selling the RGB SCART lead so I decided to do some modifying.

A quick look on http://www.gamesx.com (god bless them) gave me all the information I needed, fortunately the AV plug has all the pins connected (unlike on the DC AV lead) and after half an hour I was watching a DVD in all it's RGB glory.

I will post some detailed instructions (if anyone is interested) over the weekend. I may even attempt to make a VGA adaptor, but it is unclear as to whether this would work

pkScary · Post by **pkScary** » Thu May 02, 2002 4:10 pm

cool!

and on the first day you got it!

OO7TDD · Post by **OO7TDD** » Thu May 02, 2002 8:49 pm

I@N, ure really somethen, i would nver fuck woith a $300 piece of eqipment on the fist day, then again i'm a stupid wuss so... well gj on the odifying on ure firstday.

koz · Post by **koz** » Fri May 03, 2002 8:26 am

OO7TDD wrote:I@N, ure really somethen, i would nver fudge woith a $300 piece of eqipment on the fist day.

I hear ya there 007, I used to be the same way, but after mucking around enough with things here and there, you get some POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS confidence and start being more "risky"

So far so good!

Jeeba Jabba · Post by **Jeeba Jabba** » Fri May 03, 2002 8:48 am

Im a newbie to the forum, What is an RGB SCART?

And why is it different from the AV SCART?

sixteen-bit · Post by **sixteen-bit** » Fri May 03, 2002 11:25 am

Jeeba,
AV Scart uses standard composite video (aka "the yellow wire") and provides pretty poor image quality.

RGB Scart provides what is technically component video and looks very nice indeed!

I@N, good work on the video cable modification though I am curious, did you cut the cable at the Xbox connector end or did you rewire it somehow?

Lyris · Post by **Lyris** » Fri May 03, 2002 11:51 am

You more than likely won't have heard of SCART if you're from North America.

It's a type of connection for TV and is standard in Europe. It's capable of giving much better quality than the standard connectors shipped with most consoles (usually the red, yellow and white plugs, the standard in North America). However to save money (and possibly due to compatibility, I'm not sure), sometimes companies don't make RGB SCART cables, they just make one that passes out a normal Composite signal, so this method doesn't give much better quality over RCA and doesn't use the connection to it's potential.

Jeeba Jabba · Post by **Jeeba Jabba** » Fri May 03, 2002 6:59 pm

16-bit Miles wrote:Jeeba,
AV Scart uses standard composite video (aka "the yellow wire") and provides pretty poor image quality.

RGB Scart provides what is technically component video and looks very nice indeed!

I@N, good work on the video cable modification though I am curious, did you cut the cable at the Xbox connector end or did you rewire it somehow?

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Post by **|darc|** » Sat May 04, 2002 10:23 am

Can you use a RGB SCART on an American TV to receive better quality?
I would really like a VGA box, though, but my Xbox probably wouldn't fit near my desk.

I@N · Post by **I@N** » Sat May 04, 2002 11:27 am

I am not an expert on American TVs, but I do not think that they do have a RGB input, which I find strange considering the huge picture improvement.

I had a quick go at getting a VGA signal from the console, but did not succeed

, the gamesx website seemed to contradict itself as to whether this is possible or not (I would be amazed if it wasn't).

To make the SCART lead, I carefully cut open the plastic hood of the AV connector, disassembled the metal shield & removed the standard AV wires. I then soldered on a RGB lead & reassembled it all. I will try & get a few photos done over the weekend (but don't hold your breath).

MidnightObsidian · Post by **MidnightObsidian** » Sat May 04, 2002 9:19 pm

Someone was discussing building an RGB adapter for composite inputs (which American TVs have). I've never seen an American TV with a SCART-compatible input, unfortunately. The american equivalent would be the abovementioned composite, which uses S Luma, S Chroma, and C Video (I think). I remember reading that there are HDTVs which have an RGB input for actual 15x3 DB connectors (computer video input), but I have never seen one, personally.

someoneElse · Post by **someoneElse** » Sun May 05, 2002 12:09 am

MidnightObsidian wrote:Someone was discussing building an RGB adapter for composite inputs (which American TVs have). I've never seen an American TV with a SCART-compatible input, unfortunately. The american equivalent would be the abovementioned composite, which uses S Luma, S Chroma, and C Video (I think). I remember reading that there are HDTVs which have an RGB input for actual 15x3 DB connectors (computer video input), but I have never seen one, personally.

Um....that would be COMPONENT video, right?

Composite has everything mooshed into one signal.

Lyris · Post by **Lyris** » Sun May 05, 2002 8:09 am

Yeah, composite carries it all in one big blob. RGB has it diced into seperate parts so the TV can put it together clearly, avoiding color smearing and other unwanted artefacts.

Sanchez · Post by **Sanchez** » Sun May 05, 2002 10:54 am

/me looks at the RF modulator and smiles....

I love how for some reason in the US people will run anything through an RF modulator just to get it to work on a crappy TV... (ie, the radio shack ads for the DVD RF converter....

Ex-Cyber · Post by **Ex-Cyber** » Sun May 05, 2002 11:11 am

I love how for some reason in the US people will run anything through an RF modulator just to get it to work on a crappy TV

That's probably just because we don't always get spiffy connections on our sets. Until a few years ago, it'd be a lucky break to get S-Video, and about ten years before that even RCA A/V inputs weren't really standard. Hell, there are some companies still making sets with only RF input (they run something like $40, might pick one up to tinker with

). RGB is apparently out of the question unless you're spending thousands on an HDTV set; it seems the DVD folks nudged color-difference into being the preferred "high-end" connection...

All hail America's technological superiority.

LithJoe · Post by **LithJoe** » Sun May 05, 2002 11:19 am

try http://www.xboxhacker.net for information on vgaon the xbox, its very possible, slightly more complicated than the dc vga box, but nothing to worry about :)

LithJoe

I@N · Post by **I@N** » Sun May 05, 2002 1:19 pm

Thanks LithJoe, the VGA box doesn't seem that complicated to make, so if I have the time I will have a go at building it

MidnightObsidian · Post by **MidnightObsidian** » Sun May 05, 2002 1:56 pm

::stabs self::

Sorry-- I meant component above. It was late. >= |