Best Video Connections

[Mad_Hatter]

Seems like not much people use VGA with a PS2? Went online and I can hardly find anything. Most people look to just use component.

Anyway, I am on a quest to achieve the best native and un-modded video for all my consoles. Should I look into the:

"Best non-modded solution: VGA via SoG/Blaze/Xploder bootdisk for games that can be forced into 480p" ?

Did Sony ever release a VGA cable for their PS2s?

I'm not sure if this would be what I am looking for. It looks like the VGA is made by third parties and it says "forces into 480p" so I am not sure if that would be the native picture that I prefer?

Anyone here ever try component and VGA for the PS2 and wants to share their opinion?

[theclaw]

Sony included a VGA cable in their Linux kit. But it needs special circumstances to use.
Only works for monitors that accept sync on green, and games with 480p mode.

The latter is because PS2 uses SCART unless set to 480p or above. Even if a monitor takes lower resolutions from VGA, very unlikely it'll understand the pinout change.

[BitFaced]

What about 720p/1080i/1080p from GS Mode Selector?

[theclaw]

What about 720p/1080i/1080p from GS Mode Selector?

Same as 480p. No games included those modes, yet not 480p.

[Mad_Hatter]

In the USA, what video connections did Arcades typically use for their cabinet during the 90s/early 2000s (like the MK2 and MvC cabinets)?

[theclaw]

In general RGB, display mode nearer to NTSC than PAL.

I don't know enough to get into the oddballs. Ancient arcade games had few real standards aside from black and white.

[Anapan]

About arcade video signals; They are mostly different from NTSC or PAL since they are nonstandard/proprietary resolutions which don't conform to standards and are not encoded/compressed into those standards. It is possible to get a PC to output the same RGB signal that the board did using (probably modified)MAME. It's even possible to get a Windows PC to interact with most types of arcade monitors at their proper refresh rates using the right cables and hacked PC drivers or specialized video cards. Even more exciting; You can connect an oscilloscope or properly built laser array to display a MAME-supported vector game from a computer through your sound card's audio output port (My current pet project) or use specialized hardware to interface with a CRT display on a vector level. All of those those things are outside of this topic's scope however. If you want to know more about that kind of video output, please find the right topic or start a new one.

Oh, also; I don't think PS2 HD intricacies belong here and are OT. It's still mostly undocumented how each game will respond to each forced video output format that's nonstandard that if you are not happy with Component 480i (and progressive modes supported by compliant games), it should be deferred to the GSM/Xploder/Gameshark topic which has been evaluating it game-by-game. I'd love a definitive answer, but there is no all-encompassing solution yet AFAIK. Proprietary cables with internal ICs for sync to VGA aren't mass produced and might not work for some games without external software anyway. That means it's not easy to get a perfect HD output signal even through a modded console.

[BitFaced]

About arcade video signals; They are mostly different from NTSC or PAL since they are nonstandard/proprietary resolutions which don't conform to standards and are not encoded/compressed into those standards. It is possible to get a PC to output the same RGB signal that the board did using (probably modified)MAME. It's even possible to get a Windows PC to interact with most types of arcade monitors at their proper refresh rates using the right cables and hacked PC drivers or specialized video cards. Even more exciting; You can connect an oscilloscope or properly built laser array to display a MAME-supported vector game from a computer through your sound card's audio output port (My current pet project) or use specialized hardware to interface with a CRT display on a vector level. All of those those things are outside of this topic's scope however. If you want to know more about that kind of video output, please find the right topic or start a new one.

Oh, also; I don't think PS2 HD intricacies belong here and are OT. It's still mostly undocumented how each game will respond to each forced video output format that's nonstandard that if you are not happy with Component 480i (and progressive modes supported by compliant games), it should be deferred to the GSM/Xploder/Gameshark topic which has been evaluating it game-by-game. I'd love a definitive answer, but there is no all-encompassing solution yet AFAIK. Proprietary cables with internal ICs for sync to VGA aren't mass produced and might not work for some games without external software anyway. That means it's not easy to get a perfect HD output signal even through a modded console.

Link to topic please?

[Anapan]

Near the bottom of the Hacks page:
Optimizing PS2 games to 480p (progressive) and 240p gsm hdtv
Inside, there's links to the Shmups and PSX-Scene forum posts with more info on that stuff.
For the Arcade MAME stuff, there's plenty of info online about the various specialized builds, and how to hook up your hardware to the computer. For whichever area of that you're interested in, I can provide more links or info.
The previous post was about how these subjects are beyond the scope of this topic and should be in another thread so...

[Mad_Hatter]

In general RGB, display mode nearer to NTSC than PAL.

I don't know enough to get into the oddballs. Ancient arcade games had few real standards aside from black and white.

So I am guessing they probably used RGB BNC connectors for their monitors?

Thanks for that thread, Anapan. I will check their for my PS2 questions.