Need some dreamcast vga connection help

[schweaty]

Gents,

My 1st generation pioneer plasma has an 15-pin vga input labelled 'analog rgb' as a pc connection.  My question is, can i connect my dreamcast with a vga cable to this input?

I cant find much tech data on the pioneer tv.  I basically just need to know if tv manufacturers considered vga an analog rgb connection.  I know it isnt really, but that doesnt mean it wont work on this tv.  I just dont want to buy a decent dreamcast vga cable and not have it work

[Bloufo]

I cant find much tech data on the pioneer tv.  I basically just need to know if tv manufacturers considered vga an analog rgb connection.  I know it isnt really, but that doesnt mean it wont work on this tv.  I just dont want to buy a decent dreamcast vga cable and not have it work

It should work.

Worst case scenario is you won't be out too much for a decent VGA cable. Too lazy to look now but I got mine off of Amazon a year or so back for about $15.

[jperryss]

I think it will work. VGA is an analog RGB (+HV) connection, right?

[LostFlunky]

 My DC VGA cable has worked on every HD TV i have owned with a "PC" input. Go for it - DC VGA is awesome.

[SuperDeadite]

VGA = analog RGB

[SignOfZeta]

Plug that shit in. This is exactly what it's for.

[Arkhan Asylum]

SLIP IT INNNNNNNNNNNN

[seieienbu]

I Love how DC included VGA support.  Probably my favorite thing about that entire console generation was turning my old PC monitor sideways and playing Ikaruga how it was originally intended with the best looking picture imaginable.

Post some screen shots after you hook it up!

[SignOfZeta]

Yeah, non-tate Ikaruga over composite is not the same thing. Rez, Shenmue, even Cannon Spike are a LOT different over lesser signals.

[jperryss]

I'm going to use this thread to ask a DC-VGA question since you guys seem knowledgeable.

I'm using my Dreamcast with a SCART RGB cable plugged into my PVM, so everything is 480i. But my PVM can also display 640x480 and I want to be able to switch the DC's output to VGA mode when playing a game that supports it. Is that possible?

If not, is it possible to use the VGA cable and wire a switch to force it back to 480i?

I've already tested RGBHV on my PVM by using a T-adapter to combine the syncs. I'm trying to avoid having to swap cables whenever I play a game that doesn't support VGA mode. If there's no easy solution, I'll connect the VGA cable to my VGA monitor and just swap the cable as needed.

[SignOfZeta]

The DC can be tricked into doing different video modes with special boot discs but I don't know about VGA. There's some circuitry in a VGA box and I don't know if it's all to the audio or not. The DC itself may not be able to make a VGA signal. I'm thinking probably not.

[schweaty]

Thanks guys!  Im going to jam that shit in prison-style

[bartre]

The DC can be tricked into doing different video modes with special boot discs but I don't know about VGA. There's some circuitry in a VGA box and I don't know if it's all to the audio or not. The DC itself may not be able to make a VGA signal. I'm thinking probably not.

yeah boot discs can trick the DC into outputting VGA video on games that don't support it
lots of games have patched versions that can be burned and played that way too.

here's a list of games:
https://www.epforums.org/showthread.php?56169-Dreamcast-VGA-Compatability-list-amp-Guide

[SignOfZeta]

Yes, you don't even need to patch them, I have more than one boot disc that just lets you pick. However he's asking if you can get the DC to put out a 480p RGB signal over the SCART, with no VGA box. That's what I'm wondering about.

Edit: http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/dreamcast-internal-vga-mod/

There you go.

[bartre]

ah, hadn't read that post

it's tough to say exactly without telling you to hack up your cable and try it, cuz i'm not exactly an electrican.
but I'd imagine a SPDT switch to go between grounding pins 6&7 would work.

but before doing that, I'd check to see if the cable has all the pins, a lot of DC video cables only have the ones they need.

[seieienbu]

I tried to get a lot of non-VGA compliant games to output VGA using boot disks.  Generally you'd get nothing but occasionally you could get a game to output 480p correctly; Last Blade 2 instantly springs to mind here.  If memory serves, it was unsuccessful with the "Innovation" boot disk that I bought from Gamestop but was successful with the Reindeer bootdisk I downloaded and burned from somewhere online.  Occasionally odd things would happen.  Bangai-O would output the entire game taking up only the top left quarter of the screen. 

