Topic: Game Cube to DVi connector, ¿it's possible?

[insert_coin]

I want to play in a tft monitor and I have an idea.

Take that:

*Formac Gallery monitor with DVi connection.
*GC ntsc with vga cable.
*DVi to Vga conversion Box.


Connect the GC vga cable to the DVi Vga conversion box for connect to the tft Formac Gallery monitor.

It's possible?





 

[Joeincorea]

I'm not sure myself .. but am interested in your results when and if you try it since I just ordered a Samsung 19" LCD monitor.
I tried playing my GCN and PS2 on my Samsung SyncMaster 170T (older version) TFT monitor.
I ran it through my PC video card which is a Asus 9560 Videosuite .. has s-video/composite in and out and supports dual monitors DVI.
However I didn't like the quality of the picture I was getting.  Seemed fuzzy around the edges of certain objects in every game.
Shrug .. maybe it's because my Syncmaster 170T is first generation or the fact that I had to run it through the TV tuner to get it to display.

[Londonner]

Hi, Either of you have an update on this?

I'm looking to get a Samsung 191 or 192 and hooking up a USA NTSC Gamecube with a VGA cable. Anyone have results with this?

Also, I hadn't thought of it until I read this thread - but I could get a DVI adaptor. Anyone got experience of the results also?

Cheers

[TheYoungerPlumber]

The modified D-sub cable for VGA use works very well, though only for progressive scan games.  I also fell victim to a poor soldering job on the VGA connector and had to ask my roommate for a quick repair.  (Never trust a computer scientist such as myself with a soldering iron!)

I'll actually be looking into another professional GameCube VGA solution soon and will be posting my impressions, so keep an eye out!  As for DVI input, I really can't help you out.  I'd have bought a TFT screen with a VGA port for just such versatility, myself.  DVI isn't the universal standard yet, after all.  Playing your GC on a LCD monitor may not look as good as you hope, either: LCD screens often stretch non-native resolutions  

[Londonner]

Michael, I'm glad you're looking into this also. I am amazed that there is such a lack of information about this area: how to get the best possible display out of your Gamecube using a TFT LCD. In your search, you may wan to look at what these guys offer, under the upscaler and Format conversion sections (you've probably come across them before, but just in case):
http://www.scancom.ltd.uk

Also, you might want to look at this thread I started, and subsequent responses:
http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/viewtopic.php?t=15863

I am absolutely determined to get my Gamecube to run via TFT, and get a 'great' picture. Though, given native resolutions on TFTs, this may be an impossible mission - and those upscan boxes may offer inferiority quality to the true VGA from the moded cable offered by the likes of Goldenshop.com etc. In the end, I may opt for a CRT monitor (the SIZE dammit ... the SIZE!) or try to see if I can test my GC on a TFT which has an S-Video input.

Thanks  

[Grey Ninja]

Quote
Originally posted by: TheYoungerPlumber
(Never trust a computer scientist such as myself with a soldering iron!)

Hehe... my Mom's CPU fan had a broken power cable, where the cable had come off at the fan.  I got out my soldering iron, and I did indeed fix it... but it wouldn't have been possible to do any worse of a job and still have it work.    Us Computer Science people really shouldn't be trusted with such tasks, in that I agree 100%

[JSasky]

Just read the review of D-sub Mod cable, and in it the review spoke of mild ghosting.  TYP thought that maybe the Nintendo cable was not shielded enough.

"The most likely cause is that the D-Terminal cable’s insulation was not designed to protect a VGA signal, though I cannot be certain."

Well that got me thinking, and since I had a D-sub cable hanging around, I decided to attach a good quality VGA cable directly to the D-sub using the mod described out there in the web.

It was a little more difficult to pull off and the end result a little less than cosmetically appealing, the VGA cable I used was a lot thicker than the D-sub therefore the D-sub shroud did not fit properly.  But, when I powered it up with Zelda I could discern no ghosting, hurrah!

As for why VGA cable splice method worked better I can only throw out a couple of guesses:

1. The RGB cables were a lot thicker than the D-sub, so signal propogation could be better, or...

2. With the VGA cable there are 2 other cables, V-sync and H-sync ground that are not included with the basic D-sub cable.  So by attaching those 2 cables to ground that could isolate the V&H signals better, removing ghosting.

3. Maybe a combination of the 2 made the difference.

Anyways, an awesome mod.  And I thank whoever had the brains to come up with it.  This cable has brought new life to all of my progressive scan games.  Man I still can't get over how good it looks!

[TheYoungerPlumber]

I just reopened the VGA connector in the cable I reviewed.  If V-sync and H-sync ground is pin 10, as online documentation leads me to believe, it does have grounding for Sync.  (Thin metal wires connect a few pins together to ground to one bigger wire.)   I guess that means it IS the insulation.  It makes sense: it's a D-Terminal cable, not a VGA cable, after all.

[TheYoungerPlumber]

Londonner: good luck with the TFT monitor search.  I wouldn't try to find a monitor that has a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio with the GameCube's signal.  Instead, try looking for a monitor with a good set of display options, such as a native through option (just using 640x480 or 640x768 pixels of the tft screen) or some integer multiple (1280x960 pixels of the tft screen).  That sort of information is hard to hunt down, unfortunately :-/

[JSasky]

Quote
Originally posted by: TheYoungerPlumber
I just reopened the VGA connector in the cable I reviewed.  If V-sync and H-sync ground is pin 10, as online documentation leads me to believe, it does have grounding for Sync.  (Thin metal wires connect a few pins together to ground to one bigger wire.)   I guess that means it IS the insulation.  It makes sense: it's a D-Terminal cable, not a VGA cable, after all.

Still, it is interesting that ghosting appears, you would think that the cable is still sending basically the same signal down the wires that it would be sending anyways to a HD TV.  

It could be that the 2 extra wires that the Modded cable has to add is causing some sort of interference or being interfered with?

I don't know, this is purely speculation on my part.

All I know is that using a VGA cable for the mod has resulted in no ghosting what so ever on my screen, and I really took a good hard look.