PS3 Hookup to LCD Monitors

A friend of mine is getting a PS3 pretty soon. His problem, however, is that he has an older tube television which will be crappy to play his console with (at best 480 output). Until he decides to buy a new television, he asked if he can just hook it up to his 20" Dell LCD Monitors that accepts DVI input.

I did some research and believe this can be done. Here is what I proposed:

For the VIDEO Portion
1. Make sure your Dell Monitor is HDCP complaint (most late models are)
2. Buy an HDMI to DVI cable (this provides the video portion of the feed). Connect HDMI end to back of PS3 and DVI end to back of monitor. You'll have to play with PS3 output setting to figure out if it does 1080i or 1080p or whatever
Note: From my understanding, HDMI and DVI are similar in standard, HDMI offers the audio channel otherwise.
For the AUDIO Portion
3. Use the PS3 proprietary cables that come with the system w/ the Yellow-White-Red output and connect to back of PS3 where it belongs
4. Go to Radioshack and buy a cheap RCA to 1/8 Mini Stereo (must have 2 black rings for stereo) adaptor. Like this one.
5. Just plug the Red and White (audio feed) end of the PS3 proprietary RCA cable into the adaptor and plug this adaptor into any computer speakers and you should be set.

A "HDMI" Cable is A "HDMI" Cable

For a gadget freak and electronics fiend, I am relatively behind in the world of video gaming. My last purchase was a Wii which was acquired back in December 07, prior to that, was a Game Cube sometimes in 2003. The machine I had prior is a SNES back in 1995.

Because of my recent acquisition of a 1080P LCD television, I decided to get a PS3 for its gaming as well as Blu-Ray capabilities. With the recent price drop ($399) and larger hard drive (80GB), I thought it was finally a good time to jump in. Too bad Sony took away the PS2 backwards compatibility...

The biggest complaint I have with the PS3 is Sony not including either Component or HDMI cable. For a device capable of HD 1080P output, not including a HDMI cable is just bad taste. While at GameStop, I noticed my option for a HDMI cable is packaged with some other cords like USB or Optical Audio, which would cost atleast $70. I finally found a Monster Cable HDMI on clearance for $49 at Toy's R Us (MSRP $99, Amazon has it for $82). Figuring the PS3 must have a proprietary connector on the back, I didn't hesitate paying for this Monster Cable labeled "for Playstation3".

When I got home to install the newly purchased cable, I noticed both ends of the cable looked the same. A little more research online revealed that PS3 accepts any standard HDMI cable; therefore, I could have just purchased some generic HDMI cable ranging from $10-$25. Further more, this article verifies that there is no difference in quality between a cheap vs. expensive HDMI cable, since the signal is digital, the cable construction itself doesn't make any difference especially in short distance where shielding is of concern.

For years, I have avoided expensive cables (I used standard AV to subsitute for Component, and gotten free Optical cables from a audio friend of mine). I would not have bought this cable if I didn't assume that PS3 had a proprietary jack design. Next time, I'll know, this Belkin HDMI looks pretty good at $12.

[For a complete timeline and revision information on everything you ever need to know about HDMI, take a look at this site.]