Question about playing the dreamcast on a new TV.

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LG18
undertow
Posts: 28

Question about playing the dreamcast on a new TV.

Post#1 » Thu Dec 29, 2016 1:57 pm

I've recently bought a 55 inch 4K Samsung TV.
It doesn't have a scart or VGA port, so neither the scart cable or VGA box can be plugged into it.

I was wondering the best way to go about connecting it?
Obviously some sort of conversion to HDMI is required, but the amount of different boxes and cables is quite bewildering.

I was wondering what people are using here?
I'm in the UK so likely won't be able to get any of the US converters, but I'm open to anything.

Thanks a lot!

Green Ranger
killer
Posts: 267

Re: Question about playing the dreamcast on a new TV.

Post#2 » Fri Dec 30, 2016 12:32 am

Does the TV have S-Video ports? Using a S-Video cable might be the easiest way to get decent picture quality.

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Gary_b
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Re: Question about playing the dreamcast on a new TV.

Post#3 » Fri Dec 30, 2016 3:30 am

I personally use a VGA to component converter/upscaler and it looks good on a 1080p tv. I do own a 4K tv. but I have not yet hooked my Dreamcast up to it. I have played emulators on it and Dreamcast games do look good in 4k. You can use either or as far as scart or VGA. I would talk to a few more people in pal areas to see what they use as we do not have scart here in the US, so I have no knowledge of how well it looks converted. I do have a S video cable for my Dreamcast and it looks like crap compared to the VGA box. Bob Dobbs recently sent me a mini review of a VGA to HDMI converter that he said works and it is very cheap. If I do get a VGA to HDMI I would like one that converts the signal up to at least 1080p, but I would prefer one that takes the signal all the way up to 4k. I have not yet looked into buying one of those though.

LG18
undertow
Posts: 28

Re: Question about playing the dreamcast on a new TV.

Post#4 » Fri Dec 30, 2016 1:21 pm

Gary_b wrote:I personally use a VGA to component converter/upscaler and it looks good on a 1080p tv. I do own a 4K tv. but I have not yet hooked my Dreamcast up to it. I have played emulators on it and Dreamcast games do look good in 4k. You can use either or as far as scart or VGA. I would talk to a few more people in pal areas to see what they use as we do not have scart here in the US, so I have no knowledge of how well it looks converted. I do have a S video cable for my Dreamcast and it looks like crap compared to the VGA box. Bob Dobbs recently sent me a mini review of a VGA to HDMI converter that he said works and it is very cheap. If I do get a VGA to HDMI I would like one that converts the signal up to at least 1080p, but I would prefer one that takes the signal all the way up to 4k. I have not yet looked into buying one of those though.


The TV doesn't even have component. Just HDMI, DVI and an aux port for expansion along with a couple of other ports. Couldn't find a single high end 4K tv with the older ports.
As you'll probably know, we had Scart in favour of S-video over here. Second best only to the VGA signal from what I've tried.
It's just with it being an old format now none of the new TVs are supporting it.

Good idea on talking to some other PAL people; Are there many people on the forum?
And yeah, it'd be great to see a 4K conversation.

Thanks for the post!

LG18
undertow
Posts: 28

Re: Question about playing the dreamcast on a new TV.

Post#5 » Fri Dec 30, 2016 3:25 pm

Green Ranger wrote:Does the TV have S-Video ports? Using a S-Video cable might be the easiest way to get decent picture quality.


Annoyingly no. They rarely put S-video ports on pal equipment because scart was the favoured format.

Thanks for the post!

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Gary_b
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Re: Question about playing the dreamcast on a new TV.

Post#6 » Sun Jan 01, 2017 1:31 am

If it has DVI then that is your best option. You can get a VGA to DVI plug and use it with the Dreamcast VGA box/Cord. They are cheap, might cost ya a buck. I have a bunch of them. Make sure to buy the right one as they have a few different forms of DVI. You should also see if you can find out if the DVI input supports 480x640 resolution. I know that the tv itself will indeed support it, but there is a chance that the DVI input may not. I have had tvs with DVI in the past and this method did indeed work on them.

I own a cheap 4k tv and it has pretty much all of the old inputs. Not sure if it has S video, but it does have component, composite, and RF as well as HDMI 2.0, MHL etc.

As for other PAL users? Yeah they are around a good one to ask might be the other moderator mazonemayu

The only VGA to 4k scaler that looks worth while to me is the Kanexpro VGA to 4K Converter. It can upscale a 480x640 signal to 720p, 1080p, and 4k. I cannot find a review for the VGA model but they make a S-Video/Composite version and 4 people gave that one 5 stars. Trouble is this thing cost over $100 on most sites. I did find it for $76 on one site though. The second issue that I have with it is that It would pretty much only be good for my Dreamcast. The last converter that I got has more uses so I am on the fence with buying another one for this price. If you are interested in it and want to read specs here is there web site http://www.kanexpro.com/item/?id=CON-VGA-HD4K

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krssn
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Re: Question about playing the dreamcast on a new TV.

Post#7 » Mon Jan 02, 2017 9:58 am

LG18 wrote:
Green Ranger wrote:Does the TV have S-Video ports? Using a S-Video cable might be the easiest way to get decent picture quality.


Annoyingly no. They rarely put S-video ports on pal equipment because scart was the favoured format.

Thanks for the post!

Most SCART connections on PAL TVs also supported s-video.

You just needed one of these...

Image

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mazonemayu
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Re: Question about playing the dreamcast on a new TV.

Post#8 » Mon Jan 02, 2017 10:40 am

when I need a new tv I always look for something that has vga, the brand is less important to me than the connections it has
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krssn
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Re: Question about playing the dreamcast on a new TV.

Post#9 » Mon Jan 02, 2017 11:49 am

mazonemayu wrote:when I need a new tv I always look for something that has vga, the brand is less important to me than the connections it has

From all the posts I've already seen here having a VGA port alone is not enough.

Better to bring your DC to the store and check if the VGA port is compatible with the DC's VGA signal.

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mazonemayu
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Re: Question about playing the dreamcast on a new TV.

Post#10 » Mon Jan 02, 2017 12:46 pm

krssn wrote:
Better to bring your DC to the store and check if the VGA port is compatible with the DC's VGA signal.


I thought that was obvious :lol: :lol:
We are SEGA generation.

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