As much as I love the DC's VGA output capabilities I think it's honestly a disservice to everyone when people don't mention the fact that a ton of games don't use VGA.

[bartre]

I tried to get a lot of non-VGA compliant games to output VGA using boot disks.  Generally you'd get nothing but occasionally you could get a game to output 480p correctly; Last Blade 2 instantly springs to mind here.  If memory serves, it was unsuccessful with the "Innovation" boot disk that I bought from Gamestop but was successful with the Reindeer bootdisk I downloaded and burned from somewhere online.  Occasionally odd things would happen.  Bangai-O would output the entire game taking up only the top left quarter of the screen. 

As much as I love the DC's VGA output capabilities I think it's honestly a disservice to everyone when people don't mention the fact that a ton of games don't use VGA. 

yeah any commercial boot disc I've tried has been far less successful than the Utopia boot disc.

[SignOfZeta]

I tried to get a lot of non-VGA compliant games to output VGA using boot disks.  Generally you'd get nothing but occasionally you could get a game to output 480p correctly; Last Blade 2 instantly springs to mind here.  If memory serves, it was unsuccessful with the "Innovation" boot disk that I bought from Gamestop but was successful with the Reindeer bootdisk I downloaded and burned from somewhere online.  Occasionally odd things would happen.  Bangai-O would output the entire game taking up only the top left quarter of the screen. 

As much as I love the DC's VGA output capabilities I think it's honestly a disservice to everyone when people don't mention the fact that a ton of games don't use VGA.

Yeah...I guess. Maybe I got lucky and most of the games I like work or can be tricked. I only had a few titles that absolutely wouldn't work in VGA and I actually wanted to play them. Jojos, I think was one of them.

[seieienbu]

Yeah...I guess. Maybe I got lucky and most of the games I like work or can be tricked. I only had a few titles that absolutely wouldn't work in VGA and I actually wanted to play them. Jojos, I think was one of them.

I've never looked until now, but a brief search shows me that there are lists out there that show what games work with VGA and what don't.  What I find surprising is that Last Blade 2 is on the "Not VGA compatible" list.  I distinctly remember it working with a boot disk, so, perhaps the list is wrong or perhaps my aging memory is failing me.  Either way, there's 19 US games that can't be tricked into working according to what I just read.

Air Force Delta
Bangai-O
Ceasars Palace 2000
Coaster Works
ECW Hardcore Revolution
Hydro Thunder
Iron Aces
JoJo Bizare Adventure
King of Fighters 99 Evelution
Last Blade II Heart of a Samarai
MTV Sports Skateboarding
Plasma Sword
Psychic Force 2012
Ring, The: Terror Realm
Skies of Arcadia
Snow Surfers
Soul Fighter
Sydney 2000
WWF Attitude

There may be a couple of mistakes here so if I can stop being lazy I'll test a few later.

[bartre]

also worth noting that some games can be tricked to play widescreen
*supposedly* i haven't gotten around to trying this myself

https://segaretro.org/List_of_Dreamcast_widescreen_codes

[SignOfZeta]

Yeah...I guess. Maybe I got lucky and most of the games I like work or can be tricked. I only had a few titles that absolutely wouldn't work in VGA and I actually wanted to play them. Jojos, I think was one of them.

I've never looked until now, but a brief search shows me that there are lists out there that show what games work with VGA and what don't.  What I find surprising is that Last Blade 2 is on the "Not VGA compatible" list.  I distinctly remember it working with a boot disk, so, perhaps the list is wrong or perhaps my aging memory is failing me.  Either way, there's 19 US games that can't be tricked into working according to what I just read.

Air Force Delta
Bangai-O
Ceasars Palace 2000
Coaster Works
ECW Hardcore Revolution
Hydro Thunder
Iron Aces
JoJo Bizare Adventure
King of Fighters 99 Evelution
Last Blade II Heart of a Samarai
MTV Sports Skateboarding
Plasma Sword
Psychic Force 2012
Ring, The: Terror Realm
Skies of Arcadia
Snow Surfers
Soul Fighter
Sydney 2000
WWF Attitude

There may be a couple of mistakes here so if I can stop being lazy I'll test a few later.

Yep, most of that is shite. I remember Psychic Force not working, that was a bummer.

I'm %99.9 sure that list is wrong about Skies of Arcadia. I cleared that game when it was new and it seems like I would have remembered having to move the DC to another display to play it.

