I had purchased the Dragon Xbox 360 VGA cable last year to enjoy native 1080p to my Samsung HLR 6168 but was greeted by disappointment by the quality of the picture. I hoped that with each update it would fix the washed out colors and slight "ghosting" around text and still images. Alway ended up going back to component.

I was in EB Games today and came across a used, official MS Xbox 360 VGA cable. The price was good so I decided to buy it.

Got home, hooked it up and...WOW! :eek: Colors were vibrant, no ghosting, sharp images and text. It looked a little better than component, bringing out a little more detail in games, HD DVD and standared DVD's.

Obviously, the 3rd party cable was bad or just poor build quality. If you have had trouble with VGA and are using a 3rd party cable, try the Microsoft one. I was really surprised at the difference and am now in the "VGA is better" camp.

Also, can anyone recommend a good VGA switch? :confused: It is a pain having to go behind the TV to unplug the VGA cord to switch between the 360 and PC! :(

getting vga soon. thanks a lot for the recommend

Also, can anyone recommend a good VGA switch? :confused: It is a pain having to go behind the TV to unplug the VGA cord to switch between the 360 and PC! :(


X2VGA is a nice switch. LINK (http://www.x2vga.com/)

X2VGA is a nice switch. LINK (http://www.x2vga.com/)

Thanks for the link! This is the first product I've seen that shows up to 1080p in its' specs and is specifically made for gaming consoles. Looks very promising!

Well, it doesn't look like the switch does what I want it to. :( It allows for component input from the 360 to be trans coded to VGA output. I'm looking for 2 VGA input to 1 VGA out put so I can share my HDTV one VGA input without disconnecting one or the other.

couldnt you use a KVM and just run it backwards or something?

This once again proves that a quality cable makes a big difference in PQ.

You wouldnt believe how many people buy cheap vga cables off of ebay. Then they make threads "ZOMFGZ TEH VGAZ CABLEZ IZ TEH SUCKZ". Then they go buy a MS or Monster vga cable and notice a big difference.

You wouldnt believe how many people buy cheap vga cables off of ebay. Then they make threads "ZOMFGZ TEH VGAZ CABLEZ IZ TEH SUCKZ". Then they go buy a MS or Monster vga cable and notice a big difference.

Lol I pity anyone who wastes their $$$ on an overpriced Monster cable. I made that mistake once with my PS2, never again.

Instead of blowing money on a VGA switcher, try upgrading the video card in your PC to one that has DVI out and then hook it up through the HDMI on your TV.

Lol I pity anyone who wastes their $$$ on an overpriced Monster cable. I made that mistake once with my PS2, never again.

How big's your tv?

there is a difference in PQ with the monsters i can attest to that because i use them,but the difference is only noticeable on bigger screen sizes.

Instead of blowing money on a VGA switcher, try upgrading the video card in your PC to one that has DVI out and then hook it up through the HDMI on your TV.


Unfortunately, my TV does not accept a pc signal via HDMI so a VGA switch will have to do or spend big $$$ on a DLP that does accept pc input via HDMI.

Well, it doesn't look like the switch does what I want it to. :( It allows for component input from the 360 to be trans coded to VGA output. I'm looking for 2 VGA input to 1 VGA out put so I can share my HDTV one VGA input without disconnecting one or the other.

I'm looking for the same exact thing a switch so I can keep my PC and 360 both plugged in @ the same time.

Have you guys checked at monoprice?
They have some real cheap VGA switch boxes.
They're manual, but they work....

Have you guys checked at monoprice?
They have some real cheap VGA switch boxes.
They're manual, but they work....

I have checked out monoprice. Decided on an electronic SVGA switch as some reviews on the web had indicated ghosting when using the standard VGA manual switch.

This is what I ordered...
Linxcel 2-Port SVGA VGA ELECTRONIC Monitor Switch.
Super VGA HD15 M/M 3ft cable w/ Stereo Audio and Tripple shielded.

I'll report back to the thread once my order comes in at the end of this week or begining of next week. Thanks for all of the comments! :D

deleted... irrevelant. :p

I spent US$6 on a manual 4-port vga switch. Had both my PC and my 360 hooked up to my 19" lcd monitor for about 6 months. Worked like a charm...

is it possible that you updated you console before the purchase the new cable? MS just did an up date that made an amazing difference on the vga output.

is it possible that you updated you console before the purchase the new cable? MS just did an up date that made an amazing difference on the vga output.

I had all updates installed prior to replacing the cable. It was definitely the cable I replaced that was giving me poor results.

Anyone here have the Samsung LN-S9546D model using VGA cable??? Did the last MS update fix the bad PQ this particular set was having with VGA or not??

Anyone here have the Samsung LN-S4695D model using VGA cable??? Did the last MS update fix the bad PQ this particular set was having with VGA or not??

I have checked out monoprice. Decided on an electronic SVGA switch as some reviews on the web had indicated ghosting when using the standard VGA manual switch.

This is what I ordered...
Linxcel 2-Port SVGA VGA ELECTRONIC Monitor Switch.
Super VGA HD15 M/M 3ft cable w/ Stereo Audio and Tripple shielded.

