Connect your PS3 or Xbox 360 Elite to your monitor - I can be a great HD experience

Posted December 7th, 2007 by Purazar
in

So, now that I have my PS3 at home, it was time to up the experience by connecting it to my Samsung 226BW, and my Sony 300 watt speaker system.  The only problem here is the volume I can enjoy the movies and games at - since I live in an apartment (flat).

Update - After receiving numerous comments and emails regarding setting up the sound to output though your computer speakers, I've written up another post that might help you with that.

Update #2 - Read my detailed post about setting up a good surround sound system to enjoy not only your PS, but other inputs as well.

It was fairly simple to connect the PS3 (or a Xbox 360 Elite) to a LCD monitor. Only prerequisite being that your monitor will have to support HDCP (High Definition Content Protection - High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection)

I have only tried the following for the PS3, therefore I give no guarantees that the XBOX 360 Elite will work with a similar setup – in theory it should.

Why does it only work with those two consoles?

Because the HDMI signals translate well into DVI – the signal that you monitor understands. You could buy an expensive converter to go from composite or component to HDMI, but what’s the point, you’ve already lost quality by going to analogue!!

What you need:

  • One of the two game consoles – Playstation 3 or XBOX 360 Elite (or an player that spits out HDMI – whatever it happens to be)
  • HDMI cable (both male connectors) with a HDMI to DVI (female to male) converter - or - a HDMI to DVI cable (both male connectors).
  • PS3 Component (included in your PS3 bundle) – AV cables for the sound. (This will save you from spending $300 on a HDMI receiver box that splits the audio from the video.) Although you will loose some quality, and it won’t necessarily be 5.1.
  • Monitor that supports HDCP (which obviously has a DVI input).

That’s it. The rest is just plug and play.

Connect your HDMI cables to the monitor console. The AV cables from your console to your speakers/amp. Then fire-up the PS3 and enjoy.

If you get a black screen, here is a tip on resetting the video settings.

After you are up and running, it would be a good idea to play with the video and audio settings in the PS3 to get the best picture possible. Unless your monitor natively supports 1920 x 1080, the 1080p/i output setting won’t look good.

On my Samsung 226BW, I have the PS3 outputting 720p – HD goodness. Mmm.. crisp, sharp, vivid images.

If you need anymore details, feel free to ask.

Update - After receiving numerous comments and emails regarding setting up the sound to output though your computer speakers, I've written up another post that might help you with that.

two consoles

On December 22nd, 2007 eco (not verified) said:
how would you connect the two consoles PS3 and Xbox 360 to one monitor and one speaker system i have an LG which has DVI and VGA and i have a logitect X-540 5.1 surround sound speaker system

Anything is possible - Just depends how much money you spend!!

On December 22nd, 2007 Purazar said:
Eco - To answer your questions - Yes, it is possible, but you will have to spend a bunch. You get HDMI switches, that you can connect both your PS3 and Xbox 360 to but then you will have to deal with multiple audio cables. So, here is a summary of what you could do. (BTW, then HDMI switches are no cheaper than $250 USD)

Buy one of those switches, connect your PS3 and XBOX 360 to it. Connect your output cable from the switch to your DVI/HDMI monitor. This is your video.
As for audio, you might have to get an amp. Because the X-540 doesn't accept multiple inputs. You will need to feed the PS3 audio and the Xbox 360 audio to the different inputs on the amp, and then switch your audio that way.

Unfortunately there is no easy way of doing this for a monitor. If you have a TV on the other hand with two HDMI inputs, then you're all set.

Let me know if I can help more.

360 to my monitor

On December 22nd, 2007 Abundiz (not verified) said:
Ok i know this might sound foolish , but is there a way to connect a Xbox 360 non elite using AV cables to my monitors DVI? my monitor only has dvi and i dont think its possible but please give me your opinion, ty

Abundiz - Rather than me

On December 22nd, 2007 Purazar said:

Abundiz - Rather than me answer this question, I'll let the XBOX 360 folks tell you how to do it.

Check out their explaination of how to do what you're trying to do.

Good luck, hope it works for you, if not, let me know if I can help anymore.

