Hardware Playing Console Games on a PC Monitor

[LoloLakitu]

I was thinking of moving all my consoles out of my living room and putting them into my office where my PC is, as I don't really spend all that much time in there. Is there a cheap device I can use to connect my consoles to my monitor? I'll be using a PS2 using component and a Wii using composite.

 

[trumpet-205]

You'll need,

* A component switch box
* A component cable for the Wii
* A component to HDMI active converter (not those fake component to HDMI cable)

Depending on your monitor, you may need a passive HDMI switch. Additionally, you need to route audio portion separately.

 

[LoloLakitu]

I only have an open VGA port on my monitor, and I already have a bunch of RCA to 1/8" jack cords.
EDIT: It's a 1280x1024 monitor.

 

[trumpet-205]

I only have an open VGA port on my monitor, and I already have a bunch of RCA to 1/8" jack cords.

In that case you'll need an active component to VGA converter. The problem is neither PS2 or Wii is capable of doing RGB (signal used in VGA) over component cable for ALL games (some PS2 games can do RGB, Wii is completely incapable of RGB).

Again get component cable for the Wii, VGA switch box, and component to VGA active converter.

 

[LoloLakitu]

http://www.amazon.ca/EnjoyGadgets-Component-Converter-Adapter-Support/dp/B008MPB9YQ/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1371517723&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=active component to vga
Would this suffice? I would just manually swap cables every time I guess.
EDIT: http://www.amazon.ca/EnjoyGadgets-C...sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=active+component+to+vga
Would this work?

 

[trumpet-205]

That is HDMI to either VGA or component.

You need a converter with component input and VGA output.

 

[LoloLakitu]

Looking through others, this is pretty expensive, why is that?

 

[OneUp]

I got one of these recently and it works quite well. http://www.ebay.com/itm/YPbPr-Compo...=US_Video_Cables_Adapters&hash=item5192939907
You can find it elsewhere too.

 

[LoloLakitu]

I got one of these recently and it works quite well. http://www.ebay.com/itm/YPbPr-Compo...=US_Video_Cables_Adapters&hash=item5192939907
You can find it elsewhere too.

I was hoping to spend about $15 but I guess that's out of the question.

 

[Originality]

The cheap options are passive adaptors that just splice one connector to the other, however if the signal is not compatible, it won't work.
Expensive options are active converters that convert the signal from one type (e.g. Digital) to another (e.g. Analogue) to make it work. This involves slightly more complex hardware and that doesn't come cheap. Typically the only people who really need them are multimedia studios and editing suites (I've worked for them).