vga box

Anyone has hook up his PS2 to a PC monitor with it ?
Is it worth buying one ? I one it it possible with a TV tuner card but my PC is old and I'm on a tight budget

 

I use my monitor with my ps2 sometimes, when i play socom2 over lan with my brother.
Wether on not a vga box is worth buying depends on why you want to use your pc monitor with your ps2...

 

What model do you use. There about 7-8 available on the web but no reviews are available.

 

I have used the magic vga box from mayflash, and the 3 in one vga box from mayflash.

 

Thanks I'm gonna check these out. There also this one that look good.
http://www.gocybershopping.com/customer/product.php?productid=667&cat=196&page=1

 

That one isn't for use with a pc monitor, read what it says in the product info...

 

I use a Micomsoft XRGB-2plus, and recommend it if you need an all-purpose upscan converter. Kind of on the pricey side, but I was using the Redant PS2 VGA box before I bought the XRGB, and it went defective in two months. Needless to say the image quality was pretty shabby too. I guess you get what you pay for.

Here is the product page (if you can read Japanese):
http://www.micomsoft.co.jp/xrgb-2plus.htm

And some reviews:
http://atarilabs.com/meat/2002/0208_xrgb2+.shtml
http://www.tiptonium.com/videogames/reviews/other/XRGB2-PLUS.htm

Edit: Oh yeah, and if you go with a TV tuner card, DON'T BUY A USB VERSION. Usb tuners, while convenient for watching TV, are not at all suitable for game-playing. This is because the time it takes for the card to encode the video, transfer it, and your cpu to decode it, will cause a noticeable lag.

Edit 2: If budget is a primary concern, then I guess your two options are the Redant VGA Box and some kind of PCI video capture card. They're both comparatively priced. The Redant VGA Box is $50, and an Ati TV Wonder can be found online for as low as $50.

Redant VGA Box. Pros: It's a "plug and play" solution. You can use it without booting your PC up. Cons: Image quality not so good.

Capture Card. Pros: Good image quality. Can record gameplay. Cons: Will have to open your PC to install. Need to have computer on to use it.

 

i really want one of these for my laptop

 

My Pc is a 10 years old pentium I 200mgz so I'll forget about the capture card. I don't know if this box is good ?
http://www.gocybershopping.com/customer/product.php?productid=610&cat=196&page=1

And if I use a S-video cable will I get a better image quality on the PC monitor then with the regular cable ?
thanks

 

Can't be worse than the Redant, so might as well give it a try. As for the cables, if you already have the S-Video cable then by all means use it. If you don't, don't bother buying it, since its unlikely to make much of a difference. The biggest factor in image quality is the quality of the conversion ICs inside the VGA box.

Its like the difference between pumping 87 and 89 octane: the 89 might slightly increase performance, but it won't make an Acura drive like a Porsche.

 

Hi I use a ComPro TV card & its crap 4 PS2 gameplay lag, colour degradation & noticable pixalation near where the major action is happening. I'd b interested 2 hear how the VGA box goes.

 

I've ordered one to see by myself, so I'll keep you posted. I'll also let you in on the quality on the store. I should get it by the end of the week

 

Thanks

 

OK finally got my box.
First the bad new: it's defective it don't have any signal coming out of the ps2 multi av out from the box.

The good news: I tried with the regular AV cable and looks good on the PC monitor. But for those who had a VGA with their dreamcast, don't expect the same quality.

 

This is a good discussion. I have purchase a VGA coverter whic give good quality NTSC on Monitor but Pal CDs appear black and white. I have a mod chip installed. Any help in this regards is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

If the modchip doesn't apply NTSC-PAL conversion on the fly, you need to patch the game before burning.

 

What model of VGA box do you have ?

 

This is generic VGA Box Model: VGA-1700. It has four composite inputs wiht Monitor and output. It supposedly supports automatic pal and NTSC input and output. There is button called Fresh on it which when I press repeatedtly and check my monitor resolution changes from 48.3, 37.5, with refresh rate of 75 and 60. The NTSC games are good and normal color, while Pal games are slightly fuzzy and black and white. The mod chip is to play both pal and ntsc games.

When you start the PS2 the Logo colors are normal then PS2 appears but pal games are black and white.

Thanks for all your help.