Xbox360 on my monitor?

[samwelaye]

hey all, I've been gaming with my xbox on a 52" sony for some time now, and the screen is just TOO big. its great for watching movies and playing games like final fantasy, but its just too big for fps games, so I want to be able to connect my 360 to my monitor.

Only problem is that my monitor is an acer AL2216W (for those that need the model #) and it has NO hdmi port, and only supports up to 1680x1050 resolution. If I were to buy an HDMI->DVI convertor, could I use that with my xbox and plug it into this monitor and just have it give me black bars on top and bottom? Or will it stretch and distort the image to force a fit on the 1680x1050? Not really sure how monitor scaling works with this kind of stuff, like if I were to change the 360's output to 720p, would it just stretch the image to the sides and give me black bars on top and bottom to be able to maintain the aspect ratio (which is what i want)?

Any tips would be well appreciated, if this isnt possible then i'll probably head over to best buy or somewhere, check out their 1080p monitors that have hdmi, and then go buy it off of amazon or newegg or something for a better deal

thanks for the help everyone

 

[neorecon19]

There is a VGA Cable you can buy (it also has red and white audio cables on too) However it is a little bit pricey ($39.99 USD or $49.99 CDN). You'll need to find a sound system or something else that'll take audio input of that connection. Unless your willing to buy a smaller TV, that is the only way to go.

 

[tinyt777]

Actually that vga cable on newegg right now is 30 USD with 3USD shipping. Also on newegg they have a cheaper off brand version for 12.99 if your willing to risk it. I personally bought the official microsoft one and a rca to 3.5mm cable with some barrel connectors and hooked it into the inputs on the back of my computer so it would have my 5.1 surround that is hooked to the pc. Just some other options to consider.

Here is the newegg stuff: hxxp://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=xbox+vga+cable&x=0&y=0

 

[rjkucia]

I had a similar problem, and I bought an Intec VGA cable, and it had horrible ghosting. I would recommend getting the Microsoft one, I've heard good things about that cable. By the way, if you want 5.1 surround, you can't use the RCA plugs (Red/White); you have to use the optical out (there should be a plug for it on the VGA adapter cable).

EDIT: Oh, and you can choose your resolution in the settings when using the VGA cable, you can choose common settings such as 1680x1050 or 1280x1024 all the way up to 1080p.

 

[samwelaye]

alright thanks everyone! looks like i'll probably be getting that msoft vga cable then

 

[samwelaye]

Best answer selected by samwelaye.