Gamecube on LCD Monitor?

S

speedtouch

CAGiversary!
Hopefully this is the right section.

I'm heading off to college in september, and I'm planning on taking my gamecube + 2 lcd monitors + computer with me. Unfortunately, the gamecube only seems to output composite.

Some info on my hardware:
LCD Monitor 1: BENQ FP93GS. Has inputs DVI-D and VGA.
LCD Monitor 2: I can't find the model number, but the settings say DVI and VGA.
Gamecube: Early launch, appears to have 2 outputs. I only have one set of cables, which are white, yellow, red.

I've also spent the last 4 hours doing a bit of research, to hopefully find a good method.

Budget in the $20-$40 range.

TV Card
While it seems like my best bet so far, I hear a lot of people either have trouble with lag, or with video quality.

Make a VGA Cable
According to: http://www.geocities.co.jp/Technopolis-Mars/9984/ngcrgb_e.htm I should be able to take my existing cable and convert it. While this sounds great, I lack the experience to do the actual modding. In addition, I'm worried that I would damage my cable. Of course, I could buy a new one to mod. But again, I lack the actual experience to do it. I would also be willing to pay someone to do it, but I can't seem to find any places that offer.

VGA Box
I hear that the quality is really bad because of the way it handles the signals.

Buy a TV
While I could buy a shitty TV, I doubt I would have much room for it in my dorm room. (and I don't wan to be stuck with a shitty tv)

Buy a Wii
My parents bought one. They won't let me take it. I can't afford one. Nuff said.

Buy a Video Card + S-VIDEO Cables
http://forums.digitaltrends.com/showthread.php?t=4155 They seemed to use video cards with tv capture cards + s-video on the gamecube. Sounds promising if I can find a really cheap tv capture card. Looks like the S-VIDEO cables cost about $7 shipped.

So has anyone else successfully managed to get a decent setup? Or any other ideas?
 
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You're not going to get any decent quality in the $20-$40 range.
The mod is for a component cable (which are rare and expensive) not a composite cable, this is the only decent solution.
 
[quote name='Friend of Sonic']If you google Gamecube VGA Cable, you can see some results. They are cables, not boxes, available to purchase on some sites.[/QUOTE]
Composite and VGA are very different in how video signals are carried. I'm fairly certain that there's no simple cable solution. It'll take some sort of converter/scaler box to do it.
 
[quote name='Lawyers Guns N Money']Composite and VGA are very different in how video signals are carried. I'm fairly certain that there's no simple cable solution. It'll take some sort of converter/scaler box to do it.[/QUOTE]
I wish I could remember the detail, but I played my GC exclusively using a converted composite cable. I wound up selling it to another CAG. Using this cable required no conversion/scaling/VGA box (as on the Dreamcast, for instance) -- just a modified composite cable with a VGA out end. This only works with games that support progressive scan.

Sorry I don't have real specifics, I just wanted to chip in to prevent the OP from giving up due to someone's "fairly certain" advice. I have no idea what it would cost to have someone do this for you, but for me, I sent a composite cable to a dude and he sent back the modded cable.

EDIT: Here's a link to a similar product from Goldenshop. God, I hadn't been to goldenshop in ages.
http://www.goldenshop.com.hk/AI-trad/gc/vgacable.htm
 
Thanks dothog, didn't realize that. It's still a slightly less than ideal solution as it only supports progressive scan games.

What I was meaning in my post is that you can't simply plug a composite video cable into some sort of VGA adaptor and get results. The gamecube (at least the original revision) has a digital out port that allows you do get the results with a VGA cable like that.

Here's a list of ED games that should work with a cable like that one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GameCube_games_with_ED_support
 
[quote name='dothog']I wish I could remember the detail, but I played my GC exclusively using a converted composite cable. I wound up selling it to another CAG. Using this cable required no conversion/scaling/VGA box (as on the Dreamcast, for instance) -- just a modified composite cable with a VGA out end. This only works with games that support progressive scan.

Sorry I don't have real specifics, I just wanted to chip in to prevent the OP from giving up due to someone's "fairly certain" advice. I have no idea what it would cost to have someone do this for you, but for me, I sent a composite cable to a dude and he sent back the modded cable.

EDIT: Here's a link to a similar product from Goldenshop. God, I hadn't been to goldenshop in ages.
http://www.goldenshop.com.hk/AI-trad/gc/vgacable.htm[/QUOTE]

You were using a modded component cable, not a composite cable. The link you gave is also a modded component cable.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I checked out that cable and it was priced at "TBA" (to be announced?). I really doubt that they are still being sold.

I did however find an old Adaptec 1100 lying around. I got the drivers installed, plugged in everything, and it seemed to do alright. The audio is fine, and I can live with the quality. At 320x240 it runs fine, I haven't noticed it being overly delayed, or anything. Only problem is when I upscale it from to 640x480, there is a very distinct delay, along with random video jitters (probably a cache getting full or something). I'd much rather have a larger window, so I can sit back and actually see what's going on.

I tried a different piece of software called "yawcam" and it worked great, except audio didn't work. I also noticed the same delay when I scaled things further up. The adaptec 1100 seemed to act like just a webcam.

So, now I'm on a new quest to find some better software.
 
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