Questions that do not deserve a thread

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bobrocks95
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by bobrocks95 »

Guspaz wrote:You can find a bunch of the period-specific VGA boxes here:

https://segaretro.org/Dreamcast_third-p ... ccessories

Personally I'd just wait for the HDRV cables or use an RGC/RAC cable. Wire the RGC/RAC cable up to a DSUB if you really must use that. You're encountering the downside of using a connector standard that the rest of the community has not standardized on.
I mean, it's literally the native output of the console... There has to be one decent option. I'd prefer to stay away from component but maybe there's some way to get that into an Extron Ars switch, eh...
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maxtherabbit
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by maxtherabbit »

bobrocks95 wrote:So, what's the actual recommended Dreamcast VGA solution these days? I'm having trouble getting OSSC settings right, and confirmed now that mine has clipping on bright colors like most Dreamcast VGA outputs, so I might want to replace my box.

BeharBros is a no-go, I don't use SCART for RGC cables, I've tried either the Retrobit or Tomee straight cables a long time ago and they were hot garbage, and Retro-Access doesn't offer a Dreamcast connector on the custom DSUB cable builder.

What else is out there?
I can make you a dongle that has RGBHV over DE-15 and audio over 3.5mm output. It also has a 15/31kHz resolution switch. Be advised though - you will still get the same clipping. The RGB lines being over driven is a problem endemic to the console itself, not the box.
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bobrocks95
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by bobrocks95 »

maxtherabbit wrote:
bobrocks95 wrote:So, what's the actual recommended Dreamcast VGA solution these days? I'm having trouble getting OSSC settings right, and confirmed now that mine has clipping on bright colors like most Dreamcast VGA outputs, so I might want to replace my box.

BeharBros is a no-go, I don't use SCART for RGC cables, I've tried either the Retrobit or Tomee straight cables a long time ago and they were hot garbage, and Retro-Access doesn't offer a Dreamcast connector on the custom DSUB cable builder.

What else is out there?
I can make you a dongle that has RGBHV over DE-15 and audio over 3.5mm output. It also has a 15/31kHz resolution switch. Be advised though - you will still get the same clipping. The RGB lines being over driven is a problem endemic to the console itself, not the box.
Huh, for whatever reason I thought the official box got it right, but yeah looking at old threads, if the problem is at the DAC and every cable will suffer, might as well fix it on the OSSC end with some pre-ADC and RGB gain adjustments.

I don't know if the box is causing problems with getting my sampling right on the OSSC or not. I've definitely spent a lot of time and money on fixing the wrong parts of my setup before, so I think I'm going to try routing through AV1 on the OSSC first to see if video LPF makes a difference first.
EDIT: Can't put RGBHV through a SCART socket, duh. Oh well.

Also found 2019 mention of the HDR Dreamcast cable "coming really soon" so lol on that one.
Last edited by bobrocks95 on Thu May 20, 2021 2:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by nmalinoski »

bobrocks95 wrote:So, what's the actual recommended Dreamcast VGA solution these days?
DC Digital with an HDMI to VGA converter. :P

* Can automatically trick 480i games into 480p;
* Can display the handful of games that don't support RGB without requiring you to apply any patches or having to downgrade to S-Video or composite;
* Doesn't force you to deal with the 480p DTV/640x480-in-a-720x480-frame BS;
* Provides IGR;
* Is entirely digital, so no image degradation (until the VGA converter) and no analogue noise floor;
* You can directly use it on any HDMI display; and
* Doesn't preclude you from using analogue AV cables like SCART or composite

Sure, it's one of the more expensive options; but it'll get you the best audio and video quality possible, and HDMI to VGA adapters don't add any perceivable lag.
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bobrocks95
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by bobrocks95 »

nmalinoski wrote:
bobrocks95 wrote:So, what's the actual recommended Dreamcast VGA solution these days?
DC Digital with an HDMI to VGA converter. :P

* Can automatically trick 480i games into 480p;
* Can display the handful of games that don't support RGB without requiring you to apply any patches or having to downgrade to S-Video or composite;
* Doesn't force you to deal with the 480p DTV/640x480-in-a-720x480-frame BS;
* Provides IGR;
* Is entirely digital, so no image degradation (until the VGA converter) and no analogue noise floor;
* You can directly use it on any HDMI display; and
* Doesn't preclude you from using analogue AV cables like SCART or composite

Sure, it's one of the more expensive options; but it'll get you the best audio and video quality possible, and HDMI to VGA adapters don't add any perceivable lag.
Eh, I don't think I play the Dreamcast anywhere near enough to justify spending $230+ on a kit + installation services. If I could install it myself I probably would pick one up.

