Playing Sega Saturn on LED 40"

[deadlyg33k]

Okay so I'm sure this has been discussed numerous times but that's the problem. There is so much information one can go crazy trying to decipher it all.

I'm purchasing a NTSC-J Sega Dreamcast next week and I'm wondering how (or the best) way to hook it up to my Haier LED HDTV. When playing PSX games via emulator on this screen (or mame and N64 for that matter) I don't use any fancy tricks (slightly in Mame ) and I don't mind the outcome. I love playing through Twisted Metal 2 and the look doesn't bother me.

Now I've read a little about SCART and upscalers costing like $400+ and I simply can't justify that so, I have no S-Video obviously on this HDTV but there is composite. How would I go about hooking the Saturn up to this unit? Will it keep the aspect ratio (4:3) or will it stretch it? Short of buying a bulky CRT which isn't an option really either I don't know what to do. Any incite you guys can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Jason

[Anthony817]

I got a slightly different setup. I have a 43 inch Pioneer plasma, and it has it's own media reciever. I am lucky it has RGB/VGA, svideo and a few HDMI conections. It is an ancient HDTV, like circa 2005. On mine the TV has settings for stretching the image or keeping it 4.3 but even with stretched it never fills my screen as I do still have slight black borders and the picture cuts off some of the top and bottom of my Dreamcast at least over S-video.

Anyways the BEST picture you can get out of the Dreamcast is VGA but I don't know if yours has RGB/VGA port or not. Best thing would to get aDC VGA box and a VGA to HDMI adapter for that system.

As for the Saturn, you can simply just hook it up with composite like you would to any older TV, but it is not going to be the best picture. I have mine setup that way too but there are better ways. Like noted, you can't afford or don't want to spend $400 on an Scart to HDMI but you might want to check this out here.



He links you to this excellent $60 Scart to HDMI converter.



Just watch closely and check out the links in the video and note what he says about the specific Scart cable you will want.

EDIT: Before I forget! There is a guy making an internal HDMI mod for the Dreamcast that will upscale the picture up to 1080p and do slight Post Anti aliasing.

http://assemblergames.com/l/threads/seg ... oon.56357/

[deadlyg33k]

I got a slightly different setup. I have a 43 inch Pioneer plasma, and it has it's own media reciever. I am lucky it has RGB/VGA, svideo and a few HDMI conections. It is an ancient HDTV, like circa 2005. On mine the TV has settings for stretching the image or keeping it 4.3 but even with stretched it never fills my screen as I do still have slight black borders and the picture cuts off some of the top and bottom of my Dreamcast at least over S-video.

Anyways the BEST picture you can get out of the Dreamcast is VGA but I don't know if yours has RGB/VGA port or not. Best thing would to get aDC VGA box and a VGA to HDMI adapter for that system.

As for the Saturn, you can simply just hook it up with composite like you would to any older TV, but it is not going to be the best picture. I have mine setup that way too but there are better ways. Like noted, you can't afford or don't want to spend $400 on an Scart to HDMI but you might want to check this out here.



He links you to this excellent $60 Scart to HDMI converter.



Just watch closely and check out the links in the video and note what he says about the specific Scart cable you will want.

Thanks for the reply. I have a component not composite connection on this HDTV my bad sorry. But I'm going to watch this video and see what I can learn.

[Anthony817]

Oh, ok yeah in that case you are going to NEED to get the stuff on that video. This way you are going to get the best picture no matter what.

Also make sure you re-read my last post I edited it with some Dreamcast internal HDMI port mod info.

[deadlyg33k]

Oh, ok yeah in that case you are going to NEED to get the stuff on that video. This way you are going to get the best picture no matter what.

Also make sure you re-read my last post I edited it with some Dreamcast internal HDMI port mod info.

Dude you rock man. I'm 38 years old and use to own like 300 games and every console (all imports) but since lost them over the years. Emulators are okay for some things like Arcade especially with my custom arcade stick etc. But I don't want to grab a CRT so if this works I'll be so happy.

Off topic slightly but do you happen to know the best place to grab a used Japanese Saturn? I may pull the trigger on an eBay one I've seen.

[Erik_Twice]

Don't forget about TATE mode, vertical 40" is the way to go!

[Anthony817]

Oh, ok yeah in that case you are going to NEED to get the stuff on that video. This way you are going to get the best picture no matter what.

Also make sure you re-read my last post I edited it with some Dreamcast internal HDMI port mod info.

Dude you rock man. I'm 38 years old and use to own like 300 games and every console (all imports) but since lost them over the years. Emulators are okay for some things like Arcade especially with my custom arcade stick etc. But I don't want to grab a CRT so if this works I'll be so happy.

Off topic slightly but do you happen to know the best place to grab a used Japanese Saturn? I may pull the trigger on an eBay one I've seen.

31 here love me some old consoles.

As for a Japanese Saturn, Ebay or Amazon seem like good places, but if you want something modded you might check out Assembler, they got a few good sellers there.

http://assemblergames.com/l/forums/want ... ts-wtb.75/

And here.

http://assemblergames.com/l/forums/the- ... etplace.8/

[deadlyg33k]

So after watching the video and reading the comments I noticed he mentions it stretches the screen. This is a no-go for me, it must remain 4:3 or it defeats the purpose, too bad, I was just about to purchase the parts. lol

So now I don't know how I'm going to even hook it up. I have 3 HDMI, one VGA and the YRGB connections.

[theclaw]

So after watching the video and reading the comments I noticed he mentions it stretches the screen. This is a no-go for me, it must remain 4:3 or it defeats the purpose, too bad, I was just about to purchase the parts. lol

So now I don't know how I'm going to even hook it up. I have 3 HDMI, one VGA and the YRGB connections.

Some TVs allow squishing widescreen modes to 4:3.

[deadlyg33k]

Good point I'll have to check. I don't think it has that though, decent panel but not a lot of options.