DREAMCAST VGA QUESTIONS! come here for everything VGA w/ DC.

[Hateshinai]

Is there a boot disc that works with the VGA connection?
I have a PAL Dreamcast and both NTSC-US and PAL games (original) and I don't want to use burned games instead.

If this question has been answered before, have mercy and point me to the answer. I just finished a 12-hour night shift from hell at the ER and I can't think straight. Let alone search 30+ pages of posts.

[Niode]

They tell you in the first paragraph that there is a difference.

It's just like ethernet cable, you can't use a Cat.5E cable and expect Cat.6 speeds. There's more going on than just "it gets there or it doesn't".

Yes it's all fine and dandy in a single component setup. That means TV and PS3 or TV, PS3 and Receiver.

When you add in multiple large scale pieces of hardware in for example an audiophile/videophile. Something that actually taxes an HDMI cable to the max like a $600-$1500 blu ray player streaming nothing but full HD video, and modern HD audio formats along with internet integration and 3D video you'll see a big difference between cheapos and the more expensive cables.

You believe that if you like. It's not true.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

They tell you in the first paragraph that there is a difference.

It's just like ethernet cable, you can't use a Cat.5E cable and expect Cat.6 speeds. There's more going on than just "it gets there or it doesn't".

Yes it's all fine and dandy in a single component setup. That means TV and PS3 or TV, PS3 and Receiver.

When you add in multiple large scale pieces of hardware in for example an audiophile/videophile. Something that actually taxes an HDMI cable to the max like a $600-$1500 blu ray player streaming nothing but full HD video, and modern HD audio formats along with internet integration and 3D video you'll see a big difference between cheapos and the more expensive cables.

You believe that if you like. It's not true.

To quote YOUR article:

"However, very poor quality cabling can present image problems in certain circumstances, and the accepted wisdom that with digital you either get an image or you don't isn't exactly true. A low quality, very long HDMI cable could work fine at 720p for example, but could introduce digital artifacts at 1080p."

"Here's what happened a couple of years back when we ran Gran Turismo 5 Prologue at 1080p through a low-quality HDMI repeater. There's no degradation to the vast majority of the image, but where the signal was affected, the corrupt data is fairly easy to see."

"Going back to the introduction for this piece, HDMI cabling really is a no-brainer when it comes to the purchasing decision. The bits either get through the cable in one piece, or they don't. If they don't, you won't see analogue artifacts like ghosting or electrical interference patterns, you'll get digital corruption that is obvious to see: in this sense, it either works or it doesn't. Independent testing suggests that just about any HDMI cable works fine at lengths of up to four metres: more than enough for just about any home cinema or "gaming den" setup."

Your own article says that the cables do matter.

Here's the issue. If your complete setup has everything under 10 feet away and the total price everything is under $2000 total when factoring in your AV Receiver, Television and PS3 or 360 then yeah, it won't matter to you. In fact it won't matter to most of us. BUT some people like me need to make long runs on their AV equipment, or need to actually use a next generation cable for next generation formats.

Here in the US the default HDMI cable length is 3.5 to 9 meters. This completely destroys your argument given every single article and test that HDMI has gone through. A lengh of 3.5-5 meters is the absolute max (and that's pushing it) for HD video and anything else in a standard non-shielded HDMI cable.

Yes you won't get analog style fuzz, but you WILL get digital corruption. That means blocky images, green and multicolored lines, half the screen gone, etc....

If I lived in a tiny little apartment and had nothing but a simple setup then yeah, no prob, but I live in a house with a decently sized living room.

This means I have my AV rack and hi-fi setup here and my TV + Receiver is AAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL the way over here. I don't buy $80 cables, but I did buy some $25 ones that were fairly more substantial than the ultra cheap ones because I had been experiencing corruption and general mayhem with the crappy ones.

[pakopako]

Is there a boot disc that works with the VGA connection?
I have a PAL Dreamcast and both NTSC-US and PAL games (original) and I don't want to use burned games instead.

If this question has been answered before, have mercy and point me to the answer. I just finished a 12-hour night shift from hell at the ER and I can't think straight. Let alone search 30+ pages of posts.

Yes. As far as I know, the GameShark Lite works, the DC-X works, and a modification of the UTOPIA boot disc works (the mod claims to reduce burn-out; I don't know about that, but it does remove that annoying reindeer).

[Niode]

They tell you in the first paragraph that there is a difference.

It's just like ethernet cable, you can't use a Cat.5E cable and expect Cat.6 speeds. There's more going on than just "it gets there or it doesn't".

Yes it's all fine and dandy in a single component setup. That means TV and PS3 or TV, PS3 and Receiver.

When you add in multiple large scale pieces of hardware in for example an audiophile/videophile. Something that actually taxes an HDMI cable to the max like a $600-$1500 blu ray player streaming nothing but full HD video, and modern HD audio formats along with internet integration and 3D video you'll see a big difference between cheapos and the more expensive cables.

You believe that if you like. It's not true.

To quote YOUR article:

"However, very poor quality cabling can present image problems in certain circumstances, and the accepted wisdom that with digital you either get an image or you don't isn't exactly true. A low quality, very long HDMI cable could work fine at 720p for example, but could introduce digital artifacts at 1080p."

"Here's what happened a couple of years back when we ran Gran Turismo 5 Prologue at 1080p through a low-quality HDMI repeater. There's no degradation to the vast majority of the image, but where the signal was affected, the corrupt data is fairly easy to see."

