I still play my dreamcast I can't wait to get this cable and test it out on the games I have. I do have star wars pod racer and it be interesting to see how it looks with this cable.
Brilliant review. The difference is insane. Playing in my youth on a small cathode ray tv I thought that Deamcast graphics were okay. Little did I know the potential it had. The retrobit VGA brings out the real colours and lighting to the point it looks like a different game or as if it were Remastered! Amazing.
I have the same vga adapter for my Dreamcast and I just opt to play it on my computer monitor. Works perfectly and the fast refresh rate of monitors comes in handy!
The Retro-Bit VGA adapter was only showing 30 FPS in the video. Was that just simply an issue with capturing footage or did the Retro-Bit or VGA-to-HDMI converter chop out half the frames?
According to some vids on MJR uploads he doesn't have the newer Elgato HD 60 capture cards (unknown if he has bought 1 recently) which does not record footage on 60FPS.
To capture all the footage for this video, I used a Hauppauge HD PVR Rocket (cuz it can capture 640x480 footage), StarTech upscaler for VGA to HDMI and a old Elgato video capture for composite.
I gotta say, the HDMI solution looks fantastic for its cost; VGA might give you a slightly crispier image, but getting the VGA box and a VGA to HDMI adapter is twice to three times as expensive, depending what components you're buying. I'd say $30 for the quality this cable affords is definitely the best balance of cost and performance.
Depends on your setup. Alot of HD TVS have a VGA input on the back so you wouldn't need an adapter. I am wondering if this product is taking the VGA signal and converting it to HDMI or if it's taking the regular composite and using some processing to "clean" it up.
Zyfer Warrior given the big difference I don't think so. If it was just that they would have looked identical. It's either a calling and cleaning the regular composite signal or the Svideo signal sing the DC outputs all three you just need cables to use it.
Nicholas Cortez Not really. It is a different HDMI converter and they aren't all created equal. Some converters apply filters or smoothing that can make things look worse.
The Pound HDMI cable looks perfectly serviceable. The RetroBit VGA adapter is very good, and does seem to have better contrast ratios/sharpness, but the colors are much duller/washed out (at least in your captures) when doing side-by-side comparisons, could be something fixable on a TV by TV basis (if your TV has a VGA port).
The absolute best solution right now (but expensive) is going from dreamcast to Toro Box (VGA mode ouputting RGBs 480p) to OSSC (2x mode) to tv. You'll get all colors (4:4:4) and a 960P resolution (super sharp with no lag and popping colors), it looks incredible.
Buy an OSSC and any VGA dreamcast cable/box. Feed the VGA into the OSSC and line double to 960p. You can buy an OSSC here: www.videogameperfection.com/products/open-source-converter/
The best way to play is to use VGA on a VGA CRT or other 480p CRT. Line doubling to 960p isn't even close to the same thing as having native 960p. The sources is still only 480p at the end of the day. You're also playing on an LED/LCD.
Great review! I recently got the newer version of this cable(I believe they released it 2 years ago). Running my Dreamcast on a 4k tv with the original cables was so blurry but this is a massive upgrade. Must have!
I get a kick out of people who think you guys copy each other’s videos (Hancock and Riggs for example) when you post reviews of the same product. Obviously they have no concept of how long it takes to record and edit footage for a video to post online. Glad to see the different takes from all of you guys on the same product, that’s why companies send all of you these products, because not all of the opinions will be the same, and not all people follow the same channels.
Agreed. I could have put out a quick impressions video, but it was important to me to try and properly capture the three different outputs and compare them side by side. That took almost two full days of capturing and editing.
So I don't know Metal Jesus or Riggs personally, but I do know that computers can be wonky. I have had El Gato issues where I had to reboot my computer and everything was fine. I also have a laptop that is eh and Roxio works on it, but not on my newer laptop. And vice versa is true when it comes to my El Gato. It could have been a simple oversight, or an odd compatibility issue. -Matt
I bought a VGA box for my Dreamcast, it even had two microphone jacks, Composite and S-video out, and a switch to change between VGA and composite for the few games that didn't support the VGA box. The VGA box experience was a life changing event for me. Games like Grandia 2, Sonic Adventure 2... I couldn't imagine playing those games on a regular old CRT TV. Being able to play games off a console at a 480p (progressive scan! Not interlaced!) was amazing, and the graphics were better then what most PCs could do at the time (3D cards weren't as common as they are today).
I thought about doing S-Video...but then you have 4 formats and honestly, S-Video connections are dying in the US... so I don't think it would have been worth it to most people.
In France the dreamcast was released with a RGB scart video cable not composite so if you(like me) plug your rgb scart in a hdmi converter you'll be able to have a great looking picture.
In Germany the Dreamcast was typically shipped with an RGB cable, too. However, when I use this on my HDTV i often get sync problems, causing the image to be shifted sideways or vertically.
I must be looking at different video because the VGA box footage looks washed out and less sharp, the best looks the HDMI to me. Easily. Looking this on a 40 inch screen from a distance of about 50cm-70cm
It looks good until you play games with more complex lighting. Then you realize it's harder to make out details, and those "washed out" graphics suddenly make more sense.
Don't it's just a shitty VGA to HDMI converter, and not all games are VGA compatible, unless you use a boot disc to bypass the check, and force the dreamcast to load in VGA mode, but that can put unneeded stress on the laser.
Nice review MJR! I bought the Akura cable from Behar Bros and I'd have to say that I'm really glad with it. It's more expensive, but not sure if better that the Pound HDMI. Would love to see a comparison.
Of such games he refers to that do not work aside from Gunbird 2, You have King of Fighters Evolution/KoF'99, KoF 2000, Plasma Sword 2: the Nightmare of Bilstein, The Last Blade 2, Bangai-O as additional examples. The major problem with these, is that you cannot get them to run in 480p with either a Utopia Boot Disc, or doing the mode switch trick on a VGA box. So bear that in mind, if you want to do so.
Brings back memories of using the official Dreamcast VGA box back in the day. Was mind blowing. I may have to see if I can get one of those HDMI cables here in the UK. Funnily enough your HDMI footage doesn't look much different to running the DC through the official SCART cable so would be interesting to compare them myself.
Hope Jester I use that. I used to use the ps2 component cable and the ps2hdmi gives the same quality output. But you should know, it needs power from the ps2's usb.
I like to use the component cables that you can buy for it. It definitely makes a big improvement over composite, and the games that support progressive scan look even better.
I have Composite Box to HDMI bought for $25, it works 90% of the time and upscales the signal. Works great with Dreamcast, Xbox, PS2, etc. At the time Sega released the DC, the console was ahead of its time.
