DCHDMI - Any feedback from people who took the plunge?

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DCUltrapro
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DCHDMI - Any feedback from people who took the plunge?

Post#1 » Fri Aug 16, 2019 10:53 am

Hey guys, I haven't posted for a while so I apologise if this has been discussed recently. I've had a search and can't find anything with much info or many replies so thought I'd ask the question.

I've been trying to figure out what to do about displaying my Dreamcast on my big/main tv, and the only thing I can think to do which will completely address and resolve the issue of using a modern tv with the DC, is to go down the route of getting the DCHDMI mod and paying for someone to fit it.

Now obviously this is crazy expensive, some places are charging £300 to sell the part and fit it, the cheapest I've found is £159 on ebay and £50 charge for a guy in the UK to fit it for me.

So I'm just wondering if anyone on here has tried this and if so, is it worth the money? Is it reliable or is it something that has gone wrong within about 6 months? I know it has options and stuff, you can change the resolution and even upgrade firmware etc via WIFI, but all of that means nothing if, like the beharbros VGA box, it falls apart within a few months

I've purchased a £25 HDMI adapter/cable solution from Amazon for the time being as anything is better than my current setup, but if the DCHDMI is the only true solution for this then I might just have to save up the pennies :D

TIA
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deluxux
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Re: DCHDMI - Any feedback from people who took the plunge?

Post#2 » Fri Aug 16, 2019 7:27 pm

Maybe one day we can get a cheaper version without the wifiand extras for $50. The Dreamcast looks great on LCD/CRT computer monitors you can get locally for next to nothing, after that CRT TVs are basically free as well. I would have to see the picture in person side by side and have money to burn. I bet this device has done more harm then good so far. I have seen a few broken Dreamcasts from bad installs. I say no go. I think the best use for it is to make nice youtube videos. I think the image quality from the Dreamcast is fine as is! But ill be one of the first to buy one when the cost isn't 6X the cost of the console.

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BlueCrab
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Re: DCHDMI - Any feedback from people who took the plunge?

Post#3 » Fri Aug 16, 2019 9:38 pm

I do have a console with a DCHDMI installed, so I can comment a little bit, I guess...

While I don't have any other HDMI solutions to compare against, I will say that the DCHDMI does produce the nicest picture that I have ever seen out of a Dreamcast on an HDTV. Perhaps on a TV with a better scaler VGA might look closer, but on my equipment the difference between VGA and HDMI output on the console is definitely quite noticeable. I don't really have any good way to capture the difference in the output unfortunately (beyond trying to take pictures with my cell phone, which would be so blurry as to ensure there's probably no difference), so I realize this is basically just asking you to take my word for it... I don't foresee anything going wrong with it in any short order, because about the only way I could think of to break it would be to physically break it. Considering it's housed completely in the case of the console, I don't see there being much chance of that (beyond perhaps if you were to strain the HDMI cable itself while it's plugged in).

I will also say that I bought the kit directly from the guy making them and installed it myself. I'm not particularly great at soldering (my hands can be a bit unsteady at times when I try to concentrate too hard on what I'm doing), and I had certainly never soldered anything as small as the cable for the DCHDMI board before (doing an RGH mod on an Xbox 360 was the closest I had ever done). I did mess it up a bit initially, but it was not a fatal mistake on my part -- a quick touch of the soldering iron on the part that I determined had a bridged connection and a bit more flux fixed the problem relatively in short order. That said, if I only had one Dreamcast (I have quite a few in storage), I probably wouldn't have been brave enough to do the install myself...

That all said, if you're happy with your setup as you have it, don't bother getting a DCHDMI. The mod itself is expensive, even if you're able to do the install yourself (and all that much worse if you can't). Basically, if you're happy with the HDMI cable/adapter you get, I don't see the DCHDMI being that much of an upgrade for you.

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DCUltrapro
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Re: DCHDMI - Any feedback from people who took the plunge?

