Topic: Hooking up to a monitor

[SubKamran]

I searched and didn't find anything (on site), and need advice.

How to hook it up to a monitor? There are many ways, but I have no idea how

FYI, My monitor accepts BNC inputs.

If it's too complicated, I'll just buy some Stereo A/V cables for the GC...

PS. What cables COME with the GC?

[SubKamran]

The reason being I don't want to buy a S-Video switch for $90, I'd rather have better quality for a lower price. Plus I dont have that kind've money...when you're 15...

[AngusPodgorny]

Uhh, hi there

The Gamecube comes with A/V cables only.  To hook these to a VGA monitor, you'd need a "VGA box".  I believe that Redant makes a popular model for under 50 bucks (I could be wrong about the price).  Picture quality won't be so good.

The next step up the quality ladder would be S-Video-to-VGA.  You'd need to purchase a Gamecube S-Video cable and a box to convert S-Video to VGA.  I don't know the specifics of such a device, but I'm sure they exist.  Quality will be better, but still not true VGA quality.  This is probably a little more expensive than the previous option.

Finally, you get into the realm of Component Video to VGA.  This is where the quality is, and this the option with which I am particularly familliar.  It can be cheap, but you probably don't want to go this route, since you'll only be able to play progressive scan games unless you have a really rare monitor.  There are really three ways to go about it.  
1) Buy a component video cable from Nintendo and mod it yourself to produce a VGA signal.  Cheapest option, but requires soldering sk1llz.  
2) Buy a pre-modded cable from somewhere.  (Goldenshop, I think)
3) Buy a component-to-RGB transcoder.  This is expensive.

If I remember correctly, BNC connectors carry the same signal as a regular 15-pin VGA, it's just a different physical connector.  It doesn't really help, unless you mod your own cable in which case it may save you a little soldering.

Unless you are a tinkerer, or a real entusiast, or just have money to burn, you probably want to go with one of the first two options.

-Angus

[ReallyScrued]

BAH!! ALL LIES!!! you dont need to spend more than 40 bux.  I just bought a tv tuner, msi tv anywhere, hooked it up to its S video port, but i needed to convert the audio RCA cables to 1/8 phono jack that my sound card IN channel supports, u probably will need to do the same. i ran the software inside windows, BAM full screen playing.  Quality lacks a bit but id rather do that then spend a hulleva lot of money.  

[pook]

i'm using the goldenshop component->vga cable (works like a dream) for all my p-scan games. however, i'm still going to my tv to play 3rd party games that don't support it.
i'm looking at moving all my gc gaming to my computer room (nice stereo in here, 19" monitor, comfy chair).

i'm looking into the various pci tv cards with s-video input for the non-pscan games. for those of you who are doing this, does it look *bad* or just not nearly as clear as pscan?

for instance, if you had a 20" tv or a 19" monitor, both running the gc in s-video, which would it look better on? these tv tuners are cheap these days and probably worth it if looks ok.

[TheYoungerPlumber]

I too have a modded D-sub cable for VGA use and have thought of buying a seperate VGA box for my interlaced games.  I've found that using a TV Capture card for console gaming is risky business.  My roommate's won't work, as it takes a second to process the video, buffering the sound to keep them in sync.  That's fine for TV, but not for games!  All I can say is don't buy WinTV (it has driver issues too).  However, I have seen others that DO work pretty well (don't know what brand, etc, sorry).  My best recommendation is to NOT go for the cheapest model.  In fact, if you already have a TV nearby with S-Video use it instead.  It will almost certainly look better.

[pook]

i bought a cheapie one today (got impatient). it's so-so. i have the sound running through my stereo so sync isn't a problem. the refresh rate is pretty good. however the whole picture is just duller than the tv, even when you tweak the controls. likely because my monitor as a whole is not as bright as my tv. other than that it's alright. definitely better at night with the lights off!

