Dreamcast in component... a query

[j_factor]

Some people are gonna call me crazy for even asking this, but I just need to know if it'll work okay before I blow any money on doing this.

I know that Dreamcast can be hooked up in component via a VGA-component converter. My question is this. I'm using component video for other systems just for the higher picture quality over s-video, but at the same resolution (480i); all I have currently is a standard-definition TV set. If I attempt to go the VGA-component route for DC, will it try to "force" the higher resolution and not work right? Newer systems give you resolution options and older systems* only use 240p/480i anyway, so this is uniquely a DC issue. If it even is an issue. Anyone ever tried this?



* Yeah, older systems. I have my Genesis hooked up in component thanks to the magic of RGB transcoders. I hope to do this with other old systems too, but I need to do some sort of audio mod first (Genesis is much easier thanks to the headphone jack).

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

Yeah a VGA-to-component adapter will give you progressive component. I suppose that a VGA-to-interlaced-component converter may exist somewheres, but it's a lot more complicated and I'm sure that both the price of the converter and the specs listed on the box would reflect the fact that it could do such a thing.

480p is not really a higher resolution than 480i, by the way, it's just a different display method. And "240p" does not exist, either.


...word is bondage...

[ShenmueFan]

^^^ I thought 480p WAS a better resolution than 480i because you have all lines drawn at once at the same refresh rate as 480i which takes twice as many screen redraws to make the same 480p image. Plus, there's no flicker.

That's why 480p is EDTV and 480i is SDTV, I thought. I could be wrong.

[j_factor]

240p does too exist -- Genesis and other older systems use it. Part of the reason older systems look like crap on most HDTV's is because they don't display 240p.

[ShenmueFan]

^^^ 240p through RF/composite connections? Is that possible? I'm not a TV tech dude but I don't think electronics way back when were ever designed to be seen on anything but your standard interlaced tube TV.

I think older systems look like crap on HDTVs because you aren't upscaling at exact 100% increments and you're viewing interlaced video signals on a prograssive scan display.

[mario2butts]

With a VGA to component transcoder, you'll be stuck with 480p for games that support VGA, and a blank screen for those that don't. A VGA connection won't pass 480i.

If you only have an SDTV, you'd have to hack a DC SCART cable and use it with the RGB to component transcoder you said you already have. Some have RCA audio outputs built into the cable. Search around the 'net. Or just use S-Video, if you're happy with it.

And 480p DOES look a lot better than 480i. Really, for high quality DC gaming on the cheap, get a VGA box and hook it up to an old VGA monitor that I'm sure you already have. It'll look a lot better than a standard TV. As for myself, I have my DC hooked up via VGA to a front projector. It's fantastic.

[GrandAmChandler]

Moving this to classic gaming.

-GAC-

[j_factor]

^^^ 240p through RF/composite connections? Is that possible? I'm not a TV tech dude but I don't think electronics way back when were ever designed to be seen on anything but your standard interlaced tube TV.

Your standard interlaced tube TV can display both 480i and 240p. The only 16-bit game I know of to run in 480i is the two-player mode of Sonic 2.

[j_factor]

If you only have an SDTV, you'd have to hack a DC SCART cable and use it with the RGB to component transcoder you said you already have. Some have RCA audio outputs built into the cable. Search around the 'net. Or just use S-Video, if you're happy with it.

I could go the SCART route, but I've never seen a transcoder that has audio outputs built in. I've heard of people modding transcoders to add them, but otherwise, they're all video-only as far as I've ever heard.

If such a device does exist, I'd really like to see it. Right now, my transcoder is only being used for the Genesis, because I can get the audio out of the headphone jack.

And 480p DOES look a lot better than 480i. Really, for high quality DC gaming on the cheap, get a VGA box and hook it up to an old VGA monitor that I'm sure you already have. It'll look a lot better than a standard TV. As for myself, I have my DC hooked up via VGA to a front projector. It's fantastic.

The only VGA monitor I have is the one currently hooked up to my computer. It's a pain in the ass to use the DC with it unless I track down that one particular brand of VGA box that has a passthrough port. Even if I do that, it'd still be kind of annoying because my computer setup is kind of crappy and awkward (it has to do with the layout of my room, and the ridiculous amount of crap I have).

I may very well end up using a VGA monitor as a cheapo HDTV and hook up the DC and newer consoles to it, but I just don't have the room for two setups right now until I move, or unless I replace my computer with a laptop.

[MarioMania]

Is there like a RGB to Component thing that allows you just hook up the RGB Cable to the converter & the other end plug it in the Component jacks...Why is it they make it hard or expensive to get it

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

Your standard interlaced tube TV can display both 480i and 240p. The only 16-bit game I know of to run in 480i is the two-player mode of Sonic 2.

Every 16-bit video game is in 480i as are every 8 and 32-bit video game. Not because of the games, but because of the systems. The systems put out 480i video and nothing else. The mode in Sonic 2 you're referring to uses the Genesis's 320x480 video mode but that has nothing to do with the resolution the Genesis outputs to the TV which was always 480i. Internal resolution that the games are rendered at in RAM and what is actually passed out of the AV port are totally different things.

A CRT TV tube may be capable of displaying a progressive image, but that doesn't mean that an actual TV can, at least not without serious modifications.

I'm not sure exactly what you're referring to when you talk about 240p. It's a term I've seen people use before, but it really doesn't exist. Actually, I suppose a PC set to 320x240 resolution would be outputting 240p, but that's the only case I can think of where 240p could be the proper term. No console prior to the Dreamcast--certainly not the Genesis--could output a progressive image, 240p or otherwise. They are strictly what we call 480i today (at least the NTSC ones, PAL systems would be 575i or 625i or something like that).

I could go the SCART route, but I've never seen a transcoder that has audio outputs built in. I've heard of people modding transcoders to add them, but otherwise, they're all video-only as far as I've ever heard.

Well, SCART cables do carry the audio signals, so it wouldn't be complicated to get the audio. You wouldn't have to mod the converter itself since there's no reason to actually pass the audio through the converter. You could just mod the cable. SCART cables are easy to modify because of the way the plugs are designed, it would be simple to take the audio lines and send them to a phono jack or two RCA jacks pigtailed onto the SCART plug.

That would indeed be the best option if you want interlaced component from a Dreamcast. A number of NTSC Dreamcast games don't support RGB, though, so keep that in mind. Same would be true of VGA, though.


...word is bondage...