How To Play Xbox of Your PC Monitor!

How to play Xbox 360 off of your computer monitor! ​

Introduction​

Hey guys! In this guide I will be teaching you guys on how to play your xbox 360 off your very own monitor. Many people don't even know that this is possible, but with a little help from me you can have the whole process done in less then 20$-30$ (depends on your local store price, or if your buying online or not) Some people may think that it would be pointless to play your Xbox 360 off of a computer monitor, but actually there are some pretty reasons as to why someone would (or maybe even why you should switch over to playing xbox 360 on your pc monitor as well). Basically the first and most important reason why someone would chose to use their xbox on their pc monitor is because most of the time it's close to there router. If you don't have the money to buy a wireless adapter, and you don't want to have a 100 ft Ethernet cable running through you house then this might be the choice for you. Another reason is because if your like me then you have a big computer monitor screen. In my case my computer screen is actually bigger then the television in my room, and it also has much better quality as well. These are just a few reasons why you would want to consider playing your xbox 360 off of your pc monitor.​

What do I need?
Now that we have gone over some of the basics of playing your xbox 360 off your computer, and also some reasons as to why you would want to do so we will start off with the items that you may need. This is a good question when it comes to knowing what you need to actually have to play your xbox 360 on your computer monitor, because the items you need can be different depending on what type of pc monitor you have. In my guide we will be going over the two main ways the people use to actually play their xbox off there computer monitor. The first one would be using a VGA cable, a y-adapter, and a coupler. And the second using a HDMI to DVI-D cable. This all may sound pretty confusing to you fight now, but through this guide I will be breaking everything down to be as easily understandable as possible.

Connecting your Xbox 360 to your monitor using a VGA Cable.
Now before we even start talking about what items you need, and how much they will cost, etc we need to actually find out what you have and what you need to get. To do this we will start by turning off our computer monitor and then flipping it so that you can see the back. After you have it flipped over and all of the cables are exposed, the first thing that you should look for is a label. Not all computer monitors have the labels on the inputs, but if they do it will make the process easier for you. If you do have the labels on the back then you should look for the one labeled VGA. If you do see this label, then great you are one step closer to setting up your xbox 360 on your pc monitor. If you do not see this label then here is what you need to do. First you should flip the monitor so that you have clear view of exactly what the input cables look like. After you have a clear view of what they all look like, then you should look for one that looks specifically like this:

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If you do find this this input on your computer monitor, then congratulations you are one stop closer to getting your xbox 360 hooked up to your pc monitor. However if you do not see this, then don't worry and skip to the next part of my tutorial about hooking up your xbox 360 via a DVI-D hookup.


Ok, I've found the VGA Input. What now?
Alright. Now that you have found the VGA input you are going to need to get the right cable for this specific monitor. Luckily this is the main type of input on monitors, and Microsoft makes one specifically for this type of input. So now that you know what you have on your monitor you are going to have to get a cable that looks like this:

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This my friends is a Vga Hd Av cable, and cost around $40 dollars if you want to buy it Microsoft brand. They come at many places such as your local Wal-mart, Radio Shack, Best Buy, and Gamestop. However if you don't want to buy the expensive Microsoft brand from one of these stores, you can buy the same thing for about 5-10$ on eBay.

I have the VGA HD AV now, but how do I use it?
Now that you have the main cord you will have to get two extra parts to be able to completely play your xbox 360 off of your pc monitor. Before I go over these two though I'm going to go over what you need to do with the VGA HD AV cable. This part actually should be self explanatory, but if you aren't sure then read on. Basically this cord is the same as the basic video and audio cord that comes with the xbox when you first buy it (the one with the red, white, and yellow outputs) except then instead of these outputs you have the output of a VGA cable. Basically what you need to do is put the one end in your xbox (it should look just the same as the original one that came with the xbox) and then you put the VGA output end of the cable into the back of your pc monitor. To do this all you need to do is put the cable in place, and then screw in the two screws on the cable. After you have this process complete it should look almost done but you should notice two white and red output cables just dangling there. This is where the two extra parts come in.

