Old consoles on new tv

FeFiDoh

FeFiDoh

FeFiDoh

Soldato
Joined
17 Aug 2005
Posts
7,615
Location
Swindon
So I recently bought a Panasonic TXP42ST50B and I have spent this evening playing mariokart/diddy kong racing and Goldeneye but the picture is pretty dire. I have had to connect it to my tv using the RF/Aerial thing and it looks a bit dirty/grainy. I am pretty sure the N64 never looked this bad before and it must be a connection issue.

What is the best way to connect the N64 to the tv? The aerial lead is dire so maybe scart? I also have a dreamcast and would really like to play Shenmue again but using the supplied cable to connect it to the tv I get picture and audio but it is black and white. I have an Onkyo HTS3505 amp and couldn't get the Dreamcast to connect via this at all.

Would appreciate any help as I love both consoles and feel a session on Zelda OOT and Shenue are in order!
 
Best connection for the dreamcast is VGA, if no VGA, then RGB scart. Best for the n64 without modding it, is S-video.

Both will still look like crap though, if you want them to look how you remembered, then get a CRT and play on that.
 
Thanks I did a bit of searching last night and see that the Gamecube cable also fits the N64 so I used that which has allowed me to connect it via the scart. It also means the Dreamcast can now connect to the same little block that converts the 3 jacks to scart and I can get picture that way! Didn't know VGA was possible on the dreamcast may have to take a look at that.
 
RGB Scart for the N64. Looks decent on my Panasonic Plasma.

The Plasma's cope very well with old consoles, far better than the vast swathes of LCD crap out there nowadays.
 
Yes I have recently put my snes on the 46 plasma.

The av receiver tries to upscale it but it obviously still looks blocky.. But it should do.
 
If you don't mind not using the original controller Wii Virtual Console is pretty handy. I use a WaveBird with mine.
 
The Dreamcast doesn't look to bad at all and Shenmue is playable so I am happy. Not sure if what I am using at the moment is RGB either on the N64, just using the Gamecube av cable and a scart converter and it seems ok. I think I remember it looking better because I use to play on a 14" tv and not a 42" Plasma :o
 
It surprises me you cant get some kind of hocus pocus box for retro consoles that presents it to the tv upscaled via hdmi.
 
Eliot said:
It surprises me you cant get some kind of hocus pocus box for retro consoles that presents it to the tv upscaled via hdmi.
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You can. But they don't come cheap. The XRGB-mini Framemeister Compact Up Scaler Unit seems to be the daddy but will set you back £300. There are some build your own line doubler, plus scale line generator kits that you can get for half that price.
 
imb4tman said:
You can. But they don't come cheap. The XRGB-mini Framemeister Compact Up Scaler Unit seems to be the daddy but will set you back £300. There are some build your own line doubler, plus scale line generator kits that you can get for half that price.
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Christ, for £300 you can get yourself a pretty damn good AV receiver that'll upscale anything to anything within reason! And with that you also get a proper sound and vision box all in one!
 
DaveyD said:
Christ, for £300 you can get yourself a pretty damn good AV receiver that'll upscale anything to anything within reason! And with that you also get a proper sound and vision box all in one!
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True, but you will still have lag. These devices claim to reduce lag to just one frame.
 
imb4tman said:
True, but you will still have lag. These devices claim to reduce lag to just one frame.
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Meh, I'd be able to live with it. It'll not matter as much for such older consoles as some of the controls are so rubbish then you'd not be able to to tell the difference either way! And newer consoles it'll be a straight through signal if there's no scaling required.

Still a lot of money for what it is!
 
FeFiDoh said:
The Dreamcast doesn't look to bad at all and Shenmue is playable so I am happy. Not sure if what I am using at the moment is RGB either on the N64, just using the Gamecube av cable and a scart converter and it seems ok. I think I remember it looking better because I use to play on a 14" tv and not a 42" Plasma :o
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No it won't be RGB the components are missing and it's pretty expensive to get them reinstated.

http://www.wolfsoft.de/shop/product...-n64-pal-auf-rgb-incl.-rgb-booster-kabel.html
 
Yeah it's a lot of money, but you'd have to have the equipment and the inclination to do it yourself plus your time isn't paid. I have to say the what the hell is the reason for the "Floaty Resistor" Assembly Procedure :eek:
 
n64 doesn't have RGB scart so I'd say S-Video or if you have to composite.

Get a VGA Box for the Dreamcast.
 
finite said:
Yeah it's a lot of money, but you'd have to have the equipment and the inclination to do it yourself plus your time isn't paid. I have to say the what the hell is the reason for the "Floaty Resistor" Assembly Procedure :eek:
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True, I'm not saying they should do it for cost of parts, just that I think €100 is too expensive for just fitting a DAC. Woftsoft's replacement is prebuilt, on a pcb. All they have to do is attach the wires from chip to console. Other console modifications that are similar amount of work cost no where near that, which is why I think wolfsoft are expensive.

Floaty resistors are just a quick & easy way to build it, it fits nicely on the heatsink like that. You can use stripboard or make a pcb for it, if you want.
 
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Pretty sure my tv does not have S-Video :(
I can get the Dreamcast VGA adapter from that site though, £22 is one of the cheapest I have seen.
 
Armadillo said:
True, I'm not saying they should do it for cost of parts, just that I think €100 is too expensive for just fitting a DAC. Woftsoft's replacement is prebuilt, on a pcb. All they have to do is attach the wires from chip to console. Other console modifications that are similar amount of work cost no where near that, which is why I think wolfsoft are expensive.

Floaty resistors are just a quick & easy way to build it, it fits nicely on the heatsink like that. You can use stripboard or make a pcb for it, if you want.
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Apparently the Wolfsoft mod isn't that good either and they bought it off of Double You. The other mods seem to have their issues.

This VGA mod in development looks good though. The latest iteration has a DVI-I connector.
 
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