Sega Dreamcast HDMI Adapter coming soon ..

Great that you're back on track OzOnE. This project looks amazing and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I'm a bit blown away by the scale of what you're doing, it all sound so cool!

 

Great! Thanks a lot for the much needed update. I'm sure @moonchilde will be excited to read this too.

I've got an extra Rev 1 DC sitting in a box ready for an install. Just point me when and where (and whom) to ship and I'll get my paypal account ready for anyone savvy to install this!

....when it's done, of course ;-)

 

Man, that's looking pretty good! Looking forward to it!

 

Anyone making a straight HDMI cable?? instead of some big clunky box in the back of dc and more wires

 

This project is aiming at putting a true HDMI port on the console itself. It will tap into the digital video signals before they get converted to analog. A pure cable solution could be possible if a VGA to HDMI chip can be stuffed into one of the connectors. Otherwise a box somewhere along the run will be required for the circuitry. I haven't seen anyone working on something like that before

 

@jopamo yes actually, but I'm on a time crunch (want a solution by late June) so I might need to order an Akura before then.

 

I would love to get one of these.

 

A little off topic, but did anything get completed on the stand alone Gameboy player?

 

I fussed at him about getting sidetracked.. but he did get it simi working but again... 1 damn project at a time LOL... bad enough his 1 project is going to be a 3-5in 1 LOL...

 

Hey, more power to him. Going to be awesome when done.
Really liked the idea though. Add power, controller input, and audio/video output and got a cool way to play games. Could set up two and get some multiplayer action.
Already got a GameCube with Gameboy player, but would be a fun project

 

For some of the reasons mentioned by @LordFenixNC , the GD Emu stuff may be impractical to support on the HDMI atm.

We are a few spare FPGA pins short of being able to hook up to the G1 port unfortunately, and if I do spend much more time on that, then it will delay the boards / kits further.

But, that won't stop us getting another small board made up later on, which will plug in like the current GD Emu boards do, and then it will work out a bit cheaper because it will be controlled from the main HDMI / ESP boards.

We're close to sending off for a batch of ten HDMI PCBs now, and Mr |RDC| has already ordered the parts for those.

So yep - still concentrating on the HDMI project atm. It's just been far more effort than you might imagine to turn it into a product.

OzOnE.

 

The Game Boy player thing will happen as soon as the HDMI boards are done.

I literally only have 1.5 working HDMI boards atm, due to working out a few earlier issues, and having to pinch chips etc.

As soon as we do have a good number of boards made, I'll be modding as many of my machines as possible. Along with the GBP, I'll likely mod the OG Xbox, Amiga, 3DO, Jaguar, possibly the PS2 Slim, and definitely the PC Engine, as the code for that is already tested and working (on the dev board).

Could even mod the Intellivision and 2600 with HDMI, but mainly "just because". lol

Anyone wondering about the Genesis / MD, SNES, Saturn - they will be a long way off (for a true digital video mod), but not impossible.

 

Still greatly looking forward to it on the original Xbox. That plus the 1.4ghz and RAM mod for the ultimate set.

 

It's really cool that you put all this effort and time into this project.

Will this board work on the PS1?

 

PS2 fat not an option? I know i'm getting ahead of myself here asking this but what about the original PS1 as well?

 

Hi,

Yep, I've been meaning to test the mod on the PS1 and PS2. I only have a PS2 Slim atm, but I've been taking a few punts on cheap PS1s on eBay too. lol

Both machines should be moddable.

IIRC, most earlier models of the PS1 use the Sony CXA2106R DAC, which has a similar pin pitch to the DAC in the Dreamcast, so should be similar to mod.

I think most PS2 (fat and slim) use a DAC with a smaller pin pitch, so may be a tad more difficult to mod / solder.

Most PS1s / PS2s have access to the digital video bus though, except maybe the PSone? (I haven't really looked at the schematics for the PSone yet).

Might be a bit of a squeeze to get the HDMI board into the PS2 Slim anyway, although the board is really small now, as it's intended for a modding a lot of portables like the Lynx and Game Gear too.

Actually, looking at the PS2 schematics now, it looks like the DAC chip has a similar / same pin pitch to the Dreamcast.
It will still require a custom flex, but they aren't overly expensive any more, it just takes a bit of time to do the "PCB" layout for them. (which Mr |RDC| will hopefully get around to at some point in the future, but we're concentrating on getting the boards released still).

There are a few different DACs used on the PS2, but there don't seem to be any BGA ones, which is good...

http://assemblergames.com/l/attachments/mod-explained-easier-png.10446/

OzOnE.

 

Would this work on a fully hardware backwards compatible PS3 by adding the board directly to the GSX rather than deal with the GS - RSX scaling that adds a lot of input lag?

If everything goes smoothly, when do you think you'll start selling these?

 

I would imagine as long as the PS3 still has a video bus where it's easy enough to solder a custom flex cable to, then yep, it will probably be doable.

I haven't looked into the PS3 much though, as it already has HDMI of course, so reducing the possible lag would be quite a niche thing.

I'm trying not to make any promises with release dates or timelines now. lol

We hope to get a batch of ten boards made up as the final prototype in the next week or two, but obviously organising a much larger batch after that will take a while.

It's still looking like we will be going via Stone Age Gamer as the main US seller for a while.
Nothing is actually confirmed or signed at this stage, as we just want to get the final boards done and tested before we can pull the trigger on proper manufacturing.

OzOnE.

 

Slightly off topic, but who are you guys using to make the prototype flex PCBs? I have a project I haven't got round to actually designing the PCBs for yet, but I had a look around and I can't find anything under $100-120, which I'm a bit reluctant to pay on something that may or may not be suitable.

 

@OzOnE once the prototypes test out, would you be willing to sell one? I would really love to showcase it at EVO this July.