Anyway it's not just the Dreamcast that I've had trouble dialing in perfect OSSC settings for, so in the end my VGA box might be perfectly fine.
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Guspaz
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by Guspaz »

Eh, the HDRV dreamcast cables are late, but I think that's just a combination of them being perfectionists and the pandemic. In any event, I seem to recall Mike saying something about, getting optimal sampling for the Dreamcast was very difficult unless you had really really good cables, and a lot of the solutions out there weren't going to make the cut for that. He had said that the RGC cables were good, the HDRV ones were better, and he expects the RA ones to be in that range too.

Do you actually need HV sync? Because I was somewhat serious, why not just buy the RGC cables, desolder the SCART head (or just cut the cable), and solder it to a DE-15 connector? Or, for that matter, if you can't solder, you can even get DE-15 plugs with terminal blocks where you just stick the wires in and screw down the terminal on the wire. They cost under five bucks.
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bobrocks95
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by bobrocks95 »

Guspaz wrote:Eh, the HDRV dreamcast cables are late, but I think that's just a combination of them being perfectionists and the pandemic. In any event, I seem to recall Mike saying something about, getting optimal sampling for the Dreamcast was very difficult unless you had really really good cables, and a lot of the solutions out there weren't going to make the cut for that. He had said that the RGC cables were good, the HDRV ones were better, and he expects the RA ones to be in that range too.

Do you actually need HV sync? Because I was somewhat serious, why not just buy the RGC cables, desolder the SCART head (or just cut the cable), and solder it to a DE-15 connector? Or, for that matter, if you can't solder, you can even get DE-15 plugs with terminal blocks where you just stick the wires in and screw down the terminal on the wire. They cost under five bucks.
If HDRV really nails it, no problem there, maybe it really is just a very tough problem to get right. And of course yes, pandemic problems aren't anything to get upset about.

Don't need HV sync, but soldering to a DSUB-15 doesn't sound like a fun time. Screw terminals wouldn't be terrible though. I think a healthy dose of not being a perfectionist might be my best option at the moment, so the sampling phase isn't perfect, oh well.
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maxtherabbit
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by maxtherabbit »

Reducing the per channel pre-ADC gain on the OSSC fixes the overdriven video for dreamcast
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by BenoitRen »

I've ordered a HDFury Gamer and a HDFury Gamer 2 (RGB) from HDFury's official website. The cables arrived today.

The HDFury Gamer is the real deal, but the Gamer 2 lacks any HDFury branding. Looking at the text blurbs on the back of the box, it mentions "HDfuse". Is that one of the knockoffs? I haven't found any information on them, save for a mention on this message board. It's strange that the official webstore would sell those.
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Dr. Claw
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by Dr. Claw »

FinalBaton wrote:
vol.2 wrote:Which system are you looking for? Might be best to just buy the official cable.
Snes for the moment. but I might need PS1, saturn and dreamcast.

Insurrection is going to be making at least 2 of those (the Sega consoles) if not all 3.
Last edited by Dr. Claw on Wed May 26, 2021 4:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Osirus
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by Osirus »

Have a flatscreen Trinitron that I've RGB modded. Looks mostly good, except for the upper left corner of the screen, where the convergence is off:

Image
Image

Seems worst when there is white being displayed, such as in a game's UI. It is noticable when playing. Never tweaked anything before outside of geometry in the service menu. Is this something you can use those strips for to correct?
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vol.2
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by vol.2 »

Osirus wrote: Is this something you can use those strips for to correct?
Probably. It's actually possible that one of the factory strips came loose inside; or not. I guess if it was mine, I would take a look at the caps in the section dealing with the raster and make sure they were all super happy as well. That's if I was serious about it being a main rig.
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by kitty666cats »

Very random, but has anyone here ever done a deep-dive experiment w/ custom cables trying to get other brand consoles to display on the Waka upscan unit for PS1? I know Fudoh tried to some degree RE: his old review, but I wonder if there’s some stubborn person out there who tried to do so for an extended period, heh. I don’t own one, just find the unit interesting
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SCARTicus
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by SCARTicus »

FinalBaton wrote:Is there still someone making quality S-video cables for consoles?

I know Retro Access made some for a while but I don't see any on their site now...
You can get good S-Video cables for SNES/64/GC from Insurrection Industries:
https://insurrectionindustries.com/prod ... o-s-video/

Playstation official S-Video are easy to find because they made them for so long. Hit up eBay.

Dreamcast can get good Svideo from VGA boxes, and Saturn you pretty much have to roll your own.

Or... , buy this crazy cable from Canada and tell us how it works out. Seller claims that you can have PSX, Dreamcast, SNES, and Saturn hooked up all at once with good quality. Let us know how that works! Probably not well... I don't think that there is a proper way to wire up a four tail and such

https://www.ebay.com/itm/193606817434?h ... 8&LH_BIN=1
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by FinalBaton »

I actually already took a chance on the crazy multi cable built in China and sold through that canadian seller. Lol! I'm sure it'll be terrible. I'll report back

The Insurection Industries one has ''out of stock'' written on its page.

