PCEngineFans.com - The PC Engine and TurboGrafx-16 Community Forum

Non-NEC Console Related Discussion => Console Chat => Topic started by: somery on December 01, 2008, 11:14:26 AM

Title: Dreamcast with S-Video looks worse than composite!
Post by: somery on December 01, 2008, 11:14:26 AM
Anybody know why this might be? For instance, the red Dreamcast ball in the startup logo looks checkered instead of fuzzy and blurry as usual.

Could it be a shoddy cable? The games (I tested with Mars Matrix and Rayman 2 so far)? The TV?

HALP!  ](*,)
Title: Re: Dreamcast with S-Video looks worse than composite!
Post by: Black Tiger on December 01, 2008, 11:17:36 AM
It's your cable. I bought an S-Video cable for my Dreamcast, back when it was current, as soon as I got my first TV with S-Video and the difference was night and day.

If you have a HDTV, the Dreamcast looks amazing in VGA and the DC VGA box I have has built-in S-Video out.
Title: Re: Dreamcast with S-Video looks worse than composite!
Post by: somery on December 01, 2008, 11:20:33 AM
Hrm. Any advice as to which kind of cable I should use then? Did Sega make an official one with S-Video?

Also, no, I don't have an HDTV  :cry:. I'm using a 29" flat screen Hitachi. I dug around the internets a bit and... could it be a comb filter problem? I'm grasping at straws here.

Thanks for the reply!
Title: Re: Dreamcast with S-Video looks worse than composite!
Post by: somery on December 02, 2008, 09:20:21 AM
Blump!
Title: Re: Dreamcast with S-Video looks worse than composite!
Post by: SNKNostalgia on December 02, 2008, 10:31:09 AM
Try Racketboy.com and get the VGA box for $23. It has a built in S-video plug and RCA A/V jacks. You can use your standard S-video and RCA cables. Also, you get the bonus of VGA for computer monitor or HDTV use.

BTW. The S-video of the Dreamcast really isn't that great. It does have dot crawl and checkered look to it a little. The Saturn on the other hand has perfect S-video. I never could understand why this is so.
Title: Re: Dreamcast with S-Video looks worse than composite!
Post by: somery on December 02, 2008, 10:39:33 AM
Quote from: SNKNostalgia on December 02, 2008, 10:31:09 AM
Try Racketboy.com and get the VGA box for $23. It has a built in S-video plug and RCA A/V jacks. You can use your standard S-video and RCA cables. Also, you get the bonus of VGA for computer monitor or HDTV use.

BTW. The S-video of the Dreamcast really isn't that great. It does have dot crawl and checkered look to it a little. The Saturn on the other hand has perfect S-video. I never could understand why this is so.

Thanks for the tip! Gonna check out that VGA box right now.

Has anyone else experienced this dot crawl/checkered/crappy look to Dreamcast S-video?
Title: Re: Dreamcast with S-Video looks worse than composite!
Post by: Tatsujin on December 02, 2008, 12:41:19 PM
Quote from: somery on December 01, 2008, 11:20:33 AM
Hrm. Any advice as to which kind of cable I should use then? Did Sega make an official one with S-Video?

yes..i have one. excellent picture. almost like RGB :)
Title: Re: Dreamcast with S-Video looks worse than composite!
Post by: somery on December 02, 2008, 01:03:59 PM
Man, I'm so confused now. So many questions...

Okay, maybe I have a crappy cable. If so, what kind should I get? I don't see any official Dreamcast S-video cables on eBay. A "gold plated" one? Or maybe the Dreamcast just looks all checkerboardy and crappy through S-video just on this specific TV? Could it be the comb filter on the TV? I guess I'll start searching for an official Dreamcast cable and in the meantime unhook and move my SNES and try it through my TV's S-video.

Urgh!  :?
Title: Re: Dreamcast with S-Video looks worse than composite!
Post by: Arkhan on December 03, 2008, 04:39:41 PM
Man I dunno what you're complainin about >_<.   I used to have that sucker hooked up with an RF adapter to a RCA ColorTrak from 1983, LOL.


Boy were those fun times, scrounging up change to buy a frigging VMU.