MAAAAN this was convenient I decided to get a Dreamcast this month a few days ago and I've been looking for Dreamcast HDMI converters Metal Jesus strikes again
480p out of DC is so clean via VGA, which I'm glad you mentioned. HDMI does come with some added convenience, but I'll be sticking with my Hanzo VGA box (highly recommended). It allows you to switch to RGB for games that don't support VGA - and you can easily switch back once the game has booted. The quality is also top-notch.
This is just a completely awesome video, so carefully thought through, researched, and demonstrated! You rock MJ. I recently bought a HDMI Dreamcast cable on the recommendation of others, but watching this motivated me to dig out my VGA box, and SO glad I did. You are absolutely right, the HDMI is just for convenience, it's NOT on par with the VGA box output. SO glad I picked up a late model TV a few years back that still had VGA input on it! Now if ONLY Plasma Sword wasn't incompatible :( It's a dumb, weird fighter, but I love it for some reason (and loved Star Gladiator on PSX). Guess I'll have to hook up the composite cables to play it a couple of times a year. Thanks again for this video, keep up the great work!
Thanks MJR, I just bought mine! This is perfect because I recently posted a review of the GCHD on my channel and was saying that I WISH THEY MADE SOMETHING SIMILAR FOR DREAMCAST! And here it is. Thanks for the review!
I've got an RGB cable for my Dreamcast and it's connected to a high end B&O CRT. Definitely my preferred way to play the system: 2D, sprite based games look timeless and amazing on it (not jaggy and pixellated like on a HD screen), no input lag and the ability to use light guns.
Darn I was pumped til I saw the bummer about a game here and there not working. I think I will keep my DC on my old tube TV with the rest of my nostalgia trips. This was a great, thorough review though thanks.
I used to play my Dreamcast and other game consoles on an old as sin 80s 21 inch tv with the wood grain and had to daisy chain RF connectors. To think that now we have such quality cables that can show details that I never could have seen is amazing.
If a game isn't VGA Compatible. you need to unplug the cab;e from the DC, boot the game, then plug the cable in after a few seconds. You're just bypassing a simple check. I'm surprised your Soul Caliber works, because it didn't work with VGA either.
100% agree, I have the HDMI solution and it was about 50% darker image and it was no where near as sharp. I have a vga all in one cable and the image is bright, sharp and perfect but then it plays havoc with my GDEMU where the hdmi plays all games fine. I have a VGA box but it stopped working a few years ago so will replace or fix it to see if that is the ultimate solution
See... neat concept but seemingly crappy company. Along w/ some misleading advertising, my problem is that the Xbox cable seemingly sold out immediately and has yet to come back in stock and now they're selling this. Short burst selling is always a huge disappointment.
EposVox, agreed. There needs to be a bit more of an honest marketing push behind these that admits their flaws and limitations. Same deal with the small-batch runs. I get that making a million of them for the first run, isn’t the best idea at the start. But, they should be kept stocked fairly well given the large retro market. It only takes one retro accessory company like Hyperkin, RetroBit or Tomee making a mass produced competitor to wipe-out a smaller one that doesn’t keep things in stock.
N64 Freak makes a superior cable to the pound cable. It includes 5.1 digital surround sound audio output through either HDMI or through TOSLink cable. he's on www.ogxbox.com and through the Facebook OG xbox modding group associated with that site. mine is on its way currently and I hope to do a review of it at some point in time.
FYI the Dreamcast natively supported up to 640x480, but the reason some games were disabled when the vga connector was there was simple and your experience displayed it excellently: the GPU and CPU can't keep up with those games at that resolution. Thanks for the review, and I'll stick to my VGA adaptors!
I really like the pund image, looks great, not super clear and not blurry, just awesome looking, however that it cant play certain games is a no no for me, especially Gunbird 2, if they can get around it and make it work for every game i would buy their hdmi cable.
There is other solutions for HDMI cables for the dreamcast like the akurabox, which i think is better (VGA or RGB converted to HDMI, so every game will work with it)
My friend recently picked up the Akura Dreamcast VGA to HDMI converter box. It looks great, but we found that some games don't support VGA video, so it's important to know even if you have a boot disc, some games can be tricked, while others might have the video distorted.
The Akura box is another (albeit more expensive) option for running the Dreamcast 480p signal through HDMI. It has the added benefit though of allowing you to switch between RGB and VGA mode so can also play those VGA incompatible games too, plus it has a switch for toggling scan lines on and off too!
CAPCOM784 S-Video for the PS1 as well. I try to stick by my rule of Standard definition systems stay on my CRT TV's. I may be a purist, but I think it does look better than any LCD alternative.
You're not quite there my friend. Standard definition CRT only does 240p/480i. You are wasting the Dreamcast's native 480p output. Use a VGA CRT with VGA Dreamcast box, it's the best you'll see a Dreamcast look
This is random but man I love you guys. My faves are Paul,Kinzie,Anna, and of course metal Jesus. Also Paul's wife is amazing. I live in Corpus Christi where nothing happens. I suffer from depression so when shit gets bad for me I marathon metal Jesus videos. It really helps. I love the camaraderie. My favorite videos are the beach house one and also when you guys just get together and hang out. I don't have many close friends so when I watch these videos it makes me feel like I'm a part of something. Maybe one day I can thank you guys in person. Anyways thanks a lot for helping me through my hard times. I will forever be a fan.
Anthony Volpe Grow some muscles, and balls. I'm 5ft 4in tall, and 141lbs, and even I can lift my early 00's 27in Panasonic CRT by myself, and yes that was carrying it up the stairs into my house, and into my game room without help. If that's too much for ya a 13in CRT can be had for dirt cheap, and they are light enough even a kid can lift one, and I did so many times as I kid, and even the 19in JVC with stereo speakers on the sides of it I had in my room back in high school in the 90's, and I barely weighted 116LBS then, and up till my late 20's I could not gain past 118LBS even working out with weights at the gym,. so yeah stop talking BS!!
Luckily with the upcoming release of Shenmue I and II HD on current gen platform most of the Dreamcast heavy hitters have ports of HD versions *cough* except for Skies of Arcadia *cough* either on collection releases or other means, so there are many options to play Dreamcast games in HD and this isnt super necessary for casuals. But oh the Dreamcast library glory for the rest of us, that HDMI cable really brought a new life to some of those old games, stunning results!
I'm not a fan of these cables with the connector built-in. They should be as compact as possible and terminate in a jack so you can use your own HDMI cable of preferred length.
hollywood21639 How so? I'd rather it be an adapter than a cable as well. Another case I'd bring up is that, what if your cable goes? I'd rather just unplug the HDMI and replace the ~$6 cable versus the whole $30 adapter.
JoelRG all you've done is add another connector into the equation to possibly fail. If any components are going to fail it will be the box not the HDMI cable anyway, so you've saved nothing. Have you ever had an bad HDMI cable?