360 to my monitor

On December 22nd, 2007 Abundiz (not verified) said:
Ok i know this might sound foolish , but is there a way to connect a Xbox 360 non elite using AV cables to my monitors DVI? my monitor only has dvi and i dont think its possible but please give me your opinion, ty

PS3 to Acer Monitor

On January 7th, 2008 Mark (not verified) said:
Im having trouble connecting my ps3 to monitor through HDMI. I have the Acer AL2016WBbd and i got a DVI to HDMI cable. Will my monitor work on my PS3. Or did i get screwed. A link to my monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009108

PS3 to Acer Monitor

On January 7th, 2008 Mark (not verified) said:
Im having trouble connecting my ps3 to monitor through HDMI. I have the Acer AL2016WBbd and i got a DVI to HDMI cable. Will my monitor work on my PS3. Or did i get screwed. A link to my monitor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009108

Sorry.. No HDCP on that Monitor

On January 8th, 2008 Purazar said:

From the quick research that I did on your model AL2016WBbd - It looks like the monitor doesn't support HDCP. The PS3 has that in place for content protection. You didn't get screwed, you got what you're paying for.

If you can return it and upgrade to a monitor with HDCP you'd be all set. You will have to spend a bit more though.

You can wait for a sale at Best Buy or Circuit City, and get the Samsung 226BW for under $300 possibly. Good Luck!!

How do i connect my dvi audio to my xbox 360?

On January 13th, 2008 Ali (not verified) said:
I bought a HDMI to DVI and this gets the picture very well but NO sound :(. So how to i get a DVI audio cable to connect to my 360?

Answered Above

On January 14th, 2008 Purazar said:
Hey Ali Please read though my post and the comments that follow, I've answered that question. It's fairly simple.

360 elite to monito no sound

On February 28th, 2008 devin (not verified) said:
i have a dvi input on my monitor and my 360 plugs into it fine and everything but the sound works, how do i get the sound to work on the pc speakers, i have no where to plug the audio in my 360, i have a hdmi to dvi cable i bought new

multiple games and monitors

On February 28th, 2008 large game (not verified) said:
can you suggest a way to set up a ten monitor system for ps3 and xbox lan games? We want to be able to play each other at the same location with ten different monitors and consoles. We also are trying to find the cheapest solution to this problem.ty

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On March 3rd, 2008 No name Jack (not verified) said:
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if u want to connect a

On March 12th, 2008 No name Jack (not verified) said:
if u want to connect a regular 360 to it, use the vga cabe (sold seperatley) for the 360 that also comes with an adapter for pc speakers i connect 3 (ps3 pc and 360) to my monitor at same time

Sound

On April 14th, 2008 Charlie (not verified) said:
Hey, If i connect the PS3 AV sound cables to a PC 3.5 mm jack converter, like the one for the Xbox 360 VGA cable, could i plug it into my sound cards line in device, turn the computer on and play the PS3 sound through the speakers as i dont have any other way of connecting it ?

Sound

On April 14th, 2008 Charlie (not verified) said:
Hey, If i connect the PS3 AV sound cables to a PC 3.5 mm jack converter, like the one for the Xbox 360 VGA cable, could i plug it into my sound cards line in device, turn the computer on and play the PS3 sound through the speakers as i dont have any other way of connecting it ?

Hey Charlie Yup, you could

On April 14th, 2008 Purazar said:
Hey Charlie Yup, you could convert your PS3 sound to 3.5 mm Jack. Put it into your "Line In", on your soundcard, and then play it through your computer speakers. Not the best solution, but it will work none the less. It might actually be good, because you'll be able to control your volume through your computer... Good luck.

Doesn't look very good.

On May 3rd, 2008 Josh (not verified) said:
Hey Purazer, I've just hooked up my 226bw to my PS3, I've set it up as 720p but when I play games it looks like crap. its been strethced, its pixely, not very smooth a bit rough, and it doesn't look sharp. Compared to my HDTV it looks like sh*t. I was wondering if it is similar for you? Since you have the same screen. Or does it look sharp and all that? Could you post pictures if it looks good on yours?

Nope

On May 4th, 2008 Purazar said:
Hey JoshI don't really have that problem. I can't post picture because it's not going to look as good in the picture and is not a true representation of what it looks like.But the main problem is that the monitor isn't exactly the same size as a 720 resolution is 1280x720, but your monitors native resolution is 1280x1050, therefore there is some stretching going on. But it is very minor and you get used to it very quickly. Mine appears in HD, and I don't have much pixelation.Try resetting the video setting and trying it again. Refer to my post here for that.Other than that, I'm not sure what could wrong. I would like to say the cable, but a bad cable wouldn't pixelate the image, but rather dis-colour it..Let me know how it goes.

