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servbot001
rank 1
Posted:
Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:09 am
quote : #1
profile : pm
Posts: 1
Type: NTSC-U/C
So I picked up a 28" LG TV from Best Buy. Plugged my PS2 into it via component and it's running at 480i. It's beautiful.

I'm wanting to use this TV with my Dreamcast but the console does not natively output in component.

The TV has HDMI, Component, and Composite. At 28" screen, it's already strange to begin with. It can detect the resolution of the original signal and show it accurately as well. PS2 is coming out at 480i which I'm fine with. I will probably get around to messing with 480p but it's not a priority. My fighting games work fine in 480i.

I've scoured the internet trying to find a solution and I've come across HDMI (through various means), using composite (yuck), and a SCART to Component converter. Everyone says the Shinybow is the way to go FOR CRT

If I'm running 480i from my consoles, will the Shinybow be fine with my tiny, weird HDTV? Answers are theoretical of course.

Currently, Street Fighter Zero Collection, Vampire Collection, Street Fighter 3:TS, and King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match run with little if any visual problems. SFZ2 suffers from a title screen flashing shadow goofiness but everything else is great.

Thanks for any help.
 
lordnikon
rank 87
Posted:
Tue Dec 17, 2019 12:32 pm
quote : #2
profile : pm
Posts: 5902
Type: NTSC-U/C
Playing with 480i means you are adding a lot of latency to your experience.

The TV has to "de-interlace" the 480i signal to convert it to a progressive signal. The interlaced signal is comprised of 240 even lines and 240 odd lines of information, that render in alternating fashion across the display. The HDTV wants a single frame at a time. So it has to combine each 240 line set into one 480 line single frame of data. This requires processing power and because its cost prohibitive for companies to entirely eliminate additional latency to convert the signal, most HDTV's tend to have some degree of lag. (In-fact most HDTV's have inherant lag that is impossible to eliminate beyond the de-interlacing process.)

Getting your console to output 480p (progressive) is ideal. Especially if you are playing fighting games. This can be achieved either by enabling native 480p Progressive Scan if the game supports it, or using an intermediary video converter. There are sometimes cables which seem like a quick and easy solution, but they can often times add even more lag.

On the PS2 you are incurring even more latency, because you are playing non-native PS2 ports on-top of a 480i signal. Collections that most likely use some form of emulation and have inherant latency due to the emulation process. Street Fighter Zero and Vampire Chronicles Collection probobly have added latency, SF3 3rd Strike and KOF2002 probobly do not. Especially since the PS2 version of 3rd strike is known for having 1 less frame of latency over the DC version and was preferred in fighting tournaments like EVO.

The latency is there, and getting your consoles to output 480p is ideal. Its worth it to try and cut out as much lag as possible.

Some PS2 games support this natively. Vampire Chronicles Collection, SF Zero Collection, and KOF 2002 all support 480p progressive either by a button press combo at game boot or a menu option. Note: 3rd strike on PS2 does not have a progressive scan option.

For the Dreamcast however, this is a bit more complicated. The Dreamcast outputs 480p only via a VGA signal, which is analog. If your TV has VGA input, then get a DC VGA box. If you are looking for a quick solution, you can get a DC HDMI adapter cable thingy, of which many have sprung up on ebay. However, I cannot vouch for these devices as I have not personally used them. They may convert the analog VGA signal to Digital DVI (HDMI) which could incur 1-2 frames of lag. I have no read any technical specs on these, nor have I used one before.

If you plan to play more older systems on your TV I recommend looking into a Micomsoft XRGB Mini Frame Meister video converter, which has a "line doubler" feature, and allows 480i content to be line doubled without de-interlacing into a 480p signal. It also has upscaling options, but these stack on 2-3 frames of lag.
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