XCM 1080p VGA box review, Special thanks to XCMlive 20th of July 2007

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Introduction

Although I can't really imagine someone not knowing about this product as it has been in the news on many big websites let me cover what this device is for you. The XCM 1080p allows you to hook up your PS3/Wii/Xbox360 to your VGA monitor (i.e. computer screen). Due to the high-definition capabilities of the new consoles many people (especially here in Europe; HD TV's are not widespread here quite yet) are longing for higher resolution screens. But, don't we already have a high-def screen? Yes we do, our VGA monitors!

Images curtousy of XCMlive.com

The box works by taking video input from the console (using supplied component cables) and convert it to VGA signals. These are then sent to your monitor which then displays them. The official specs:
• Compatible with 3 consoles.(Wii™, PS3™, Xbox 360™)
• Works on both PAL & NTSC system.
• Double scan conversion (31.5KHz for NTSC, 31.25KHz for PAL,67.5KHz for 1080p).
• Output resolution ; up to 1080p
• Plug and play installation.
• Connect compatible YPbPr device to your VGA monitor
• Integrated YPbPr to RGBHV converter
• Supports 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p
• Applications: TFT LCD monitor, CRT monitor, Set-top box, Display projector
• Works on LCD TFT monitors
• Video output: VGA
• Automatic video source mode detection (film/graphic)
• Motion-adaptive interfiled de-interlacing
• Use the power from USB port , no extra power supply needed
• Comes with 3pcs of XCM cables; a PS3™ shielded component cable,a XBox360™/ Xbox™ shielded component cable and a Wii™ component cable.

To review this product properly I will use two consoles (Wii and PS3) and my computer and cover the handling of their video signals separately. Also, my PS3 unit is a NTSC (USA) unit whereas my Wii is PAL (Europe). As for my tests of the video output I have used two VGA monitors; my own 17” TFT screen (with a max resolution of 1280x1024, no specific support for 720p as it is rendered as 800x600) and a 19” CRT screen which supports up to 1080p/i.

The Review

Packaging + goodies
The packaging of the XCM 1080p is as with other XCM product I have received so far (the XCM V-box for Wii); a simple, brown (with black printed text), cardboard box. Plain and simple, nothing special, nice and cheap. Content;
• The XCM 1080p VGA box unit
• An USB-->USB-miniB cable (for power)
• A component cable for;
  • Wii (non-shielded)
  • PS3 (shielded)
  • xbox360 (shielded, includes optical digital audio connector)
• Information pamphlet
All in (separate) plastic bags. As you can see NO VGA cable is shipped in the packaging. Although this does keep the costs of the unit lower it would have been a good addition if you ask me. Why? Well, aside from the fact that all other cables (aside from audio) are supplied, the box lets you switch video signals; it either uses the video signal from the console or it connects your PC's video-card's VGA output to your monitor. This is a main feature of the box and something I use regularly (it allows one screen for two products, very useful especially when considering the fact that the VGA monitor you are using is most probably your computer monitor). Because the cable was not supplied I had to buy one separately, and those cables are quite expensive (and don't hesitate buying a good cable here!).

As for the quality of the cables supplied, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. They are all of nice quality with the xbox and PS3 cables shielded. They are all (roughly) 2 meters in length. The connectors used on the cables are of normal quality, standard RCA connectors (non-gold) which is good enough for a short cable. In short, the cables are of good quality, but not special (though the shielding on the PS3 & xbox360 cables is a good choice).

Build Quality
The shell (around the PCB and connectors); First of all, the plastic is fairly thick and is also quite hard/sturdy. I've applied a lot of pressure to it from all directions (top, bottom, side) and it held perfectly (even the top which I expected to break easily). The top and bottom shell perfectly line up which is also nice.

Connectors; On this side of the box the connectors are also of normal quality. Standard (non-gold) connectors are used for all connections on the box which is good enough (also considering the price of the unit). One thing that DID bother me however is the VGA card connection. The VGA card connection is a male VGA connector, nothing strange there BUT the strange thing is that it has a female type shield (with screw hole screws used). You can see this clearly in the pictures at the top of this page (by the XCM team). Because of this a normal VGA extension cable doesn't fit as it also has screw hole screws. I fixed this by removing the shield from around the connection (as you can see in my pictures), but that shouldn't have to be done. Now this isn't a big problem but it is a small -.

PCB; The PCB is single side printed and quite thick. Why I cover this separately is because I was surprised about something; There is a small metal plate on the bottom of the unit which I first thought was shielding. However when I opened the box I found that it was there for cooling purposes! There is only one small IC on the PCB which takes care of the conversion of component to VGA and apparently it gets hot enough to warrant cooling.

