5" LCD Love... and alternatives?

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 2:41 am

Haha... Ok, so I work at a job that allows me to play games at work. I've always done so via these 5" LCD screens, with no real problems. I'd never tried shooters however. Well, I tried ESPgaluda tonight, and even tate'd it's an unplayable mess T_T I can play the Dreamcast at work with no problem, since it outputs a native VGA signal, and there's a 17" computer monitor here. So, I just hook it up and viola, super gorgeous Dreamcast love. It's part of why my two 1ccs are Mars Matrix and Ikaruga... I get more game time at work than at home.

Anyways, what I was wondering is this. Are there any good options for putting a PS2 onto VGA? How nasty would ESPgaluda or DDP:DOJ look on a 17" computer monitor in just an RCA -> VGA adapter, or possibly S-Vid -> VGA if they have such a thing. Cheapest options? Best options? Would it be utterly unplayable, or would it make due?

rockaroller · Post by **rockaroller** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 2:53 am

Arvandor wrote:Haha... Ok, so I work at a job that allows me to play games at work. I've always done so via these 5" LCD screens, with no real problems. I'd never tried shooters however. Well, I tried ESPgaluda tonight, and even tate'd it's an unplayable mess T_T I can play the Dreamcast at work with no problem, since it outputs a native VGA signal, and there's a 17" computer monitor here. So, I just hook it up and viola, super gorgeous Dreamcast love. It's part of why my two 1ccs are Mars Matrix and Ikaruga... I get more game time at work than at home.

Anyways, what I was wondering is this. Are there any good options for putting a PS2 onto VGA? How nasty would ESPgaluda or DDP:DOJ look on a 17" computer monitor in just an RCA -> VGA adapter, or possibly S-Vid -> VGA if they have such a thing. Cheapest options? Best options? Would it be utterly unplayable, or would it make due?

Well, I think you've got two alternatives: a Blaze VGA Cable or a X2VGA2. I don't know how the later treats low-res, but with hi-res games it's amazing.
Check it out - X2VGA 2 and [url=ttp://www.ps2modchip.com/search.php?page=dvdx]Blaze's Cable[/url].

Fighter17 · Post by **Fighter17** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 2:53 am

Holy...

What job you have?

rockaroller · Post by **rockaroller** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 3:06 am

Fighter17 wrote:Holy...

What job you have?

I was asking myself the same question... and feeling a little envious. =P

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 3:15 am

Security, just to satiate your curiosities =P I sit in a guard shack, watch the gate, and patrol every other hour or so. I read, play video games, and surf the internet to keep myself sane. The boredom would be intolerable otherwise ^_^

I might ask around other places about that X2VGA2 or whatever to see what it does to low res games.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 3:30 am

I believe the X2VGA2 doesnt support low res at all. At least not in a way where you can actually play the game. I cant be bothered to read up on it right now cos im at work myself but if its the same as before the low res support is dash board functionality only so you can access memory card options and such. It looks like shite but has a practical purpose.

AFAIK no PS2 games support prog scan, so your out of luck for that option.

ktownhero · Post by **ktownhero** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 3:45 am

neorichieb1971 wrote:AFAIK no PS2 games support prog scan, so your out of luck for that option.

Did you mean just shooters? I'm not sure if any shooters do, but there are plenty of other PS2 games that support prog scan. I'm playing God of War in 480p glory right now.

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 4:08 am

Well that's no good, as games like God of War are quite playable on my 5" LCD monitor. Shooters are freaking impossible though. *sigh* Guess I'll just have to stick with Dreamcast shooters at work then.

Pirate1019 · Post by **Pirate1019** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 4:47 am

Convince whoever employs you that a bigger TV screen is essential to the safety of whatever you are working security for.

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 5:15 am

yeah, I meant no PS2 shooters are 480p.

Its 5am in the morning here in the UK and im getting tired.

God of War is one of my favorite games

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 7:30 am

The television I brought to my dorm has serious discolouration issues when placed vertical, even after resting for an hour.

I think a 4" LCD may be my only option for playing my tate PCBs, which is partly why I left them at home...

But it was all I had at one point a few years ago, I used it briefly to test when I was building my superguns. Not playing seriously, of course.

Shiki II can be played in 480p. There might have been something else...