"Going back to the introduction for this piece, HDMI cabling really is a no-brainer when it comes to the purchasing decision. The bits either get through the cable in one piece, or they don't. If they don't, you won't see analogue artifacts like ghosting or electrical interference patterns, you'll get digital corruption that is obvious to see: in this sense, it either works or it doesn't. Independent testing suggests that just about any HDMI cable works fine at lengths of up to four metres: more than enough for just about any home cinema or "gaming den" setup."

Your own article says that the cables do matter.

Here's the issue. If your complete setup has everything under 10 feet away and the total price everything is under $2000 total when factoring in your AV Receiver, Television and PS3 or 360 then yeah, it won't matter to you. In fact it won't matter to most of us. BUT some people like me need to make long runs on their AV equipment, or need to actually use a next generation cable for next generation formats.

Here in the US the default HDMI cable length is 3.5 to 9 meters. This completely destroys your argument given every single article and test that HDMI has gone through. A lengh of 3.5-5 meters is the absolute max (and that's pushing it) for HD video and anything else in a standard non-shielded HDMI cable.

Yes you won't get analog style fuzz, but you WILL get digital corruption. That means blocky images, green and multicolored lines, half the screen gone, etc....

If I lived in a tiny little apartment and had nothing but a simple setup then yeah, no prob, but I live in a house with a decently sized living room.

This means I have my AV rack and hi-fi setup here and my TV + Receiver is AAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL the way over here. I don't buy $80 cables, but I did buy some $25 ones that were fairly more substantial than the ultra cheap ones because I had been experiencing corruption and general mayhem with the crappy ones.

Right OK since you've got your little panties in a bunch over this. I have a £25 10m HDMI cable that went from my PC to my plasma in the other room. That's a cheap as hell cable for price per metre. I had no problems with it. Exactly the same picture/sound. Your argument that you had to buy more expensive cables only supports the digital 'it will work or it won't' factor. You just bought a poorly put together cable. Crap cabling exists. Yes paying bargain prices will mean you run the risk of getting a crappy non-functioning cable more often than not. I think I'd rather buy, have it not work, get a replacement, if that doesn't work, I'll try a different brand instead, I've still not spent anywhere near £10 on a HDMI cable less than 2m long even if I have a few duds (which I don't).

Spending money for the sake of spending money on HDMI cables is a fools game. If for some reason that makes you feel better about your purchase then awesome, get your rocks off to it if that makes you happy. The cheap cable will do the exact same job as the more expensive (as long as it works in the first place and isn't faulty). There's simply no argument here. There is no reason to buy a more expensive cable unless brand means something to you. If it does, then you are a moron. Get a cable with a nice chunky connector, sturdy cable and you'll be fine. HDMIs don't need any more than £5 spending on them. At any budget.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Right OK since you've got your little panties in a bunch over this. I have a £25 10m HDMI cable that went from my PC to my plasma in the other room. That's a cheap as hell cable for price per metre. I had no problems with it. Exactly the same picture/sound. Your argument that you had to buy more expensive cables only supports the digital 'it will work or it won't' factor. You just bought a poorly put together cable. Crap cabling exists. Yes paying bargain prices will mean you run the risk of getting a crappy non-functioning cable more often than not. I think I'd rather buy, have it not work, get a replacement, if that doesn't work, I'll try a different brand instead, I've still not spent anywhere near £10 on a HDMI cable less than 2m long even if I have a few duds (which I don't).

Spending money for the sake of spending money on HDMI cables is a fools game. If for some reason that makes you feel better about your purchase then awesome, get your rocks off to it if that makes you happy. The cheap cable will do the exact same job as the more expensive (as long as it works in the first place and isn't faulty). There's simply no argument here. There is no reason to buy a more expensive cable unless brand means something to you. If it does, then you are a moron. Get a cable with a nice chunky connector, sturdy cable and you'll be fine. HDMIs don't need any more than £5 spending on them. At any budget.

I'm not getting my panties in a bunch, I'm just trying to say that you have to scale cable price accordingly with cable length and the amount of data load.

I don't know many people with 2M or shorter cables as the de-facto standard for most electronics stores here in the US is 6-15 feet. With longer cables often being cheaper or equally priced as a "value" most people typically opt for the longer one just top have some play if they ever move anything around.

I simply wanted people to know that a $2 20 footer isn't going to perform well in any sense of the word; and that it makes sense to pay about $10-$15 for a more solidly built cable if it means they never have to think or worry about that it again.

[elmagicochrisg]

[Spike77]

Quick question, my VGA box worked fine last time I tried it which was about 6 months ago. Yesterday I felt like playing some sonic adventure so I brought my DC out and hooked it up through the VGA box but the issue is the tv screen turns a light shaded pink the DC startup screen is not white but pink. Also when the game boots up it is not sharp and its sometimes a dark blue or dark green with a crappy picture. I tried several games: shenmue, capcom vs snk2, power stone 1&2 and it is the same problem

Any help/ideas would be appreciated!

[CRTGAMER]

Quick question, my VGA box worked fine last time I tried it which was about 6 months ago. Yesterday I felt like playing some sonic adventure so I brought my DC out and hooked it up through the VGA box but the issue is the tv screen turns a light shaded pink the DC startup screen is not white but pink. Also when the game boots up it is not sharp and its sometimes a dark blue or dark green with a crappy picture. I tried several games: shenmue, capcom vs snk2, power stone 1&2 and it is the same problem

Any help/ideas would be appreciated!

Maybe one of the connections, a pin or contact bent?

[pakopako]

Re-seat the connection to your DC and double check the VGA line to the box.