No luck

On May 4th, 2008 Josh (not verified) said:
I've tried resetting video settings again, but no luck. Still very pixelly and not very crisp or sharp looking. I think I have the same monitor as you according to your main psot. Samsung 226bw syncmaster. I've got it outputting 720p but the look is something I won't get used to. Too rough and doesnt look like a clean 3d look. The colour looks fine on it, the only problem i have when I reconnect the cable HDMI>DVI is the main menu colour, when its supposed to be black and white, it seems to be a black to green gradient then that white wavey thing. After a while though the green turns solid black.

More options

On May 5th, 2008 Purazar said:

What sort of content are you testing this with? Try downloading a HD movie/game trialer form the PS webbrowser, see what that looks like.

The main menu isn't always black/white wave. It changes colours from time to time, so that's what you might be noticing. You can change the default colour of those btw, it's under the theme settings.

Try it out with some different content. If you're setting the PS3 to output at 720p, then next might be trying a new HDMI>DVI connector or cable. Those are the only two options remaining. I can't see why you wouldn't get the HD. The content on my monitor looks increadible. Good luck.

Let me know if you figure it out, or need more help.

Xbox Elite

On May 4th, 2008 Edward (not verified) said:
i have purchase a elite, but i have no HDTV, However i have recently Puchase a LG pc monitor that supports HDCP. i already know that i need a HDMI to DVI but how do i hear the sound?

Link

On May 5th, 2008 Purazar said:

This has been discussed in a few comments above. Try this link - It is an explaination directly of Microsoft website. It might be more useful than me trying to explain it to you.

Hope that help, if not, post back here, and I'll see what I can do. Good Luck...

Using the monitor for both I

On May 26th, 2008 cbert (not verified) said:
Using the monitor for both I was wondering how you switch back and forth between the ps3 and the computer? Do you just disconnect the computer and connect the ps3? or do i have to buy something to switch it?

Hi Cbert Most new

On May 26th, 2008 Purazar said:

Hi Cbert

Most new monitors that allow multiple inputs, come with a button that allows you to switch sources from VGA to DVI. On my Samsung 226BW, the button is labeled "Source".

Hope that helps.

My Mirai aint working with my ps3 im getting a black screen

On June 19th, 2008 Stefanvovich (not verified) said:
Well i got the HDMI with a DVI Plug in i think but aint working what should i do

Connect PS3 to monitor and get sound

On July 1st, 2008 Jonel (not verified) said:
Dear all, I need a help: I got PS3 and I have to connect it to my FujitsuSiemens B17 monitor (having only VGA connection) since TV set is old and bad. So, I need to buy Neoya X2VGA or Vdigi VD-P3 PS3 or HDFury Gamer Edition to do this. Any opinions about which is better choice, specially bearing in mind the sound connection to my stereo speakers (it is possible, I checked behind them - there is one jack for connecting). Problem is - how to connect PS3 to speakers? I have a cable with three different coloured jacks which I got with the PS3, a cable from the grafic card curently running from the computer to the monitor and just some money to buy a convertor to VGA signal... Any opinion for non-literate guy in all those new electronic devices? Thanks a lot

Connect PS3 to monitor and get sound

On July 1st, 2008 Jonel (not verified) said:
Dear all, I need a help: I got PS3 and I have to connect it to my FujitsuSiemens B17 monitor (having only VGA connection) since TV set is old and bad. So, I need to buy Neoya X2VGA or Vdigi VD-P3 PS3 or HDFury Gamer Edition to do this. Any opinion about which is better choice, specially bearing in mind the sound connection to my stereo speakers (it is possible, I checked behind them - there is one jack for connecting). Problem is - how to connect PS3 to speakers? I have a cable with three different coloured jacks which I got with the PS3, a cable from the grafic card curently running from the computer to the monitor and just some money to buy a convertor to VGA signal... Any opinion for non-literate guy in all those new electronic devices? Thanks a lot

help

On July 11th, 2008 cohan (not verified) said:
hey i wated to do the same thing with my halo 3 xbox 360 it has hdmi. and my monior is samsung syncmaster 2053 bw. will this work with what you said above. thanks

Xbox360 + PS3 + PC all connected to a TV.

