Dreamcast VGA cable questions

Fuzi0n

Fuzi0n

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I'm interested in getting a VGA cable for my Dreamcast and am very weary of getting a 3rd party cable such as this, I'm looking at this cable because the originals are hard to come by or cost too much on ebay. My question is to anyone that has tried this cable or any 3rd party Dreamcast VGA cables. If so how well does it scale to say a 32" TV, what kind of resolution does it project and will it be good in widescreen?

If you have had experience with any of this please let me know :D.
 
Yeah, I've wondered this, too. The 1st party ones are SO expensive on ebay. So of course the first question that comes to mind is: are the knock-offs just as good?
 
I had a cheap one back in the day, worked fine. Doesn't work anymore, if that's any indication. Worked fine when I had it, but 8 years down the line, it's kaput.
 
I got a Intec VGA box in 99' and it still works, it does put out some weird colors sometimes though.
 
Of course I have a biased opinion, but I use my boxes on a regular basis for all of my Dreamcast use (which is a lot) and I love them. I don't sell products that I don't believe in.

If you have any other questions, lemme know.
(Email is best)
 
I had one at one time. At the time I thought it was amazing when I would plug my DC into a computer monitor and see things that were just not there on a regular tv. I forget the maker of mine but it was a fairly large box and it allowed me to have my dreamcast plugged into both a tv and a computer monitor at one time. It had a small switch that I could use to switch between the tv and the computer monitor (it also allowed me to use an s-video cable). Eventually the switch broke. While I had it I enjoyed it.

At least from the picture of the one you are looking at, it looks a bit sturdier then mine.

EDIT

Apparently I am blind. The picture of the one it shows telling you to upgrade looks almost exactly like the one I had that broke minus the text. That box had a tiny and very fragile switch. Worked wonderfully until it broke though.
 
I bought that very same cable. the output is very good, but the adapter that plugs into the Dreamcast isn't quite the right size. It seems a bit small, you need to pay attention when you plug it in. Once you do, it works great.
 
[quote name='mike.m']I had my DC hooked up to VGA long ago, when I saw how crappy my 2D fighters looked, I took it off. :)[/QUOTE]

Yeah, not all dreamcast games were designed to take advantage of a vga box. If you check the back of your DC game cases you will see if they have the vga box icon or not.

Of the games I have that are labled as VGA compatible (In no particular order):

Unreal Tournament
NBA 2k1
Time Stalkers
Sonic Shuffle
Skies of Arcadia
Sword of the Berzerk Guts Rage
Crazy Taxi
Ooga Booga
Outtrigger
Aerowings
Daytona USA
Alien Front Online
F355 Challenge Passione Rossa
NFL 2K1
NHL 2K2
Virtua Tennis
Death Crimson OX
Ecco the Dolphin
Shenmue
Illbleed
Jet Grind Radio
Magforce Racing
Maken X
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
Evolution 2 Far off Promise
Metropolis Street Racer
World Series Baseball 2K2
Marvel Vs Capcom 2
Capcom Vs SNK
Soul Calibur
Heavy Metal Geomatrix
Web Browser 2.0 (it has sega swirl on it so it sort of counts as a game...)

Games that I have that are not labled as VGA compatible (once again not in any particular order):

Sega Rally 2
Shadow Man
Sonic Adventure
Test Drive V-Rally
Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver
Mars Matrix
Armada
Record of Lodoss War
Coaster Works
Midways Greatest Arcade Hits Volume 1
The House of the Dead 2
Fatal Fury Mark of the Wolves
Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram
Dead or Alive 2
Seventh Cross Evolution
Elemental Gimmick Gear
 
[quote name='Fuzi0n']I'm interested in getting a VGA cable for my Dreamcast and am very weary of getting a 3rd party cable such as this, I'm looking at this cable because the originals are hard to come by or cost too much on ebay. My question is to anyone that has tried this cable or any 3rd party Dreamcast VGA cables. If so how well does it scale to say a 32" TV, what kind of resolution does it project and will it be good in widescreen?

