Xbox 360 VGA questions

[cr4zymanz0r]

1.) Can I have VGA and HDMI connected at the same time and change between them in the 360 dashboard? Basically I want HDMI for my HDTV and VGA for a CRT setup, but I don't want to have to unplug cables to change between them.

2.) Can the 360 be forced to stay at 480i on VGA? The over-complicated version is I want to take 480i over VGA from the 360, send it to an Extron interface device to do its magic fake deinterlacing, then send that to a CRT.

[HydrogLox]

The over-complicated version is I want to take 480i over VGA from the 360, send it to an Extron interface device to do its magic fake deinterlacing, then send that to a CRT.

Start with an Xbox 360 Advanced SCART AV Cable (RGB) (or make your own).

Can I have VGA and HDMI connected at the same time

The original multi-AV connector is designed to physically cover the HDMI port - suggesting that connecting both ports simultaneously is a bad idea. The Xbox 360 audio adapter cable is the only multi-AV cable that can be used simultaneously with an HDMI cable.

[BazookaBen]

I don't think so. I think HDMI automatically gets priority.

And for 480i, my best guess is no, but maybe. If you modded your VGA cable to connect to the SCART ID pins, but left H and V sync connected instead of using composite video, then maybe sync will still be present on H and V. I'm not about to rip up my VGA cable to find out, though. I just send a component signal to my Extron RGB, looks just as good as RGBS.

[Ed Oscuro]

From what I read (a lot of people have asked this question, but nobody gave a definite answer), some folks did get success using both ports at the same time - this requires hacking up the end of the multi AV connector, however, and I've only seen this in reference to getting audio from the AV connector (for RCA plugs) at the same time as using the HDMI plug.

It sounds like Microsoft's multi AV port has pins for a lot of different signal types, but my ? is how the cable detect pin and the 360 software are going to react if the HDMI is in use at the same time. At a guess, perhaps the only reason the multi AV cable covers the HDMI port is so that people don't try to get HD out of HDMI and 480i out of the multi AV port at the same time.

[BazookaBen]

At a guess, perhaps the only reason the multi AV cable covers the HDMI port is so that people don't try to get HD out of HDMI and 480i out of the multi AV port at the same time.

My guess is they just don't want people trying to get analog and digital video simultaneously, regardless of scan rate. Or they're trying to force people to buy the analog audio adapter, which conveniently doesn't block the HDMI port. But if you have a normal video cable you don't mind modding, you can just remove the top piece of plastic from the plug and you can use it for audio.

What sucks is that you can't do the reverse (HDMI for audio, analog for video). This prevents people from hooking up to an HDMI receiver while using an analog display. Though it's not really a big deal for the 360 because it supports Dolby Digital or DTS at best, and both of those can be transmitted over the optical out.

The Wii U is way worse in this regard, because it supports the superior LPCM over HDMI but also doesn't let you use HDMI audio and analog video simultaneously. To add insult to injury, there is not even an optical out for Dolby Digital or anything. So you're actually limited to stereo if you use the Wii U's analog out. I guess best case scenario for CRT owners is to run HDMI to a receiver, then to an HDFury or something.