Post#4 » Sat Aug 17, 2019 6:41 am

Thanks guys, I can understand both points, but for me this is about ease of use and logistics. I completely agree that the pure vga picture is fantastic on a crt. My main TV doesn't have vga or scart, and transferring the picture via a vga adapter AND THEN a vga to hdmi adapter is far too convoluted and problematic as well as the picture being rubbish.

I would get a crt or vga monitor if I had a room I could put it in, but I can't justify having another TV somewhere in the house only for use with the dreamcast, I kinda went down that route with my ex wife and it just meant I was always in the other room lol. Also having a house and 2 kids means it's difficult to justify all these extra things flapping around the house.

In terms of something going wrong, I know from experience that workmanship can be a big factor when it comes to these 3rd party/after market modifications etc, and although it is an internal modification, if it hasn't been fitted together correctly and professionally (I mean the parts on the mod board, not just the job of attaching it to the dc) it can still go wrong or develop a fault. Hell even the psu board in my main dreamcast blew the other day and I had to replace it.

I'm still considering this though Adam koralik made an interesting point that the jagged edges become more apparent because of the increase in clarity etc so it's something I really need to consider carefully.

Will let you guys know how the hdmi adapter goes
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Yenaphe
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Re: DCHDMI - Any feedback from people who took the plunge?

Post#5 » Sat Aug 24, 2019 10:56 am

I've just got my DC modded for DCHDMI, and the picture quality is astonishing.

Prior to that I was using the SCART plugged in my Xrgb Mini in 571i (I'm in PAL land), and the difference between the two is gigantic. I never owned a VGA Box for the DC but borrowed a few from friends. DCHDMI is still better than them.

For the price question, I guess it really depends if you are happy with the quality you have today, and if you play enough DC to justify the jump.

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tenchi ryu
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Re: DCHDMI - Any feedback from people who took the plunge?

Post#6 » Thu Sep 05, 2019 2:02 am

Does anyone have some insight on some of those non-vga compatible games that can be forced to work? Specifically Plasma Sword and Psychic Force if anyone has tried them

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DCUltrapro
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Re: DCHDMI - Any feedback from people who took the plunge?

Post#7 » Fri Sep 06, 2019 3:45 am

One of the guys on the discord answered this question for me yesterday and apparently they all work via DCHDMI without the need to switch, because the DCHDMI mod grabs the video before it gets to the ports (out puts) though I am not speaking from first hand experience. I am essentially trying to convince myself to invest in getting this mod myself lol.

I have VGA-HDMI cable converters, and an RGB Scart to HDMI converter as well, as my main tv has neither scart nor VGA inputs. Because of this, for some strange reason, the RGB Scart to HDMI converter actually gives a cleaner and clearer picture. I will use this for the foreseeable until I can afford the DCHDMI and pluck up the courage to attempt it lol
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Wombat
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Re: DCHDMI - Any feedback from people who took the plunge?

Post#8 » Fri Sep 06, 2019 7:09 am

For games that won't run with VGA, you can bypass this problem by selecting a different cable connection from within the DCHDMI OSD menu.

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DCUltrapro
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Re: DCHDMI - Any feedback from people who took the plunge?

Post#9 » Fri Sep 06, 2019 7:54 am

I thought that's something you would have to do but was advised you don't even need to do that apparently, as the video signal hasn't even hit the thing that sends it to the AV Out Puts. This isn't my advice though as I don't own the mod, just passing on what I was told
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Capone1423
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Re: DCHDMI - Any feedback from people who took the plunge?

Post#10 » Fri Sep 13, 2019 9:17 am

Hi together,

I just bought the DCHDMI kit and the kti looks a little bit different to most of the pic in the net. I got the board in version 1.3a and the flex cable isn*t black but its s brown/yellow. My question is, is it a older version flex cable and board, which they sold to me or is everything fine. I didnt found much information about different flex cables.

Thanks

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