I'll report back to the thread once my order comes in at the end of this week or begining of next week. Thanks for all of the comments! :D

Well, I got everything installed (had to reinstall my ATI drivers as my DLP went into "unsupported mode" and stayed there after I hooked everthing up :( ). I can now switch between my PC and Xbox 360 via VGA with a press of a button. Sooo much better than going behind the TV to move cables! :cool:

I've notice no loss of video quality between the pc and 360 with the addition of the switch.

I ended up with a piece of crap knock-off vga cable off of eBay that the seller showed pictures of the Microsoft cable in his ad. When I received it, it came in a pretty good knock-off box, but with slight changes as to not claim to be the original one.

It ghosted images like crazy compared to my nephews MS cable. Likely a poor ground so I filed a complaint with PayPal and eventually was refunded the full price plus shipping (~$20cdn). Then I found an open-box MS at Best Buy for $25 so it all worked out in the end.

Buy the MS HD VGA cable only.
The other 3rd party products are bad, ghosting, low vibrance etc ..
I learnt the hard way :(

Buy the MS HD VGA cable only.
The other 3rd party products are bad, ghosting, low vibrance etc ..
I learnt the hard way :(

Well, at least I only lost $12 on the cheap cable. MS does appear to have the better VGA cable. :eek:

i picked up my ms vga cable off ebay from some power seller that sells returned stuff. came out to 15 shipped buy it now. greatest investment ever.

i originally bought the psyclone cables for SIXTY bucks! i figured, hey they cost more, they should be better.... WRONG. they went right back to best buy, and i picked up the MS cables... love them!

The M$ VGA cable is much better!

I have an extra one available that I only opened and tested for sale if anyone is interested. Would rather sell to an AVS member here than eBay it. PM for more details.

gamestop is selling MS VGA cables for 9.99 used. As with all used products they have a full warranty and can be refunded anytime. Mine had one slight askew pin that I corrected with an stereo jack. Beautiful picture on my 1390 X 768 32" Toshiba.

Here's a follow-up. The switch idea did not work out as well as I had hoped. I totally forgot that I needed to use a uxga monitor cable for the set up to pass a 1080p signal from my pc. The cable I bought to connect the switch to the DLP was a SVGA. I soon found out that it would not maintain a 1080p signal from my PC, it kept falling back to unsupported mode. It would work fine if I kept the resolution from my PC below 1080p when running through the switch. The 360 VGA cable experienced no trouble in 3 hrs of gaming via the switch.

I had the same issue whenI first hooked up my pc to my tv via a standard SVGA cable two years ago.

I've ordered a 3ft uxga monitor cable from cablestogo.com as monoprice does not carry it. Oh well, it will be 4 to 5 business days till the other cable arrives. I'll report back again when I get the uxga cable.

I did some tests on cables and this is what I found some say the test isnt acurate but what the hell here it is not VGA but I assume it is almost the same companies use the same cable for all their similar products so the component would probally have the same kind of wire as the VGA just less of them

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=794799

wow, i have that dragon vga cable; never noticed anything wrong on my 22" crt pc monitor with it, just a little washed out maybe, but now i have to wonder what i'm missing... :)

isn't it amazing what lengths we go to to get all this technology to just work? (to above poster). it's funny if you think about it :)

I did some tests on cables and this is what I found some say the test isnt acurate but what the hell here it is not VGA but I assume it is almost the same companies use the same cable for all their similar products so the component would probally have the same kind of wire as the VGA just less of them

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=794799



that's a big assumption from some apparenltly shoddy reasearch about, as you so mentioned, the COMPONENT cables, but whatever makes you happy :)

sorry to slam ya, but come on, eh?

wow, i have that dragon vga cable; never noticed anything wrong on my 22" crt pc monitor with it, just a little washed out maybe, but now i have to wonder what i'm missing... :)

isn't it amazing what lengths we go to to get all this technology to just work? (to above poster). it's funny if you think about it :)

When I bought the Dragon cable, I had done research and it had received very good reviews as equal to the more expensive MS cable. After the last MS update for the 360, so many stated what a big improvement it was. I noticed no improvement which made me wonder if I was missing something. That lead me to buying the MS cable. I'm glad I did! :cool:

Uzziah, I'd give the MS cable a try. The worse that could happen is you'd have return it if you see no difference. (Man, i'm starting to sound like a MS fanboy, lol!)

New update...

Well, still no joy! :( I got my new uxga cable and still getting "unsupported mode" on my tv when I go to 1080p on my computer. Looks like the switch can not handle the 1080p signal from my pc.

So, spending more money and order a uxga ceritified switch from cablehookup.com and will report back once I hook that one up.

I get faint diagonal ghost lines scrolling throughout the picture with VGA. I've tried cheap Joytech, MS VGA, and Monster VGA. Anybody else have this problem?

I don't have this problem when hooking up my laptop to my HDTV (Samsung DLP).

That's one reason why I will not screw around with an LCD.

I bought a knock off of ebay for .99 cents 10 bucks shipping. It worked great for 4 months. Then bam my picture turned all blue and green.

