Shenmue Dojo

In need of some VGA help if anyone can provide me with some assistance?

I recently purchased a VGA box off Amazon and a good quality VGA cable. I spent a good couple of hours trying to get my Dreamcast up and running on two 1080p LG TVs, but no matter what I tried I couldn't get a signal.

The cable works - I tried it with my laptop. And I'm 90% sure the VGA box will work as 'no signal' turned into 'unrecognisable signal' when switching from TV to PC mode. So I figured it must be the TVs.

I did a little bit of research, and I read that modern LG TVs cannot recognise 640 x 480 hence the 'no signal'. Can anyone vouch for this?

As a potential work around, I ordered a VGA to HDMI adapter but again, I am unable to get any sort of picture. Again, the cable is fine - I tried it with my laptop.

Any ideas, guys? I've never seen Shenmue in anything better than composite.

iyapol

What VGA Box do you have? Does it have RCA jacks for composit/s-video?
If it's switched to that output VGA might not work properly.

If this VGA to HDMI adapter you bought is only an adapter, and not an upscaler, then unfortunately it's not going to fix your 480p problem. It's simply outputting 480p over HDMI instead of VGA.

This really doesn't help at all, but how old "modern LG TV" are you talking? I have an LG Smart TV, it's less than 3 years old, and it works great with the Dreamcast over VGA. Nothing special, just a VGA cable directly from the Dreamcast.

If the native VGA support doesn't work for you, then you'll probably need an actual VGA->HDMI converter box or a VGA upscaler box. An upscaler might be cheaper, not sure. There's also someone working on an internal HDMI mod for Dreamcast, but I'm fairly sure it hasn't been released yet.

BlueMue wrote: What VGA Box do you have? Does it have RCA jacks for composit/s-video?
If it's switched to that output VGA might not work properly.

VGA Adaptor - Dreamcast - PAL https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001AMQ5EM/ ... xxbN27EVMY

It's one of the only ones in stock with a five star rating. The Retrobit one seems to be sold out.

I've tried both outputs with no luck. The TVs recognise that something is plugged into the VGA input but all I get is 'no signal'.

Mr357 wrote: If this VGA to HDMI adapter you bought is only an adapter, and not an upscaler, then unfortunately it's not going to fix your 480p problem. It's simply outputting 480p over HDMI instead of VGA.

Makes sense. Maybe that's my next move then? An upscaler? Thanks.

Sappharad wrote: This really doesn't help at all, but how old "modern LG TV" are you talking? I have an LG Smart TV, it's less than 3 years old, and it works great with the Dreamcast over VGA. Nothing special, just a VGA cable directly from the Dreamcast.

If the native VGA support doesn't work for you, then you'll probably need an actual VGA->HDMI converter box or a VGA upscaler box. An upscaler might be cheaper, not sure. There's also someone working on an internal HDMI mod for Dreamcast, but I'm fairly sure it hasn't been released yet.

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to look into an upscaler.

By modern, one is 5 years old and the other one must be 4. So hardly state of the art, but thought they would still do the trick.

I'll post some pics of my setup when I get a spare minute.

Appreciate all of the support.

Mr357 wrote: If this VGA to HDMI adapter you bought is only an adapter, and not an upscaler, then unfortunately it's not going to fix your 480p problem. It's simply outputting 480p over HDMI instead of VGA.

Xgeek® 1080P HDMI Male to VGA Female Video Converter Adapter Cable For PC Laptop DVD HDTV PS3 XBOX 360 and other HDMI Input Devices https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OWN5D7Q/ ... xxbA52YBED

This is the adapter I bought. It needs a power source but I presume it's only an adapter and not an upscaler.

Can anyone recommend the Ex-Pro upscaler? Looking at £30 in the UK.

iyapol wrote: VGA Adaptor - Dreamcast - PAL https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001AMQ5EM/ ... xxbN27EVMY

Have you set the switch to PC? Were you able to test the box on a computer monitor, just to verify if it's working?

BlueMue wrote:

iyapol wrote: VGA Adaptor - Dreamcast - PAL https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001AMQ5EM/ ... xxbN27EVMY

Have you set the switch to PC? Were you able to test the box on a computer monitor, just to verify if it's working?

Yep. Have tried the switch on both settings. Will try the VGA box with a monitor to rule out a faulty box.

I've also ordered an upscaler - should arrive in the next few days.

Thanks for all of the help and advice, guys.

iyapol wrote: In need of some VGA help if anyone can provide me with some assistance?

I recently purchased a VGA box off Amazon and a good quality VGA cable. I spent a good couple of hours trying to get my Dreamcast up and running on two 1080p LG TVs, but no matter what I tried I couldn't get a signal.