Oh, gee. Maybe I'd like to swap out the HDMI cable from the back of another device straight into this one. Or maybe I'd like to use an HDMI cable of a different length? Or maybe I'd like the adapters I purchase to follow the expected conventions set by practically every other such device on the market. HDMI cables aren't special. They're just a bunch of copper wires in a rubber tube with fancy connectors at the end. They can be broken. They can fray. They can have bent pins. Why be a jackass about it?
Well done and thorough video. Thanks for that! Been holding off forever for a Dreamcast AV cable and now's the time to pull the trigger, especially at that price.
"Obviously it’s better than composite lol and lots of new TVs don’t have vga so *what is the other option?* Or did you just want to make a comment and sound smart?" Check out the Akura from Behar Bros for one solution... or Citrus3000Psi's solutions. Did you not believe me when I said that there were better options? I was specifically talking about HDMI options, BTW (context of MJR's video series). By mentioning Behar Bros and the other HDMI options discussed at RetroRGB, I literally answered your question before you even asked, though you seem to think you were making a fool out of me with questions that I had easy answers for. Next time try listening instead, bro. As I understand it, Behar Bros is a proper VGA to HDMI adapter where Citrus is a digital-to-digital HDMI mod. Before anyone acts like they aren't comparable due to the relative ease of installation, consider that MJR used UltraHDMI for his N64 (part of the same video series where he talks about the best HDMI options for retro console). The DC cable in this video is equivalent to using a $20 HDMI adapter with your N64 which is literally the exact same thing that is built into most TVs (no better; still treats 240p as 480i, etc). It's literally more limited than one of those $20 adapters. Integrating a Dreamcast cable does little for the goal of adding HDMI to the Dreamcast since it's still inferior to the same $20 external adapter that can connect to many consoles/devices. RetroRGB recently interviewed Citrus3000Psi in TH-cam RetroRGB podcast episode 92. Another awesome option is RetroTink 2x, but that one isn't Dreamcast-specific. Heck, it's expensive, but why not try OSSC? That thing is amazing. Every solution I've mentioned is lightyears ahead of this piece of junk.
CAPCOM784 Close, but S-Video is not the highest quality you can use that will play every Dreamcast game. That honor goes to RGB. Though RGB isn’t common on sets in North America, it’s extremely common in much of the world and, thus, you can get $20 RGB to HDMI boxes that are almost identical to the $20 composite and S-Video to HDMI boxes. These boxes are as easy to get in North America as the S-Video/composite versions but they suck for older retro consoles because they treat 240p as 480i and are no better than what is likely already in your TV. The ONLY reason to use them is when your TV lacks the input because any TV with the same input is going to look the exact same or better. From what I can tell, this cable is literally the exact same thing except they replaced the inputs with a dedicated Dreamcast cable, which makes it inferior to a $20 box with a $5 RGB cable... interior AND more expensive. I want to be first in line for the HD Retrovision cables/adapter (currently have a full set) if I don’t end up doing the Citrus3000Psi digital-to-digital HDMI kit (even then I will still probably get one for testing). :)
Gabbiadini Yeah. Only the VGA box does that. The Pound cable does not seem to. :( Best case scenario, the Pound cable is one of those $20 RGB to HDMI boxes with a $5 RGB cable and another $5 mark-up despite LESS functionality (can’t connect anything else). :(
Sega needs to make a Dreamcast 2. The Dreamcast 2 needs to have free online play meaning that you don't need monthly or year pre-paid cards in order to play online for a month or a year, but you will still need to pay for your internet service. The Dreamcast 2 also needs to have HD and the Dreamcast needs to be backwards-compatible with Dreamcast 1 and Dreamcast 2 games, music CDs and the VMU/VMS memory cards. And the Dreamcast 2 needs to have a built-in flash drive instead of a built-in hard drive. And the VMU/VMS memory cards need to have built-in rechargeable batteries and tons of memory card space. Anyone agree?
Dustin Nunn Still working on it. ;) I've been designing a replacement Dreamcast motherboard which uses the original chipset, but with FPGA, HDMI, USB 2.0 GD Emu, "WiFi", Bluetooth (for joypads), extra RAM for Sega NAOMI support, and probably FPGA retro cores too. I had a few "stock" PCBs and components arrive already, which is purely to make sure that the schematic is correct, and that the new BGA RAM works OK. (check my Twitter feed for more info and updates.)
Sega will never re-enter the console market, unfortunately. They've found more success as a third-party developer for every platform than they did when they made consoles, and it would be financial suicide if they were to suddenly make their games exclusive to their console after nearly 20 years of making games for everything on the market. Although a "Dreamcast Classic" that outputs through HDMI, has wireless controllers, plays actual Dreamcast games through SD cards (since a disc drive would be prohibitively expensive), and has some sort of solution for the online games would be an instant buy from me if it weren't made by AtGames.
I remember that the reason we have a couple different versions of Hydro Thunder (and Ready 2 Rumble) is that the shipped versions had audio errors where, at least with Ready 2 Rumble a minute or so into the game you had a noticeable audio lag. Midway re-released fixed versions of the games with the "HOT! NEW!" image on then so you could tell which one you were getting :) I still have my copy of R2R too. And that Utopia disc...oh man, that brings back memories. Sega was not happy when that thing came out and attempted to have it banned (and later altered their lasers so that burns couldn't be read...think it affected all post-October 2000 DCs). But like anything dumped on the internet...you can't un-dump it :)
I understand why but seeing a review of the same product by at least 3 of my favorite TH-cam channels in 24 hours makes me a bit sad because its like the same content. Not mad because it makes sense. Just boring, lol.
They each have there own views of the product witch is a good thing and it lets the viewer make a choice if they wanna buy said product if they know all the in’s and out’s
I agree on that HDMI output mods for retro systems are a welcome option for those that dont have a CRT TV, but i would never change my old trusty Panasonic for nothing, playing each system with their best video output on a CRT TV is THE experience for me.
Hey MJR! I see you're using an Elgato as well, when I tried to use my pound HDMI cable with my Elgato.. it kept telling me it was an unsupported resolution (640/480p) Did you run it through anything else before putting it into the Elgato? I'm using the Elgato HD60.
there are some workarounds with the PS2 - 2 - HDMI converters out there but they are cheaply made and introduces video artifacts/noises to the final output, the guys over at My life in Gaming channel made a review of the adapter on their PS2 video and did not recommend. They did recommend using the cheap 1st party component cables which do work on newer TVs as the PS2 outputs 480i which most TVs do recognize.
oogrooq Honest question, what TV do you own without a component input? There are very few out there, but they’re all bottom of the barrel store-brand junk, like Insignia or ONN.
oogrooq Could just get a component to HDMI converter. That's what I use for my Gamecube and original Xbox. I don't use it for my PS2 because I play PS1 games on it and the 240p resolution of PS1 games don't convert well or at all, but for just playing PS2 games, component cables->HDMI converter ain't too bad
Oh my gosh i loved your videos ! Loved the passion between comparaison of video cables that's exactly the same things i think before a record :O Thanks bro, keep going !