Luckliy my friend had a MS VGA cable that he couldnt use. Looks about the same as the cheap one to me but i dont have any color problems.

Ive only ever used the MS VGA and i've never had any issues. and up converting dvd's is very nice. Ive never even used components on my xbox with hdtv.

I just got my VGA cable today from Ebay (MS brand). I'm kicking myself that I haven't been using VGA for the last year and a half. Upscaled DVD's look amazing. Colors are much better. I'm pretty suprised how much better everything looks. Best $15 ever spent.

New update...

Well, still no joy! :( I got my new uxga cable and still getting "unsupported mode" on my tv when I go to 1080p on my computer. Looks like the switch can not handle the 1080p signal from my pc.

So, spending more money and order a uxga ceritified switch from cablehookup.com and will report back once I hook that one up.

Ok, finally got it right! I now have a two port uxga rated switch (with a remote control) and cable. I can now switch successfully between my PC and Xbox 360 on my 1080p Sammy 6168w. Even rebooted my computer to insure it will re sync to the Tv with no "unsupported mode" error. Everything works great.
Only minor complaint is the on/off button has a "stop light red" bright light when tuned on. I'll probably use some tape or a little paint to cut down on the light. No more climbing behind the tv to switch VGA cables! :D

I just got my VGA cable today from Ebay (MS brand). I'm kicking myself that I haven't been using VGA for the last year and a half. Upscaled DVD's look amazing. Colors are much better. I'm pretty suprised how much better everything looks. Best $15 ever spent.

I just bought my MS Brand VGA cable for $24 off of eBay, and I also purchased my Monitor (Sony Trinitron FD) for $39. I can't wait to see what my 360 will look like on this!

I have the Dragon VGA cable and it looks decent enough to me...I guess I'll try an MS cable and see if it's any different.

I have the Dragon VGA cable and it looks decent enough to me...I guess I'll try an MS cable and see if it's any different.

I also have the Dragon VGA Cable. At 1280x720 it looks absolutely perfect, but if I go higher it doesn't look quite as good. I don't know if that's the cable or the Xbox's scaler.

You guys have me questioning myself now. I bought a VGA cable from PlayAsia a while back and I think the games look great but they do seem a little washed out at times. Also I feel DVDs look pretty crappy but that may be just because I'm used to watching HD Cable.

Do you guys think I should try the MS Cables?

You guys have me questioning myself now. I bought a VGA cable from PlayAsia a while back and I think the games look great but they do seem a little washed out at times. Also I feel DVDs look pretty crappy but that may be just because I'm used to watching HD Cable.

Do you guys think I should try the MS Cables?

Poor cables shouldn't make it look "washed out." Have you adjusted the black level controls that were added with the spring update?

You guys have me questioning myself now. I bought a VGA cable from PlayAsia a while back and I think the games look great but they do seem a little washed out at times. Also I feel DVDs look pretty crappy but that may be just because I'm used to watching HD Cable.

Do you guys think I should try the MS Cables?

PlayAsia is where I bought my first cable, I am assuming you have the Dragon Cable? I'd recommend at least trying out the MS cable, pick it up used at a local game shop or buy a new one. If it makes no visual difference then return it. As I mentioned in my first post, the difference was extremely noticeable on my set-up but YMMV. Ghosting was gone and the washed out colors now are vibrant. Of course, my original cable may have been defective. I am very satisfied with the MS vga cable.

right now, my ms vga looks like a pile of steaming dog crap. Sure it's crisp, but my mitsu hd1000 has the reds looking not vibrant at all for some reason. I haven't tweaked the pj at all, so i'm assuming the red push every one talks about is there, so I'm dumbfounded as to why bright reds look like cherry starburst colored. Sigh. I don't know what to do.

I have the Sony kds-50A2000. I was told that the Sony won't accept 1080p over VGA, only through HDMI. Anyone know if this is true?

I have the Sony kds-50A2000. I was told that the Sony won't accept 1080p over VGA, only through HDMI. Anyone know if this is true?

I don't believe so. If I remember correctly, it doesn't fill the screen when using VGA. That's what pushed me over to the Samsung HLS6187.

Poor cables shouldn't make it look "washed out." Have you adjusted the black level controls that were added with the spring update?


Yea, I did. I guess games haven't been washed out. I was just thinking mainly of Spiderman 3 since the brightness they recommended made it very washed out. I think I'm just paranoid.

I guess my main problem is DVDs but, like I said, I think that's because I'm used to HD Cable. I guess it's time for an HD DVD or Blu Ray player....whenever someone finally wins.

I also have the Dragon VGA Cable. At 1280x720 it looks absolutely perfect, but if I go higher it doesn't look quite as good. I don't know if that's the cable or the Xbox's scaler.
I run it at 1360x768 - games look fine, but the only DVD I've tried is AVIA. :P

I don't believe so. If I remember correctly, it doesn't fill the screen when using VGA. That's what pushed me over to the Samsung HLS6187.

So, if I were to use the VGA cable I would get a 1080p signal just not full screen with my xbox 360?