Connecting Systems To Displays: Circumventing Input Limitations
In my recent Hanns.G 28" LCD review, I mentioned that I was unable to achieve a quality-acceptable analog VGA connection between it and my Xbox 360 console. I did have other options for solving the problem, aside from the path I chose of patching in my HDMI-inclusive console instead, but I think you’ll soon see why I chose to not take the alternate routes.
A month back, MadCatz started shipping a product called the Xbox 360 HDMI Conversion Kit, intended for first-generation HDMI-less consoles like mine.
It transforms the analog video output coming out of the console into HDMI, along with multiplexing the Xbox 360’s digital audio on the common HDMI link (as well as providing an alternative optical S/PDIF output). Looks and sounds (puns intended) good, right? Yes…albeit with one notable ‘but’.
MadCatz chose to tap into the console’s component video output signals, not the Xbox 360’s VGA output. As I’ve written before, the consequent inability to exploit the CSS ‘loophole’ for VGA (originally intended for PCs) means that when mated to the HDMI Conversion Kit, the Xbox 360 can only progressive scan-convert red laser DVDs…it can’t upscale them beyond their native 480-line resolutions. Granted, the HDMI Conversion Kit can still drive game content at up-to-1080p resolutions, along with HD DVD material up to 1080i (since the format’s now taking it’s last few dying breaths, I guess we don’t have to worry about a phase-in of the Image Constraint Token, although if Microsoft ever adds Blu-ray support to the console…).
And granted, the integrated video processor on the other end of the HDMI link can alternatively handle the re-scaling to whatever the display’s native resolution is. Arguably, in fact (and an argument I’ve made several times before), a single image processor in the display, handling the signals coming from all video sources, is a more elegant and cost-effective topology than a bunch of image processors, one per video source. Nonetheless, Mad Catz’s design decision is a bit baffling, especially considering that HDMI has supported RGB transfers since specification v1.2…the exact same spec revision that the integrated HDMI transmitter in newer Xbox 360’s implements.
When I asked MadCatz for background on the component video-vs-RGB selection, I got a variety of answers (none of them definitive) from different company contacts:
The chipset which converts the VGA is significantly more expensive and puts it out of our target MSRP range. The product is not marketable with the cost of using the VGA to convert.
It’s always a delight Brian to hear from a man who knows his stuff! You are correct in saying that there are many considerations which must be taken into place when designing a product such as this. As to why the HDMI Conversion Kit feeds from the Component rather than the VGA output, I am afraid I can not comment.
I had another to-HDMI conversion option available to me; StarTech’s VGA/HD With Audio To HDMI Format Converter. But it would have only been of benefit if the VGA input of the display or the required length of the console-to-display VGA cable was the root culprit…conversely, if the VGA output of the console or any length of VGA cable was to blame, StarTech’s converter would simply digitize the image flaws. Also, the StarTech box only supports VGA inputs of up to 1600×1200 pixels in resolution, along with only accepting two-channel analog audio.
Next, let’s look at the fact that the Hanns.G LCD doesn’t offer component video, S-Video or composite video inputs. How do you tether gear without VGA or HDMI outputs to it? Again, conversion boxes come to the rescue, beginning with the above-mentioned StarTech gear (which not only handles VGA, but also component video up to 1080p). To-VGA converters I’m personally familiar with include those from Audio Authority and Key Digital Systems…a Google search will reveal even more candidates.
And what about the fact that the Hanns.G HG-281DPB only offers one HDMI and one VGA input; how do you tether more than two peripherals to it? I’ve talked about HDMI switches before; my current favourite is Belkin’s AV24503, which admittedly only toggles between two HDMI inputs but is self-powered by the HDMI link (no incremental wall warts…how cool is that!). And for VGA, you can use a KVM switch, although since there’s no ‘K’ (keyboard) or ‘M’ (mouse) in this particular setup, an inexpensive mechanical switch box (again, with no wall wart requirements) will also suffice.
