Which old consoles support 16:9 on an HDTV??...

[dave4shmups]

This is something that I'm really curious about. My 3DO looks just fine in 16:9, but I don't know if consoles like the PS1, Sega Saturn, or Atari Jaguar do. I still have my old CRT, but my HDTV has enough ports on it that I'd like to be able to hook up as many systems as I can to it-as long as the picture is fine.

[BulletMagnet]

Maybe someone with more technical knowhow would know better, but I don't think much of anything older than the previous gen was ever made to support widescreen...I know certain games on the original XBox do (it's noted on the back of the case), and so do a handful on the Dreamcast IIRC, but I'm not sure about anything else. Personally, if I have to hook up an older system to one of my flatscreen monitors I change the aspect ratio to 4:3 and play with borders, just so the image doesn't look stretched.

[Op Intensify]

There are a few Saturn games with widescreen modes (i.e. Panzer Dragoon Zwei). I don't think they're 16:9 though.

[JBueno MD]

GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark 64 on N64 both had 16:9 modes, it would have been interesting to see how they looked on a CRT HDTV.

[dave4shmups]

Maybe someone with more technical knowhow would know better, but I don't think much of anything older than the previous gen was ever made to support widescreen...I know certain games on the original XBox do (it's noted on the back of the case), and so do a handful on the Dreamcast IIRC, but I'm not sure about anything else. Personally, if I have to hook up an older system to one of my flatscreen monitors I change the aspect ratio to 4:3 and play with borders, just so the image doesn't look stretched.

Yeah, I use 4:3 for DVD movies that aren't widescreen, although it my Genesis doesn't look to good on it. The left part of the screen sometimes looks all scrambled up-I wonder if my Genesis has bad AV cables? I know I plugged them into my HDTV properly.

[njiska]

GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark 64 on N64 both had 16:9 modes, it would have been interesting to see how they looked on a CRT HDTV.

Well I'd love to tell you, but unfortunately both of my HD 16:9 Trinitrons use digital scalers from resolutions less than 1080i. Which is incredibly fucking dumb. However since both games are no rendered at an HD resolution a better Idea would be to see how the look on a large size SD TV. I've run both on my 36" 4:3 Trinitron (with the tv letter boxing) and at full resolution on my 27" 16:9 Toshiba. They both look very sharp and the use of anamorphic 16:9 looks just fine. The only problem is that with 16:9 and Hi-Res (640x480) modes enable, they both play at around 10 fps, even in sparely populated areas.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The DC racing game, Ferrari 355 Challenge supports 16:9 mode if you use a S-Video cable on a CRT monitor setup.

Even Namco's Ridge Racer Type 4 supports 16:9 widescreen format if using a PSX S-Video cable on a CRT monitor setup as well.

The original Gran Turismo on the PSX had 16:9 support if played in (presented in 480i @ 60fps framerate) High-Spec mode.

Squaresoft's PSX shooter, iS: internal section, has both 4:3 & 16:9 modes selectable on the fly if so desired (note: widescreen is disabled if you use RCA composite video or a JPN or Euro Scart cable setup, so it's recommended to a dedicated PSX S-Video cable for 16:9 mode).

Same above listed screen options can chosen with the PSX game of N2O as well.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[dave4shmups]

I didn't know that the PS1 had an S-Video port. So, what is causing the issues with my Genesis??

[fagin]

The ps1 hasn't got a s-video port, but you can get a s-video av lead.

[Kiken]

I didn't know that the PS1 had an S-Video port. So, what is causing the issues with my Genesis??

The Debug Station models do have direct S-Video out (I think the Net Yarouze models have this too). The standard model PlayStations though did not. The earlier models did come with direct composite video out though.

Yeah, I use 4:3 for DVD movies that aren't widescreen, although it my Genesis doesn't look to good on it. The left part of the screen sometimes looks all scrambled up-I wonder if my Genesis has bad AV cables? I know I plugged them into my HDTV properly.

Most likely, you're just seeing the overscan area of MD/Genesis (on a traditional CRT, you wouldn't see that edge of the screen).

[dave4shmups]

I didn't know that the PS1 had an S-Video port. So, what is causing the issues with my Genesis??

The Debug Station models do have direct S-Video out (I think the Net Yarouze models have this too). The standard model PlayStations though did not. The earlier models did come with direct composite video out though.

Yeah, I use 4:3 for DVD movies that aren't widescreen, although it my Genesis doesn't look to good on it. The left part of the screen sometimes looks all scrambled up-I wonder if my Genesis has bad AV cables? I know I plugged them into my HDTV properly.

Most likely, you're just seeing the overscan area of MD/Genesis (on a traditional CRT, you wouldn't see that edge of the screen).

OK, I'm just wondering what other old consoles that I would see that with (what about the SNES, for instance?) and is there anyway to get rid of it? I've never noticed it with my Atari 800XL. I mean, that's and old computer, but I've still used AV cables to hook it up.