[PIAC]

im looking into a TV card/VGA box also, given i cant afford a new tv, and want to use my 5.1 speakers for GCN.

problem is i dont really know where to start, most TV cards i see are svideo in only, and i dont know where to get an svideo cable for GCN, ive never seen one :\

[pook]

s-video cables are found pretty much everywhere i go. pelican and interact make some, and nintendo has their own you can get for $15 at nintendo's online store.

or you can get them for under $10, shipped, on ebay (but they may be secondary-brands, which sometimes affects quality).

even monster makes gc s-video cables, but i've never seen them in real life.

s-video on a monitor does look a little fuzzy though--the monitor is way sharper than your tv. if you can do component via a vga cable, that's best (for those games that support it). component on a monitor looks AWESOME.

[Berto2K]

I have the s-video cable from monster. I believe I got it at circuit city since that is the only electronics store around here. Yes, here they are Monster GCN s-video cable. They work great for me, just wish my roomate had a better tv. I can use them on either my computer (have all in wonder vid card with s-vid in) or on tv. The cord is long, probably about 5.5 feet at least if not 6. Good thick rubber on them.

I had the interact ones since launch, but the coating on the s-vid part of the cable split exposing the wire since it was very thin. I even noticed a slight difference when hooking up my monster cable over the interact.

Also to play my prog scan games on computer directly to my monitor, I imported a vga cable here:
vga cable. But not all monitors will support it. Some older ones (couple years) won't take the signal. You've got a few options out there to work with.

[pook]

i bought that same vga cable from them. great service.

did yours come in very official-looking nintendo-branded packaging with japanese text on it? cause i thought these were homebrew cables, but if it is, it's the best-damned produced homebrew cable i've ever seen, down to the etched gamecube logo on the connector to the gc.

[TheYoungerPlumber]

Pook, the VGA cable you and I both got from Goldenshop are modified Nintendo D-sub cables from Japan, not "homebrew" cables. The GC cable's connector contains a processor whose pins can be rewired to alter the GameCube's digital video output mode.  On the other end they "chop off" the strange Japanese connector and graft a VGA connector in its place.

A GC VGA cable can be made from a GC component video cable as well, but since it only contains three wires, unlike the fancy Japanese cable, you'd have to introduce external cables--much messier and (most likely) poorer insulation.

[pook]

wow, they did a really really good job then. doesn't look like a hack job whatsoever, and came in snazzy nintendo packaging :-)

[TheYoungerPlumber]

Note to  VGA-cable owners: BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR CABLE.

Yesterday I discovered that the red channel for my modded cable is out!  After opening the VGA connector up it looks like the wire broke off of the pin and is dangling.  I got my cable in April from Goldenshop.  If anyone has a working VGA cable from them and would be willing to open the VGA connector to confirm that the red wire is indeed supposed to be connected to pin one, I'd appreciate it.  Doing so is really easy--you just need a Phillips screwdriver.

*sigh* I'm horrible with my hands, and pin 1 is the hardest to get to.  I'd have to strip that poor piece of wire and solder small strips of metal! I'm not sure what I'm going to do o_O.  I pretty much bought my monitor to play GameCube games in progressive scan!

[mjberry]

Hey everyone,

The GC-component-to-VGA-cable sounds awesome.  I'm looking for a more flexible solution, though, and wondered if there's any reason I couldn't do it in two steps:

1. standard GC component video cable
2. component video to VGA cable (something like https://www.dcpuraty.com/store/Product_Details.asp?ProductCode=HD15M5R6, although I'd rather build my own if someone can fill me in on the internal connections)

The reason I'd like to do this is because I have a progressive-scan DVD player with component outputs, and I want to connect that to the monitor, too.  Do you think it will work?  I understand from TYP's post that this requires extra signals for the GC--what are they?  Would it require anything else for the DVD?  

It sounds like there are some experts here.  Please weigh in!

Thanks,
Matt

[anubis6789]

I think the two other signals needed are H-sync and V-sync, but in all actuality that would be four because each of those needs a ground.

If I remember correctly there are some DVD players that output something called Component+H&V, but there usually either RCA or BNC jacks so that really doesnt help, also I think you have to put a capiciter(SP) or something somewere on the GCN component cable so it is not as easy as you may think.  

[Qbric]

This is an ageold and worthy challenge.