If you have had experience with any of this please let me know :D.[/quote]


I purchased one very similar to the one that you linked to about 2 1/2 years ago of eBay. Works fine, even looks good on my 65" DLP (standard instead of expanded view). "Probablysober" below mentioned looking to make sure the game you are playing is VGA compatible. I would heed his advise:applause:.
 
[quote name='racketboy']Of course I have a biased opinion, but I use my boxes on a regular basis for all of my Dreamcast use (which is a lot) and I love them. I don't sell products that I don't believe in.

If you have any other questions, lemme know.
(Email is best)[/quote]

I can confirm that the VGA box that Rackeyboy sells on his site is top notch.
 
I know this is probably a stupid question but does sound transmit through the VGA cables to the TV or do I need to hook it up to like computer speakers. Some of the information I have read makes it sound like you need extra speakers.
 
No, sound does not travel through VGA cables. I think HDMI is the first cable to combine video and audio into one.
 
[quote name='LordVila']I know this is probably a stupid question but does sound transmit through the VGA cables to the TV or do I need to hook it up to like computer speakers. Some of the information I have read makes it sound like you need extra speakers.[/QUOTE]

At least with the dual vga/s-video box I had, it had a standard audio jack socket for speakers.
 
[quote name='LordVila']Which is the better one to order? The one with the S-video or not?[/quote]

For the few games that are not VGA compatible, it is nice to be able to switch over to s-video in those cases.

[quote name='probablysober'] Yeah, not all dreamcast games were designed to take advantage of a vga box. If you check the back of your DC game cases you will see if they have the vga box icon or not.[/quote]

Keep in mind, a lot of Dreamcast games are vga compatible but are not labeled as such.

And chalk up another recommendation for the racketboy cables.
 
Thanks for the heads up about racketboy.com and the information. I placed my order earlier today and hopefully I'll receive it next week.
 
[quote name='Jangofatt']I can confirm that the VGA box that Rackeyboy sells on his site is top notch.[/QUOTE]

Hope so, since I just bought one.
 
[quote name='Purkeynator']so do the non vga supported games not show up at all through VGA or do they just not look as crisp?[/quote]

The image will not show up if the game doesn't support VGA output, that's why the Racketboy VGA box is so nice, when that happen just flip a switch and play it through S-video on the TV.

My setup is connected to a TV w/ s-video and a LCD screen. I play all of my 3D games on the LCD (even though an old CRT looks best) and my 2D fighteres like SFA3 and MvsC2, I just flip the switch and play them on the TV. Win/Win!!!
 
Well after being an idiot and losing my old VGA cable and having to wait for the one I ordered through monoprice to show up I finally got to try out the VGA box on the DC. So far I've only played Tennis 2K2 and I was very pleased with the appearance.
 
hello i have a quick question:
i bought the dc vga box ( the one with the switch) and it works fine on the monitor but on the tv it says not supported.... i have the samsung lna46a550 and it supports 480p all the way to 1080p... isnt the vga box 480p? it works on the monitor so Im assuming is fine... how can i connect the DC to the tv then?
 
[quote name='Jangofatt']My setup is connected to a TV w/ s-video and a LCD screen. I play all of my 3D games on the LCD (even though an old CRT looks best) and my 2D fighteres like SFA3 and MvsC2, I just flip the switch and play them on the TV. Win/Win!!![/QUOTE]

I could have sworn MvsC2 was VGA compatible.
 
I also have the VGA box with S-video. It works great, but it doesn't seem to output VGA from a game that supposedly has it; Vampire Chronicle.

And MvC2 is compatible, but some people think that 2D fighters look worse in 480p. I think they look better. Different strokes for different folks.
 
Does anyone know how Guilty Gear X looks in VGA? I'm contemplating getting a VGA cable for my dreamcast, but most of the stuff I'm playing in the first place are 2D fighters.
 
