![EON XBHD](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.timeextension.com/e82bd1292be5c/eon-xbhd.900x.jpg)
The original Xbox was a groundbreaking system in so many ways. It arguably popularised the idea of building a home console from PC components (a trend which continues to this day) and it laid down the foundations for modern online gaming via its Xbox Live service. It's also the machine that marked the seriousness of Microsoft's intentions when it came to video gaming – and, for better or worse, the company is now one of the major players in the industry thanks to its ownership of studios like Bethesda and Activision.
While the historical legacy of the Xbox cannot be overlooked, playing on the system today is often a humbling experience. While it still serves as a bridge between the PS2 and Xbox 360 – boasting improved games which often looked better than their Sony counterparts – it lacks HDMI connectivity, and getting it up and running on modern televisions can lead to somewhat unsatisfactory results. The Xbox's Component cables were cutting edge back at the turn of the millennium, but now they don't provide the kind of picture quality we're used to in this era of super-sharp TVs.
That's where EON's XBHD plug-and-play HD adapter comes in. This dinky black box slots into the back of your Xbox system (into the ethernet and AV ports, to be precise) and brings the console up to speed when it comes to picture quality and local multiplayer connectivity. The case design mimics the look of the Xbox hardware, which means it blends in effortlessly when attached (although you'll need to make sure there's a little more space at the back of the console to accommodate it).
Let's start with the most important aspect of the XBHD: the HDMI output. The unit includes two HDMI ports, allowing you to output the video signal to two devices. This is handy if you're planning on doing video capture and want to feed the signal into a capture card as well as your main TV – or if you need to display the image on two screens, perhaps for a video game tournament or other gaming event.
EON claims that the XBHD outputs the highest possible video signal without introducing any input latency, and we'd certainly have to agree, based on the alternatives. It's a huge step up when compared to both RGB SCART and Component, and we didn't notice any sluggishness when it came to controller inputs being reflected on-screen.
However, if you're expecting super-sharp image quality akin to that seen on modern-day systems, then you may come away a little disappointed. While the image is indeed sharper than it is when using legacy AV connections, it falls short of what you'd get from, say, an Xbox Series X running an older game via backwards compatibility – or an original Xbox console that's been modded internally for HDMI output. It's also a little less sharp than running the Xbox Component signal through an upscaler like the RetroTINK – although it should be noted a decent upscaler costs more than the XBHD does. There have been reports of the image being a little dark, too, which we can't say we noticed too much – it naturally depends on the game, and a fix (of sorts) is available.
Even so, it's remarkable to see titles looking so good on a modern-day television – remember, these are games that were intended to be played on a standard-definition CRT TV. We also love the fact that the device doesn't require its own power supply – a big bonus for those of us who don't want a million additional cables clogging up our living room entertainment centres.
The other big selling point is the ability to link up three other consoles via the LAN ports for local multiplayer – a feature we were sadly unable to test, due to the fact that we only have a single Xbox console in our office. The XBHD also has a 3.5mm jack which supports both analog and optical audio, allowing you to connect headphones or link up the console to your fancy Hi-Fi setup for the best possible sound.
The XBHD's price might be off-putting for some, especially when there are HDMI cables on the market which claim to perform the same task for far less money. However, these cables deliver a sub-par experience compared to EON's offering, so, if you're keen to get the best possible image from your Xbox and don't fancy the outlay of an upscaler, then this is worth a shot – as long as your expectations aren't sky-high going in.
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Massive thanks to EON for supplying the XBHD unit used in this review.
Comments 10
If it works out the box, this product is brilliant. Modding HDMI into an Xbox is a difficult fiddly process, and also is quite destructive. From direct captures I've seen, the video quality is very good. The price, while high, is comparable to paying someone to mod your console.
However, MVG's review of this showed comparisson footage and the overall darkening mentioned in this review is extremely noticable in all shadowy areas, to the point of making many games difficult to play by turning everything darker than a certain point to pure black.
Even super bright and colourful games like OutRun 2 turn to complete black when going through tunnels, which are meant to be dark, but you can usually make out their colour, bricks etc. This is unacceptible. I can only imagine how an ultra dark game like Doom 3 would be. Of course some horror games let you adjust the brightness levels in game, so that would fix it, but its far from all games that do this.
While MVG suggested (as does this review) that you could just turn up the brightness on your tv/monitor, many of the comments under the video suggest that no, you can't, as the dark areas are being crushed to black, so adjusting the brightness won't bring back the detail lost, it will just make the black turn grey. MVG then liked some of these comments to imply that they were correct and when trying to do so he found this to be the case.
So, sadly, this product went from an absolute must buy for me, down to a "I really hope they can fix that with a software update". I suspect they've just used the wrong gamma algorthm curve in conversion, so it should be entirely fixable, rather than a permanent hardware flaw.
The best modern solution for retro consoles is just to buy a second hand CRT. It is cheaper than modding or buying endless accessories for each console. And it works with every time without issues.
This is insanely overpriced as usual from Eon. Just buy an electron shepard Xbox HDMI adapter for a little over $40 an there's no issues with a darkened image or anything. https://electron-shepherd.com/products/xbox2hdmi It really does annoy me that people review Eon products without criticizing their prices or listing all the way cheaper alternatives that are equal or better in functionality.
Hmmm might look into this for my "Magic" Xbox.
@UK_Kev While that is true it's getting harder and harder to final CRT TVs and then to find one that isn't going to crap out in a year or two. Heck even my local Goodwill and other thrift stores have stop accepting them altogether.
@Tasuki I think that thrift store comment speaks less to the reliability of CRT’s and more the issues with dealing with them commercially.
@HammerKirby I have that adapter for my Xbox and love it!
@LowDefAl No that comment speaks on how it's harder and harder to find CRT tvs regardless of reasons. Use to be that I could walk into a thrift store and find at least a half dozen for sale not so much anymore.
$200??? Holy crap man.
I would really be curious who needs this when you can do SCART->GBC-C for RGB HDMI for a little over $100.
This is why I insisted on buying a TV with component built in.
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