That's because it's taking the VGA signal that not all Dreamcast games are compatible with and outputting it through HDMI. It's essentially a VGA to HDMI converter all in one, so games that aren't VGA compatible won't work at all unless you use the Code Breaker method.
Seems like this is basically a VGA cable with a cheap ADC on it to convert to HDMI. The separate converter you were using for the actual VGA box was almost definitely better quality, so gave better results. Sort of equivalent to listening to a boombox vs. a separate stereo component system. Still, for 30 bucks it's not a bad deal at all.
Believe it or not. I always used Scart cables on any console. And back in the day (99) I was the first one who used a VGA box. My friends couldn't believe what they saw. Not only the resolution gets higher (640x480) also it switches to 60hz. That's why some games won't work, cause they're fixed to 50hz. It looks a lot sharper and more fluid. Nice video 👍🏼
I still have an older HDTV with Component & VGA out. This Cable looks really nice but I will just stick with my VGA box for now. Also great review/work as always, keep up the good work!.
Wow great video. That cable is really great when you factor in what you get and what you pay. The improvement is amazing compared OG component, but that is to be expected.
Haseo Reviews because alot of CD-R dyes are harmful on the Dreamcast laser because I causes it to work harder than normal. It's why SD card readers have been designed to replace the Dreamcast GD-ROM because even normal use is causing them to fail as time goes on so the next best thing is using a professionally made pressed disc to help the GD-ROM last as long as possible. Edit: I should also mention that less people these days have a computer with an optical drive able to burn a CD-R, as many are sold, and built without one due to online video streaming and services like STEAM.
Great comparisons! Retro-bit makes a Dreamcast VGA cable for 14.95 on Amazon too that has awesome quality and a nice cost value. It doesn’t meet the goal of HDMI compatibility tho so yeah check your TV, guys. For the originally bought games that don’t support VGA cables, the ripped versions that don’t require a boot disc work great.
It would be interesting to see a slow-motion video of a game reacting to a button press for each of these connection types. I bet there is a bit of lag w/ the HDMI connector. Even though it’s not upscaling, it’s still having to convert an analog signal to digital. The amount of lag is probably inconsequential for racing games, but might actually impact gameplay for, say, 2D fighters or bullet hell shooters
Metal Jesus Rocks you are a lifesaver- your channel is pretty much how I started collecting games.... now that retrotink x5 is out , do you recommend that or this for the dreamcast? I'll get both either way for my SNES
Great video I’ve just ordered a Dreamcast and was wondering about connecting to my new HD tv, I think the HDMI cable is definitely the way to go for me. 🙌🏼
Dreamcast will live forever!
I still play my dreamcast I can't wait to get this cable and test it out on the games I have. I do have star wars pod racer and it be interesting to see how it looks with this cable.
Until parts aren’t made and the console doesn’t function
REGGGGGGGGIE!!!
Dreamcast is the best console ever made, please SEGA come back 😪
Radical Reggie what's up Reggie!
@":47 "i'm just swapping out the cables" hope you have fun by doing so!
Brilliant review. The difference is insane. Playing in my youth on a small cathode ray tv I thought that Deamcast graphics were okay. Little did I know the potential it had. The retrobit VGA brings out the real colours and lighting to the point it looks like a different game or as if it were Remastered! Amazing.
I have the same vga adapter for my Dreamcast and I just opt to play it on my computer monitor. Works perfectly and the fast refresh rate of monitors comes in handy!
The Retro-Bit VGA adapter was only showing 30 FPS in the video. Was that just simply an issue with capturing footage or did the Retro-Bit or VGA-to-HDMI converter chop out half the frames?
According to some vids on MJR uploads he doesn't have the newer Elgato HD 60 capture cards (unknown if he has bought 1 recently) which does not record footage on 60FPS.
The HDMI clips where definitely 60 fps unlike the other cables, weird
How can you tell it was 30 FPS? The framerate was obviously lower, but I wouldn't be able to tell the exact FPS by just looking at it.
Yeah, I believe that was the VGA-to-HDMI box...because I used the same Hauppauge HD PVR Rocket as with the HDMI cable.
To capture all the footage for this video, I used a Hauppauge HD PVR Rocket (cuz it can capture 640x480 footage), StarTech upscaler for VGA to HDMI and a old Elgato video capture for composite.
The Dreamcast still looks great!
J P Soul Calibur still looks *amazing*!!!
I gotta say, the HDMI solution looks fantastic for its cost; VGA might give you a slightly crispier image, but getting the VGA box and a VGA to HDMI adapter is twice to three times as expensive, depending what components you're buying. I'd say $30 for the quality this cable affords is definitely the best balance of cost and performance.
Studio Mudprints I am thinking this thing is just a VGA cable with a HDMI converter in it.
Zyfer Warrior hm, could be.
Depends on your setup. Alot of HD TVS have a VGA input on the back so you wouldn't need an adapter. I am wondering if this product is taking the VGA signal and converting it to HDMI or if it's taking the regular composite and using some processing to "clean" it up.
Zyfer Warrior given the big difference I don't think so. If it was just that they would have looked identical. It's either a calling and cleaning the regular composite signal or the Svideo signal sing the DC outputs all three you just need cables to use it.
Nicholas Cortez Not really. It is a different HDMI converter and they aren't all created equal. Some converters apply filters or smoothing that can make things look worse.
Holy cow that HDMI converter makes it look amazing. Thanks for showing us this!
The Pound HDMI cable looks perfectly serviceable. The RetroBit VGA adapter is very good, and does seem to have better contrast ratios/sharpness, but the colors are much duller/washed out (at least in your captures) when doing side-by-side comparisons, could be something fixable on a TV by TV basis (if your TV has a VGA port).
I have my Dreamcast with the majority of 2D fighting games ..that glorious Guilty Gear X is amazing
The absolute best solution right now (but expensive) is going from dreamcast to Toro Box (VGA mode ouputting RGBs 480p) to OSSC (2x mode) to tv. You'll get all colors (4:4:4) and a 960P resolution (super sharp with no lag and popping colors), it looks incredible.
Where can i get that? Thanks!
Buy an OSSC and any VGA dreamcast cable/box. Feed the VGA into the OSSC and line double to 960p. You can buy an OSSC here: www.videogameperfection.com/products/open-source-converter/
The best way to play is to use VGA on a VGA CRT or other 480p CRT. Line doubling to 960p isn't even close to the same thing as having native 960p. The sources is still only 480p at the end of the day. You're also playing on an LED/LCD.
