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    Sega is a long-running Japanese company responsible for arcade hits like Space Harrier, home consoles like the Dreamcast, and franchises such as Sonic the Hedgehog.

    Dreamcast VGA Adapter

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    snake911

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    Edited By snake911

    I recently got myself a Dreamcast and I love it!  However, I noticed how horrible it looked when it was plugged into an HDTV via composite cables (the yellow, red, and white cables).  The colors of the video looked very washed out and the sharpness was very cruddy.  It was so bad that I even considered not playing it on an HDTV because it looked so terrible!  I needed a solution, so I checked the web to see what was out there.

    VGA input on my HDTV
    VGA input on my HDTV

    Luckily, Sega was on top of it when they designed the Dreamcast because they also made the system compatible with VGA (way ahead of its time when considering that the Dreamcast came out in the US in 1999).  This was great news for me because my HDTV has a VGA input.  I found a store on EBay called fourtriangles and they sold their version of the VGA cable for a little over $13.00.  After testing it out, I’m happy to say that it works…beautifully!  WOW!  You can see every marvelous pixel on the screen!  The sharpness is fantastic and the colors are vivid and pop out right at ya!


    VGA adapter from fourtriangles
    VGA adapter from fourtriangles











    There is, however, a negative side to outputting your video via VGA.  Not all games are compatible with VGA output.  The upside to this is that only a small amount of games are branded as not compatible.  Check out a compatibility list by clicking here.

    I took some screenshots comparing the video output between the composite and VGA cables.  The pictures were taken with my digital camera and not with some type of throughput capture device.  Yes, this means I took pictures of the display from the HDTV.  Even though I took the comparison images this way, you can still see a significant difference of output quality between the two types of cables.  View the full gallery of comparison images by clicking here (check out the original sizes to see the true details).

    Test 1 with composite
    Test 1 with composite
    Test 1 with VGA
    Test 1 with VGA









    Original Size of image for test 1 with composite

    Original Size of image for test 1 with VGA



    Test 3 with composite
    Test 3 with composite
    Test 3 with VGA
    Test 3 with VGA









    Original Size of image for test 3 with composite

    Original Size of image for test 3 with VGA


    Later!

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    snake911

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    #1  Edited By snake911

    I recently got myself a Dreamcast and I love it!  However, I noticed how horrible it looked when it was plugged into an HDTV via composite cables (the yellow, red, and white cables).  The colors of the video looked very washed out and the sharpness was very cruddy.  It was so bad that I even considered not playing it on an HDTV because it looked so terrible!  I needed a solution, so I checked the web to see what was out there.

    VGA input on my HDTV
    VGA input on my HDTV

    Luckily, Sega was on top of it when they designed the Dreamcast because they also made the system compatible with VGA (way ahead of its time when considering that the Dreamcast came out in the US in 1999).  This was great news for me because my HDTV has a VGA input.  I found a store on EBay called fourtriangles and they sold their version of the VGA cable for a little over $13.00.  After testing it out, I’m happy to say that it works…beautifully!  WOW!  You can see every marvelous pixel on the screen!  The sharpness is fantastic and the colors are vivid and pop out right at ya!


    VGA adapter from fourtriangles
    VGA adapter from fourtriangles











    There is, however, a negative side to outputting your video via VGA.  Not all games are compatible with VGA output.  The upside to this is that only a small amount of games are branded as not compatible.  Check out a compatibility list by clicking here.

    I took some screenshots comparing the video output between the composite and VGA cables.  The pictures were taken with my digital camera and not with some type of throughput capture device.  Yes, this means I took pictures of the display from the HDTV.  Even though I took the comparison images this way, you can still see a significant difference of output quality between the two types of cables.  View the full gallery of comparison images by clicking here (check out the original sizes to see the true details).

    Test 1 with composite
    Test 1 with composite
    Test 1 with VGA
    Test 1 with VGA









    Original Size of image for test 1 with composite

    Original Size of image for test 1 with VGA



    Test 3 with composite
    Test 3 with composite
    Test 3 with VGA
    Test 3 with VGA









    Original Size of image for test 3 with composite

    Original Size of image for test 3 with VGA


    Later!

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    raven_squad

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    #2  Edited By raven_squad

    Neat. I'll have to try to get my hands on one of the VGA adapters. Ever since I bought my HDTV ive just been settling for the shoddy video quality when I want to revisit some of my Dreamcast favorites. 

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    LiquidPrince

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    #3  Edited By LiquidPrince

    Ahh, Dreamcast...

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    Emilio

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    #4  Edited By Emilio

    Man... I wish my TV had VGA. I just have to do with S-Video for now. :(

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    Linkyshinks

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    #5  Edited By Linkyshinks

    I have one and use it all the time. My VGA adapter has the other inputs also including a stereo speaker output, so if you are playing a game that happens not to be compatible, which is rare, you can still play it. Most of the Japanese games I own are VGA compatible.

    Vista Gaming VGA Adapter
    Vista Gaming VGA Adapter




























    Here is a pic of Project Justice Rival Schools 2 on my monitor, the clarity is awesome-

    caption
    caption


























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    Lemegeton

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    #6  Edited By Lemegeton

    i remember when i had my dreamcast and i wanted to play it on my monitor i went looking for a vga adapter. i went into one store and asked about them and the woman looked at me as if i had just asked her for the location of the Holy Grail.
    didn't have a notion what i was talking about, lol.

    it was a great peripheral and defo ahead of its time, much like the system was

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    Linkyshinks

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    #7  Edited By Linkyshinks

    OK, so that link does not work, the compatibility list link. I have looked on the net and cannot find one. GB should definitely have that on site. The old Racketboy link is dead, which I am guessing is what the OP used.  If anyone can obtain the list could you please add it to the Dreamcast page.

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    Emilio

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    #8  Edited By Emilio
    Linkyshinks said:
    "OK, so that link does not work, the compatibility list link. I have looked on the net and cannot find one. GB should definitely have that on site. The old Racketboy link is dead, which I am guessing is what the OP used.  If anyone can obtain the list could you please add it to the Dreamcast page."
    The link works. I'm on it right now.
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    Linkyshinks

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    #9  Edited By Linkyshinks

    Where does it take you, what site?, because I am not moving off this page.

    EDIT:

    Thanks :)

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    oldschool

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    #10  Edited By oldschool

    It took me to racketboy.com with the list of games.

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    Emilio

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    #11  Edited By Emilio
    Linkyshinks said:
    "Where does it take you, what site?, because I am not moving off this page."
    Well the link takes me to the list of games. PM'ed anywayz.
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    oldschool

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    #12  Edited By oldschool

    It took me to       www.racketboy.com/retro/2006/05/dreamcast-vga-cable-compatibility-list.html 

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