Marvel Vs Capcom 2 does work in VGA. I'm also 99.997% sure that Mark of The Wolves (though the case doesn't say it does) works as well. It also looks identical to the MVS version, for what it's worth (although, for whatever reason, it does have slightly tweaked gameplay - you can change the time and duration of your TOP gauge).

I use VGA for all of my games, I have about 50, and the only ones of mine that absolutely do not work are:

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (import)
Yu Suzuki's Game Works (import)

As far as quality goes - it's actually a very simple device. All your VGA box does is tell your dreamcast to switch to high-res mode. You could hardwire a switch and add a vga port to your dc. A little workmanship goes a long way as far as a VGA box/cable is concerned.
 
Mark of the Wolves definitely has VGA support. The games i have that I can remember not having VGA support are Last Blade 2, KoF '99 DMNE, KoF '99 Evolution, Bangai-O, and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Like I mentioned, Vampire Savior says it has it on the back of the box, but it doesn't work with that VGA box. Or, Capcom screwed up.
 
[quote name='hankmecrankme']...The games i have that I can remember not having VGA support are Last Blade 2...[/quote]

Really!? I'm actually shocked. I never would have guessed that considering MOTW has vga support and came out before LB2. That's one game I never get around to picking up, although I mean to. Partially because I have a US neo cab so my MVS version of LB2 lacks fatalities.

Learn something new everyday I guess.

Looks like I'll have to put a hacked bios into my cab after all.
 
The US DC version of LB2 has censored blood and probably no fatalities.

I'm looking to sell it for that reason. White blood is so stupid. I love the game though, and I have the PS2 LB Collection.
 
I'm thinking of picking up the VGA box from racketboy. With the one that has multiple inputs, can you have video going out via VGA and then sound via composites? Or does it always use the headphone jack for VGA?

As I would just get the cheaper one if that is the case.
 
[quote name='babycarlitos']hello i have a quick question:
i bought the dc vga box ( the one with the switch) and it works fine on the monitor but on the tv it says not supported.... i have the samsung lna46a550 and it supports 480p all the way to 1080p... isnt the vga box 480p? it works on the monitor so Im assuming is fine... how can i connect the DC to the tv then?[/quote]

I'm having the same problem as you with my TV (LG 42LB5D), just cannot see the signal. I verified the box is working on a standard computer monitor. I also hooked up my PC to the VGA port and had it output 640x480, so I know my TV can support it. My XBox360 is currently attached to the VGA port as colors look better on it than HDMI (too dark and muddy).
 
[quote name='probablysober']I could have sworn MvsC2 was VGA compatible.[/quote]
Oh it does but seeing the low res sprites all pixelated against the high res background, well lets just say I just rather play those games on my TV. Mark of the Wolves is supported and looks okay. I only use the VGA adaptor for my "3D" polygon games like REZ and Project Justice. Those games shine on the computer screen.
 
Hi guys I'm new to the forum and I'm in desperate need of some help. I have just bought a Dreamcast because I want to complete Shenmue one. My problem is I want to play this through a vga cable because it is meant to improve the picture.

I have a Sony Vaio all in one pc http://vaio.sony.co.uk/view/ShowPro...LM2E&site=voe_en_GB_cons&category=VD+L+Series but it does not have a vga slot. But I did find a S Video connection and a av input connection.

Now I'm wondering if i bought the VGA box with S video http://www.racketboy.com/videocables/2006/11/more-pictures-of-dreamcast-vga-box.html

Would this work?

Also am I right in thinking no sound comes through S video?
Would I be able to get sound through the jack on the vga box. There are a few different pictures in the link to show different angles.

I have been going nuts for the last few weeks and I'm desperate for help so please could someone tell me how to go about it.

Thanks nico
 
If you don't have VGA, why would you buy a VGA box? Might as well just use the cables that the DC came with. And no, audio doesn't go through an s-video cable; the same goes for any video cable except HDMI.
 
