Messages

46

Hardware and Tech / Building a Dreamcast VGA box vs. Internal VGA mod

« on: December 02, 2013, 11:54:49 pm »

S-video is serving me decently at the moment, but I know the Dreamcast video quality can be much better with VGA. I made the mistake of buying a Hong Kong Special VGA cable and it's complete crap. They omitted the resistors and capacitors necessary for a clean, acceptable picture and were kind enough to leave out the pins I would need to connect to in order to make a solid VGA box. After chopping up the cable in hopes that I might be able to salvage it for a VGA/scanliner box I'm starting to think that an internal VGA mod might be the way to go.

I guess the entire point of this post is to gather some opinions before I do something to my Dreamcast that I might regret in the future. Thoughts?

47

Hardware and Tech / Re: SD Game Consoles on HDTV Screens

« on: November 22, 2013, 04:42:37 am »

That's good to know. I can't stand the stretched out look. I just returned the S-Video/Composite to HDMI upscaler for that reason. Well... that and the thing was hot within 5 minutes of normal operation. I just found out that the Playstation 2 won't display Playstation 1 games on the screen unless I'm using either composite or s-video. I only hope that it will with RGB. Also, I have yet to see a decent SCART switch. I hope I can find one with either enough inputs to cover all of our consoles or are reasonable enough in price that I can get several to daisy chain. I might go the SCART to Component route so I can use the automatic component switch I already own.

Swapping out this dying CRT is turning into a costly headache...

At the very least, I know I can get a SCART scanliner. Even if it isn't cheap.

48

Hardware and Tech / Re: SD Game Consoles on HDTV Screens

« on: November 22, 2013, 01:03:08 am »

I have a burning question about the SCART to HDMI box you linked in your previous post. Does it mess with the 4:3 aspect ratio? I can't find any information on it as to whether it does or not.

49

Hardware and Tech / Re: SD Game Consoles on HDTV Screens

« on: November 19, 2013, 01:17:35 am »

I did find this http://arcadeforge.net/Scaler-and-Strike-Devices/SLG-SCART::43.html and thought it looked interesting. So far, it's the only one I've been able to find.

50

Hardware and Tech / Re: SD Game Consoles on HDTV Screens

« on: November 19, 2013, 12:26:03 am »

WOW. RGB whips S-Video like Devo. I need to track down some SCART cables and that upscaler. I wonder if I can introduce scanlines in at the SCART input. If that's possible, it would be absolutely perfect. Thanks for the VERY valuable info!

51

Hardware and Tech / Re: SD Game Consoles on HDTV Screens

« on: November 18, 2013, 02:59:56 pm »

I have a Vizio TV that does support S-Video, but the scaling is complete garbage. I ordered some chips from Jameco to hand build a scanliner and went ahead and ordered both the HDMI upscaler and a VGA converter out of curiosity. It's a complete shame that scanliners support VGA only, although I have seen several HDMI converter/upscalers that have built-in scanlining but cost a bundle.

I'm going to use the schematic here: http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/other/vga-scanlines.htm

The only other question I have about the whole thing is about whether or not I should go ahead and build a sync stripper to clean up the composite output of the consoles that are rather difficult to get S-Video out of. Does it really make a difference?

52

Hardware and Tech / SD Game Consoles on HDTV Screens

« on: November 17, 2013, 06:46:10 pm »

I have been combing the net for information on scanliners, video signal conversions and upscaling. I currently have a Philips CRT TV manufactured around 1998 that has been used to play our myriad of retro consoles, but has started to show signs of a bad tube. I don't want to search out another CRT out of a need to conserve space and longevity concerns. I have ordered all the parts I could ever need to build a VGA scanliner for cheap and have ordered an S-Video/Composite to VGA converter. After I placed that order, however, I found an S-video/Composite to HDMI converter and upscaler for a reasonable price.

Link: http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-S-Video-Composite-Converter-DA-PCSH/dp/B00EP9V9TS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1384727425&sr=8-3&keywords=s-video+converter

Would the upscaler be a better solution than the VGA converter as far as frame lag?
Is it worth it to hassle with tapping to the RGB signals and doing something with RGB to VGA conversion?
Should I scrap the whole thing and search for another CRT that I will eventually have to pay the recyclers to take?

Thanks in advance!