Stupid Question... But I Need Advice.

[Vamp]

1. I have PS2, Xbox and Dreamcast

2. I have PS2 and Xbox in my room on my TV

3. The Dreamcast is NTSC, so it can't be played on a PAL TV, it comes out in Black and white without sound.

4. I have the Dreamcast in my TV room, connected to a 150CM Flatscreen TV which is multi-system so the DC works fine.

5.The TV room is only good at night because it's ultra bright in there, plus the large TV doesn't do much justice to the Dreamcast's low-res graphics.

6. I can get a Dreamcast color mod for $20. There's an Internal one which only works with RCA cables and an External one which works with RF Cables but is less reliable.

7. My TV Is RF only and my VCR is RF + RCA

8. The guys at the store say that I can connect the Dreamcast to my VCR with RCA cables and then have an RF cable connecting the VCR to the TV's RF port.

9. I have a Dreamcast RCA Cable + An RF Cable which I bought off Ebay, so it's an NTSC RF Cable and I have a pal TV.

10. The NTSC RF Cable had the end modified by an electrician so the pins are the right format for PAL RF Standards, but the DC Still comes out in black and white whether connected straight to the VCR with RCA cables or to the TV with the RF cable

11. I tried using my Xbox with the method I'm planning on using... Xbox connected to VCR by RCA cables, VCR-RF Out connected to TV RF In with an RF Cable. But no picture came through. I think it will only work if I have either Xbox to VCR with an RF cable and VCR-RF Out connected to TV RF In or Xbox to VCR with RCA cable and VCR -RCA out connected to a TV RCA-In (Which I don't have on my TV) I don't think it works with mixing two cables together (RCA and RF) Or can it? Is there something I can do that will get my consoles to work that way? Special RF cables or something.

12. The guys at the game store assure me that the Dreamcast will run fine with that method, and will only work with the Dreamcast, so he says that the fact that the XBox not working that way is normal. I'm not so sure though. How can a color chip change the way a VCR converts an RCA signal to an RF one?

13. What should I do?

A. Spend $20 and take the risk of it not working, but if it does work, I have all my consoles + games in one room where I can play all the time in a dark enviroment perfect for gaming

B. Just leave the DC in the TV room and get blinds or something to make the room darker and find away to make the TV picture smaller, but then it's kind of wierd because 2 consoles are in one room and 1 console is in another

C. Move the PS2 and the XBox to the TV room so all consoles are together without spending any extra cash, but changing my gaming atmosphere to something where I can only play when people in my house aren't watching TV instead of just being able to play in my room when I want?

Advice wanted
Thanks!

[tHe LiNk]

Seeing as the guy assured you that it would work, you should get it. If it doesnt do what he said it should you might be able to take it back and get a refund.

[cwctv]

If you have a pal Tv surly your Vcr is the same PAL :blink:
If it does both you haven't flicked the switch or whatever turns the nstc ON on the vcr.
As for the rest got an headache reading it sorry.

[Vamp]

Haha... I've had plenty o' headaches reading it! It's quite an old VCR. A Mitsubishi from 1997 or so.

I'm saving up money for a PS2 chip + Installation for $60... But it would be nice having all 3 consoles in one room. Am I right in saying that playing on a huge screen TV might detract from the quality? Especially with an older system like Dreamcast? Where Aliasing problems would be very apparent?

[Project E-01]

Vamp, when you tried the test with the Xbox, the VCR has to be turned on (erm, just in case you missed that >_<) and you&#39;ll need to cycle your VCR to the channel the Xbox is on (given that its an external feed, it&#39;ll probably be AV1 or somethingn like that. AV channels can be hard to find on older VCR&#39;s - i remember that on mine, you couldn&#39;t access it through the remote. You had to manually flip through 20-odd channels with the buttons on the front of the VCR to find it. :huh: ). Assuming VCR, TV, and Xbox are all pal, that&#39;ll work.

My own reccomendation would be option d) - treat yourself to a new tv. Most modern tv&#39;s support NTSC as well as PAL now, which&#39;ll save you a whole heap of headaches. And hey, it&#39;s christmas. Or something.