Will that setup be able to play The Last Blade 2?
Great review! I recently got the newer version of this cable(I believe they released it 2 years ago). Running my Dreamcast on a 4k tv with the original cables was so blurry but this is a massive upgrade. Must have!
I get a kick out of people who think you guys copy each other’s videos (Hancock and Riggs for example) when you post reviews of the same product. Obviously they have no concept of how long it takes to record and edit footage for a video to post online. Glad to see the different takes from all of you guys on the same product, that’s why companies send all of you these products, because not all of the opinions will be the same, and not all people follow the same channels.
Agreed. I could have put out a quick impressions video, but it was important to me to try and properly capture the three different outputs and compare them side by side. That took almost two full days of capturing and editing.
Why Riggs' review saying it doesn't work with elgato but yours does??
So I don't know Metal Jesus or Riggs personally, but I do know that computers can be wonky. I have had El Gato issues where I had to reboot my computer and everything was fine. I also have a laptop that is eh and Roxio works on it, but not on my newer laptop. And vice versa is true when it comes to my El Gato. It could have been a simple oversight, or an odd compatibility issue. -Matt
I bought a VGA box for my Dreamcast, it even had two microphone jacks, Composite and S-video out, and a switch to change between VGA and composite for the few games that didn't support the VGA box. The VGA box experience was a life changing event for me. Games like Grandia 2, Sonic Adventure 2... I couldn't imagine playing those games on a regular old CRT TV. Being able to play games off a console at a 480p (progressive scan! Not interlaced!) was amazing, and the graphics were better then what most PCs could do at the time (3D cards weren't as common as they are today).
After years and years of cable improvements it seems like a sin to see Ivy from soul calibur through composite cables.
How about testing S video , used to have one for Dreamcast on my Sony triniton tv ?
I thought about doing S-Video...but then you have 4 formats and honestly, S-Video connections are dying in the US... so I don't think it would have been worth it to most people.
MetalJesusRocks still would have been nice to see where it stands in the family , maybe u can do a follow up .
Omg . The game “plok” for the SNES was in your intro . I thought nobody knew about this game . Awesome
In France the dreamcast was released with a RGB scart video cable not composite so if you(like me) plug your rgb scart in a hdmi converter you'll be able to have a great looking picture.
In Germany the Dreamcast was typically shipped with an RGB cable, too. However, when I use this on my HDTV i often get sync problems, causing the image to be shifted sideways or vertically.
Pause at 0:34.
You get Metal Jesus really having a good time, Kelsey
I must be looking at different video because the VGA box footage looks washed out and less sharp, the best looks the HDMI to me. Easily. Looking this on a 40 inch screen from a distance of about 50cm-70cm
news flash. Metal Jesus talks shit all the time.
Thought the same watching on my phone hdmi looks best
hes running the vga thru another converter so he can capture it. so the vga comparison is useless
The guy is oblivious.
It looks good until you play games with more complex lighting. Then you realize it's harder to make out details, and those "washed out" graphics suddenly make more sense.
Watching this on my phone and you can definitely still see all the difference between cables it’s amazing I definitely need these for my dreamcast
Don't it's just a shitty VGA to HDMI converter, and not all games are VGA compatible, unless you use a boot disc to bypass the check, and force the dreamcast to load in VGA mode, but that can put unneeded stress on the laser.
Nice review MJR! I bought the Akura cable from Behar Bros and I'd have to say that I'm really glad with it. It's more expensive, but not sure if better that the Pound HDMI. Would love to see a comparison.
Speed Devils. One hell of a underrated racing game..
Of such games he refers to that do not work aside from Gunbird 2, You have King of Fighters Evolution/KoF'99, KoF 2000, Plasma Sword 2: the Nightmare of Bilstein, The Last Blade 2, Bangai-O as additional examples. The major problem with these, is that you cannot get them to run in 480p with either a Utopia Boot Disc, or doing the mode switch trick on a VGA box. So bear that in mind, if you want to do so.
Brings back memories of using the official Dreamcast VGA box back in the day. Was mind blowing.
I may have to see if I can get one of those HDMI cables here in the UK. Funnily enough your HDMI footage doesn't look much different to running the DC through the official SCART cable so would be interesting to compare them myself.
Really want one of these for PS2.
WickedRibbon there are options, expensive but they exist
Hope Jester I use that. I used to use the ps2 component cable and the ps2hdmi gives the same quality output. But you should know, it needs power from the ps2's usb.
I like to use the component cables that you can buy for it. It definitely makes a big improvement over composite, and the games that support progressive scan look even better.
There are cheap PS2-HDMI adapters on Amazon. They work about as good as direct HDMI out will get from PS2, since it has no digital output.
You can go component
I have Composite Box to HDMI bought for $25, it works 90% of the time and upscales the signal. Works great with Dreamcast, Xbox, PS2, etc. At the time Sega released the DC, the console was ahead of its time.
When I get a Dreamcast, I'll wait until HDRetrovison releases their Dreamcast component cables.
Love how you can squeeze out the bits from these little gray boxes
MAAAAN this was convenient I decided to get a Dreamcast this month a few days ago and I've been looking for Dreamcast HDMI converters
Metal Jesus strikes again
480p out of DC is so clean via VGA, which I'm glad you mentioned. HDMI does come with some added convenience, but I'll be sticking with my Hanzo VGA box (highly recommended). It allows you to switch to RGB for games that don't support VGA - and you can easily switch back once the game has booted. The quality is also top-notch.
I love so much my Dreamcast! Have to get one of these! Thanks, MJ! Have a great weekend!
This is just a completely awesome video, so carefully thought through, researched, and demonstrated! You rock MJ. I recently bought a HDMI Dreamcast cable on the recommendation of others, but watching this motivated me to dig out my VGA box, and SO glad I did. You are absolutely right, the HDMI is just for convenience, it's NOT on par with the VGA box output. SO glad I picked up a late model TV a few years back that still had VGA input on it! Now if ONLY Plasma Sword wasn't incompatible :( It's a dumb, weird fighter, but I love it for some reason (and loved Star Gladiator on PSX). Guess I'll have to hook up the composite cables to play it a couple of times a year. Thanks again for this video, keep up the great work!
Friggin love stuff like this 🤘
Thanks MJR, I just bought mine! This is perfect because I recently posted a review of the GCHD on my channel and was saying that I WISH THEY MADE SOMETHING SIMILAR FOR DREAMCAST! And here it is. Thanks for the review!
Frick yeah, I'd like one of these bad boys to play some Crazy Taxi.
