PC Monitor as a TV - Old systems

[MarioMania]

I want to hook my SNES, NES ect with AV inputs to a PC Monitor...

I have VGA to Component Cable..also I saw a VGA female to VGA female Adapter would it work??

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31vrA5A5WCL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

[Ed Oscuro]

VGA to component requires a VGA to component transcoder (getting my info from http://shmups.system11.org/).

Console to monitor would require an upscaler; there's the Optoma HD3000 and the ever-popular X-RGB series of (generally lag-free) line doublers. Expensive. You could plug the VGA to component cable into its PC OUTPUT...but nothing should show up on the TV without that transcoder.

You're probably looking at ~$100+ for a transcoder, and $200+ for an X-RGB (newer ones that are capable with newer consoles = more money).

If your HD display has VGA or DVI input that should be fairly simple to use though. Dunno what it'll look like, but you at least would get a picture.

[MarioMania]

are you serious??

It not like me hooking up like a SNES or a PS2 to a PC...

It's just a monitor..I guess I have to get a VGA to Composite..or that won't work eather

[Ed Oscuro]

Come on, you should know me well enough after all these years to know that I wouldn't BS you, LOL

Okay, now I re-read the topic title, and let's look again.

VGA to component cables are used for plugging a computer into a television with component plugs...that's why they're called VGA to composite, not the other way around. Just because the component plugs look like RCA composite jacks doesn't mean they're "composite to VGA."

My first and most important question for you is...why do you want to do this? If you have an old TV that died, well, go find a new one. A CRT monitor still will give you the best picture for an old console possible at this time, and these games were generally designed for CRTs anyway. That's ultimately the best choice for these old consoles, and will be for some time, I'm afraid. The alternatives aren't great:

To get the console signals to appear on a PC monitor, you would take the low-res signal from the console and turn it into one that'll work on your VGA monitor. PC monitors generally don't include upscalers to keep price down (most people only buy them to use with their computers after all), and the upscalers on TVs are laggy. The X-RGB series will do this without lag (XRGB-2, 2+, and 3, although there's differences between each, and some work better than others at certain things), and I also mentioned that HD3000. Again, it's not free.

Composite to upscaler to VGA to component: Forget about component - unless you have a professional monitor (like I used to, some time ago - the Compaq P110, which is a Sony Trinitron) you won't have the component plugs in the back so this is completely useless, and you'd be just as well off with VGA anyway. If you did, you'd want to move from composite, or whatever your consoles output, to component - which should still require some box or other, and won't be free. You would need to buy that plug you linked above, but you would still need an upscaler.

One final possibility is that of capturing the signal on a capture card / frame grabber on your PC and outputting the resulting video on your PC screen, but depending on your software it may be too small and it almost certainly will be laggy (i.e. unplayable). I tried doing this with my DAC-200 (which is meant for video transfer to and from S-video devices like VHS decks, so I was doing the wrong thing entirely), but I expect that even with the nice Sweetspot card I bought secondhand (expensive) it may still be laggy.

So, here's your options in a nutshell, as I understand them:

1.) Console to a 'new' old TV - cost: whatever it takes to get one at the local thrift. Advantage: best picture. Disadvantage: That set might also die and you're enshrouding your brain with pernicious radiations, OH NOES!

2.) Console to a 'new' HD TV or similar: You're aren't getting more detail out of that signal and it'll probably be laggy as heck due to the upscaler. Teevees are made for movies.

3.) Console to XRGB to monitor: Works fine. Expensive though (like you could get a PS3 about the same price as a HD-able XRGB-3, or close; and the XRGB units don't get cheaper), and still no extra detail - on the other hand, I haven't heard of lag being reported and there won't be "invented" detail (i.e. blurry emulator-style picture).

4.) Console to powered splitter (i.e. amplifier) to monitor / TV AND to computer capture - you didn't want to do this, but some people do.

Big old disclaimer: I have bought a whole lot of console-to-X or computer-to-X equipment, including the DAC-200, Sweetspot capture card, XRGB-2, and plan to get a VGA framegrabber, and also other stuff...but that doesn't mean any of what I've written above is based on my own personal experience, so I may be missing some important points. But I think the main point is that you can throw LOTS of money at this problem and have nothing to show for it.

[MarioMania]

I just wanted to see if it did work, I guess not

My brother has a HD Monitor..

Would that work if I plug in the VGA to Component in the 15 pin PC out to the green part of the Component Cable to my VCR

[Ed Oscuro]

Would that work if I plug in the VGA to Component in the 15 pin PC out to the green part of the Component Cable to my VCR
And what does the VCR plug into? The same television you use your consoles with now? ;) Try it, see what happens. (What kind of VHS player is this, and what kind of TV? If it's that upscaling VHS / DVD player, JVC's DR-MV7S, and a HDTV, it might work somewhat, although I'd only try it on tapes and low-res movies, not games where you generally want things to be sharp.)

[shopkins]

I knew a guy once that hooked his SNES up to an old VGA monitor because he didn't have a TV. This was around 1994. I'm not sure exactly how he did it, though.

