dreamcast VGA Hookup, worth the hype?

[Darksaviour69]

From what i hear SCART is better than what u yanks have...i think metafox said that..

[ptr.exe]

I always assume that people are in the UK unless it says otherwise in the Location:, so sorry

The quality differance between how you connect your TV with something is minimal, but SCART will be slightly better than most S-Video leads purely because they are so well insulated, ive never seen a well insulated S-Video cable.

Just get VGA, its great for some games but you will notice very little differance on most games.

[mxz600]

ya, i am from North America actually, forgot that this is a UK forum, couldn't find an American one as good as this. I plan to rig up a self made VGA like the one ptr.lynch made up. But the burning question is, Is the self made vga cable as good as the bought ones? whats the difference. I see the schematic on that other site for a home made vga port but yours ptr.lynch, does without the IC's. That other site tells you how to make it but leaves out the IC numbers. I dunno.

Maybe when i get my Dreamcast from ebay it won't work anyway so i won't have to worry about none of this.

Oh another question, i understand that there are 3 models made of the dreamcast, is the first model considerably louder than the other two? and are these things subject to lazer problems later in life?

[Christuserloeser]

The DC sends out a RGB signal, so RGB-SCART is always better than S-Video.

[kgenthe]

i have a VGA adapter and love it. You get a nice 640x480 PROGRESSIVE picture. That means twice the picture detail over an interlaced signal. Absolutly the best way to play the Dreamcast.

[mxz600]

OH NOW HOLD ON NOW, 640x480! my TV is almost that sure. So if i hook his up to my laptop im gunna have a window where the game will play? not a full screen. And if it is full screen, 640x480 ain't nothing to brag about. I gotta see this to beleive it. But will a new monitor work better than an old one or visa versa?

[beetroot bertie]

Dunno if it will work with a laptop unless you have a VGA (in) socket to accept an external signal.

I'd imagine simply due to it's age that a new monitor is likely to look better than an old one - depends on the condition of the monitor and how much use it's had previously.

My set up up is with a Cathode Ray Tube Monitor so maybe there's a difference with that and a LCD type monitor that natively displays at a higher resoulution. Anyone got an LCD setup? If so, what's it like?

If it's anything like my Mac, when I play games on it the monitor goes to 640x480 mode and creates a slightly blurred look as the LCD monitor can only display 1280x1024 natively. Other resolution settings are subject to the same anti aliasing/blurring effect. Maybe the DC using and LCD monitor with do the same? Hopefully someone with a bit more knowledge can help.

[ptr.exe]

mxz600, the IC number is given in the diagram.
My VGA circuit will not have as good quality as one bought, the one on DevCast will be slightly better because it has the IC, due to the IC acting as a buffer for the H and V syncs, the picture quality without the IC is however still good.

Basically i wrote a guide for the most basic possible VGA box you could get, its only about one step up from hardwiring your DC straight to the monitor.
So if your that fussed about quality then i suggest you buy one, i don't particularly care for picture quality, obviously if there are scan lines or its blurred then i care, but if the resolution is only slightly lower than an official VGA then i dont care.

My VGA design is basically the DevCast one minus the IC, because on the UK i couldnt find anyone selling them. Therefore alot of credit goes to the DevCast author.