I've got an RGB cable for my Dreamcast and it's connected to a high end B&O CRT. Definitely my preferred way to play the system: 2D, sprite based games look timeless and amazing on it (not jaggy and pixellated like on a HD screen), no input lag and the ability to use light guns.
Darn I was pumped til I saw the bummer about a game here and there not working. I think I will keep my DC on my old tube TV with the rest of my nostalgia trips. This was a great, thorough review though thanks.
I used to play my Dreamcast and other game consoles on an old as sin 80s 21 inch tv with the wood grain and had to daisy chain RF connectors. To think that now we have such quality cables that can show details that I never could have seen is amazing.
If a game isn't VGA Compatible. you need to unplug the cab;e from the DC, boot the game, then plug the cable in after a few seconds. You're just bypassing a simple check. I'm surprised your Soul Caliber works, because it didn't work with VGA either.
Yeah, that trick definitely works with Hydro Thunder.
Really? Even with Bust a Move 4? I switched to RCA to play that one. I was also told you needed boot discs to trick the game into using that mode.
100% agree, I have the HDMI solution and it was about 50% darker image and it was no where near as sharp. I have a vga all in one cable and the image is bright, sharp and perfect but then it plays havoc with my GDEMU where the hdmi plays all games fine. I have a VGA box but it stopped working a few years ago so will replace or fix it to see if that is the ultimate solution
Best game collector in TH-cam. Love your videos.
you have the best intro for a gaming channel on youtube. hands down.
See... neat concept but seemingly crappy company. Along w/ some misleading advertising, my problem is that the Xbox cable seemingly sold out immediately and has yet to come back in stock and now they're selling this. Short burst selling is always a huge disappointment.
EposVox, agreed. There needs to be a bit more of an honest marketing push behind these that admits their flaws and limitations. Same deal with the small-batch runs. I get that making a million of them for the first run, isn’t the best idea at the start. But, they should be kept stocked fairly well given the large retro market. It only takes one retro accessory company like Hyperkin, RetroBit or Tomee making a mass produced competitor to wipe-out a smaller one that doesn’t keep things in stock.
The Xbox cable came back in stock last week... so they continue to make them as fast as they can.
Brought one but didn't work on my 4k tv
showing as unavailable via the link on the page at www.poundtechnology.com ? am I looking in the wrong place?
N64 Freak makes a superior cable to the pound cable. It includes 5.1 digital surround sound audio output through either HDMI or through TOSLink cable.
he's on www.ogxbox.com and through the Facebook OG xbox modding group associated with that site. mine is on its way currently and I hope to do a review of it at some point in time.
I'm glad you said something about watching the quality on phones.
Composite isn't the worst way to view the Dreamcast. They did make an RF box for it. 😁
I can't even begin to imagine how bad that looked.
FYI the Dreamcast natively supported up to 640x480, but the reason some games were disabled when the vga connector was there was simple and your experience displayed it excellently: the GPU and CPU can't keep up with those games at that resolution. Thanks for the review, and I'll stick to my VGA adaptors!
Great footage and very informative as always!
I really like the pund image, looks great, not super clear and not blurry, just awesome looking, however that it cant play certain games is a no no for me, especially Gunbird 2, if they can get around it and make it work for every game i would buy their hdmi cable.
The vga box looked a little sharper but the frame rate looked a little janky, and contrast is a bit too bright looks washed out
thank you MJR i immediately went to amazon and bought one, been looking for a solution to this problem and your always there to save the day!
There is other solutions for HDMI cables for the dreamcast like the akurabox, which i think is better (VGA or RGB converted to HDMI, so every game will work with it)
Every game isn't RGB compatible.
It has a switch that allows you to play non-VGA compatible games as well.
Right, by switching to RGB mode, but there are games that are not compatible with VGA or RGB.
My friend recently picked up the Akura Dreamcast VGA to HDMI converter box. It looks great, but we found that some games don't support VGA video, so it's important to know even if you have a boot disc, some games can be tricked, while others might have the video distorted.
Wow great video! I was actually planning to buy a Dreamcast
Gabriel Moncayo do it do it do it
Pretty kewl seeing another old school console blinged out with HDMI
Shenmue 1 & 2 for PS4! I just can't wait! 😍😍
Gross
Crylhound when are these coming out
I'm not 100% sure but Sega announced a remastered version 6 weeks ago. Should be released this year.
Crylhound wiil be buying those on Xbox but I'll definitely pick up shenmue 3 for my ps4 for sure
Your goddamn right
The Akura box is another (albeit more expensive) option for running the Dreamcast 480p signal through HDMI. It has the added benefit though of allowing you to switch between RGB and VGA mode so can also play those VGA incompatible games too, plus it has a switch for toggling scan lines on and off too!
S-video on my CRT. I'm done upgrading my classic systems.
CAPCOM784
S-Video for the PS1 as well. I try to stick by my rule of Standard definition systems stay on my CRT TV's. I may be a purist, but I think it does look better than any LCD alternative.
You're not quite there my friend. Standard definition CRT only does 240p/480i. You are wasting the Dreamcast's native 480p output. Use a VGA CRT with VGA Dreamcast box, it's the best you'll see a Dreamcast look
This is random but man I love you guys. My faves are Paul,Kinzie,Anna, and of course metal Jesus. Also Paul's wife is amazing. I live in Corpus Christi where nothing happens. I suffer from depression so when shit gets bad for me I marathon metal Jesus videos. It really helps. I love the camaraderie. My favorite videos are the beach house one and also when you guys just get together and hang out. I don't have many close friends so when I watch these videos it makes me feel like I'm a part of something. Maybe one day I can thank you guys in person. Anyways thanks a lot for helping me through my hard times. I will forever be a fan.
So pretty much it's a vga to hdmi adapter but built together. Nice to be in one but I'd rather buy the adapter and use it with multiple things
thanks to you, now I play everything on hdmi, I only need the dreamcast and gamecube cable
You can get a CRT and an official s-video cable for less than that costs.
Retro Nemesis true, but the CRT weighs 4000 times more.
Anthony Volpe
Grow some muscles, and balls. I'm 5ft 4in tall, and 141lbs, and even I can lift my early 00's 27in Panasonic CRT by myself, and yes that was carrying it up the stairs into my house, and into my game room without help. If that's too much for ya a 13in CRT can be had for dirt cheap, and they are light enough even a kid can lift one, and I did so many times as I kid, and even the 19in JVC with stereo speakers on the sides of it I had in my room back in high school in the 90's, and I barely weighted 116LBS then, and up till my late 20's I could not gain past 118LBS even working out with weights at the gym,. so yeah stop talking BS!!
just use vga, dont waste your dreamcast.
@@CommodoreFan64 WOW, you the mang, mang!!
