VGA and HDMI at the same time?

[95BlackGA]

I want to hook up my computer monitor to my 360 so I can still play when my television is in use. I know I could just sit there and unhook and hook back up the cables everytime, but that would be annoying. I'm sure it can be done as long as the resolutions are the same, but could I still get audio out of the VGA HD cable?

 

[KSoD]

Most likely the best way to get this done would be via a KVM switch. Not sure if you would still get audio or not. But that will be your best option to hook up the Monitor to both the PC and the XBOX at the same time.

 

[Nagasama]

no you will not get audio out of a VGA cable.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

You can if you modify the VGA cable, I'd get a cheap off-brand one. You have to rip off the plastic on the plug that goes into the 360 so that you can fit it with the HDMI cable. I also don't know if both outputs will be used at the same time, the 360 has circuitry that detects the cable and adjusts accordingly (it knows if you're using VGA vs. composite vs. component). I don't know how the HDMI models handle the HDMI output when other cables are plugged in though, you may have to unplug the HDMI to make it switch. I doubt it uses both video outputs at the same time.

 

[Nagasama]

i think he means using the xbox VGA cable that has L/R audio attached to it. im talking about a plain old VGA cable. as far as the VGA output of the xbox 360 goes, there is audio there? i really dont know, but i would find it strange that the VGA output would have audio signals in it that could be separated out with a modified cable. OP i would agree that if you have the HDMI connected, most likely it will kill the HD audio output. i guess the only way is to try it.

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

All 360's have at least one video port, there's the standard "A/V" port that all consoles have and there is an HDMI port on newer models in addition to the A/V port.

The A/V port is a multi-format port that uses a proprietary main plug that has pins for just about anything. This single connector contains composite, component, S-video, VGA, analog (L/R) audio, and digital (optical) audio. It also has a few pins that manage "cable detect", a VGA cable will wire the pin that tells the 360 to output VGA signals while the HDAV cable wires both the SD and HD wires to a switch on the plug so that it can operate as either an SD cable or an HD cable.

The HDMI port is a standard HDMI (1.2?) port that uses a generic HDMI cable. It outputs an HD digital picture as well as digital audio. It can be used with an HDMI-DVI cable to function as a DVI output as well, but this means that the audio signal is lost as DVI devices can't decode it. To compensate, Microsoft made an audio cable that plugs into the A/V port and has analog (L/R) and digital (optical) audio outputs. This means you can hook up a screen with HDMI and still use an optical cable to connect a receiver.

The same can be done by modifying a normal A/V cable. To make both plugs fit, the case from the A/V cable's plug must be removed, making the plug slimmer. If you take a cheap VGA cable (not VGA-VGA, Xbox 360 A/V to VGA) and cut off the case from the A/V end, you can fit it with HDMI at the same time. These Xbox VGA cables also have optical and analog audio outputs on them which can be used instead of the HDMI's sound.

 

[Nagasama]

ah i see.