The cable works - I tried it with my laptop. And I'm 90% sure the VGA box will work as 'no signal' turned into 'unrecognisable signal' when switching from TV to PC mode. So I figured it must be the TVs.

I did a little bit of research, and I read that modern LG TVs cannot recognise 640 x 480 hence the 'no signal'. Can anyone vouch for this?

As a potential work around, I ordered a VGA to HDMI adapter but again, I am unable to get any sort of picture. Again, the cable is fine - I tried it with my laptop.

Any ideas, guys? I've never seen Shenmue in anything better than composite.

iyapol

what is a good quality vga cable and what effects does it have? anyone know? I always use standard cables for everything

drunkensailor wrote:

iyapol wrote: In need of some VGA help if anyone can provide me with some assistance?

I recently purchased a VGA box off Amazon and a good quality VGA cable. I spent a good couple of hours trying to get my Dreamcast up and running on two 1080p LG TVs, but no matter what I tried I couldn't get a signal.

The cable works - I tried it with my laptop. And I'm 90% sure the VGA box will work as 'no signal' turned into 'unrecognisable signal' when switching from TV to PC mode. So I figured it must be the TVs.

I did a little bit of research, and I read that modern LG TVs cannot recognise 640 x 480 hence the 'no signal'. Can anyone vouch for this?

As a potential work around, I ordered a VGA to HDMI adapter but again, I am unable to get any sort of picture. Again, the cable is fine - I tried it with my laptop.

Any ideas, guys? I've never seen Shenmue in anything better than composite.

iyapol

what is a good quality vga cable and what effects does it have? anyone know? I always use standard cables for everything

From what I've read, a poor quality VGA cable can lead to some pretty nasty shadowing. Poor quality VGA cables can be of a generally poor build quality - thin plastic, cheap metal, etc. Good VGA cables are gold plated but - again, from what I've read - the benefits are only noticeable with longer cables. There is a myth that 15 pin cables are of a better quality than 14 pin cables but the extra pin makes absolutely no difference to output quality.

iyapol wrote:

Mr357 wrote: If this VGA to HDMI adapter you bought is only an adapter, and not an upscaler, then unfortunately it's not going to fix your 480p problem. It's simply outputting 480p over HDMI instead of VGA.

Xgeek® 1080P HDMI Male to VGA Female Video Converter Adapter Cable For PC Laptop DVD HDTV PS3 XBOX 360 and other HDMI Input Devices https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OWN5D7Q/ ... xxbA52YBED

This is the adapter I bought. It needs a power source but I presume it's only an adapter and not an upscaler.

Can anyone recommend the Ex-Pro upscaler? Looking at £30 in the UK.

The adapter you bought is a HDMI to VGA adapter and not a VGA to HDMI adapter, so that's why it doesn't work.

You need something like this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ex-Pro%C2%AE-A ... rter&psc=1

iyapol wrote:

drunkensailor wrote:

iyapol wrote: In need of some VGA help if anyone can provide me with some assistance?

I recently purchased a VGA box off Amazon and a good quality VGA cable. I spent a good couple of hours trying to get my Dreamcast up and running on two 1080p LG TVs, but no matter what I tried I couldn't get a signal.

The cable works - I tried it with my laptop. And I'm 90% sure the VGA box will work as 'no signal' turned into 'unrecognisable signal' when switching from TV to PC mode. So I figured it must be the TVs.

I did a little bit of research, and I read that modern LG TVs cannot recognise 640 x 480 hence the 'no signal'. Can anyone vouch for this?

As a potential work around, I ordered a VGA to HDMI adapter but again, I am unable to get any sort of picture. Again, the cable is fine - I tried it with my laptop.

Any ideas, guys? I've never seen Shenmue in anything better than composite.

iyapol

what is a good quality vga cable and what effects does it have? anyone know? I always use standard cables for everything

From what I've read, a poor quality VGA cable can lead to some pretty nasty shadowing. Poor quality VGA cables can be of a generally poor build quality - thin plastic, cheap metal, etc. Good VGA cables are gold plated but - again, from what I've read - the benefits are only noticeable with longer cables. There is a myth that 15 pin cables are of a better quality than 14 pin cables but the extra pin makes absolutely no difference to output quality.

that's what I always thought, only the length of the cable matters

I've ordered the Ex-Pro upscaler - it's due on Monday. I've also treated myself to a 1080p monitor so I can upscale to 'full HD'. Will be testing the VGA box with an old monitor just to make sure it's not faulty.

Thanks again for all of your help, guys.