Luckily with the upcoming release of Shenmue I and II HD on current gen platform most of the Dreamcast heavy hitters have ports of HD versions *cough* except for Skies of Arcadia *cough* either on collection releases or other means, so there are many options to play Dreamcast games in HD and this isnt super necessary for casuals. But oh the Dreamcast library glory for the rest of us, that HDMI cable really brought a new life to some of those old games, stunning results!
I'm not a fan of these cables with the connector built-in. They should be as compact as possible and terminate in a jack so you can use your own HDMI cable of preferred length.
That's seriously the dumbest thing I've heard in a while. Makes zero sense.
hollywood21639 How so? I'd rather it be an adapter than a cable as well. Another case I'd bring up is that, what if your cable goes? I'd rather just unplug the HDMI and replace the ~$6 cable versus the whole $30 adapter.
JoelRG all you've done is add another connector into the equation to possibly fail. If any components are going to fail it will be the box not the HDMI cable anyway, so you've saved nothing. Have you ever had an bad HDMI cable?
Oh, gee. Maybe I'd like to swap out the HDMI cable from the back of another device straight into this one.
Or maybe I'd like to use an HDMI cable of a different length?
Or maybe I'd like the adapters I purchase to follow the expected conventions set by practically every other such device on the market.
HDMI cables aren't special. They're just a bunch of copper wires in a rubber tube with fancy connectors at the end. They can be broken. They can fray. They can have bent pins.
Why be a jackass about it?
Uejji you're being very demanding about the specs to a cable for a 20 year old console that can barely display 480p.
Well done and thorough video. Thanks for that! Been holding off forever for a Dreamcast AV cable and now's the time to pull the trigger, especially at that price.
Pretty sure this thing isn’t any different than your TV’s built-in digital conversion. There are much better options for Dreamcast!
Like what?
MidnightWarlock A lot. Check out RetroRGB and Behar Bros.
"Obviously it’s better than composite lol and lots of new TVs don’t have vga so *what is the other option?* Or did you just want to make a comment and sound smart?"
Check out the Akura from Behar Bros for one solution... or Citrus3000Psi's solutions. Did you not believe me when I said that there were better options? I was specifically talking about HDMI options, BTW (context of MJR's video series). By mentioning Behar Bros and the other HDMI options discussed at RetroRGB, I literally answered your question before you even asked, though you seem to think you were making a fool out of me with questions that I had easy answers for. Next time try listening instead, bro.
As I understand it, Behar Bros is a proper VGA to HDMI adapter where Citrus is a digital-to-digital HDMI mod. Before anyone acts like they aren't comparable due to the relative ease of installation, consider that MJR used UltraHDMI for his N64 (part of the same video series where he talks about the best HDMI options for retro console). The DC cable in this video is equivalent to using a $20 HDMI adapter with your N64 which is literally the exact same thing that is built into most TVs (no better; still treats 240p as 480i, etc). It's literally more limited than one of those $20 adapters. Integrating a Dreamcast cable does little for the goal of adding HDMI to the Dreamcast since it's still inferior to the same $20 external adapter that can connect to many consoles/devices.
RetroRGB recently interviewed Citrus3000Psi in TH-cam RetroRGB podcast episode 92. Another awesome option is RetroTink 2x, but that one isn't Dreamcast-specific. Heck, it's expensive, but why not try OSSC? That thing is amazing. Every solution I've mentioned is lightyears ahead of this piece of junk.
CAPCOM784 Close, but S-Video is not the highest quality you can use that will play every Dreamcast game. That honor goes to RGB. Though RGB isn’t common on sets in North America, it’s extremely common in much of the world and, thus, you can get $20 RGB to HDMI boxes that are almost identical to the $20 composite and S-Video to HDMI boxes. These boxes are as easy to get in North America as the S-Video/composite versions but they suck for older retro consoles because they treat 240p as 480i and are no better than what is likely already in your TV. The ONLY reason to use them is when your TV lacks the input because any TV with the same input is going to look the exact same or better. From what I can tell, this cable is literally the exact same thing except they replaced the inputs with a dedicated Dreamcast cable, which makes it inferior to a $20 box with a $5 RGB cable... interior AND more expensive. I want to be first in line for the HD Retrovision cables/adapter (currently have a full set) if I don’t end up doing the Citrus3000Psi digital-to-digital HDMI kit (even then I will still probably get one for testing). :)
Gabbiadini Yeah. Only the VGA box does that. The Pound cable does not seem to. :( Best case scenario, the Pound cable is one of those $20 RGB to HDMI boxes with a $5 RGB cable and another $5 mark-up despite LESS functionality (can’t connect anything else). :(
i noticed that the frams are diffrent with the VGA BOX it's more like 30 FPS , but with the HDMI cable is way better 60 FPS .
That's due to the capture card he used only supporting up to 30fps. The type of cable you use won't affect the framerate.
Sega needs to make a Dreamcast 2. The Dreamcast 2 needs to have free online play meaning that you don't need monthly or year pre-paid cards in order to play online for a month or a year, but you will still need to pay for your internet service. The Dreamcast 2 also needs to have HD and the Dreamcast needs to be backwards-compatible with Dreamcast 1 and Dreamcast 2 games, music CDs and the VMU/VMS memory cards. And the Dreamcast 2 needs to have a built-in flash drive instead of a built-in hard drive. And the VMU/VMS memory cards need to have built-in rechargeable batteries and tons of memory card space. Anyone agree?
Dustin Nunn
Still working on it. ;)
I've been designing a replacement Dreamcast motherboard which uses the original chipset, but with FPGA, HDMI, USB 2.0 GD Emu, "WiFi", Bluetooth (for joypads), extra RAM for Sega NAOMI support, and probably FPGA retro cores too.
I had a few "stock" PCBs and components arrive already, which is purely to make sure that the schematic is correct, and that the new BGA RAM works OK.
(check my Twitter feed for more info and updates.)
Sega will never re-enter the console market, unfortunately. They've found more success as a third-party developer for every platform than they did when they made consoles, and it would be financial suicide if they were to suddenly make their games exclusive to their console after nearly 20 years of making games for everything on the market. Although a "Dreamcast Classic" that outputs through HDMI, has wireless controllers, plays actual Dreamcast games through SD cards (since a disc drive would be prohibitively expensive), and has some sort of solution for the online games would be an instant buy from me if it weren't made by AtGames.
No. You have some dumb ideas in there. I can't believe you suggested a console in 2018 that uses mother fucking memory cards. Get out.
DUDE! youve got such a great and interesting channel....all the best man. they should release a SNES HDMI.....
WHat? HDMI still looks better than VGA.
oogrooq The HDMI picture had the black levels crushed terribly. That’s not better, and ruins the quality of what the DC actually displays.
I don't know what you are talking about. Junkie. The blacks are fine for these old games.
