I am considring getting an X2VGA2 so I can get widescreen output out of my videogame consoles, but it would probably be hooked up to a 3:4 display, at least initially. Will the output be letterboxed, vertically stretched, or clipped? I'm hoping it is stretched so I can use it with an anamorphic pj and use the pj's max resolution. If it is letterboxed I at least have somthing, but obviously if it is clipped this whole venture is pointless. Can anyone help?

I believe its dependent on how your LCD handles the signal. The X2VGA2 is just a transcoder, it has no signal processing. So if your console is set to 720p, then the signal will be 1280x720. Most likely your LCD will stretch it to fill the space. I only have a play station 2, but when i put mine to widescreen it still fills the screen. I hope this helps.

The support tab at neoya had this to say:



FAQ


Can all the gaming consoles and games work with the X2VGA 2?

The major gaming consoles on the market, such as the Playstation 3, Playstation 2, Wii, GameCube, Xbox 360, and Xbox, all support 480p or above modes in hardware. Therefore, as long as the game itself also supports one of 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p modes, it can work with the X2VGA 2.The general situation of the modes supported by each gaming console is as follows.

Playstation 3 All games support 720p or 1080p mode and can work with the X2VGA 2.
Playstation 2 Most games can only support 480i mode. Therefore, only those that support 480p, or 1080i mode can work with the X2VGA 2.
Wii Most games support 480p mode and can work with the X2VGA 2.
GameCube Over 60 percent of the games support 480p mode, and can work with the X2VGA 2.
Xbox 360 All games support 720p mode and can work with the X2VGA 2.
Xbox With the exception of the very earliest games that only support 480i, most existing Xbox games can be displayed in 480p mode on standard VGA monitors with the X2VGA 2.To check the display modes that each game supports, please inquire the game manufacturer or refer to the game instructions, or to the website at www.hdtvarcade.com.


Can the X2VGA 2 work with LCD monitors?

Due to 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p display modes are not the common working modes for computers, whether LCD monitors can function normally, really depend on their circuits, and the supports they provide to these modes. According to the testing results, we conclude that almost all LCD monitors can function normally in 480p and 720p modes; also, the newer or larger LCD monitors have a higher possibility to work in 1080i mode correctly—should attribute to their better drive circuits. The possibility to work in 1080p mode reaches 70% among the 17” or above LCD monitors, especially for those manufactured in recent two years.



So depending on your monitors capibilities and resolution settings You have a 70% rating of it working as you want it to.

But sounds to me like you are not getting a wide screen monitor in the near future. Pj with a anamorphic lens?

Forgot to mention my results... With one panel (goodmans 14") 480i, twin view feature, did not work at all, and 1080i wouldn't display either. On a sony panel, the 480i worked, but still no 1080i. So buyer beware 1080i might not work. I don't have any equipement that outputs 720p but i've tried 4 different panels with my computer set to 1280x720 and they all worked, so this would probably be the best match for this converter.

Just to pick a nit with the OP, 1280x1024 displays are 5:4 (Most 17" and 19"), 1024x768 displays are 4:3(15" and smaller).

Most LCD's won't display higher than their Native res, and they will display everything by forcing it into their native aspect ratio (4:3 will be pushed into 5:4)

i am also interested in this issue.

I am running a 5:4 (1280x1024) LCD projector, but with a projection screen that only covers the widescreen portion of the 5:4 screen . Therefore I will need something that can run widescreen games with horizontal black bars (letterbox mode), and non-widescreen games with horizontal and vertical black bars (letterbox mode). Does it do that? Or will stretching occur?

Ive got a 17"projector, and the kworld tv box 1440 works great, with a PS3 set in 720, it does the appropriate letterboxing into 720p, if its a 480p image, it letter and pillarboxes it into its native 1:1 pixel mapping (what youre looking for). It also downscales 1080p well, but I still prefer 720p unaltered... so far... so yeah, I would say pick one of these up and try it, if you dont like it return it and go for the other. The only downside is that the kworld model I have only has one input, a dongle with either composite, s-vid, or component (the obvious choice), but just use a cheap video game vid switcher, or if your receiver has vid switching, use that. Oh and it also has PC passthrough, which ive been told is not so good.... so I just use a KVM for that.

as far as monitors stretching, I dont know about the x2vga, but the kworld is basically a cheap scaler, so it is sending out the letter and pillar box portions as black pixels, so your monitor thinks its getting its native res... so you just set your output device to 720p, and set the kworld to 1280x1024, and your monitor will not stretch or any of that zoom crap people are so fond of using on their HDTVs... thats why everyone looks fat on the SD channels... but you gotta use all those pixels... or your wasting that money you spent. these ar the same people that bought 'full screen' DVDs for their SD tv's.

two edits... im getting tired...

so you tried it using the x2vga2, ps2 (widescreen mode) and a 5:4 or 4:3 LCD and the widescreen image gets stretched?