A Y-Adapter
This is the first of the two extra parts that you will need before have a completely working xbox 360 running on a monitor. What you will need is a Y-Adapter. Basically what this Y- Adapter does is takes the two male output cables attached to your VGA Cable, and then turns it into one male cable instead of two. You can pick one of these up at Radioshack for about 4$. This may sound kind of complicated so I will break it down a bit. To start off I will start by telling you the difference between the male and female parts of these devices. It is pretty self-explanatory, but basically the "hole" that you put the 3.5mm jacks into are the female devices and the male are the actually jacks that you stick into the "holes". In no way am I trying to be dirty about his, but it's really the only way to explain it and also those are the technical terms of these devices not some made up names I made from them. Although if you still don't get the picture then here is a diagram:

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What is the last item I need to compete the process of playing xbox 360 on my computer monitor?
Finally, to finish the process you will need what is called a coupler. You can also pick one of these up at Radioshack for about 4$, and it is a pretty simple object. Basically what it is is two female devices on the side of a metal tube so that you can plug the male part of the Y-adapter into one end, and then a nice pair of headphones in the other. Or you could hook it up to a stereo system/some speakers. Basically without this you would be without sound on your xbox which would be ok, but not as fun. Here is a picture of what a coupler looks like:

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How to hook up your xbox 360 to your Computer monitor when you have a DVI-D input!

Now if your anything like me and you don't have a VGA cable input on your computer monitor, or you don't have one that's not in use then you will next need to look for a DVI-D input on the back of your computer monitor. This should look very similar to a VGA input except in the middle it will have 3 rows or 8 small boxes, and the about 4 other boxes off to the side, instead of the 3 rows of 5 on the VGA input. Now if you are not sure of what this DVI-D input should look like then here is a picture:

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As you can see above the VGA and DVI-D cable inputs looks very much alike, so it's very important that when you go off to get the cables that you get the right ones!

I've established that I have a DVI-D input on the back of my computer Monitor. What now?
Now that you know that the cable input on the back of your computer monitor is a DVI-D input, then you will now need to know which cable is proper for this connection. Now unlike before there is no xbox 360 Microsoft official DVI-D cable, but that doesn't mean that we still can't connect them. If you are looking to connect your xbox 360 to you computer monitor under these circumstances than what you will need to buy is called an DVI-D to HDMI cable. Basically what this is, is a cable with an HDMI output on one end, and then a DVI-D output on the other end. Luckily this is the only cable we will be need, so no extra items will be needed like before with the VGA cable. Anyways the cable that you need to buy should look something like this:

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After obtaining a cable that is somewhat like this you will then need to just plug the HDMI output into the HDMI input on the back of your xbox, and the the DVI-D end into the back of your pc monitor. After you have done that congratulations you have rigged your xbox 360 up to your computer monitor via DVI-D to HDMI cord.

Closing​

After you have rigged the xbox 360 to your computer monitor (for both the VGA HD AV and DVI-D to HDMI cables, all you need to do is turn on your xbox 360 and start playing. Also if when you turn on your xbox it doesn't go straight to your xbox 360 start screen than look for the button source on the front of your computer monitor and press that button until you see the xbox 360 start screen. If you do not see this button just toy with your buttons on the monitor, and it should show up eventually. Anyways I hope that after you have followed my procedures above you are able to connect your xbox 360 to your computer monitor, and also happy gaming! If you have any questions of concerns feel free to pm me, and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks for reading!

 

I think that I have my rights of expressing my thoughts, so..

Isn't this guide a bit too unnecessarily long?
I mean, I'm sure that it could have been done within 6 lines.

 

It's very detailed anyway,

Thanks bro, will be trying it out, even though I own a 17INCH monitor +.

 

Well a lot of people would have no way of understanding this guide in six lines. I tried to make this guide as detailed as possible so that people could understand every single part without having to be a computer wiz. Thanks for the feedback!

 

Good information in the guide, but putting it in the form of numbered steps, or making bullets instead of paragraphs would make it much better.