Messages

1

Nintendo Gaming / Can i play GC on my computer?

« on: April 04, 2003, 09:50:20 PM »

No, Zelda will be released at the end of this month in Europe....

Quote
I'll try to take pictures of my monitor tonight for Zelda for you guys to compare but it's going to look bad because I'm using a webcam. VGA boxes are mere scan doublers, but I heard the image quality on a TV card is worse.

I must admit the picture quality on a TV card isn't optimal. I once had the redant vga box for ps2 and the image quality was just horrible (very poor compared to the dscaler output). I don't know if you 're useing the NTSC version of the GC with the vga box. It might be that in this case the box uses the high quality s-video output, your NTSC system provides, resulting in a crisper image. But I wouldn't recommend using the vga box with a pal system 'cause of the missing s-video and the 50Hz modus.    
For Europeans using the original Nintendo RGB cable is the only way to get a better image out of the cube to a 'reasonable' price.

Someone suggested buying a cheap 15'' TV. I mean for me its like you are using build in laptop speakers.... BTW in the region I live a TV cost more than the ordinary monitor. I already got a great multimedia setup including Vision Master pro 452 19'' monitor. Why not use this? Sometimes I have the feeling the companies are throwing stones at us while we are trying to 'share' our existing multimedia system (one examble no progressive output and removal of s-video)... Just buying everything twice (extra screen, extra soundsystem) for just a console feels like a rip off.  

2

Nintendo Gaming / Can i play GC on my computer?

« on: April 04, 2003, 02:53:11 PM »

Quote
can you get progressive scan/HDTVs in europe?

No the pal cube doesn't output a signal which makes use of progressive scan (maybe you get a vga like experience using the component cable which is very expensive and is available at the Nintendo store only). Nor it outputs s-video signal.  Strangly Nintendo scraped the s-video support, only god knows why... The progressive scan selection was replaced by the 50Hz/60Hz selection in Europe.  

3

Nintendo Gaming / Can i play GC on my computer?

« on: April 04, 2003, 02:42:26 PM »

Have read through all the post and must admit the dscaler application is the best option for pal gamecube owners to connect the console to the computer.
I just want to warn you, stay away from these so called 'VGA boxes'. In most cases they are just cheap scan doublers and only provide inferior signal/picture quality.
TVs use a technique called Interlacing, which means that a screenrefresh only refreshes every second line on your TV. So in the first pass, the odd lines are refreshed, in the second pass, the even lines. It takes two passes to refresh all the lines. The reasons for doing things this way are complicated and again, nothing to worry about.
You may have heard the term "progressive scan". This means that all of your screenlines are refreshed in one pass and not only half of them (Thats the way computer monitors work). The scan doublers read the original video signals (mostly composite) into a solid state memory at the original frequency and, almost simultaneously, write this signal out again at twice the original rate. The output signal is processed to be made compatible with standard, low-cost and easily available monitors used with current PCs.

Ah yeah scrap the default software which comes with your TV card. Most times it doesn't even make use of all the features of your hardware. So it isn't possible to switch into pal60 Modus (which provides clearer images 'cause of the additional ~160 lines) using the Win TV software.

Here are some screenshots showing the resulting image after being processed by dscaler (note: I made the screenies before I got the original nintendo rgb cable, and I captured the pic while running the game in pal 50Hz modus. Ignore the blurry background, 'cause Star fox adventure uses some sort of depth blure to focus on the characters)


http://520050016814-0001.bei.t-online.de/tv1.jpg
http://520050016814-0001.bei.t-online.de/tv2.jpg