For a quick primer, the MiSTer is a semi-DIY project that involves an FPGA development board (the Terasic DE10-Nano) and a variety of additional components which can be self-assembled or purchased from various community members. It runs open-source FPGA "cores" that emulate the components of various game consoles, vintage computers and arcade PCBs. It is an extension/offshoot of the MiST project, which is an FPGA board that can be purchased as a single unit but is less powerful than the MiSTer. Last I heard, production of the original MiST has ceased so when current stock runs out they will no longer be available new. Development for the MiST has also slowed down generally, whereas there is a lot of activity in the MiSTer community (though much of it surrounds one developer).
For more information, the MiSTer wiki can be found here:
https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/Main_MiSTer/wiki
From the Mega Sg thread:
The MiSTer is pretty configurable, you can see from the wiki that several settings can be toggled:SNK-NEO-GEO wrote:the add on I/O which has a VGA out, is that actually for RGB? Does it do 15khz? Can the MiSTer be connected to a PVM with a similar cheap cable? Does the MiSTer do components/composite/RGB over that VGA out put on the I/O?
I don't care much of it is emulated, I just want something that looks (15khz) and play (no traditional OS) like the real thing with a small foot print and easy to setup.
You can disable the scandoubler to output 15khz, and set csync to output on the H pin instead of HV sync, meaning connection to a PVM or consumer CRT TV is not difficult. There is also a YPbPr option.
I don't currently own a MiSTer but I do have a MiST, I mainly got it for the vintage computer cores (Atari ST, Amiga, etc.) which are great and also available on MiSTer. I'll likely be picking up a MiSTer soon.