360 VGA cable problems

K

Ken2012

Newcomer
OK, I just bought a third-party VGA cable for my 360 to hook up to my 19" (1280*1024/5:4) LCD monitor. Problem is, when using the console (in the control panel) my monitor won't accept any resolutions higher than 1024*768 (4:3), even in letterbox mode. Selecting 1280*7xx (either 'normal' mode or 'widescreen') defaults to 1024*768. The only game I have access to is PGR3, which will either run in letterbox mode or some bizzarre aspect ratio (4:5? It's being stretched to fit the screen , anyway...).

Does the problem lie in the cheapo VGA cable? Will the 'official' MS VGA cable bring beter quality/support higher resolutions? I can appreciate that PGR3 might not support the wide multitude of display configurations but it's weird that the CP doesn't allow me to go higher than 1024*768... Or is this a well-known issue, to be fixed with a Live update/patch (which I don't have access to as of yet, another problem that needs to be sorted :().

Thanks in advance.
 
I have my projector connected using the original VGA cable on 1280x720 no problem.

I'm not sure if this is of any help to you though...
 
If you have the monitor hooked up to your PC can you get it to accept a 1280x720 feed from that?
If you haven't tried it before it might be the monitor that's the problem, not the X360 or the cable.
 
Jon Brittan said:
If you have the monitor hooked up to your PC can you get it to accept a 1280x720 feed from that?
If you haven't tried it before it might be the monitor that's the problem, not the X360 or the cable.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, you nabbed it :). On my PC, 1280*768 results in a non-usable interface...

Sooo, what should be my decision now? I understand that 360 (if not PGR3 specifically) supports 1280*1024, so in a sense the problem could still lie with the cable I'm using... unless someone has a better solution. I don't really want to splash out on a new HD monitor right now, but it might be my only choice it seems...

EDIT: Tried 1280*720, same story.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ken2012 said:
Thanks for that, you nabbed it :). On my PC, 1280*768 results in a non-usable interface...

Sooo, what should be my decision now? I understand that 360 (if not PGR3 specifically) supports 1280*1024, so in a sense the problem could still lie with the cable I'm using... unless someone has a better solution. I don't really want to splash out on a new HD monitor right now, but it might be my only choice it seems...

EDIT: Tried 1280*720, same story.
Click to expand...
What happens if you select 1280x1024?
 
london-boy said:
What happens if you select 1280x1024?
Click to expand...

It's entirely possible that if that is at the extent of the monitors capability that it will technically accept the resolution, but not necessarily the (I assume enforced) refresh rate the 360 would want to push it at, so it's possible that it wouldn't work again.

I'd hook it back up to the PC and use the control panel to see what the maximum refresh rate of the panel at 1280x1024 is if it's not working on the 360 but does with the PC itself.
 
Jon Brittan said:
It's entirely possible that if that is at the extent of the monitors capability that it will technically accept the resolution, but not necessarily the (I assume enforced) refresh rate the 360 would want to push it at, so it's possible that it wouldn't work again.

I'd hook it back up to the PC and use the control panel to see what the maximum refresh rate of the panel at 1280x1024 is if it's not working on the 360 but does with the PC itself.
Click to expand...

I'm quite sure that the Xbox will output 60Hz and any monitor will accept that.
 
london-boy said:
I'm quite sure that the Xbox will output 60Hz and any monitor will accept that.
Click to expand...

Depends how old it is, some of the older screens only allowed 50Hz at the top end of the resolution range. I was figuring on the 360 outputting 60Hz also and if that is the case and it is one of the first generation TFTs then it's possible it can't handle it.
 
Ken2012 said:
@ 1280*1024, the maximum documented vertical refresh rate supported is 60Hz, although worth noting that I've never had any problems forcing 70 or 75Hz in the past.
Click to expand...

And 1280x1024 doesn't work with the Xbox360?
Very strange.... Only option is... end your life.
 
Ken2012 said:
Hmm... And the second choice?
Click to expand...

rip your eyes out?


No really, i don't know... Don't really think changing the cable will help, but you might want to try that anyway. Seen much stranger things than a moody VGA cable in my long life...
 
Ken2012 said:
The only game I have access to is PGR3, which will either run in letterbox mode or some bizzarre aspect ratio (4:5? It's being stretched to fit the screen , anyway...).
Click to expand...
I read in some post that pgr3 does not run well in 16:9 ratio on monitors, but I am not sure. Perhaps you should check Kameo on monitor.
 
i have a 1280x1024 19" too

for all games except pgr i run the xbox in 1280x1024.... for most games this results in a letterboxed 1280x720 display


pgr3 however has a known bug with the vga cable - to get it to display (almost) properly, you need to select 1024x768 (or thereabouts, i forget the exact resolution) on the 360. if you leave it at 1280x1024 and try to play pgr3 it'll look all compressed, as if it was trying to fit a widescreen image onto a normal aspect display.

i know that doesn;t totally answer your problems, but thougth it might give you a bit more info
 
hey you need to update your xbox360 dashboard. (just connect on live and it will download some...)

initially , you can only choose from a few resolutions, after the download you can choose from 640x480 all the way up to 1360x768 resolution (and yes including the 1280x1024 for 19inch TFT's)


i already tested 4 differend VGA brands (cables that is)

i dont think your equipment has a problem.. only the use has ;)


edit: yes, PGR3 is the one fucked up in aspect ratio if you play on a regular tft monitor
 
That's where a new problem lies: I'm going to have to get a wireless network set up before I can connect to Live! (and thus hopefully fix my VGA problem) :(. At the moment I'm on wired DSL. Unless you can buy a regular wired Ethernet cable for the 360, haven't seen them sold seperately. I've tried without avail to LAN my 360 to my PC aswell, hopeless...

Thanks anyway all.
 
If you have a switch/router then any old ethernet cable will do for your 360, you don't need a console specific cable. Beyond that it's down to the port settings on any firewall you have in place.
 
Yes, any brand ethernet cable should work. Just connect your modem directly to your 360 (you might have to unplug the modem and let it reset and come back on before connecting it to the 360) and you should be able to connect to XBL and download any updates. Also consider investing in a Switch (about 20-30 bucks) if you don't want to invest in a wireless network.
 
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