Yeah, I was just using as an example because it was the only component feed I had at the time. It does not change the format (widescreen vs 4:3).

sorry could you please elaborate? what do you mean "it does not change the format"?

more specifically, can u try a wii on a 5:4 LCD? before i buy a vga transcoder i need to ensure that i can run widescreen games in letterbox mode, cause my projector is based on a 17"LCD and i only made a screen that covers the widescreen portion of the projection.

thanks alot!

These devices will not add "letterbox" or black bars on the sides or top/bottom.. Expensive ones will but not the cheap ones. As mentioned they are transcoders, what goes in is what comes out, it doesn't add or subtract anything. You will only get black bars if your Lcd adds them and 99.9% of Pc Lcds don't.

so unless the wii supports it (the xbox does) then there is no hope of getting letterbox widescreen on a 5:4 screen then?

dammit why isnt there any component in tv cards, that would solve all my problems

Exactly.

The problem we've had for a lot of years in the projector field.

That is why a lot of people are using Lcd T.V's or controller/lcd kits.

the Kworld boxes (the 1440 model) does letter/pillarboxing, works on my 19w monitor and my 17" projector. Component in. Awesome cheap scaler. tested with a few directv boxes with over the air HD, and with a PS3. It will work with anything really... you just set the output on your device to what you want to see, and the box scales it to fit the screen (correctly), if the resolution is too high, it downscales it (such as if I were to input 1080p on my 720p projector). If youre using a lower res monitor like a 1024x768, it will downscale 720p nicely... it looks great on a fellow LLer's 15 incher. This is not a transcoder, its a cheap scaler... it sets the letter/pillarboxing to black pixels, so you are actually feeding the monitor its native res, so it wont try to stretch it.

Well tickle me and call me Betty.

It doesn't scale 1080p though just up to 1440x900.

But it does add the black bars huh ? Interesting. Does it look good or does it change the source material like some of the other boxes? (add red, darken image, etc)

Does it have a built in brightness/color/contrast menu ?

could you please tell us the model number exactly? and where can we buy one? im in australia!

also, do you know if this is the case with the x2vga2 or the http://www.mayflash.com/vgabox/vga001/vga001.htm

http://www.kworld.com.tw/product_overview.aspx?P_id=14

look under products. there is the 1440ex model and a 1680ex model as well (1680ex supports 1680x1050 in addition to the resoltions supported by the 1440ex)

There is also a "where to buy" link at the top of the page.

gs

be wary of the 1680 model, if theyve updated it, it should be fine, but I got that one first, and it did not do aspect ratio switching... stupid, its even the same remote (tried a friends just to make sure it wasnt just the remote), but if there is a new model that does 'aspect' thats the scaling, otherwise same prob as the x2vga, etc. but yes jon, the 1440 does not scale 1080p, at least I dont THINK it does, not HDCP, so I really didnt try. it says up to 1080i on the box, so im guessing its due to the stupid copy protection it wont do 1080p? idunno... ill try to see what it does with 1080p next week... oh and credit to Loki669 for trying this box out and telling me about it.

so I looked at the current 1680 model, the one pictured on their site its NOT the one I had originally purchased, and according to the user manual it does do aspect ratio switching. I cannot verify this, as their information is usually vague, or possibly misleading, I think its lost in translation. But anyways, this is not the model I tried, if you see a 1680 where the side of the unit (or top lying down) looks kinda like an old xbox, dont get it, if its what is in the pic, someone could try it. Although im not sure what the advantage is, unless you think scaled 1080i is better than native 720p... depends on the scaling i guess, and they surprisingly do invest in that dept... As far as the video adjustments, it has contrast, brightness, sharpness, chroma, noise reduction. It also has preset configs, bright, standard, custom, etc. I cannot attest to the performance of the vid adjustments, as I will monkey with it next week with my PS3 when it arrives in the mail. My GF bought me a dead PS3 off ebay, thinking I/my friend could fix it, maybe just replace the power supply... she didnt know that stuff is proprietary, and that one of the few machines im hesitant to mod... at least for now. But I sent it to Sony, and no warranty sticker, case opened, they took it back and are shipping me a refurb unit, for the 150 flat out of warranty service charge. Im really impressed with the service, as they could have just told me where to place that unit, and they instead are replacing it. It took about a week to get the RMA box, which is prepaid to overninight to them, they take 2-3 days to inspect it, and return it 3deay select.... pretty fast. Just had to say something... I cant wait.... but anyways I will put the kworld through its paces next week and post what I find... but Loki 669 uses it to scale 720p to his 15" and it looks amazing... pretty badass considering its not a 6000 dollar faroudja.

I was just informed by math that he had contacted kworld, and they dropped the aspect ratio option! so if youre interested, try to get ahold of an old 1440 model... theyre are probably a lot of em still out there... but according to Math, they say the new ones dont have it.... RETARDED!

has anyone tried this http://www.digimartz.com/perfect-ypbpr2vga...-wii-p-205.html

it claims to do all the letterboxing, as well as deinterlacing 480i and 576i!

someone in the US try it, as they charge $30 shipping to australia

This doesnt look bad, nice and compact... I wonder if there are any video adjustments....? someone buy one.