Use
Hooking it up; Connecting everything to the VGA box is very easy as it is properly documented (on the box itself even everything is clearly marked). What is however strange is that there are connections on every side of the box. This means that if you connect everything possible you will need quite a lot of free space around the box. This could have been simply avoided by putting the USB connection on the same side as the sound-in_speaker-out side but I guess I'm just missing something ;).

To switch from VGA input and component input there is a big switch on the top of the unit (which switches a very large amount of cables). Just below the switch is a LED which lights up if component video is being used.

General; The VGA box does not, as stated previously, change the output resolution. This means that you should check before buying this product if your VGA monitor (that you are going to use with the box) supports the resolution you want to use (nicely explained by wikipedia).

Also, something that isn't stated clearly (but is quite logical) both systems (PC and console) can also share the same speaker set. By connecting the audio RCA connectors from the console, the jack from your computer and hook up your speaker system to the VGA box audio is also switched when changing from PC to console mode and vice versa. One could also use the RCA connectors directly (what I am doing now) or use (only available on PS3 and Xbox360 of course) the optical digital audio out for the console.

Using PC; First things first, the PC / VGA input mode does not require any power (so all VGA cables are just routed from the VGA card connection to the monitor without intervention). During this switch some signal strength is lost resulting in a slight shadow (for example text has a sligh shadow just to the right) on your screen if you haven't used (short) high quality video cables. In my case I have some small shadowing (partially due to the fact that I have 4 meters of VGA cable connected....., but it is amplified by the box).

Using Wii; I'm covering the Wii separately because unlike the PS3 it is not capable of upscaling (or at least this is not an available feature). This means that games not supporting EHDTV (meaning everything from the virtual console, nearly all if not all GameCube games and some Wii games such as Mario Party 8) will not work with the VGA box (or at least not with a PAL Wii system which outputs 576i). Aside from that EHDT works perfectly fine with nearly all games and it does look quite nice.

Bigger images (click on small images to see) are just under 2 megabytes big!

As I've had some questions about this, I experienced NO slowdown with my Wii-mote (and yes that is my home made sensor bar at the bottom of the screen and I have LEDs in my nunchuck :)).

Using PS3; For the PS3 this product is a must if you do not own a HDTV and want higher resolutions. Although with games you might not really need the higher resolution (I have to say it does look much better though) when running Linux however the higher resolutions are really great. The best part is that the PS3 upscales (if the feature is enabled/needed) all content including PS2/PSX games which means that regardless of what content you want to play the XCM box supports it (way to go Sony!).

Bigger images (click on small images to see) are just under 1.5 megabytes big! Also, these are images from 720p stretched vertically (due to my screen, see introduction for details).

As for Linux-use going from the ultra low resolution of 720x480 (640x480) to 1280x720 (the maximum resolution my TFT supports) makes it a lot easier. So if you don't have a HD TV but still want to properly (graphically) use Linux (without buying an expensive HD TV of course) this is a great solution.

I've also tested the 1080p and 1080i resolution support (but with a different screen) and damn that looks good! With games the resolution really shows and it looks awesome, with Linux it is of course very nice too. The small chip on the bottom of the PCB gets slightly hot during 1080p/i video. This is logical as it must handle the conversion and thankfully the XCM team added the cooling fin to help it cool down. Don't worry though, it doesn't get so hot it will burn a hole through your desk, you just feel a slight rise in temperature.

Conclusion

Before I received the XCM 1080p VGA box I was quite skeptical about it. Could it perform the way I expected from a good quality product that is capable of handling full HD content? Is it going to be a good enough product to withstand smaller children play with it? I can safely say, yes. The shell is hard and tough, supplied cables are nice and full HD content is supported perfectly. I only had four, relativly minor, points of criticism; no VGA cable was supplied with the VGA box, the VGA_card/PC connector was part male part female (not compliant with standards), there is slight video signal loss in the PC/monitor connection and lastly that all four sides have connections which results in the box taking up a lot of space. Aside from those four points, this is quite the product for 65 US dollars.

Overall rating for the XCM 1080p VGA box
Discription	Rating (out of 10)
Design Boxart, manual and product appeal	6+
Hardware Hardware design, durability and features	8.5
Product future What this products future looks like	stable
Features (Built in) extra features of the unit	PAL & NTSC support for Wii, PS3 & xbox360 Wii, PS3 and xbox360 component cables VGA output of 480p, 720p, 1080p, 1080i USB power source

I hope you all enjoyed my review and found it useful.

-Simon van de Berg

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