[cwctv]

I would think so when I play movies (Avi&#39;s) on my Dvd they are great at full screen, BUT if I play cams which have a smaller size (ie 320x 240) the full screen can look a bit crap so I then drop it down to letter box 4:3 which gives black all round but better quailty I have a 32"(78cm)widescreen.
You have the same time as me you in the UK then why the &#036;&#39;s.

Edit:
Project E-01 I agree with you with a new setup.

[Vamp]

Wait... So You&#39;re saying that it&#39;s possible that something will work if uses a mixture of AV and RF Cables instead of 2 of the same?

[Vamp]

Thanks guys&#33; I got it working&#33; Xbox and PS2 through AV In/RF Out method works&#33; There was an "Input Select" button hidden on my VCR So I got it working&#33; Now I know that the Dreamcast color mod has to work...

However, cuz the VCR is quite old, the RCA-IN picture quality isn&#39;t amazing. But its not terrible and still playable... Thanks&#33;

[cwctv]

Great its not the Rca&#39;s its because you are using the Rf to the Tv if you have a fine tune on the Tv try that.

[Vamp]

I have a UHS/VHS tuner... I tried it and it didn&#39;t do much good.

[cwctv]

Your Tv channels are only good and clear if the antenna is set up correct if it isn&#39;t the picture is maybe snowy or as lines etc.This is the same for the Vcr to Tv you have to tune the Vcr to get the best picture/sound you can on the Tv.

[Vamp]

All my TV Channels are ultra-clear and vibrant. It&#39;s just the VCR Channel that has lines on it. Theres a dial on the VCR For a Soft/Hard picture, it&#39;s set in the middle. will that do anything? (The middle is the default)

If the console RCA Out is going to the VCR RCA In, and the VCR RF Out is going into a TV RF-IN, will the game still be played with RCA Picture quality? OR will it be reduced to RF?

[cwctv]

All my TV Channels are ultra-clear and vibrant. It&#39;s just the VCR Channel that has lines on it. Theres a dial on the VCR For a Soft/Hard picture, it&#39;s set in the middle. will that do anything? (The middle is the default)


No this is only for when a tape is playing.



If the console RCA Out is going to the VCR RCA In, and the VCR RF Out is going into a TV RF-IN, will the game still be played with RCA Picture quality? OR will it be reduced to RF?


Reduced to Rf signal I&#39;am afraid like you said it works but not the best but playable. :rolleyes:
The reason for the Rca&#39;s is to get over the pal to ntsc problem.
Take the antenna out of the Vcr for now it may be too strong a signal which in turn will give you a worse picture don&#39;t forget to put it back in for your channels later,Vcr&#39;s have a booster signal bulit in to them worth a try.

[Vamp]

So would taking out the aerial give better quality? I&#39;d like to be able to play games with the best picture quality available and I heard that RCA Gives better picture quality than RF.

I spent about 3 days totally tweaking my TV settings.

Brightness - 40/70
Contrast - 70/70
Color - 58/70

Looks the best.

[cwctv]

I can&#39;t total say that it would reason is I don&#39;t have your setup try it you have nothing to lose but MAYBE something to gain.


I heard that RCA Gives better picture quality than Rf
Rca does give a better picture but you can only get your MAIN picture on the Tv via Rf.

[Vamp]

So If I dont use the VCR Aerial, but I use RCA In, RF Out on it, I might get better picture quality than just RF In on a TV?

[cwctv]

Maybe I mean you don&#39;t need the VCR Aerial your just after the picture from the Vcr from your game(s) console(s) aerials can give you poor quality IF they are not setup right or your in a bad reception area.

[Project E-01]

*rubs head in confusion* :huh:

Ok, think plumbing. Your RCA has what.. three pipes? and your RF only has the one. Somewhere along the line, somethings gonna get lost in order to fit that three into that one - and it&#39;s gonna be quality. If you fine tune your TV, you can get a better picture outta&#39;it, but its still not going to be the best it can be. Thats why my suggestion was &#39;get a new tv&#39;. =]

Still, good to hear you got it going. "input select", huh? VCR must be a little older than you said it was... :)