Stay away from the upscan convertors. They just take your crappy interlaced RCA output and rewrite every line twice to fit on a hi-res monitor. You don't get any improvement in resolution. I think it looks worse in fact.

Thats all I've got. Be back when I figure it out.

[TheYoungerPlumber]

I'm afraid what you are hoping to do with your DVD player cannot be done, mjberry.  I can guarantee you that cable doesn't actually convert the component signal to a VGA signal...that cable is quite misleading!

The cable does not convert ANYTHING other than the shape of the plug.  Component video and VGA are based on different primary colors: converting between the two requires $200 hardware that recalculates a component video's YPbPr signal in terms of the amount of Red, Green and Blue in the picture.  This cable does none of this converting--it's just wire.  The cable is used with HDTV projectors that can interpret both RGB (VGA) and YPbPr (Component) signals with its HD 15-pin connector (traditionally RGB-only).  It can also be used with certain fancy hardware that can output a YPbPr signal through its HD 15-pin port.  Your monitor can only interpret VGA signals and therefore expects RGB, not YPbPr.

In fact, that's directly related to how the GC VGA cable mod works!  The GC CAN output both RGB and YPbPr signals through its "digital" video port, and by adjusting wires on Nintendo's integrated circuit (in the cable) and replacing connectors we can get an RGB signal with a matching VGA connector.  That strange cable you found is, in essence, the second half of the modified GC VGA cable, only the five RCA connections are instead attached to five tiny pins on Nintendo's integrated circuit!

(I'm not sure I explained that very well, but I need sleep...)  

[Lavychan]

Whatever you do, stay away from the 'Universal VGA Box' with the 4 AV Ports on it. Dont have a pic handy, but it stands vertical, is black, and like said before, has 4 AV ports on back. I bought one a while ago and right out of the box it was having problems. The quality is -not- VGA, its even worse than a really fuzzy TV image would be. On top of that the thing died about 2 weeks after having gotten it x_X

[Kyosho]

I got the RedAnt VGA box for the Gamecube, and it runs well.  It takes the plug from the Gamecube and you can select if you want the S-video or RCA to take control.  If you select S-video, the quality is a lot crisper compared to RCA.  RCA is really blurry.  But overall I am pretty pleased with this VGA box.  My only gripe is I wanted to merge the sounds from my Gamecube and computer, so I had to buy some extra components to converge the lines together.  So now I can hear if anyone AIMs me while i'm playin Gamecube

[xeonexus]

I just bought the multi-purpose vga box with component input and the quality is worse than using my tv.My only guess is my 15" lcd monitor is the problem or the vga box is just crap.Made by mayflash btw.

[RagingTurkey]

Hey all,

I'm currently at university, and being a poor university student, don't have a TV. Instead, my computer is my main source of entertainment. For christmas this year, my girlfriend gave me a Zelda Collector's Edition Gamecube (an AWESOME present), which is great, except that I have no TV to play it on. So, after spending the past few weeks researching various solutions to my problem, I have decided on a Gamecube VGA switchbox, so that I can have my Gamecube and my PC connected to my 19" CRT monitor at the same time, and be able to switch between the two. Having researching the variety of products available in this category, and having read this thread, I am considering purchasing the following:

http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=77&products_id=1575

Does anyone have any personal experience with that particular switchbox? Would the other box available at Lik-Sang (http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=221&products_id=3235&) be a better/worse option? What about the box from Redant?

I am not overly concerned with playing games in Progressive Scan mode at this point, as currently I only have Wind Waker and the Zelda Collector's Disc. My main concern is that the picture quality be equal to, if not better than, a TV, and I want to be able to switch between my Gamecube and my computer flawlessly.

Thanks in advance!

[Renny]

That first link goes to the Panasonic Q. Not that I blame you for dreaming. :¬] Using my incredible mind-reading abilities, I can sense that you meant to link to this. I think this is the box xeonexus is talking about. These Google groups results don't sound too promising [in particular the 5th down]. Although your main concern is getting the picture onto the monitor, so the sacrifice in quality may not matter enough at this point in the game. I don't have any experience with these so I can't offer anything else. Good luck in your search.

Edit: That particular box is cheaper at Play Asia, at least before shipping.