[quote name='Vegan']If you don't have VGA, why would you buy a VGA box? Might as well just use the cables that the DC came with. And no, audio doesn't go through an s-video cable; the same goes for any video cable except HDMI.[/quote]

I thought that an s video cable would give me a much better picture than the standard RF unit. I want to play my dreamcast through my Sony Vaio monitor.

The VGA box has an s video connection that is why I'm asking if this is the best route to take.

I also have a Tv with a DVI connection and another tv with a RGB connection.

I don't like the RF unit's picture. What would you suggest other than the RF Unit:)
 
Is it really RF (coax, like a cable tv connector), or do you mean composite RCA video? If you want s-video and the VGA box is the easiest way to get it, sure, go for it. But I don't know if I'd bother for one or a handful of games if it's at least composite. If it truly is RF, I would definitely upgrade.
 
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[quote name='Vegan']Is it really RF (coax, like a cable tv connector), or do you mean composite RCA video? If you want s-video and the VGA box is the easiest way to get it, sure, go for it. But I don't know if I'd bother for one or a handful of games if it's at least composite. If it truly is RF, I would definitely upgrade.[/quote]

It is definitely an RF unit. The picture is not nice, that is why I would like to connect it to my Sony vaio. Only problem is the sony Vaio does not have a VGA connection. But it does have a S video connection.


I also have a 37" Toshiba Regza which has a RCA Composite connection. Would it be better for me to look for a RCA Composite cable for the Toshiba or go with the S video on the sony Vaio?

Also my Toshiba Regza 37" has a connection called RGB/PC with a 15 pin connection it looks very similar to VGA could the RGB/PC be the the VGA only they have named it different.

Last but not least I have a LG aswell which has a DVI connection on the back.

So I have all these different routes to take and I would be very grateful if anyone could tell me the easiest and best option to take.

The help would be much appreciated :)
 
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[quote name='Vegan']Is it really RF (coax, like a cable tv connector), or do you mean composite RCA video? If you want s-video and the VGA box is the easiest way to get it, sure, go for it. But I don't know if I'd bother for one or a handful of games if it's at least composite. If it truly is RF, I would definitely upgrade.[/quote]

I have :

A sony Vaio 19"
Toshiba Regza 37"
LG 27"

The Toshiba Regza has a RCA Composite connection. Would it be better for me to look for a RCA Composite cable for the Toshiba or go with the S video on the sony Vaio?

Also my Toshiba Regza has a connection called RGB/PC with a 15 pin connection it looks very similar to VGA could the RGB/PC be the the VGA only they have named it different.

Last but not least the LG has a DVI connection on the back.

So I have all these different routes to take and I would be very grateful if anyone could tell me the easiest and best option to take.

The help would be much appreciated :)
 
RGB/PC would accept a VGA signal.

The only reason you'll see it not labled "vga" is because, technically, it's not a VGA port.

VGA is a 640x480 progressive RGB signal.

Everything else has it's own name. 800x600 and 1024x768 are SVGA and XGA.

My macbook has a display of 1280x800, or WXGA.

From the specs I read online your TV supports XGA, which means it should take the VGA signal nicely.
 
I used to play my DC in VGA, but my new monitor won't accept the signal. I guess some LCD monitors just don't like what the Dreamcast outputs?
 
[quote name='j_factor']I used to play my DC in VGA, but my new monitor won't accept the signal. I guess some LCD monitors just don't like what the Dreamcast outputs?[/quote]

Sure there's nothing wrong with the VGA box?

I'm not a monitor expert, so I could be wrong. But I'd think most monitors, even new ones, would support 640x480. There's a few things that could throw the monitor off, but I doubt it highly. One would be if that monitor only accepts a signal greater than 60hz and or 640x480.

Is there another monitor you can test the box with to make sure it's working?
 
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