Look at Ryo's hair in the comparison for Shenmue. The HDMI blacks out a lot of the detail.
not to mention hes using that crappy vga to hdmi adapter
I remember that the reason we have a couple different versions of Hydro Thunder (and Ready 2 Rumble) is that the shipped versions had audio errors where, at least with Ready 2 Rumble a minute or so into the game you had a noticeable audio lag. Midway re-released fixed versions of the games with the "HOT! NEW!" image on then so you could tell which one you were getting :) I still have my copy of R2R too.
And that Utopia disc...oh man, that brings back memories. Sega was not happy when that thing came out and attempted to have it banned (and later altered their lasers so that burns couldn't be read...think it affected all post-October 2000 DCs). But like anything dumped on the internet...you can't un-dump it :)
I understand why but seeing a review of the same product by at least 3 of my favorite TH-cam channels in 24 hours makes me a bit sad because its like the same content. Not mad because it makes sense. Just boring, lol.
I don't get how they aren't angry at each other for copying.
They each have there own views of the product witch is a good thing and it lets the viewer make a choice if they wanna buy said product if they know all the in’s and out’s
I agree on that HDMI output mods for retro systems are a welcome option for those that dont have a CRT TV, but i would never change my old trusty Panasonic for nothing, playing each system with their best video output on a CRT TV is THE experience for me.
PLOK!
Thanks for all the work you put into these and posting them! Never stop.
Wish it only cost a pound.
Hey MJR!
I see you're using an Elgato as well, when I tried to use my pound HDMI cable with my Elgato.. it kept telling me it was an unsupported resolution (640/480p)
Did you run it through anything else before putting it into the Elgato?
I'm using the Elgato HD60.
wait isn't that the Konami logo?
Konami is dead
#FuckKonami
And there i was, thinking i was all fancy with my S-video cable. Those look amazing!
Hdmi cable for ps2 when? Sigh
there are some workarounds with the PS2 - 2 - HDMI converters out there but they are cheaply made and introduces video artifacts/noises to the final output, the guys over at My life in Gaming channel made a review of the adapter on their PS2 video and did not recommend. They did recommend using the cheap 1st party component cables which do work on newer TVs as the PS2 outputs 480i which most TVs do recognize.
not needed. get a component and stop crying
oogrooq Honest question, what TV do you own without a component input? There are very few out there, but they’re all bottom of the barrel store-brand junk, like Insignia or ONN.
oogrooq Could just get a component to HDMI converter. That's what I use for my Gamecube and original Xbox. I don't use it for my PS2 because I play PS1 games on it and the 240p resolution of PS1 games don't convert well or at all, but for just playing PS2 games, component cables->HDMI converter ain't too bad
Just buy a ps3
Oh my gosh i loved your videos !
Loved the passion between comparaison of video cables that's exactly the same things i think before a record :O
Thanks bro, keep going !
this cable sucks, alot of games don't work
That's because it's taking the VGA signal that not all Dreamcast games are compatible with and outputting it through HDMI. It's essentially a VGA to HDMI converter all in one, so games that aren't VGA compatible won't work at all unless you use the Code Breaker method.
One of my fave systems of all time. I really need to mmod one of mine to make all this more simple
It's crap, John Hancock told us yesterday.
John didn't really understand it's his older HDTV that is throwing the game off center like that. Really depends on what tv you have.
MetalJesusRocks You did take you video a few steps further with the vga comparison and figuring out your tv. Thanks
Im so glad you mentioned the lag, that's what im most curious about, I want to play my dc and cant really so thanks for the review.
Great video! I was searching for an VGA cable, but I need a VGA to HDMI converter... Finally I prefer to buy this cable.
Wow, what a difference in picture ! I will definitely pick up a set of these cables. Thanks !
Seems like this is basically a VGA cable with a cheap ADC on it to convert to HDMI. The separate converter you were using for the actual VGA box was almost definitely better quality, so gave better results. Sort of equivalent to listening to a boombox vs. a separate stereo component system. Still, for 30 bucks it's not a bad deal at all.
Believe it or not.
I always used Scart cables on any console.
And back in the day (99) I was the first one who used a VGA box.
My friends couldn't believe what they saw.
Not only the resolution gets higher (640x480) also it switches to 60hz. That's why some games won't work, cause they're fixed to 50hz.
It looks a lot sharper and more fluid.
Nice video 👍🏼
I still have an older HDTV with Component & VGA out. This Cable looks really nice but I will just stick with my VGA box for now. Also great review/work as always, keep up the good work!.
Awesome review.... a fan of your channel from Puerto Rico.
Wow great video. That cable is really great when you factor in what you get and what you pay. The improvement is amazing compared OG component, but that is to be expected.
I'm absolutely getting this, oh my gosh. Thank you for this!
Thank you for telling everyone its not the cable that causes the TV issues and that all games don't work with VGA... NOT THE CABLES FAULT!
they should have included a pressed disc that bypases the check mode of the DC, and forces VGA mode, and that would have helped a lot.
Why would they do that when you can just get a blank CD-R at Dollar Tree and burn Code Breaker onto it?
Haseo Reviews because alot of CD-R dyes are harmful on the Dreamcast laser because I causes it to work harder than normal. It's why SD card readers have been designed to replace the Dreamcast GD-ROM because even normal use is causing them to fail as time goes on so the next best thing is using a professionally made pressed disc to help the GD-ROM last as long as possible.
Edit: I should also mention that less people these days have a computer with an optical drive able to burn a CD-R, as many are sold, and built without one due to online video streaming and services like STEAM.
Great comparisons! Retro-bit makes a Dreamcast VGA cable for 14.95 on Amazon too that has awesome quality and a nice cost value. It doesn’t meet the goal of HDMI compatibility tho so yeah check your TV, guys. For the originally bought games that don’t support VGA cables, the ripped versions that don’t require a boot disc work great.
Wow the graphics still hold up well today especially with the Hdmi cable!
It would be interesting to see a slow-motion video of a game reacting to a button press for each of these connection types. I bet there is a bit of lag w/ the HDMI connector. Even though it’s not upscaling, it’s still having to convert an analog signal to digital. The amount of lag is probably inconsequential for racing games, but might actually impact gameplay for, say, 2D fighters or bullet hell shooters
Thanks for the helpful review and comparisons. I'm sold! Ordering now.
Metal Jesus Rocks you are a lifesaver- your channel is pretty much how I started collecting games.... now that retrotink x5 is out , do you recommend that or this for the dreamcast? I'll get both either way for my SNES
Great video I’ve just ordered a Dreamcast and was wondering about connecting to my new HD tv, I think the HDMI cable is definitely the way to go for me. 🙌🏼
Thank you metal Jesus !! I did not know such a cable exist I just bought mine right now! Thanks again bro ! Your subscriber From San Jose California!