Xbox 360 RGB cable

[NFG]

I finally caved and bought a 360.  Couldn't be without my PacMan CE, right?  Geometry Wars 2:RE as well...  But the composite video cable it came with SUCKED, as you'd expect, so I needed an RGB cable.

I bought a Power Wave component cable.  It's big and heavy, but if you give it more than a cursory glance it's pretty cheap.  No doubt made in china by little girls who wouldn't know an Xbox if it fell on them from their manager's mansion in the clouds. 

Anyway.

I bought it 'cause it had all the teeth in it.  Despite what Ben Heck says, the standard Xbox AV cable no longer has all the connectors, so it wasn't any good to me.  I took the Power Wave cable apart with a flat screwdriver - it's glued together but comes apart easily enough.  Inside it was really easy to re-use.  Remove the protective tape and all the pins are ready for re-use.

I used a SNES RGB cable 'cause I have lots of them lying around.  The SNES end was cut off, and re-used basically without modification.  RGB, Sync, Left & Right Audio, Ground and +5v were easily tapped from the Xbox connector.  I left the existing digital audio output without modification.

The RGB end of the cable had a tiny PCB with 3 capacitors inside, which I removed.  I had to re-connect the RGB in/out wires after this, of course, but that took no time.  +5v from the Xbox is passed directly to pin 11, and to pin 16 through the resistor I removed from the PCB.

As a bonus, the SNES-end stress-relief bit fit perfectly into the Power Wave connector, so it looks totally pro!  =D

There was a HD/SD switch in the Xbox connector which I basically ignored: it wasn't useful for this mod, sadly.  I might rig up a VGA/RGB switch to this later, but for now...  It's RGB only!  =)

Anyway, pics:

[RGB32E]

Nice job Lawrence...  Though I wonder why you even bothered, since VGA and HDMI are the best outputs on that system    A 240p mode does not exist for the system (nor did it on the original Xbox).  No "480i only" games exist on the 360.  Or was it just for the fun of it?   

[NFG]

Not sure what your point is, RGB32E: What does non-interlaced video (240p) have to do with it?

My TV is not HD capable, so 15kHz RGB is the best I can get from it.  It has component video, but it sucks, with colour bleed, shadows and a red offset that drives me crazy.  It doesn't matter how great VGA and/or HDMI is if my TV's low-res, does it?  =)

And holy shit does it look good.  It looks even better on my 14" RGB monitor.  =D

[RGB32E]

Not sure what your point is, RGB32E: What does non-interlaced video (240p) have to do with it?

Considering that you don't have an HDTV or large computer monitor to connect the system, mentioning it is a null point.  I can see the benefit of having 240p output when connecting to a <480p display (doesn't flicker).  But since the 360 is intended for HD displays, and it isn't a Wii... well... yeah... 

My TV is not HD capable, so 15kHz RGB is the best I can get from it.  It has component video, but it sucks, with colour bleed, shadows and a red offset that drives me crazy.  It doesn't matter how great VGA and/or HDMI is if my TV's low-res, does it?  =)

And holy shit does it look good.  It looks even better on my 14" RGB monitor.  =D

Since 15kHz RGB is the best option for you, so be it!  Have fun reading text in Dead Rising on your 14" monitor!  That's kind of odd that your TV doesn't handle component video very well.  That's really weird that you get color bleeding when using component.  I've seen minor color bleed with 15kHz component on some TVs, and not others.  You make it sound like your TV transcodes component to s-video before decoding! 

I had picked up a ghetto party SCART cable for the 360 (http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-de-49-en-15-RGB-70-1667.html).  Unfortunately, I found that it was wired for COMPONENT video, not RGB.  Upon opening the scart hood, video signals were wired to the CVBS in, G, and B... but your posting has inspired me to crack open the 360 plug and wire up an RGB cable for my PVM-2030 for the sake of shits and giggles! 

***Update: The cable mentioned does appear to be wired correctly (after opening the 360 plug hood and removal of hot glue).  The mode jumpers are correct (pin 22 to 24 and 26 to 28).  The odd thing is that red video is connected to the scart plug using the drain wire on the mini coax cable used for connecting composite sync!  Ick! 

[undamned]

Lawrence:

I am unfamiliar w/ the video settings menus for the 360.  What mode do you put it in to use an RGB cable like you used?  Or does it just automatically go into that mode when the jumpers are set appropriately?

I have a friend who wants me to make him a cable like this for his PVM but I was a little unclear as to how to set it up!
-ud

[RGB32E]

The answer you seek is contained inside this document (J2A1 Video and Audio Port):
http://dwl.xbox-scene.com/tutorial/Xbox_360-HandC-V1_4.pdf
Just like the original xbox, there are 3 different pins on the Xbox 360 cable plug that are grounded to determine the output mode of the system.  There are no settings to enable 15kHz RGBS output from the dashboard.  Connecting pin 22 to 24 and 26 to 28 selects 15kHz RGBS output.  The document explains which pins to jumper for the desired cable usage.

Though if you have a computer monitor the same size or larger than the PVM, I'd HIGHLY recommend using the official VGA cable on zed monitor... you'll get a vastly better picture and be able to run at higher resolutions than 480i (no interlace flicker).   Just sayin' 

[undamned]

That's one of the docs I used to make my cable.  I wanted to know if setting the jumpers is all I needed to do or if I also needed to change settings in the system menus.  I didn't find such confirmation in that document.  Thanks anyways, though.

