Running Dreamcast Through PC

[Vamp]

I have an NTSC Dreamcast that I can't play through my PAL TV in my room, so I've been neglecting it a lot. It suddenly hit me that with the amount of video editing work I do, I obviously have a capture card which I can run the Dreamcast through, I tried it and it works. Full colour and sound which I obviously cant get on a PAL TV, now I just need to know if their any applications out there which are meant for these type of things. Because I'm was running it through my video-capture software, I couldn't put it in full screen without there being some chop in the video...Are there any apps I can use to play my DC through my PC in full screen and full frames?

[3RA1N1AC]

you could just use a dreamcast VGA adapter. and a vga switch, since most dreamcast VGA adapters didn't have a pass-through for the PC. that'd look much better than connecting it to any capture card.

http://www.jandaman.com/Merchant2/images/dc/dcvgabox.jpg
this plugs into the back of the dreamcast and then the monitor's VGA cable plugs into it. this is the only way to enable 640 x 480 resolution on a dreamcast. several different companies have made them and they do not all look like this, but they are all made specifically for dreamcast. use one of those "universal" VGA adapters that accepts composite inputs from dreamcast/ps2/xbox/gamecube and it completely defeats the purpose because composite & s-video use low resolutions.

here's a VGA selector:
http://www.electronicsoutfitter.com/images/items/ds152.jpg

[Vamp]

blech...No easier way?

[3RA1N1AC]

yeah there's an easier way. you could plug it into a capture card and it looks like garbage. if adding a VGA selector is too complicated, then just skip that part and unplug the monitor from the PC when you want to use the dreamcast.

what's so difficult about it? a dreamcast VGA adapter costs approx $10 USD and it allows you to play most dreamcast games at twice their normal resolution on your PC monitor. EASY.

[silent h3ro]

Yea thats really cheap. I know the Xbox VGA adapters run around $175. Doesn't sound too complicated to me.

[Vamp]

It's complicated because I don't live in the States, Dreamcast is long gone here and I don't need the hassel of buying online and waiting weeks for delivery.

How would I do it if I unplugged my monitor from my PC? I have a Viewsonic VG510s Flatscreen.

[3RA1N1AC]

i meant instead of getting the dreamcast vga cable AND a vga selector, you could just get the dreamcast vga cable and unplug the monitor from the pc when you want to use the dreamc

oh nevermind. i already gave you the best advice ever, take it or leave it. :P


Yea thats really cheap. I know the Xbox VGA adapters run around $175. Doesn't sound too complicated to me.
and yeah, MS and sony never intended their consoles to be vga compatible, so the vga adapters for those were never produced in really large numbers. dreamcast was meant to be vga compatible from the start, so its vga adapters were made by lots of companies and they're really common -- thus they're easy-to-find and inexpensive.

[hugh.jeego]

the vga switcher basically means you can have your monitor hooked up to your PC and the Dreamcast (DC hooked up via the vga adapter). if you want to use DC, u switch it to DC, if you want to use PC, switch it to pc.

but if you dont have this switch, you will have to manually remove the VGA cable from the back of your PC, and into the VGA adapter hooked to the DC

hope this helps make it more clear :frusty:


:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


P.S. look look,

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VGA-Adapter-for-SEGA-Dreamcast_W0QQitemZ8240442141QQcategoryZ4303QQtcZphotoQQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Vamp]

I'm in South Africa, that's UK only...

Does it need to be a Dreamcast VGA cable? Is there no universal VGA cable I might be able to find here?