VGA to HDMI for Dreamcast

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zetax
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VGA to HDMI for Dreamcast

Postby zetax » July 13th, 2016, 5:47 pm

I recently got a new TV that does not have VGA (or S-Video...SNES and Saturn look kinda blah, but I digress) and was wondering if anyone has tried a VGA to HDMI adapter similar to this...

https://www.amazon.com/VicTsing-Output-1080P-Converter-Adapter/dp/B00K4W62R4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1468446929&sr=8-2&keywords=VicTsing-Output-1080P-Converter-Adapter

...to get better looking output from their Dreamcast (with the VGA adapter for the console of course.) Does something like this introduce another level of lag to the video signal?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I may end up just getting the dumb thing, it's only 17 bucks.

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: VGA to HDMI for Dreamcast

Postby VideoGameCritic » July 13th, 2016, 6:47 pm

This is a really cool new development. One of the requirements for my last TV was that it had a VGA input for my Dreamcast. Needless to say I didn't have much of a selection. This would effectively solve that problem. I doubt there would be a lag problem but you never know until you try. Keep us posted.

Shapur
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Re: VGA to HDMI for Dreamcast

Postby Shapur » July 14th, 2016, 3:17 am

I would say it HAS to introduce some lag. It is converting an analog signal to a digital one, that takes at least some time. I have a similar device in the Wii2HDMI that not only converts the Wii signal it upconverts it before sending it to the TV, and I honestly haven't yet noticed anymore lag than the TV normally has. So hopefully it won't be too much.

I thought about getting the same thing. My old HDTV had VGA, but it passed away some time ago. What I wound up doing is just using an old CRT monitor. People usually just give them away, and they work great for the DC.

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zetax
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Re: VGA to HDMI for Dreamcast

Postby zetax » July 17th, 2016, 12:02 am

Well, got the VGA to HDMI adapter today. Attached are a couple of pics of the hookup, composite, and HDMI/VGA...

Hopefully these are in the right order. First pic shows the VGA/HDMI adapter connected to the Naki VGA adapter. I'm a little short of HDMI connections, so had to "borrow" the PSTV HDMI cable. Also, had to use a USB port from the Xbox One to power the converter...for the time being. Pic 2 and 3 show the loading text for Shenmue (note the sharper text, the black spaces in the "g", for example.) Pic 4 and 5 show more Shenmue settings, and pic 6 and 7 show in-game images. Over all, I'm pretty happy with the graphics upgrade. The lag-time doesn't seem too bad either, tried it with Mars Matrix, seems to work fine. Only bit of weirdness...when the screen is primarily white, there is some subtle wavy distortion.

Let me know if you have any questions.
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VideoGameCritic
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Re: VGA to HDMI for Dreamcast

Postby VideoGameCritic » July 17th, 2016, 11:15 am

Wow - the difference is pretty dramatic! Thank you for taking the time and effort to post these pictures. I'm sure they will help a lot of people.

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zetax
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Re: VGA to HDMI for Dreamcast

Postby zetax » July 17th, 2016, 4:46 pm

Now I'm curious about this thing, for the N64/Saturn/CDX...

https://www.amazon.com/Portta-PETCSHP-C ... r+Upscaler

Composite/S-video to HDMI....interesting.

Wallyworld
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Re: VGA to HDMI for Dreamcast

Postby Wallyworld » July 27th, 2016, 1:51 am

I have a converter box to play original Xbox and gamecube via VGA and it works great. Wonder how it would work hooking that up to the HDMI converter.

Cafeman
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Re: VGA to HDMI for Dreamcast

Postby Cafeman » July 28th, 2016, 1:49 pm

I'm jealous. Still using crappy composite cables DC to flat screen. I used to use s-video but tv's no longer support it. My TV also doesn't support vga cables. Will look into your solutions!

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Re: VGA to HDMI for Dreamcast

Postby Sonicx9 » July 28th, 2016, 2:20 pm

Cafeman wrote:I'm jealous. Still using crappy composite cables DC to flat screen. I used to use s-video but tv's no longer support it. My TV also doesn't support vga cables. Will look into your solutions!


Coming soon: https://translate.google.com/translate? ... rev=search

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Re: VGA to HDMI for Dreamcast

Postby VideoGameCritic » July 28th, 2016, 5:10 pm

Good to see the retrogaming community coming to the rescue with this RGB cable. Of course, those hookups are becoming rare too, but it's always nice to have options.


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