Yes, if this were for me, VGA would be used, but this is by request for somebody I know.
-ud

[RGB32E]

I wanted to know if setting the jumpers is all I needed to do or if I also needed to change settings in the system menus.  I didn't find such confirmation in that document.  Thanks anyways, though.

Yes, if this were for me, VGA would be used, but this is by request for somebody I know.
-ud

Yes, all you need to do is set the appropriate jumpers for 15kHz RGB output on the 360 connector.

[undamned]

Has anybody successfully done one of these cables for a non-SCART application, i.e. some other RGB monitor like PVM or 1080s or somethin'?  I'm having a bear of a time.  My cable is all soldered up, I've checked and tripple checked and still I get a very green tint on my picture.  Right now, Pins 17(Switching Voltage) and 19 (Blanking Signal) are just hanging in the breeze.  These signal are not required for for anything other than SCART TV control, right?  This is thoroughly frustrating.  I'm running a 1080s right now, by the way.
-ud

[NFG]

If you've got a predominantly green image then the odds are you've left it in component-video mode.  If you double check your video mode pins you'll find you missed something, I'm sure.

[undamned]

If you've got a predominantly green image then the odds are you've left it in component-video mode.

That's what I was thinking, because I'd seen the same thing on the PS2 when I forgot to change to RGB mode.

If you double check your video mode pins you'll find you missed something, I'm sure.

That's the bugger.  I can't find anything wrong.  Every schematic/guide I've seen says to short 22-24 and 26-28 (essentially Component and Composite mode at the same time).  That's what I've done and it don't work.  I even tossed one cable aside and tried a totally different cable and got the same results.

Does the XBOX360 cable rely on the TV to do a color space conversion (i.e. convert the 360's component video to RGB)? 

-ud

[Truthkeeper]

Bought one of these and tried to mod it to run on my Arcade monitor using the http://www.mameworld.net/pc2jamma/arc_dc1.html method.

Figured out that like RGB32E that the cable I bought could not be used.

Is it possible to hack a normal Xbox 360 component cable to get what I desire?

Please let me know

[RGB32E]

Bought one of these and tried to mod it to run on my Arcade monitor using the http://www.mameworld.net/pc2jamma/arc_dc1.html method.

Figured out that like RGB32E that the cable I bought could not be used.

Is it possible to hack a normal Xbox 360 component cable to get what I desire?

Please let me know

It can be used, just that the drain/shield conductor for the composite sync coax is what is used to carry red video (due to using only 3 mini-coax cables instead of 4 to carry RGBS).  Though if you remove the scart connector to terminate with a different connector, you'll notice noise on the red channel (due to how red video is wired).  So, you really have to break open the 360 connector hood on this cable and run new mini coax cables to get the best PQ (one for each RGBS, and audio).

[Truthkeeper]

Bought one of these and tried to mod it to run on my Arcade monitor using the http://www.mameworld.net/pc2jamma/arc_dc1.html method.

Figured out that like RGB32E that the cable I bought could not be used.

Is it possible to hack a normal Xbox 360 component cable to get what I desire?

Please let me know

It can be used, just that the drain/shield conductor for the composite sync coax is what is used to carry red video (due to using only 3 mini-coax cables instead of 4 to carry RGBS).  Though if you remove the scart connector to terminate with a different connector, you'll notice noise on the red channel (due to how red video is wired).  So, you really have to break open the 360 connector hood on this cable and run new mini coax cables to get the best PQ (one for each RGBS, and audio).

I am trying to run RGB to a custom jamma pinout on a DB15

I connected the composite video , red , green , blue , and ground to the DB 15 and even checked and the jumpers were modified.

What am I doing wrong?

[RGB32E]

I am trying to run RGB to a custom jamma pinout on a DB15

I connected the composite video , red , green , blue , and ground to the DB 15 and even checked and the jumpers were modified.

What am I doing wrong?

Could you describe the specific problem (I didn't catch that)?

What monitor are you trying to connect your 360 to?

What specific cable are you using?

Could you post any relevant pictures of the cable, monitor, ect?

The pinout for the PC2Jamma spec is the standard HDDB15 connector, often times more than one ground connection is needed (pin 5 and 6/7/8).

[undamned]

If you've got a predominantly green image then the odds are you've left it in component-video mode.  If you double check your video mode pins you'll find you missed something, I'm sure.

Dig this, it was my friend's XBOX 360!  I tried the same cable on another system and it works fine!  Oh, the HORROR!!!



Here's Lego Starwars on my Amiga 1080 monitor (RGBs to the DB-9 input)



-ud

[Tighe]

OK I am wanting to hook my 360 up to my 15 khz Arcade cabinet.  Can you USA 360 output 15 khz RGB? 

[RGB32E]

OK I am wanting to hook my 360 up to my 15 khz Arcade cabinet.  Can you USA 360 output 15 khz RGB? 

Yes, 360s sold in the US can output 15kHz RGB... I've built the cable.  Buy a scart cable and modify it... or just crack open any generic cable with all pins installed and build one from that... I've posted my findings in this thread already.