Dreamcast VGA Cable Review

[Retronick]

Hey,

I recently typed up a review for the Dreamcast VGA cable that Racketboy.com (http://www.racketboy.com/store/sega-dreamcast/dreamcast-vga-cable-box.html) is selling, and was hoping the good people of the Digital Press forums would take a look at it and tell me what they think.

I'm specifically interested in what you think of the way I captured images for the VGA examples. The method I used was crude (camera on a tripod in a dark room), and I'm hoping one of the great minds here will have some insight for the next time I want to capture Dreamcast screen grabs through the VGA adapter.

Thanks!

http://www.retronick.com/2011/04/taking-racketboys-vga-adapter-for.html

[Kitsune Sniper]

... so it's a VGA box without an S-Video output?

[Retronick]

... so it's a VGA box without an S-Video output?

Yup. The only other output on this box is the headphone jack.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Huh. Well, I suppose that's neat. :)

[Smashed Brother]

Great review! Thanks for that, by the way, because I had seen this adaptor on the Racketboy site and was curious about how good it was. Now I feel more confident in picking one up!

[Retronick]

Great review! Thanks for that, by the way, because I had seen this adaptor on the Racketboy site and was curious about how good it was. Now I feel more confident in picking one up!

Thanks!

I've been pretty happy with the results, though now I'm not certain where my Dreamcast is gonna live :-\. I'll probably take my own advice and use the VGA cable for when I'm traveling (just because the interlacing doesn't bother me anyway). But that does look nice. Maybe there's permanent space on my desk after all...

[Retronick]

Huh. Well, I suppose that's neat. :)

It's pretty handy, especially for the price. If I had the S-video I might use it with the main TV in my game room, but with the standard VGA I'm really considering leaving it hooked up to my LCD Monitor, or the HDTV downstairs.

[Smashed Brother]

I just got my VGA cable from Racketboy in the mail yesterday and finally had a chance to hook it up and try it out this morning. The difference between standard-def and this is night and day. Pics simply don't do it justice. I tried out Guilty Gear, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, SF Third Strike and Soul Calibur. Edges are smooth and the colors pop beautifully! Simply amazing and way ahead of it's time!

I had to shelve my DC for awhile because my tv doesn't have standard A/V inputs, but the VGA box has given my DC a second chance! I also have an optical cable going from the tv to the surround sound, so after connecting a couple of wires, the DC is able to use that too. If you have a DC, you have to own this. It was a pretty good price too: the VGA box and the VGA male/male cable with audio only cost about $34, and that's including priority shipping (which only took about 2 days to get here).

[goatdan]

General Dreamcast VGA tip -- since the Dreamcast was made to handle VGA natively, more or less the device isn't converting the signal into VGA (like what you would do for instance with a SNES -> VGA adapter), it is simply connecting the signal to a VGA output. Because of that, I have gone though a TON of VGA adapters, and I have yet to find one which I find doesn't give out a very solid picture. The only negative about the cheaper ones like the one linked is if you want the audio output in a different way and you don't want to buy another cable.

I have about half a dozen of those types of VGA adapters, and they work and look outstanding.

Also, because of this, although not every Dreamcast game is supposed to be allowed to handle VGA, I think there are only a couple you can't "trick" into running in VGA mode. It makes an already awesome system even a little more awesome!

[Retronick]

I just got my VGA cable from Racketboy in the mail yesterday and finally had a chance to hook it up and try it out this morning. The difference between standard-def and this is night and day. Pics simply don't do it justice. I tried out Guilty Gear, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, SF Third Strike and Soul Calibur. Edges are smooth and the colors pop beautifully! Simply amazing and way ahead of it's time!

I had to shelve my DC for awhile because my tv doesn't have standard A/V inputs, but the VGA box has given my DC a second chance! I also have an optical cable going from the tv to the surround sound, so after connecting a couple of wires, the DC is able to use that too. If you have a DC, you have to own this. It was a pretty good price too: the VGA box and the VGA male/male cable with audio only cost about $34, and that's including priority shipping (which only took about 2 days to get here).

That's awesome man! I'm glad your Dreamcast has gotten a second lease on life. Even in this post-HD world, that console still manages to make me go slack-jawed every now and again.

[CRTGAMER]

The box with optional SVideo/Composite output is a better choice over just the VGA adaptor cable for the games that do not support VGA. The best thing about the Dreamcast VGA adaptors is playing House of the Dead. HDTVs killed the lightgun, but with a CRT VGA monitor the Dreamcast lightguns work beautiful! I reviewed it in my signature link back at the Racketboy site.

[kedawa]

I got the basic VGA cable from Racketboy and it's kinda crappy. The build quality is not very good. The cables are too thin and not well anchored into the plastic shell. One of the colour channels started to flicker out after a couple months of use.
If you want to buy from Racketboy, I'd stick to the actual VGA box.

[Retronick]

I got the basic VGA cable from Racketboy and it's kinda crappy. The build quality is not very good. The cables are too thin and not well anchored into the plastic shell. One of the colour channels started to flicker out after a couple months of use.
If you want to buy from Racketboy, I'd stick to the actual VGA box.

I was incredulous when I read your response some months ago, but sadly, I am now starting to have the same problem with my basic Racketboy cable, and I haven't really used the thing since I wrote my review... I'm going to test it with a new VGA cable (though I'm expecting the same results), and then write an amendment to my article. Might crack the thing open to see if I can tighten things up as well.

[kedawa]

Another one bites the dust. :(
Let me know how the repair goes.
I'd like to get my VGA cable working properly again, too.

[Genesaturn]

Great review! I've been shopping for a VGA hookup for my DC for a while now and your article really helps!

[Retronick]

Great review! I've been shopping for a VGA hookup for my DC for a while now and your article really helps!

Thanks! Glad you dug the review. Just so you know, I've started having minor problems with the cable lately. When you move or adjust it, the color channels flicker and sometimes the screen will even black out. I've tried it with a new VGA cable and had the same results. Next I'm going to try and open it up to see if there's anything I can tighten up in there.

It worked famously when I first got it, but I think I may need to write a follow-up to that review reporting my problems.