[JBueno MD]

GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark 64 on N64 both had 16:9 modes, it would have been interesting to see how they looked on a CRT HDTV.

Well I'd love to tell you, but unfortunately both of my HD 16:9 Trinitrons use digital scalers from resolutions less than 1080i. Which is incredibly fucking dumb. However since both games are no rendered at an HD resolution a better Idea would be to see how the look on a large size SD TV. I've run both on my 36" 4:3 Trinitron (with the tv letter boxing) and at full resolution on my 27" 16:9 Toshiba. They both look very sharp and the use of anamorphic 16:9 looks just fine. The only problem is that with 16:9 and Hi-Res (640x480) modes enable, they both play at around 10 fps, even in sparely populated areas.

It must have been quite a sight to play those on 16:9 CRT SDTVs back when those titles where new, nowadays I don´t think the titles would hold up because of the low framerate as you mention. Sadly those TVs weren´t as common here in America as they were in Europe, I haven´t really seen one in person; only 16:9 CRT TVs I´ve seen here are HD sets.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

If you use a S-Video cable with an SFC/SNES, it'll display just fine full screen & without any border screen issues if played on a SD CRT-based TV setup.

Sony released a black colored A/V adapter that has both RCA composite video & S-Video outputs for use with the PSX & PS2.

I'd recommended picking up an Monster Game branded PS2 S-Video cable with it's 24k gold plated contacts for a solid connection to your A/V gear.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[dave4shmups]

If you use a S-Video cable with an SFC/SNES, it'll display just fine full screen & without any border screen issues if played on a SD CRT-based TV setup.

Sony released a black colored A/V adapter that has both RCA composite video & S-Video outputs for use with the PSX & PS2.

I'd recommended picking up an Monster Game branded PS2 S-Video cable with it's 24k gold plated contacts for a solid connection to your A/V gear.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

OK, thanks! Is there anything like that for the Genesis? There's a guy on Youtube who had his Genesis modded for S-Video-I wouldn't go that far!

And what about the Saturn?

[JBueno MD]

If you use a S-Video cable with an SFC/SNES, it'll display just fine full screen & without any border screen issues if played on a SD CRT-based TV setup.

Sony released a black colored A/V adapter that has both RCA composite video & S-Video outputs for use with the PSX & PS2.

I'd recommended picking up an Monster Game branded PS2 S-Video cable with it's 24k gold plated contacts for a solid connection to your A/V gear.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

I use those very same Monster S-Video cables for my PS1 in my 2007 Sony Wega CRT SDTV, and I must say results are quite stunning. Totally worth the $10 USD I got them for from Amazon, really sturdy cables. I keep my PS2 connected to the same TV using similar Monster branded Component PS2 cables and the PQ is even better for both PS1 and PS2 titles.

[Kiken]

OK, thanks! Is there anything like that for the Genesis? There's a guy on Youtube who had his Genesis modded for S-Video-I wouldn't go that far!

And what about the Saturn?

Which model Genesis/MD do you have? The mark 1 units require quite a bit of modding to produce S-Video. With the mark 2 units, you can either mod them (neither unit natively sends Luma and Chroma to the video-out connector) or you can try to track down a $200+ Micomsoft XMD-3 S-Video and RGB output connector.

The Saturn natively supports S-Video. You can find Saturn S-Video cables on E-Bay for around $10 or so.

[neorichieb1971]

16:9 is possible on all consoles that do polygon based games. They just make a circle like an egg shape and the TV stretches it out automatically to make it a circle. Thats anamorphic behaviour. You distort something on purpose so that when the bad effect happens it puts everything into the right perspective. Thats how Panzer Zwei works on the Saturn. The game has to have the option built in though. There is a website somewhere that tells you the AV options on all games.

With 2D based consoles thats not possible unless the sprite was distorted. That wouldn't really work unless everyone was using 16:9 displays, which nobody did in those days.

The cable used doesn't matter except for the Dreamcast which had RGB and VGA locked out games for some reason.

[njiska]

The cable used doesn't matter except for the Dreamcast which had RGB and VGA locked out games for some reason.

Thankfully this can be corrected on most games by changing a value in the disc image. There's only a few that can't be made to support VGA.

[dave4shmups]

OK, thanks! Is there anything like that for the Genesis? There's a guy on Youtube who had his Genesis modded for S-Video-I wouldn't go that far!

And what about the Saturn?

Which model Genesis/MD do you have? The mark 1 units require quite a bit of modding to produce S-Video. With the mark 2 units, you can either mod them (neither unit natively sends Luma and Chroma to the video-out connector) or you can try to track down a $200+ Micomsoft XMD-3 S-Video and RGB output connector.

The Saturn natively supports S-Video. You can find Saturn S-Video cables on E-Bay for around $10 or so.

I have a model 2. What would my options be with the JVC X'EYE or Sega CDX? And, if 2D sprite graphics are the issue, I wonder why I'm not having any issues with my Atari 800XL?

[dave4shmups]

Regarding the N64, how does it look in 4:3 mode?