I'm not surprised Last Blade doesn't work. All the 2D fighters have something fucked about them on DC. Third Strike and MvC 2 and CvS2 worked and thats what mattered.

[LostFlunky]

also worth noting that some games can be tricked to play widescreen
*supposedly* i haven't gotten around to trying this myself

https://segaretro.org/List_of_Dreamcast_widescreen_codes

Bad instructions on that site - what Dreamcast cheat device specifically? Gameshark probably...

This reminds me - I have 3 Dreamcasts and all 3 have the lid switch jumpered due to failure of the switch.. I can't use a swap disk...

Need to find some replacement lid switches...

Edit:  Looks like these switches are unobtanium...  they have to be refurbed or replaced with an external switch...  Maybe I'll try that this weekend.

[SignOfZeta]

PAR codes, presumably. F355 has a wide function in the menu but that being a 3D simulator that actually makes sense. I can't envision what CvS2 looks like wide or why anyone would want it to be.

[bartre]

regarding the cheat codes, Gameshark and Action Replay (and their rereleases) are the same thing, just distributed under different names.
the only other one released to my knowledge was the codebreaker, which according to the segaretro page on it is compatible with the same codes.
I'll give it a shot next week and return with my results.

Either way, there's 19 US games that can't be tricked into working according to what I just read.

Hydro Thunder

not 100% accurate.
there's 2 versions of Hydro Thunder, the original release and the Hot! New!/Sega All Stars rerelease
you can tell by the color of the disc.
the OG release has a blue top to the disc and doesn't support VGA
the rerelease has a red disc and does support VGA, as well as having a couple bug fixes
buuuuuut maybe it's the other way around.
again, I'll test it out next week when I have some time.

[schweaty]

So, can i use codebreaker to "trick" the non-vga games into vga?

[SignOfZeta]

Not without a VGA box.

[schweaty]

Welp, got my vga cable in today.  Im getting a ton of video interference over the audio.  The picture is also dark and unstable.  Bad cable?

[schweaty]

anybody know a place that sells high quality vga cables?  ive never had any luck with the retro-bit crap

[Gypsy]

Just go to a thrift store and pay a dollar. That way you don't have to wait for shipping.

I'm surprised you don't have a bunch though. I just kind of accumulated them as well as those generic 3 prong power cords.

[Bloufo]

Welp, got my vga cable in today.  Im getting a ton of video interference over the audio.  The picture is also dark and unstable.  Bad cable?

I recall with one of those I had to press it in the DC's port pretty hard for a good connection.

Didn't have the problems you describe, though. Which one did you get, this one?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BF74KOS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[schweaty]

Welp, got my vga cable in today.  Im getting a ton of video interference over the audio.  The picture is also dark and unstable.  Bad cable?

I recall with one of those I had to press it in the DC's port pretty hard for a good connection.

Didn't have the problems you describe, though. Which one did you get, this one?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BF74KOS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It was pretty stiff but i made sure it was seated.  I didnt get that one, but it looks exactly like it.  Probably going to return it and try the tomee one

[Gypsy]

Oh. You should get an actual VGA box for sure.

[bartre]

yeah, the ones that are just cables are kind of notoriously bad.
I'd expect $30-40 for a good one

[schweaty]

yeah, the ones that are just cables are kind of notoriously bad.
I'd expect $30-40 for a good one

If its going to be that much i might as well spring for the kuro box. 

Anybody have any experience with the hong kong vga boxes that cost about $40?

[Gypsy]

yeah, the ones that are just cables are kind of notoriously bad.
I'd expect $30-40 for a good one

If its going to be that much i might as well spring for the kuro box. 

Anybody have any experience with the hong kong vga boxes that cost about $40?

At this point I would definitely recommend just springing for something from Beharbros. Their prices are pretty reasonable.

[bartre]

yeah, the ones that are just cables are kind of notoriously bad.
I'd expect $30-40 for a good one

If its going to be that much i might as well spring for the kuro box. 

Anybody have any experience with the hong kong vga boxes that cost about $40?

yeah, just go for a nice one at that point imo

[LostFlunky]

Welp, got my vga cable in today.  Im getting a ton of video interference over the audio.  The picture is also dark and unstable.  Bad cable?

Tried the code with Daytona - couldn't get it to work. 

[SignOfZeta]

Daytona doesn't need a code, does it? Do you have some fucked euro shit or something?

