[Totoro]

Sorry guys, I know this probably shouldn't be here but I figured I should post it here and in th HTPC forum since my question is related to boath.


Been looking into buying a Nintendo GameCube and would like to connect it to my computer monitor (since I don't have a HDTV!). There are available modded VGA cables that allow you to use the consoles digital port to connect it directly to a PC monitor.


However there is an official cable from Nintendo called a D-Terminal cable. It looks like an VGA cable to me but I've reading something about it being similar but not identical to a VGA cabel. It's supposed to compatible with a D terminal TV.


Now, can anyone tell if this D-terminal will be compatible with my PC monitor??



EDIT: Not sure if this will help but here is the descripton of it on ign.com:


The D Terminal cable is similar but not identical to the VGA cables used for PC monitors and digital televisions in the US. GameCube owners with a compatible D Terminal TV will be able to input a 480p progressive scan signal, which offers a picture with more density and clarity.

Link: http://cube.ign.com/articles/096/096569p1.html

 

[ShePearl]

You can consider D-terminal as Japanese domestic version of component video - YPbPr. It's not same as RGBHV signal which your PC montor needs.

 

[Totoro]

Ok thanks, very much appreciated!


Guess I'll take my chances with an VGA box (signal degration ) or a modded cable though some sites insinst it won't work with a PAL console (I can't see why not).

 

[ShePearl]

If your GameCube is PAL-European version, the modded RGB cable won't work.


It's only of a use on NTSC GameCubes when playing progressive scan games. The reason being is that most PC monitors will not sync to a 15 kHz signal which is what would be being output by your PAL GameCube in interlaced mode.

The PAL GameCube has no progressive scan ability. Nintendo dumped it on PAL machines.

 

[Totoro]

Why oh why did Nintendo dump progressive scan on PAL machines?!?!! Sure, PAL doesn't benefit as much from it as it has better video quality to begin with but completely dropping it is plain stupid!


I already knew that only progressive scan games would work with the cable but I never thought progressive scan wasn't supported on PAL GameCubes. Well, I'll buy a VGA box then or perhaps a TV card and resize my monitor to 720x576 when playing. Which do you think will work out better? Do you have any experience in using a VGA box and what quality to expect?


EDIT: Should I even perhaps considering component to RGB video converter like this one ? Haven't been looking around for them but this one seems really expensive, costs more than the Gamecube itself in US dollars!

 

[ShePearl]

because Macrovision approved PAL progressive very recently. I think it was end of October this year. So, when GameCube was released in Europe in May this year, PAL progressive was legally non-existent. This is the main reason I think.

Quote:

Sure, PAL doesn't benefit as much from it as it has better video quality to begin with but completely dropping it is plain stupid!

PAL benefits from progressive scan as much as NTSC does. I think it's a smart move. Dropping progressive scan capability on PAL GameCube would reduce the manufacturing cost. Besides there're no direct-view tube based tvs that takes and displays PAL progressive in Europe as of yet. Unless you have a front projector or plasma, you won't benefit much from this.

Quote:

Well, I'll buy a VGA box then or perhaps a TV card and resize my monitor to 720x576 when playing. Which do you think will work out better? Do you have any experience in using a VGA box and what quality to expect?

Honestly, go with whichever's cheaper. They both'll be bad. I'd just play it on tv if I were you. I have not tried any of them. I have a US/JPN GameCube which I play on my projector.

 

[Totoro]

Ok, thanks a bunch for the useful feedback!


Hope you noticed my edit which I posted just a few moments after your most recent post:


EDIT: Should I even perhaps considering component to RGB video converter like this one ? Haven't been looking around for them but this one seems really expensive, costs more than the Gamecube itself in US dollars!


Any chance you might know of a cheap alternative to this converter?


edit: The reason why I'm reluctant to play it on a TV is that my computer screen is bigger than our TV! Plus the computer screen is in my room and I also have a 5.1 surround system in my room as opposed to our mono TV.

 

[ShePearl]

I just skimed through the manual of the product, and it seems that it does NOT deinterlace the input signal even though input signal is interlaced. Plus the manual isn't clear whether it accepts interlaced component signal. (It looks as if it doesn't)


As I stated earlier, your PC monitor needs progressive signal, it won't sync to 15 kHz signal. Therefore for your PC monitor to display pictures from your GameCube via the component-->RGB adapter, the GameCube must feed progressive signal from the first place (or you need a deinterlacer/scaler in the middle so that 15 kHz signals from GameCube gets deinterlaced) since the adapter doesn't seem to deinterlace.

And this whole thing obviously gets unnecessarily complicated for you and they aren't worth the hassle for GameCube.


If you're willing to invest that much money to connect GameCube to your PC monitor, you might as well import the US GameCube and modded RGB cable.

 

[Totoro]

I see, the GC doesn't mean that much to me but it could mean me not buying it


One final question though, what about converters that double their scan rate from 15.75KHz to 31.5KHz and provide a standard VGA output signal?Will the picture quality suffer from it?


If I persist in playing it on my pc I guess I'll find a used TV card cheap

Everything else seems to expensive and unlikely to give me superior picture quality (besides, been thinking of getting one for a while). Will try it out first to see if I can be bothered.

 

[ShePearl]

Quote:

One final question though, what about converters that double their scan rate from 15.75KHz to 31.5KHz and provide a standard VGA output signal?Will the picture quality suffer from it?

It will. But it's probably not as bad as you think.

 

[Totoro]

One other thing, you say you own a US/JPN GC and yet you live in Europe?

Was it becaus the PAL GC didn't have progressive scan? If I were to import a modified US GC would I be able to play PAL games with it or are NTSC GC unable to produce PAL signals? And do the PAL games support progressive scan if played in an US/JPN GC with progressive scanning??


Free Loader, a "universal GC converter" seems to think any GC can play games from anywhere in the world, PAL or NTSC....wonder if there's any truth to it.


EDIT: forgot to post the Free Loader link... http://www.gamegizmo.com/products.ph...catID=1&pID=66

 

[ShePearl]

I have no idea. I bought/imported the GC in January. Gosh.. I haven't played it since summer. Super Mario Sunshine was the last game I played. this was July, I think.


As for PALNTSC, it shouldn't be a problem, I think. But playing/enabling 480p progressive with a NTSC title on PAL GC would be a problem. That free-loader looks interesting. Both in interlaced mode, shouldn't be a problem. I'm not sure though.


Happy gaming.