Dreamcast VGA Advice

[ShadowDancer]

Hiya Guys...

I've always used RGB Scart with Dreamcast. (I've been CRT Only for a good 2 years) I'm drifting back into modern gaming, but the dreamcast is staying.

The plan is to buy a 19" (Space issues) LED TV.

I'm going to give the SLG3000 a whirl and see what I think.

Just unsure on what VGA Box to buy...I take it, I need a VGA Box, a VGA Cable and audio cables for sound.

Anyone give me some options please. I've also put a wanted add out if you're looking to sell.

(I will still play this in 4:3 mode on a 16:9 TV) I think this is about the best I can do without quitting Dreamcast and that isn't happening.

[charlesr]

Through a VGA box, it will look far better than RGB Scart anyway, so no need for apologies.

Frankly any box will do. Make sure it has a switch on it for AV/out so you can fool games that don't officially support vga.

[dvdx2]

Dreamcast VGA gives me different results, depending on the tv used. It looks wonderful on my newer sharp 52 aquos LED but pretty gash on an older 40" samsung LCD,; it doesn't come close to dreamcast RGB on a crt on that set...

I use a HAIS vga box , but i dont think quality differs much. I know the official sega vga box, goes for about ?100....

Use a decent d-sub 15 cable; that can really affect the quality and you may need to sync it in the tv settings to get the most stable image

[speedlolita]

Do you still have a CRT though?

VGA squished to 4:3 on a 19" 16:9 display isn't going to look very good. And as dvdx2 says, the VGA performance really varies between TV sets.

[ShadowDancer]

I don't have a crt, I don't have space for both.
I think i'll buy VGA and RGB Scart and see what looks better on the set. That would be the best bet.
Thank you for help guys.

[bwi]

Do many newer tvs have vga now as the last two tvs ive had , didnt have vga

[Asura]

Do many newer tvs have vga now as the last two tvs ive had , didnt have vga

Many don't.

[ShadowDancer]

I think to be sure, buy a led that clearly states tv and monitor. I purposely bought one with a vga input as I want to delve into pc gaming this year also.

[S3M]

Do you still have a CRT though?

VGA squished to 4:3 on a 19" 16:9 display isn't going to look very good. And as dvdx2 says, the VGA performance really varies between TV sets.

I take it speedy you don't know much the Dreamcast outputting at VGA, as it's output at 480p which is 4:3.

I'm guessing I'm one of the few people here who plays their Dreamcast via VGA, first off make sure your Dreamcast VGA box has a standard output switch to a VGA as that way you can force most Dreamcast games that don't support VGA into VGA. About 95% of DC games will support VGA if you can switch.

Most recent LCD screen still come with a VGA input but it depends on the make and as long at the TV supports 480p correctly you will get a excellent picture. Just make sure your TV can change between 4:3 and 16:9, most do as if you play a DC game in 16:9 it will look stretch as 480p is supposed to be 4:3.

If done correctly your video output will look like this on a good LCD, this was recorded via my VGA box:

VGA box I have is like this one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Consolegoods-VGA-Adaptor-Dreamcast-PAL/dp/B001AMQ5EM/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1404657624&sr=1-1&keywords=dreamcast+vga

VGA is the very best way to play all Dreamcast games, just bare in mind that not all games work with it. My LG TV gives a pixel perfect VGA picture as seen in the video.

[speedlolita]

You've misinterpreted what I wrote. Point is, 4:3 on a 16:9 display is squished - not stretched - thus wasted screen estate. It's especially bad on a 16:9 display compared to my 16:10 display for example.

EDIT: Obviously stretched looks wrong too, I'm not saying anyone should use that.

[S3M]

Nope I'm not any decent telly LCD will display 4:3 correctly, even if it is 16:9, you'll just get black borders to the left and right of the picture itself due to the unused screen area.

If 4:3 appears squished then you are using a very cheap and nasty widescreen telly that can't display it correctly, never owned a LCD TV where 4:3 appeared squished maybe if it's 14:10 or some other odd aspect ratio.

[Baseley09]

I think he's just saying that having a floating 4:3 picture on a 16:9 display isn't ideal, which it isn't.

I use Vga and have noticed on some sets that the 4:3 vga image isn't central. I've never had bad results with quality tho, always crisp and I have a scanline switch built into mine which us useful for 2d fighters as the characters look chuff.

[speedlolita]

Yeah, that is what I'm saying.

[S3M]

I think he's just saying that having a floating 4:3 picture on a 16:9 display isn't ideal, which it isn't.

I use Vga and have noticed on some sets that the 4:3 vga image isn't central. I've never had bad results with quality tho, always crisp and I have a scanline switch built into mine which us useful for 2d fighters as the characters look chuff.

Can't say I've ever had that problem on any LCD TV I've ever used with VGA, I can only assume that a TV with that type of issue don't support 480p correctly or at all.

I only ever seen one LCD not support older consoles and that was a scart input into some naff cheap LCD telly we used at work. Picture was heavily misaligned so half the game was off screen, with no way to correct.

[DJ Mike]

If you're still in the market for a Dreamcast VGA adapter, do yourself a favour and get one from this guy when he gets more in stock:

http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/showthread.php?42388-Dreamcast-VGA-box-amp-Scanline-generator

The Hanzo is, hands down, the best VGA adapter you can buy - the guy behind this seriously knows his stuff, and the picture quality out of it is better even than the official SEGA adapter. He even does them with special decals from time to time (I got a very swish blue Sonic-themed one) but either way they're top notch.

As an added bonus, the Hanzo can also add optional scanlines to the output to make the picture look more authentically like a CRT TV (good for games with sprites which weren't intended for anything higher than 240p resolution). I don't personally tend to use that part but I know some purists go nuts for that stuff!