JAP Vampire Chronicle SCART+Composite problem

[ryzom]

Hi,

I hope I'm posting this in the right section:

I'm having issues running Vampire Chronicle from Capcom (japanese version) on my brand new japanese dreamcast.

When using an RGB scart, all I see is the top left quarter of the screen (like it's zoomed in) but sounds and colours are OK.

When using the composite cable that came with the console, sounds are OK and the display is centered/the right size but... no colours, I'm getting grayscale (same problem with the other games and also in the dreamcast menu when there's no disc).

I tried with two different composite to scart adapters (my TV is an old Philips CRT and it only has one scart input), one had all the pins, the other only had a few but it made no difference)

I compared my RGB and composite cables, and the composite cable's plug that goes at the back of the console has less pins than the RGB cable. (The composite cable only has 3 pins in total, one pin on one side and two pins on the other)

Anyone ever experienced this issue? I expected the game to run fine with the composite cable that came with the console.
Should I try with another composite cable?

If you need more informations, just let me know.

Thanks for your time and help.

edit: I just ordered this cable:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/8 ... L1500_.jpg

My rca to scart adapter also has an s-video input so I'll try both rca and s-video when the new cable arrives and I'll tell you how it went.

[DR TEAMCAST]

Anyone ever experienced this issue?

Not quite the issue your describing but i had a second dc (blew the controller board lol) that when a vga cable was plugged in the picture was really dark and the audio was buzzing. Figured maybe that particular model wasn't vga cable compatible. But regular RCA worked fine

It seems like its your console, but maybe someone else here can give you a better answer. Goodluck with that man

[Wombat]

Are you located in Europe? In that this explains why you get grayscale when using a composite cable. Further on various Capcom titles have an RGB-protection and won't play (properly?) with such an cable connected. I guess this is the case in your situation. Other games do work with this RGB cable?

[ryzom]

Hey, thanks for your replies.

Yep, I live in Europe (France).
My old CRT TV is most likely a PAL/SECAM compatible model(?)

All my other japanese dreamcast games work just fine with the RGB cable although the picture is slightly off-centered. I can live with that but if you guys have a solution to this minor issue I'm all ears.

My other consoles (european N64 and asian (PAL) megadrive) work perfectly through composite with the two rca to scart adapters I have.

So I assume you're right when you say my european TV won't accept the japanese dreamcast's composite signal for some reason.

At least the console itself isn't faulty but I guess it will not work properly with the new cable either? Not sure if my TV handles S-video signals, I'll find out when I get the cable (I read that most rca/s-video to scart adapters output a black and white signal so I will have to do a bit of soldering before I'm sure)

Thanks again guys.

edit: I'm afraid my TV is SECAM only and won't recognize S-video (even though my other PAL consoles work fine)...
Which means I'm basically screwed if the incoming composite cable doesn't work right away.

[Wombat]

It's definitely the RGB protection kicking in! Easiest solution is to get a patched copy of the internet and play this game from CD-R :/

[ryzom]

Damn, that sucks I'd rather grab a VGA box and bring back my old Iiyama 22" CRT from the garage then.

Could you please elaborate on why composite wouldn't work on my european TV? Only because the signal is NTSC and my TV won't fully support it? I couldn't find any infos about this subject.

Also, S-video being more of an American standard, do you think it is possible that my TV accepts it?

[lastcallgames]

I think it has to do with how the colors are drawn in NTSC vs PAL. I know a few PAL exclusive games won't work in color on an NTSC machine (the only one coming to mind now is the Taz game for N64), so I'd imagine vice-versa is an issue too.

You could try either importing a TV/Monitor from the US or Japan (I've never had a problem playing Japanese games with my US TV), or seeing if you can find a PAL and NTSC one locally.

[ryzom]

You could try either importing a TV/Monitor from the US or Japan

But then my PAL consoles won't work anymore, right?

Hell, I think I'll just buy another cheap TV with both SCART and VGA inputs off the flea market and a VGA box if I can't get S-video to work.
(Or would I be fine with a cheap mini NTSC><PAL converter?)

Vampire Chronicle is the only game I own that won't work with RGB and people say it works with VGA.

So NTSC console+RGB scart lead on PAL TV is ok but not composite? bad news!
I'll cross fingers about S-video but I don't have much hope.

[mazonemayu]

I'm in PAL world also (Belgium) and mine works with a vgabox on my PAL console, just so you know

[krssn]

RGB is neither NTSC nor PAL. That's why NTSC games show color through SCART RGB even on a PAL monitor. It's a different signal altogether...

You could buy an NTSC to PAL converter if you don't mind using composite. That should normally fix the B&W screen...

There's also this if you can still find one...

Personally though I'd go for a nice PAL TV that also accepts NTSC signals. They aren't that expensive anymore afteral...