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Expires February 28, 2014

Hello there! I just made an account here after a few weeks of lurking around and reading posts, awesome site! Anyway, I just received a Dreamcast VGA cable in the mail that I ordered from amazon. They are the Tomee cables that recently were released. I was all pumped up to try em about but I'm having somewhat of an issue, the picture is coming in fine but I'm getting some flicker and weird coloration. Do I just have a bad cable or am I missing something? :s

Can you give us your TV specs?

That way me and others can help you more.

Let's just get the obvious out of the way. Makes sure everything is securely plugged. Make sure your tv supports 640x480 at 60hz. And make sure you are testing it with a vga compatible game.

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It's an Insignia TV I got a few years ago, the model number is NS L32Q09-10A.

32 inches, 720p, it does support 640x480, I use it for everything from SNES to PS3 and I don't have this issue. :s

I tested it with Sonic Adventure 2 and Crazy Taxi and I was still getting the issue.

Invertednarrow wrote:It's an Insignia TV I got a few years ago, the model number is NS L32Q09-10A.

32 inches, 720p, it does support 640x480, I use it for everything from SNES to PS3 and I don't have this issue. :s

I tested it with Sonic Adventure 2 and Crazy Taxi and I was still getting the issue.

Too make sure it is not a faulty cable, do you have a computer monitor or another VGA TV you can text it on?

sp957 wrote:

Invertednarrow wrote:It's an Insignia TV I got a few years ago, the model number is NS L32Q09-10A.

32 inches, 720p, it does support 640x480, I use it for everything from SNES to PS3 and I don't have this issue. :s

I tested it with Sonic Adventure 2 and Crazy Taxi and I was still getting the issue.

Too make sure it is not a faulty cable, do you have a computer monitor or another VGA TV you can text it on?

The older consoles listed are not going thru the VGA input and the PS3 sends out a higher resolution. To confirm the TV supports the now uncommon lower resolution, try a laptop set at the original standard of VGA 640x480 256 Color on your HDTV.

Soo I tested it out on my roommate's TV and it looked awesome... I guess it's time for a new TV! (I was thinking about upgrading anyway). Thanks to everyone who helped me out!

I also just grabbed one of those Tomee cables that have been popping up.

I have two TV's.
One doesn't have a VGA port.
One doesn't support 480 signals over VGA.

What's the best option? One of the Monoprice VGA -> HDMI adapters?
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=1 ... gle.com%2F

Do they introduce input lag that would make a rhythm game like Space Channel 5 unplayable?

My TV without a VGA port is VERY fast, so saying that my 'TV is already introducing more lag than the adapter' may not be as valid here but I really don't know. (I have the Sony W802A)

Is this adapter solid? Laggy? Is there one that's less laggy? Is some other option I haven't considered that's better?

I'm assuming this wouldn't work unless my TV were incredibly clever to expect an analog signal coming through HDMI:
http://www.amazon.com/Video-Cable-Black ... ga+to+hdmi

Hi, pheria,

Check out this Dreamcast games that are VGA Compatible list:

http://www.epforums.org/showthread.php? ... -amp-Guide

If you see a game you really like that is not VGA Compatible, I would get a VGA Box. Otherwise, I would just buy the cable. It's cheaper. And plus, if you are going to get a VGA>HDMI converter, you will only need to use one box instead of 1.

I believe this HDMI converter is the same one of monoprice but cheaper:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VGA-Audio-to-HD ... 43bff766e6

This cable is pretty cheap too, free shipping, the Tomee one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Tomee-Sega- ... 2ecf3a13c6

I would use this on the faster TV without the VGA input.

So I would just use that converter box with a VGA cable on the TV that does not have VGA. There really isn't a better option out there. I am not sure about the input lag though. I have experienced this one my old HDTV CRT. But I on my newer LCD HDTV, I have not. I guess because it is a newer HDTV it is faster and stuff.

I'm assuming this wouldn't work unless my TV were incredibly clever to expect an analog signal coming through HDMI:

Nope. This won't work. What I learned with these old consoles, is most of the time (probably all the time) is that you will need a converter of some sort. You can't just send one signal to another without some sort of converter or transmitting going on.

I've also noticed those cables always have bad reviews lol. I wouldn't even try using them.

Also, checkout what Jamisonia said in this thread:

viewtopic.php?p=349265

He explains the difference between Dreamcast using pure VGA and using one with a HDMI converter.

Thanks!

I've been iffy about buying a VGA box. I bought one last year, but it was very flaky. It would only work upside down and if the cable was bent just right. It was a bit of a pain to return since the seller was unresponsive, so I just decided to leave the venture alone for a while. Since the cable is so cheap I got interested again though.

Looks like I have to worry about a few games.
Soul Calibur
San Francisco Rush 2049

But that list makes note that this is for ripped games, or discs using the "switch trick" which it seems I won't be able to do without a box.

I'm a little iffy on the cable too. My Dreamcast is hooked up to a CRT over S-Video currently, which looks okay. I kind of want to drool like everyone else at it using VGA though.