EDIT:

I'm kind of surprised this is such an issue...now, aparently, since I don't remember any VGA issues back in the day other than sometimes the monitor wouldn't sync with a box I had. I can't remember the details.

VGA boxes are an officially supported 1st party peripheral. There's even a logo for it on some games that support it. VGA boxes were made by Naki, Nuby, Sega, and lord knows who else. Maybe you should try something vintage that they made thousands of good examples of instead of this garagista bullshit.

[LostFlunky]

Daytona doesn't need a code, does it? Do you have some fucked euro shit or something?

EDIT:

I'm kind of surprised this is such an issue...now, aparently, since I don't remember any VGA issues back in the day other than sometimes the monitor wouldn't sync with a box I had. I can't remember the details.

VGA boxes are an officially supported 1st party peripheral. There's even a logo for it on some games that support it. VGA boxes were made by Naki, Nuby, Sega, and lord knows who else. Maybe you should try something vintage that they made thousands of good examples of instead of this garagista bullshit.

Yeah - I quoted the wrong post - I was trying the anamorphic widescreen code... US game (original) with Codebreaker DC.

[SignOfZeta]

Ah...some of those codes/modes are video specific. For example, F355 has wide in the menus normally but it doesn't work in VGA since there's no such thing as anamorphic VGA. I think you need SD video. I've never used any of those codes but I assume it's not an entirely different thing.

[seieienbu]

I would definitely second getting an original VGA Box rather than a cable from Amazon.  I tried two different DC VGA cables and wasn't pleased with either.  Both had rather shitty signal quality.

[jperryss]

I ended up taking a gamble on one of the $15 Retro-Bit cables and it works fine, other than requiring some extra force to insert into the back of the Dreamcast. It's a tight fit and I probably won't unplug it too often (only have a couple non-VGA games) but otherwise, no issues. And it looks really good on a VGA monitor.

[ClodBusted]

... other than requiring some extra force to insert into the back ... It's a tight fit ... probably won't unplug it too often ...looks really good

I'm a pervert.

[Gypsy]

I ended up taking a gamble on one of the $15 Retro-Bit cables and it works fine, other than requiring some extra force to insert into the back of the Dreamcast. It's a tight fit and I probably won't unplug it too often (only have a couple non-VGA games) but otherwise, no issues. And it looks really good on a VGA monitor.

Honestly there is no reason one of these cables can't look good. The Chinese ones are crap because they use crap parts to keep the price down. I've not tried the retrobit ones but I do have a custom made one coming from an eBay seller in Poland. I have his Saturn SVideo cable and it is excellent. The retrobit cable is cheap enough that I'll probably do a comparison at some point.

[schweaty]

I feel like Im missing something here.  I've seen a couple of posts about most dreamcast games being vga compatible, but when I look on the back of the games I have, it looks like at least half are not.  Huh?

[Gypsy]

I feel like Im missing something here.  I've seen a couple of posts about most dreamcast games being vga compatible, but when I look on the back of the games I have, it looks like at least half are not.  Huh?

Many that don't mention it on the back of the case can be forced into it anyway.

[jperryss]

I feel like Im missing something here.  I've seen a couple of posts about most dreamcast games being vga compatible, but when I look on the back of the games I have, it looks like at least half are not.  Huh?

Many that don't mention it on the back of the case can be forced into it anyway.

But that requires ripping/downloading the ISO, patching, and burning it, right?

[schweaty]

I feel like Im missing something here.  I've seen a couple of posts about most dreamcast games being vga compatible, but when I look on the back of the games I have, it looks like at least half are not.  Huh?

Many that don't mention it on the back of the case can be forced into it anyway.

Ok, but can they be forced into it with a boot disk like codebreaker or do you have to have a box with a Hz switch?

[seieienbu]

I've used a boot disk to trick several games that don't natively support VGA into playing on VGA.  Beyond that, several games that don't specifically list VGA support on the package will work easily right out of the package.  I've never used an updated patched game but supposedly that works too, I can't comment much on that.

[Keith Courage]

I feel like Im missing something here.  I've seen a couple of posts about most dreamcast games being vga compatible, but when I look on the back of the games I have, it looks like at least half are not.  Huh?

I wonder if this is because most people use CD-rs and at least 95% of games are patched to work with a VGA cable now days.

Also, I have two super generic VGA cables that were maybe $15 each. Never had an issue with either one as far as video quality or buzzing audio is concerned.