Dreamcast in VGA...

[David J.]

I know I had to manually select the non-HDMI audio device for sound once I put the new card in my PC.

[evildragon]

They might have taken the driver out. Perhaps because the system already has Tosslink on it, and using the Macs sound system might sound better than the ATI's (and is tied to the system and not some external source).

[MN12BIRD]

That makes Sense that Apple wouldn't want the feature in because they already have their own and having the feature there just makes things more complicated. Ie having the audio come out of the Video card while your hooked out of the onboard audio and vice versa you get no sound and have to change your sound device options. No point in having it on a mac. On a PC its nice because you can add HDMI w audio to a motherboard that didn't come with digital audio output.

[David J.]

I just wish the 7.1 on the HD 4000 series supported DTS-HD and whatever Dolby calls their HD Audio.

Oh well... someday...

Keep in mind I wouldn't use it, but it would have made the HD4000 series even sweeter.

[tomaitheous]

I watch HD-DVD movies in 720p using component cables. I play my 360 in 720p with component as well. 1080p, on the other hand, might have problems with Component, but I've heard it can be done.

Sony was the company pushing for 1080p Blu-Ray content to be HDMI only. Every HD television by Sony has started with HDMI and I've never seen a televion by Sony that had DVI.

I'll look at the PS3 manual to confirm if it does, or doesn't do 720p movies through the component cable.

*Edit* The PS3 will output 1080p through component, but to watch Blu-Ray in 1080p you'll need HDMI. You can watch Blu-Ray in 720p through component though.

My 360 outputs 720p or 1080i over component cables as well, but as soon as you playback a DVD from the drive, it will down grade the signal to 480p. My HD set shows me the incoming signal mode. For streaming media(media share) it'll upscale it just fine. It's about some stupid rule the movie association wanting to control content over HD signals. Component doesn't have a copyprotection flag like HDMI spec has, thus they have no control over you recording from that source. Why it applies to DVD that are low res anyway? I have no idea.

If you have a HD-DVD that's really output 720p over component, I'm surprised. Even a lot of DVD players that upscaled to HD signal only do it through HDMI.

I've heard that a lot of other HD devices like set top decoders and such only output a true HD signal via HDMI only. Anything on component is downgraded to 480p.

Come to think of it, windows media player is the same. It won't output in full screen at higher res until the output connection is HDMI ( or maybe even DVI - I forget). Something like that (I don't pipe media player to the TV anymore).

[evildragon]

Here in Orlando, our HD cable boxes output HD on Component... Lucky us...

[gamevet]

My 360 outputs 720p or 1080i over component cables as well, but as soon as you playback a DVD from the drive, it will down grade the signal to 480p. My HD set shows me the incoming signal mode. For streaming media(media share) it'll upscale it just fine. It's about some stupid rule the movie association wanting to control content over HD signals. Component doesn't have a copyprotection flag like HDMI spec has, thus they have no control over you recording from that source. Why it applies to DVD that are low res anyway? I have no idea.

I can see why they'd do that, since everyone has at least one burned movie on DVD. My upscaling DVD player would only do 1080i/720p through the HDMI cable.

There are upscaling DVD players that will do 720p/1080i via component.

If you have a HD-DVD that's really output 720p over component, I'm surprised. Even a lot of DVD players that upscaled to HD signal only do it through HDMI.

It's the 360 HD-DVD player, and I've had it hooked up with component and HDMI; the picture looks the same either way.

If you were only talking about the upscale of DVDs, then the answer is a defineate no for the 360 HD-DVD player and the PS3 via component.

I've heard that a lot of other HD devices like set top decoders and such only output a true HD signal via HDMI only. Anything on component is downgraded to 480p.

My Verizon Fios HD-DVR does 1080i through component.

[Youngie]

Sorry for bumping an oldish topic.

I'm thinking about getting a VGA box for my Dreamcast but my TV doesn't have a VGA port. Anything I can do (besides getting a new TV)?

[retrospiel]

DVI-A is a more recent port that accepts VGA, and DVI-I is compatible as well.