[Atarileaf]

I've got one of those old AGP all in wonder cards that does the video capture and tv tuner. I tried hooking up an NES through one of these last year but couldn't get it to work.

[darkwingduck13]

I always get sucked into these discussions when PC monitors and console gaming come up...unfortunately I lost the post that I used to cut n' paste into topics like this over at GFAQs.

Okay...I'm doing this with all my systems. It doesn't have to be that expensive. If you're an American, and/or you don't care about the SCART/Japanese D-sub cable hookup and all you're interested in are VGA, RCA composite, RCA component, and/or S-video connections, you can do this fairly cheaply.

The X-RGB units are expensive. I have a friend who has one, and it is a fantastic unit, but I didn't need something that supported quite the range of features the X-RGB did. I discovered the Viewsonic Nextvision line of video processors. What you're looking for can be accomplished by purchasing the following:

http://www.viewsonic.com.au/products/advancedtv/nextvision_n4.php

From what I've seen, they show up fairly regularly on eBay for a cheap amount. For example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ViewSonic-NextVision-N4-Video-Processor_W0QQitemZ110414545307QQcmdZViewItemQQptZ PCC_Video_TV_Cards?hash=item19b538419b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1240|293%3A1| 294%3A50

I'm sure there are other means for locating one of these that would be fairly inexpensive.

I myself run a 36" Gateway Destination monitor with a max res of 800 x 600. It's a giant honkin' CRT beast that I got for free. I bought the Nextvision N6, which is a step up from the N4...got it 5 or 6 years ago and have been happy as I can be ever since. It has a fantastic picture when it comes to the old-school stuff, plus when I want to watch a DVD, I can dock my laptop next to the thing and play the DVD through native VGA onto the screen...it gets upscanned, and looks amazing for standard def.

What I've got hooked up and how, using various switchboxes:

NES - RCA Composite
Genesis/Sega CD - RCA Composite
SNES - S-Video
Saturn - S-Video
N64 - S-Video
PS2 - S-Video
Gamecube - S-Video

The N64 always has been and always will be blurry as hell compared with other consoles (one good thing about the Wii Virtual Console: play N64 titles without the blur!), but every other console on the list looks as good as it can look through this setup without using PC emulation and all the optimizations you can get by going in that direction.

My recommendation? Find a cheap Nextvision N4, and invest in an S-Video cable for that SNES. An S-video cable for the N64 will work on the SNES, or at least mine did (and I've heard of others having similar success). I think you'll be pretty happy, if you're truly dead set on going in this direction for your old-school, standard def gaming.

[slip81]

if you're just concerned with getting a better picture than a conventional CRT tv, the cheapest option would probably be to get an old Commodore 64 monitor and hook the SNES up via RGB

[TurboGenesis]

if you're just concerned with getting a better picture than a conventional CRT tv, the cheapest option would probably be to get an old Commodore 64 monitor and hook the SNES up via RGB

If going in this direction, check local listings like Craigs List for a professional monitor like the Sony PVM. I picked up two recently and am enjoying it. (I am actually selling my PVM 2030 - local only) - there are also multi sync monitors like the NEC XM29 (29 inch!) but are more difficult to come by these days. Regrets for missing the time when business were switching to modern displays and dumping old RGB CRTs :frustrated:

The Commodore monitors are only 14 inch i believe.

[jb143]

Something to keep in mind(which Ed Oscuro hinted at) is that older systems and games were designed with TV's in mind. Things like blurring the colors together and smoothing the edges of pictures will just look bad on a sharper screen so playing games made for a TV on a computer monitor will look more pixelated. Just compare an emulated game to the real thing.

[Coldguy]

I use a VGA BOX, works wonders but have some problems

1) No RF Support, need a vcr to help you with that

2) No Lightgun support

3) One system hooked up at a time, can't switch them out with a switchbox

[Ed Oscuro]

3) One system hooked up at a time, can't switch them out with a switchbox
Wouldn't an RCA multiswitch that lets you output along one set of RCA composite connectors from two or three sources work? The switch would be between the game systems and the switchbox, not between the switchbox and the display. I see these RCA multiswitches all the time at thrifts.

Some good suggestions so far that I hadn't known of.

[Coldguy]

Well I havn't tried that however the VGA deivce can only be connected to one device at a time directly so you might not be able to get it work however I havn't checked that

[roushimsx]

Oh god, don't spend mad $$$ when you don't have to.

Get a capture card that works in DScaler (like a Winfast TV2000XP or something with a similar chipset) and use that. DScaler is a 7 layer cake of awesome and will let you play with the image a bit to make it more suitable for viewing on your computer monitor.

[Ed Oscuro]

Well I havn't tried that however the VGA deivce can only be connected to one device at a time directly so you might not be able to get it work however I havn't checked that
The VGA device is just going to the monitor though. The switched RCA cables should only count as one device. Not getting where the problem is.


Get a capture card that works in DScaler (like a Winfast TV2000XP or something with a similar chipset)
Another option noted (agreed w/ not spending more money than necessary). I'm wary of buying crappy capture cards though due to the older ones which aren't DScaler compatible (at least not very well), don't have sound, or have lag, or something. It's probably just gotten significantly better since I last tried it out, though.