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 7:41 am

I might just have to find a small TV or ... RGB monitor? Or something to take to work. Something around 11" that can be tated would probably be ideal. At least, I THINK 11" tate would be big enough to leave the game playable ^_^

Actually, a lot of the issues with the 5" LCD isn't the size so much as the color and refresh rate. Animation, especially things that move quickly (like some bullets) blur just a little bit. Also, the colors aren't contrasted very well (at least I think that's the problem), so even in a game with super easy to see bullets like ESPgaluda they can be pretty rough to see at times.

iatneH wrote:The television I brought to my dorm has serious discolouration issues when placed vertical, even after resting for an hour.

The 19" TV my friend gave me for a tate screen had this problem near the top (well, top when tated). What you need, is a degaussing wand =D I've been meaning to try and find a place to buy one myself. I managed to ghetto degauss it with a magnet, and it actually fixed most of the discoloration, but a real degaussing from a wand would be ideal.

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 8:07 am

Oh, I have one of those handheld VHS cassette erasers (basically use it to erase all sorts of magnetic media)... would this work or would it kill my TV even more?

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 8:10 am

Not sure, I wouldn't be the one to ask =/ It might work, since a degaussing wand basically just demagnetizes whatever it is that causes the discoloration.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Sun Feb 18, 2007 2:52 pm

[quote="Arvandor"]I might just have to find a small TV or ... RGB monitor? Or something to take to work. Something around 11" that can be tated would probably be ideal. At least, I THINK 11" tate would be big enough to leave the game playable ^_^quote]

For Arvandor,

Just pick up an Commodore Amiga 14" RGB monitor -- it has true analog RGB input support for low-resolution 15.7 kHz like your PS2 port of ESPgaluda does. I've got a Amiga 1080 monitor with a DB-9 RGB input myself for use with my arcade PCB equipment... ^_~

Plan on spending no more than $30-$40 for a used Amiga monitor and you're good to go!

A simple PS A/V adapter to the Amiga and you're in business. Plus, when the Amiga monitor is Tate'd, it's simply jaw-dropping beautiful. Of course, some people would say that setup is simply too small but it works like a charm for me. ^_~

The best Amiga monitor would be to pick an "1080S model" with a DB-9 input jack and it has all the necessary user adjustment dials to correctly adjust the screen size, etc. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 1:07 am

I assume buying one of those online would cost a bit in shipping... I wonder if I could pick one up locally somehow?

Also, what's this PS -> AV adapter you mentioned?

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 1:27 am

Sorry to derail your thread, Arvandor, but I just tried the VHS eraser on my television, and it fixed the colour problems. Looks perfect now, and I think I'll bring my supergun next week...

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 2:25 am

Heh, that's awesome. It's probably about the same principle anyways, just using an electromagnet that alternates polarities super fast (at least, I think that's what degaussing wands do), to demagnetize things. Where could I pick up one such device? =D

iatneH · Post by **iatneH** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 2:34 am

link
This is the exact thing I have... it's probably over 25 years old, but it looks like you ought to be able to get one around $15-$20 plus shipping?

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 2:37 am

Arvandor wrote:I assume buying one of those online would cost a bit in shipping... I wonder if I could pick one up locally somehow?

Also, what's this PS -> AV adapter you mentioned?

For Arvandor,

I was refering to a modded PSX audio/video output interface with the video signal portion of wires hacked off and a DB-9 styled plug put in place on the recieving end to interface with the Amiga monitor (assuming that it does have DB-9 connection styled plug, of course -- five video signals then go into the Amiga monitor: combined Horizontal & Vertical Sync, Ground, Red, Blue and Green signals -- easy as pie!)..... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 2:45 am

... Doesn't SOUND easy =P At least not to my novice ears.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:40 am

Arvandor wrote:Security, just to satiate your curiosities =P

I was gonna answer the question if you didn't, heh :lol: Guessed it right away.

Maybe you could hook something up to a monitor in your shack?

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 6:13 am

We don't have any surveilence monitors or anything, otherwise I would have tried =P All we have is a computer with a 17" Dell monitor thing. Works amazing with my Dreamcast VGA adapter -_^ I think I'm screwed as far as low res games on the PS2 goes, unless I look into that RGB commodore thingy-majig.

shmups.system11.org

5" LCD Love... and alternatives?

5" LCD Love... and alternatives?

Re: 5" LCD Love... and alternatives?

A Commodore Amiga 14" analog RGB monitor works wonders.