Dreamcast VGA confusion

[Dominance9]

Need some help with some dreamcast vga confusion Im currently having. I have a older sony trinitron crt that I play all my older games on. It has a DVI port on the back. So my first thought was I am going to buy a DVI to VGA converter for it and pick up a VGA cable for my dreamcast. Except when I hooked it up I didnt get any video just sound.

Any thoughts as to why it isnt working?

Whats the difference between a dreamcast VGA box vs. just the VGA cable?

Thanks for any input

 

[GohanX]

VGA is analog, dvi can pass either an analog or digital signal, I would guess that the tv is only looking for a digital signal.



What is the model number of the monitor?

 

[Dominance9]

VGA is analog, dvi can pass either an analog or digital signal, I would guess that the tv is only looking for a digital signal.



What is the model number of the monitor?

KV-36XBR800

 

[Speed3]

Nice vid on DC VGA, I'm pretty sure that VGA doesn't carry audio signal you'd need to plug into your TVs 3.5 headphone jack most TVs have one right next to the VGA in.

 

[mjmjr25]

Also - not all DC games output VGA natively; though you can force it. If you're playing an non-VGA game you'll get "no signal". It will tell you on the back whether it is VGA compatible.

http://www.hdtvarcade.com/hdtvforums/index.php?/topic/1047-dreamcast-force-vga-trick-480p/

 

[BanishingFlatsAC]

You shouldn't need any "converter". A simple vga to dvi passive adapter should be fine. As they said above, the port must be dvi-a compatible for it to work, which I'm pretty sure that model Trinitron is.

 

[Tech&Music]

It won't work. I first looked at the specs where Sony called the DVI port "DVI-HDTV". That already raised my suspicions of it being a DVI-D port (DVI-D is digital only, DVI-I is digital and analog), and looking in the manual confirmed this. Specifically these two things:



This DVI port lacks contacts above the little spade pin. That means it's an DVI-D connector, which means it can't accept any analog video.
As you can see, it's a DVI-D connector:



But not only that, the manual goes on to say this about the DVI port:



Not only can it not accept any analog video, it can also only accept DRM video sources, so even a computer's DVI as said wouldn't work. So sorry, but the Dreamcast's VGA isn't going to work over this DVI port.

 

[Dominance9]

Thanks for the replies. I had no idea only certain games were vga. So by the sounds of it VGA aint happening on that monitor huh? That sucks. But at least I know now. Right now Im just running a S-video cable and it looks good but Im always curious if something else would look better.

2 side questions I have though if anyone knows:

Whats the point of a Dreamcast VGA box over just a Dreamcast VGA Cable. I have a VGA box from a system I picked up years ago and it outputs S-Video, VGA and composite. Is there any advantage with that box over just the normal S-video or vga cables?

Would my monitor take a HDMI input if I bought a DVI to HDMI adapter / cable and wanted to run a Retron 5 HDMI to it?

 

[Tech&Music]

It could take a HDMI signal, as DVI-D and HDMI are both just TMDS, but I don't think the Retron 5 has HDCP copy-protection on its HDMI signal which is required by the TV.

 

[grimmythereaper]

what vga cable are you using? i have one that feels like its in all the way when its only in the dreamcast port about halfway

 

[Dominance9]

what vga cable are you using? i have one that feels like its in all the way when its only in the dreamcast port about halfway

Just a cheap one from ebay

 

[Dominance9]

It could take a HDMI signal, as DVI-D and HDMI are both just TMDS, but I don't think the Retron 5 has HDCP copy-protection on its HDMI signal which is required by the TV.

Thats too bad. That was kinda the only reason I wanted a retron 5. Thanks for the info though!

 

[WNivek]

It could take a HDMI signal, as DVI-D and HDMI are both just TMDS, but I don't think the Retron 5 has HDCP copy-protection on its HDMI signal which is required by the TV.

I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that HDCP is only ever a problem if the video device wants to use it but the display doesn't support it; not the other way around.

 

[Kid Panda]

If I'm not mistaken some games could use the VGA cable but couldn't use the VGA box and vice versa. VGA cable was an early release thing though and they dropped it right quickly.

 

[Xian Xi]

Are you using a DVI to VGA converter or VGA to DVI Converter, they both exist but you would need the latter.

 

[Xian Xi]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/230616333659

 

[mjmjr25]

I think the value of the "VGA BOX" as opposed to a straight VGA cable was the convenience of having VGA / S-VID / Composite / Stereo Out all in one cable - so if it were a game that didn't play in VGA, you just had to change the input on your TV and not change your AV cable.

 

[GohanX]

Yeah, and some vga boxes like Beharius's have some extra features, but for strictly vga a regular cable will work fine if it's made of good components.

 

[DanAdamKOF]

You can encode VGA to YPbPr and your TV will treat it as 480p. I think there's some caveats with DC's aspect ratio with VGA out but it's a start.

 

[Tech&Music]

I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that HDCP is only ever a problem if the video device wants to use it but the display doesn't support it; not the other way around.

I dunno, I'm just going by what Sony wrote down in the manual, which is kind of vague. They make it seem like HDCP is required.

 

[DanAdamKOF]

WNivek is correct.

 

[Dominance9]

Hmm, so retron 5 might work then?

For the DC I was just using a straight VGA cable to a VGA to DVI adapter. Not a convertor only a $5 adapter. To get it to work with my monitor I'll need something like in the ebay link you posted?

 

[Xian Xi]

Hmm, so retron 5 might work then?

For the DC I was just using a straight VGA cable to a VGA to DVI adapter. Not a convertor only a $5 adapter. To get it to work with my monitor I'll need something like in the ebay link you posted?

If you want it to work the way you want it to using that Sony TV on that DVI port.

 

[ResO]

If you want it to work the way you want it to using that Sony TV on that DVI port.

I think the cheapest route would be to get a VGA to HDMI converter for like $10 on eBay and use an Hdmi to Dvi cord/adaptor.

 

[blakeb8111]

I have one of these converters and it works. You could add the dvi adapter and it should be fine.

http://www.monoprice.com/mobile/pro...categoryid=10114&subcategoryid=1011404&cpncd=

A gameshark cdx or other DC cheat disc should help you boot imports through vga, utopia doesn't work with it.