Yeah I had already ordered an official ps3 one 2 years ago. Gave it to a buddy. Now I ordered another one. $40 is a bit more than I wanted to pay but... Oh well.
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DragonQuarter
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by DragonQuarter »

You think Analogue will ever make a cheaper variation of the Nt Mini kind of like how the Super Nt was cheaper?
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by SCARTicus »

DragonQuarter wrote:You think Analogue will ever make a cheaper variation of the Nt Mini kind of like how the Super Nt was cheaper?
Lol, no, never.
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vol.2
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by vol.2 »

I'm not so sure about that. I would think they will continue to release FPGA NES clones into the future, but not with the fit and finish of the original. They have already said that they won't ever release the expensive milled aluminum housing versions of the NT/Mini ever again, so the next logical step is a cost reduced version. They are a company that exists to make money and support themselves, so it makes sense to me that they would do it.
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Guspaz
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by Guspaz »

Analogue registered a trademark for "Analogue 8" at the same time they registered "Analogue Pocket", which had lead us to believe that they were planning a new lower-cost 8-bit console at their new typical $200 pricepoint. The Analogue Pocket eventually was announced, but they abandoned the application for the Analogue 8 trademark, so it's now defunct. You can see a list of all their trademarks here: https://www.trademarkia.com/company-ana ... 0-page-1-2

This doesn't mean that they've given up on the idea. My understanding (which is very limited) is that in order to get a trademark registered, you need to file a statement of use showing that you're using the trademark. The lack of this is why they lost the 8 trademark, though I'm not sure if it's lost or just stalled. My guess is that they decided to follow the Pocket up with the Analogue Duo instead of the 8, and thus couldn't complete the registration on 8. This doesn't mean they won't follow the Duo with the 8 or that concept under a different name.

I think that Analogue is all-in on the strategy of "We can make a lot more profit at the $200 pricepoint than the $500 pricepoint because we'll sell a ton more units", so I think it's inevitable that they'll do a $200 8-bit console.
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vol.2
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by vol.2 »

Yes, I totally agree. I work at a company that makes stuff and I can confirm that, once you hit a certain level of market saturation, scaling down to fit a price is really the only way to continue to sell stuff.

Basically, with the really expensive product, you are only guaranteed to sell a limited number, and once those people buy them, that's it, they don't ever need another one. You have to work the price down to a point where it's a insta-buy for a larger range of people, and buying a new one with more features isn't a problem in the future. It's a lot harder of a sell to push multiple $500 NES clones on a single buyer with the justification of slight feature improvements. Even if you say that there are still a number of people who might buy an expensive NT, that's going to hit a hard limit pretty quickly and then Analog is left holding their gonads in their hands. In order to keep sales going and stay afloat, you have to predict and shift before that happens (especially if there are any investors to please).

I mean, neither of us work there, but it's not too hard to see the writing on the wall. Either they come up with a lower price point device to sell, or they won't really be viable anymore.

AFA the delays on the 8 device or whatever, the chip shortages have impacted many projects of all scales.
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bobrocks95
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by bobrocks95 »

Has anyone ever done temperature readings for a Dreamcast VA0 console? You will read all over that "some say it runs hotter than a VA1, so that's why it has the heatpipe" but that sounds exactly like one of those internet things that somebody said once and then everybody else parroted for the next decade.

Knowing Sega's history with hardware revisions I would suspect off-hand that it's much more likely they simplified cooling to cut costs and the VA0's cooling was just overkill.

I ask because I'm trying out a low-noise fan adapter (ie resistor on the voltage line) in my VA0 and the noise is much, much better but the console is a bit warm to the touch. I unfortunately lack a proper digital thermometer or thermal camera to get proper scientific readings on the before and after. For anyone unaware, the Noctua fan mod does not work in a VA0.

EDIT: Noise test were before I put the top of the case back on... The majority of the noise from the stock VA0 fan is coming from the sound of air blowing through the plastic grille on the side of the case. Maybe I can get an aftermarket lid and modify it and see how it sounds?
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Guspaz
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by Guspaz »

vol.2 wrote:AFA the delays on the 8 device or whatever, the chip shortages have impacted many projects of all scales.
The thing is, they didn't delay the 8, they announced the Duo instead. So a new product was announced regardless.

Of course, the potential market for an FPGA Duo is much smaller than the potential market for an FPGA NES/SMS/everything else 8-bit.
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by SCARTicus »

Guspaz wrote:
vol.2 wrote:AFA the delays on the 8 device or whatever, the chip shortages have impacted many projects of all scales.
The thing is, they didn't delay the 8, they announced the Duo instead. So a new product was announced regardless.

