Good Dreamcast VGA cable

[SkiDragon]

Now that I have bought an HDTV, I am looking for better ways to hook up my systems. I hear that the Dreamcast can output 480p via a VGA cable. What is a good cable to get? I have the feeling that many of these are not actually getting the VGA directly from the Dreamcast and are instead upconverting or something.

Thanks.

[evildragon]

All VGA adapters for the DC are true 480p VGA.

The AV port on the DC does actually have RGBHV output via mode pins.

[SnowKitty]

All VGA adapters for the DC are true 480p VGA.

The AV port on the DC does actually have RGBHV output via mode pins.

yep, all a VGA box/cable does is ground a certain pin to switch it to VGA mode and give a VGA port/audio jack.

[Cambot]

I highly recommend getting one. I got a generic one when I got my high def TV and it looks awesome.

[SkiDragon]

Thanks for the answer. I rarely play my Dreamcast, but I guess I will still look for a cable. Any cheap recommendations?

[evildragon]

They usually all look the same because they merely carry RGBHV signals right from the DC, and most of the time, through internal DC filtering caps. That's about it.

Some have audio and some don't I think. Make sure one has audio!

I use one from racketboy (i think that's his name) via eBay. Those work great...

[SnowKitty]

jandaman sells DC VGA boxes for like 18-20$ iirc... i bought one there a while back

[SkiDragon]

How is this model?

http://www.racketboy.com/store/dreamcast-vga-box-svideo-av.htm

I like the look of it because I can also use it as an S-video box.

[SnowKitty]

How is this model?

http://www.racketboy.com/store/dreamcast-vga-box-svideo-av.htm

I like the look of it because I can also use it as an S-video box.

same exact model as this one, you can get it cheaper at jandaman's. it's where i got mine
http://www.jandaman.com/games.mvc?p=dcvgabox&Category_code=DC

[SkiDragon]

My order came in, and the device seems to work. However, the picture ends up pretty dark. My TV settings don't seem to help much. Is there a fix for this?

I was trying Sonic Adventure, and the brightness seemed to vary with what was displayed on the screen, so whenever I moved the character the brightness changed levels. This is the same input I use for my 360 and it does not do the same thing. What is causing this?

[evildragon]

Try it on a computer monitor first and see if the problem persists.

(preferably a CRT)

[SkiDragon]

I tried it on my monitor, and sure enough it worked fine.

Turns out the problem was either the switchbox I was running the VGA cable through (a powered switchbox from monoprice), or more likely just the total length of the cable (two 15 ft, high quality cables, one from dreamcast to switchbox, then from switchbox to TV). I figured the powered switchbox would amplify the signal but I guess that didn't happen. Plugging the 15 ft cable directly into the TV clears everything up, but it means I have to manually switch between Dreamcast and 360, and it means that I wasted money on that switchbox.

Do you think shorter cables would fix the problem?

[evildragon]

Nah, it's not the cable, as you stated connecting it directly to the TV clears it up.

It sounds like the switchbox may not be working too well, or not liking the heavy horizontal overscan the DC outputs. (the DC does output 640x480 sire, but has massive horizontal overscan, sometimes showing as black bars on the sides, depending on the monitor).

Does the switcher have settings?

[SkiDragon]

Well, the cable was 30 feet in total when you add it up. Now it's only 15 feet.

Here is the switch I bought: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10106&cs_id=1010602&p_id=245&seq=1&format=2

There aren't any "settings", it's just a box with three VGA ports on the back and a button on the top. Now I am thinking the only reason it is powered it to replace a switch with a button and some indicator LEDs.