Check if your TV is compatible to one of these. DVI-D wouldn't work, but most TVs have DVI-I (which accepts DVI-D + DVI-A).


If your TV doesn't have a compatible DVI port, but HDMI only, consider buying one of these:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=380090899807



Dreamcast via VGA is just breath-taking, and it's definitely worth to try to get it to work with your TV. Although the best TVs usually are those with VGA.

[Youngie]

Many thanks Christuserloeser for the response. Looks like I'll either have to get a new TV or just hook the Dreamcast up to a monitor which would be OK.

[retrospiel]

So, your TV does not have a DVI nor HDMI port ?


Hooking the Dreamcast up to a monitor is a great solution - if you use a CRT. LCD monitors expect the user to set their PC's desktop to their native resolution, which Dreamcast can't do. It does output VGA (640x480p60 in sweet RGBHV) and nothing else, so it looks very blurry with most LCD monitors.

Modern LCD TVs usually do have a pretty good upscaler which automatically stretches the incoming signal to its native resolution. With the Dreamcast's VGA and its progressive signal the resulting picture usually looks absolutely fantastic.

Even with my brother's cheap Samsung LCD it looks pretty close to what I get on my high quality CRT monitor.

[Youngie]

So, your TV does not have a DVI nor HDMI port ?


Hooking the Dreamcast up to a monitor is a great solution - if you use a CRT. LCD monitors expect the user to set their PC's desktop to their native resolution, which Dreamcast can't do. It does output VGA (640x480p60 in sweet RGBHV) and nothing else, so it looks very blurry with most LCD monitors.

Modern LCD TVs usually do have a pretty good upscaler which automatically stretches the incoming signal to its native resolution. With the Dreamcast's VGA and its progressive signal the resulting picture usually looks absolutely fantastic.

Even with my brother's cheap Samsung LCD it looks pretty close to what I get on my high quality CRT monitor.

No unfortunately my TV doesn't have either of those posts.

Luckily I have a backup dual monitor CRT. I also have a Philips LCD monitor. Which would be better?

I'm also getting a new CRT monitor. How would the VGA Box perform on a Sony HMD A-200?

Many thanks

[retrospiel]

For a monitor a CRT is better, for a TV I would recommend a cheap LCD HDTV with VGA, DVI and HDMI.

The Sony HMD sounds like it'd be a good monitor. Just like most decent CRTs it should give you an excellent picture.




The VGA box itself doesn't do much if anything at all btw., it's the Dreamcast itself that produces the VGA when the box/cable/adapter is connected. The VGA box merely acts as an adapter to connect your monitor and stereo.


Btw, if your TV is a CRT, you might wanna try the RGB-SCART port. That should give you an excellent picture as well (although less sharp than with VGA).

What TV do you have ?

[Youngie]

For a monitor a CRT is better, for a TV I would recommend a cheap LCD HDTV with VGA, DVI and HDMI.

The Sony HMD sounds like it'd be a good monitor. Just like most decent CRTs it should give you an excellent picture.




The VGA box itself doesn't do much if anything at all btw., it's the Dreamcast itself that produces the VGA when the box/cable/adapter is connected. The VGA box merely acts as an adapter to connect your monitor and stereo.


Btw, if your TV is a CRT, you might wanna try the RGB-SCART port. That should give you an excellent picture as well (although less sharp than with VGA).

What TV do you have ?

My TV is a Panasonic 28'. Flat screen but not LCD.

So I guess I'll just use the Sony HMD PC CRT Monitor.

Confusing stuff. But it's all becoming clearer now.

I also had an RGB-Scart Cable for my Dreamcast but it stopped working so I just chucked it out.

[retrospiel]

I also had an RGB-Scart Cable for my Dreamcast but it stopped working so I just chucked it out.

It's only really an option if you got a CRT TV anyway. It looks pretty awful with LCD/Plasma since it only outputs an interlaced signal, and LCD/Plasma actually support progressive signals only, and have to de-interlace everything interlaced.