Of course, the potential market for an FPGA Duo is much smaller than the potential market for an FPGA NES/SMS/everything else 8-bit.
That Duo is one hot number. I think I'm going to get one mostly for its looks! Also because real Duos are seemingly quite unreliable. My white one came with RGB and I think it was recapped and I have never had an issue, but if it broke I would have a hard time justifying a genuine NEC replacement. I got a deal on this one.

What would be amazing is a NeoGeo system from Analogue. It could use MVS carts and CDs. NeoDuo.
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bobrocks95
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by bobrocks95 »

SCARTicus wrote:
Guspaz wrote:
vol.2 wrote:AFA the delays on the 8 device or whatever, the chip shortages have impacted many projects of all scales.
The thing is, they didn't delay the 8, they announced the Duo instead. So a new product was announced regardless.

Of course, the potential market for an FPGA Duo is much smaller than the potential market for an FPGA NES/SMS/everything else 8-bit.
That Duo is one hot number. I think I'm going to get one mostly for its looks! Also because real Duos are seemingly quite unreliable. My white one came with RGB and I think it was recapped and I have never had an issue, but if it broke I would have a hard time justifying a genuine NEC replacement. I got a deal on this one.

What would be amazing is a NeoGeo system from Analogue. It could use MVS carts and CDs. NeoDuo.
The Duo was the first Analogue product that I thought was really significantly cheaper than what it was replacing. I don't have much use for a $200 NES or SNES when I already have an OSSC for other consoles and can get a real one for less. But a PC Engine Duo-R cost me around $200 for just the console, before I had to replace the disc drive and pay for an RGB mod. And I would assume the Analogue Duo plays all region HuCards too, I can't play US ones without a very destructive and convoluted mod. So it has more functionality for much less than I paid (unless they're still charging an arm and a leg for shipping of course :P )
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by EnragedWhale »

bobrocks95 wrote:The Duo was the first Analogue product that I thought was really significantly cheaper than what it was replacing. I don't have much use for a $200 NES or SNES when I already have an OSSC for other consoles and can get a real one for less. But a PC Engine Duo-R cost me around $200 for just the console, before I had to replace the disc drive and pay for an RGB mod. And I would assume the Analogue Duo plays all region HuCards too, I can't play US ones without a very destructive and convoluted mod. So it has more functionality for much less than I paid (unless they're still charging an arm and a leg for shipping of course :P )
It also plays SuperGrafx games which makes it tempting to me even though I have a nice, RBG modded and recapped Duo R.

I hope it’ll have larger, more robust and reliable memory for saves, I believe original hardware uses a large capacitor to retain saves similar to a MegaCD. I have a Tennokoe bank card, but it’s a pain to use and also relies on a battery.

I imagine shipping will be about $50…
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SCARTicus
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by SCARTicus »

Also the Analogue Pocket will play HuCards and TurboChips
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by H6rdc0re »

Does anyone know if it's possible to play games on the Mister FPGA @120Hz and if so how to do it? On my LG CX I can get the menu sort of stable @120Hz running custom resolutions 1152x1080 and 1280x1080 both CVT with reduced blanking but games still run @60Hz.

Also why do I never see anyone talking about the OLED motion pro on the high setting? Sure OLED motion pro on the low and medium setting is pretty terrible in terms of motion clarity but high is amazing. Yes it's dim and can flicker @60Hz but it has CRT like motion and when running @120Hz it's bright enough and there's no flicker. Seriously I welcome any LG CX/GX or C1/G1 owner to try it out.
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by ldeveraux »

I disassembled my TurboGrafx CD Dock thing because I was checking if it needed a recap job. It looked fine so i reassembled it but now it doesn't work. I confirmed the TG16 itself works with my RGB cable, so it clearly gets power. I tested the communication pins in the rear by using my pin to RCA adapter. I think the CD player still works, but didn't confirm (also didn't touch the CD). I don't think the dock is being powered. The RGB port is on the TG16 itself and doesn't work when I plug it into the dock but power it from the dock. Anyone have a suggesting how to fix this? Docks on eBay are absurdly expensive now for some reason.
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bobrocks95
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by bobrocks95 »

Does anyone know if the RGB color LUT for the PC Engine was ever discussed RE native hardware? I read that the missing colors vs composite were fixed for Mister, but I think that was it.
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HDgaming42
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by HDgaming42 »

Capacitor question. Monitor (audio) is making awful sounds and I happen to have the caps to replace, but what this orange substance between them? Is it just an adhesive, or does it have thermal properties? Any guesses, as I don't have any of whatever that is...

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