On August 7th, 2008 Chujelly (not verified) said:
My question is the same as Eco's. I want to be able to play my consoles and my pc on my tv with the ability of using my Logitech X540 Speakers. I am willing to spend all the money i can on getting it done. I am not sure by what you meant on how to do it but I know that my tv has 2 HDMI Inputs, But if i use those how does it play sound through my X540's? And how do i connect them all into the speakers without having to go to the back of my tv and rearrange the cables?

xbox 360 to Samsung 226BW

On August 10th, 2008 littlefrog (not verified) said:
Hi there, great tips i must say. But I'm pretty new when it comes to hdmi. What makes my brain wreck is on whether do I need a HDMI cable for my games? You're using 226bw so you'll know it has both dvi and vga input. Xbox 360 has models with and w/o hdmi ports. Will there be a difference whether I get one with or without hdmi? Do the games actually support up to 1080p? If I do get a xbox360 with hdmi, to get the best possible graphics from gaming, what do i need? their package comes with a vga hd cable. (http://www.uk-consoles.co.uk/shop/images/official_xbox_360_vga_hd_av_cable_360.jpg) Will this give me the best out of the games? OR should i get the hdmi av cables? (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41lfHItkIVL.jpg) but this doesn't seems possible to connect to my lcd monitor. Please kindly guide me along this. I have pple mentioning it doesn't matter the xbox 360 has a hdmi port or not. the games can't reach that high resolution. But I want the best of high-def gaming. Thanks alot! (apologies for the long post)

PS3 to LGM208WA Monitor

On August 13th, 2008 No name Jack (not verified) said:
Please could someone advise me the best way to set up my PS3 to a LGM208WA monitor. It has a DVI output so I need to get a HDMI to DVI cable altough Im unsure whether these need to be male to male or otherwise. Also what are my options for sound output....? Thanks!!! Dan

Specific Question...

On August 14th, 2008 Purazar said:

My original post has all the info you need to get this setup working. It also has info on getting your sound working.

I checked up on the model of your LG monitor and it does support HDCP, so you shouldn't have a problem connecting it to your PS3.

Let me know if you have other specific questions...

changing source

On August 27th, 2008 milhorus (not verified) said:
Hi, I also have the Samsung 226BW monitor, I would like to know if there is any way to avoid changing the dvi from the ps3 to the dvi or D-Sub from the pc, thks for your help, by the way you r a life saver man.

Sorry, I don't fully

On August 28th, 2008 Purazar said:

Sorry, I don't fully understand the question, but I'll try to answer it to my best ability. I think you're asking about chainging the source, without having to change the cables.

You can connect your PC to the monitor via the VGA cable. DVI vs VGA, there is a minimal quality loss, and not one that I can tell the difference between.Therefore you don't have to worry about getting bad picture with the VGA output.

Here is my setup...My Video card has one VGA out, and one DVI. It is connected to the monitor with the VGA cable. My PS3 is connected via the HDMI converted to DVI cable. I used the "Source" button on monitor to switch between my PC and PS3.

Hope that helps...

HELP with EXACT same monitor --> 226BW

On September 2nd, 2008 Dries (not verified) said:
I have a 22" Samsung SyncMaster 226BW as monitor, according to this site my monitor is HDCP compatible, so as far as i know that means that i would be able to connect my ps3 to my screen (using a HDMI-DVI connector, which I have) and still be able to play with a 720p. i have tried this, but with no succes. Don't understand me wrong, I DO get an image and I can play games on it, but it is clearly not 720p (it doesn't even say it). I just don't exactly know how to change the resolution :S. I got image, always have, though It's absolutely not HD, i checked the 720p etc and tried lots of it, but it just looks like vga. it's strange.... is there nothing I need to do about the setting of the monitor itself. it also frequently gives a message about the resolution 1920x..... etc i don't know what it is, but it pops on when i start it up and goes away when I press menu or if I start up a game. It's just not HD :S it's pretty strange. anyone any tips? If someone would help me with it, that would be verty much appreciated :smileyvery-happy:

Hey DriesDid you go through

On September 3rd, 2008 Purazar said:

Hey Dries

Did you go through the setup in the PS3 to configure your video settings? Look under the settings menu. You will find a place to update your video resolution. It is sort of like a wizard that will detect the max resolution that you monitor will handle.

It shoul detect it as 720p...don't set it to 1080, becuase your monitor is not capable of this, it will just look bad. (If you get a message saying that it's set at 1920, that means you're using 1080...

I will write up a tutorial on how to go about these settings soon. Let me know if you need further help. 

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