Best Cost-effective VGA Option?

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Aleron Ives
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Re: Best Cost-effective VGA Option?

Post#11 » Fri Mar 09, 2018 8:51 pm

Are there any VGA options that crop the DC's borked 720x480 video output to 640x480? That would probably go a long way towards making the DC compatible with more TVs that have VGA inputs, since 720x480 is not a valid resolution to transmit over VGA.
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mistamontiel
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Re: Best Cost-effective VGA Option?

Post#12 » Fri Mar 09, 2018 11:51 pm

Interesting? I have the Retrobit VGA box and monitor reported 640x480. Did do Hydro Thunder Hot New

Then now I have the Beharbros Toro. My monitor reports 720x480 and Hydro Thunder is the one shit that won't display

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Aleron Ives
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Re: Best Cost-effective VGA Option?

Post#13 » Sat Mar 10, 2018 12:23 am

At least for PSO, VGA output displays 640x480 in a 720x480 frame, so even if you set the TV to 16:9, the picture won't fill the screen, because not all of the output resolution has image data in it. This strange "NTSC" VGA output is probably why some TVs don't like the DC's VGA signal.
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Raen
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Re: Best Cost-effective VGA Option?

Post#14 » Sat Mar 10, 2018 11:02 am

The Dreamcast is known to output a 640x480 resolution through a 720x480 carrier signal, which leads to some complications when treating the image signal. Nothing new really. To obtain the 640x480 signal, you would have to strip it from the carrier first, simply cropping it wouldn't work I think. There are no VGA cables or boxes that do this, you'd have to go for a FPGA based solution like an OSSC or Framemeister probably. Maybe the new HDMI internal mod from Chriz2600 and citrus3000psi can achieve this, but only them can tell.

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TuxTheWise
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Re: Best Cost-effective VGA Option?

Post#15 » Thu Mar 15, 2018 4:19 pm

Raen wrote:https://www.beharbros.com/

Get the Hanzo or Toro for VGA, or an Akura for HDMI. Pricier, but way better.


Since I have a Samsung TV not compatible with VGA, I was interested in buying Akura for HDMI, but I fear it adds noticeable latency to the image. Have anyone had problems with that?

I got a cheap HDMI<->VGA converter some days ago, and although image got perfect, the latency makes games unplayable for me (my wife haven't noticed though...).

I was looking at other options, like this:
www.amazon.com/Monoprice-108668-VGA-Inc ... 009GUQIPG/
It probably has not latency since no digital processing is made to the image, but people keep complaining about dark colors. Does anyone has experience to that?
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Raen
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Re: Best Cost-effective VGA Option?

Post#16 » Thu Mar 15, 2018 8:50 pm

You can always read the official thread over at ASSEMBLER. According to Yossi, there's no input lag on the Akura:

https://assemblergames.com/threads/akur ... ost-923602

https://assemblergames.com/threads/akur ... ost-924423

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TuxTheWise
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Re: Best Cost-effective VGA Option?

Post#17 » Fri Mar 16, 2018 4:32 pm

Raen wrote:According to Yossi, there's no input lag on the Akura:


Thank you, the post was indeed very useful.

I just made an order, hopefully it will give a new life to my DC :)
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TuxTheWise
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Re: Best Cost-effective VGA Option?

Post#18 » Wed May 16, 2018 10:06 pm

My Akura just arrived, and I must say I'm impressed.

These are the best graphics I've ever seen Dreamcast output. The image is stable and with absolute NO NOISE (you CANNOT say it's coming from an analog source), color is great, and NO LATENCY/LAG is noticeable at all. There is less noise than in a my regular VGA-Box in my regular VGA monitor.

I'm very sensible with lag - I'm the guy that interrupts a multiplayer session asking to put TV in Game Mode - and I can say it does not exist/bother me with Akura.

It's very small, it blends perfectly with Dreamcast and it does not require an external power source. Perfect.
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Nz17
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Re: Best Cost-effective VGA Option?

Post#19 » Tue Jan 28, 2020 6:58 am

So fast forwarding to 2020, what are the nicest VGA options that cost less than $30 for Dreamcast? RetroBit for $15? Or should I just get a Bitfunx Dreamcast VGA to HDMI adapter kit for $20?

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Roareye
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Re: Best Cost-effective VGA Option?

Post#20 » Fri Jan 31, 2020 6:07 am

Akura to HDMI is the best. I bought a cheap VGA cable off eBay and it's okay, certainly serviceable, but the Akura produces a more stable image and less interference.

Akura's are about £50 which is about 3-4x more than the cheap eBay cables, but much cheaper than the Hanzo, Toro, OSSC or other high end device - despite it producing a high end image (it just lacks features I can't be arsed with like scanlines etc. I'd rather save the money than ruin my image with crap like that).

The Akura also avoids the need (at least on modern TVs) to buy an additional VGA-HDMI converter (most of which struggle with the Dreamcast's odd image signature, the one I had worked for most games, but as soon as you entered a web browser the screen would be shifted off to the top left, making it impossible to use. And on exiting the browser your image would be stuck this way until you turned the console off). This never happens on an Akura, saves the money and faff of finding a £30 VGA converter and essentially winds up only about £10 more overall for a cleaner, less frustrating setup with a better picture.

I also use an MCable with mine to smoothen out the sharper edges when the image is scaled, but this is expensive and not by any means an necessity. The Akura does everything it needs to do to produce a 1080p compatible picture without frivilous additions and after all additions you'd need for the VGA cable, ends up as an £8 upgrade with an image improvement usually in the £150+ range.

I've not used a Retrobit, but if I was going to pony up the money to "Retrobit" my consoles, I'd save it for an OSSC for maximum compatibility and better options. Retrobit's are expensive for what they are, £30 a cable per console. I can get an OSSC for £160 and connect all my consoles to it with 4x lossless pixel-perfect scaling. It might be a good buy if you only have one single retro machine, you'd have to check the reviews.

Never even heard of Bitfunx, but it sounds like a waste as an adapter kit, essentially it's just going to output the VGA signal over HDMI which won't improve compatibility and will likely leave the resolution/frame issues in place. Again, you'd have to read the review to know.

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