Sega Dreamcast HDMI Adapter coming soon ..

I must have misread what was talked about in the main thread. I'll go reread what he said and see if I really did misread it and confuse it with GCVideo DVI. My guess, I probably did.

 

All that stuff is beyond me on how possible it would be to implement it. Nowadays I am mostly a PC gamer, but for retro stuff The Dreamcast is my favorite system of all time. I never even thought the board would be possible to do post AA. It is definitely good news for us all if he can pull it off without adding too much to the cost of the board.

Very exciting time to be a Dreamcast gamer indeed.

 

Wow, this new forum skin is killing my eyes. lol

I'm currently trying to save up for a batch of around 30-50 HDMI boards to be made / assembled.

I have the basic line-doubling code working on the Atari Lynx now (yes, the hand-held. ), so it should in theory work for the Dreamcast and other machines too, I just hadn't got around to trying it yet.

When the DC switches to 240p (for 240p-only games), it disables the separate H/V Sync and only outputs composite sync on pin 10 of the AV port. My VGA box doesn't have the extra wire from pin 10 on the AV port, but you can solder to one of the filter inductors inside the DC for that anyway.

I have a simple sync separator code working as well, so the idea is to switch to Comp Sync when the usual H/V Sync are missing (or when the code detects Comp Sync).

Almost all the rest of the games either support "VGA" mode anyway, or can be VGA patched. There are only a handful of games that force 240p mode, but I'm intending to support line-doubling for that.

("VGA" mode actually confirmed as being 720x480, but with 640 pixels per line, and borders either side, like the GC.)

Mr [RDC] said he will try to get the second of the three final prototype boards built this week, and ship two of them to me.
Although, we've already confirmed with some HDMI test patterns that the boards appear to be working fine, so it's pretty much a done-deal.

He did say that the test QSB for the DC didn't work out too well, 'cos the PCB was too thick or something, but it was just a quick test to see how it would fit etc. We will be looking into this again obviously, as soldering Kynar wires to the DAC is obviously quite time consuming.

(He also designed a few QSBs for the DACs in the different Xbox models as well, so we'll be looking to get a batch of those made at some point.)

At the moment, I'm looking to concentrate on the DC, as it seems to have attracted the most interest.
It's also a great console to HDMI mod of course, as it has nice graphics but doesn't have an equivalent "sequel" console with HDMI support.

The boards do require a fair bit of soldering / modding skill to install, so it's worth keeping that in mind.
We're looking to get some known modders on-board for this though.

For older consoles / computers which work on 5-Volt TTL logic levels, we will likely need some voltage-translation boards.
I believe [RDC] made a start on those, but they would be pretty simple tbh.


I don't really want the pressure (or perceived stigma) of doing a Kickstarter / IndieGoGo campaign for this, but what do people think about pre-orders?

OzOnE

 

I'd be interested in a pre-order. How much would it cost and when would it be released?

 

I'd say reserved pre-orders are fine, either full price or pay cost now and the rest when it ships. I guess at your point a ks/indiegogo would be a success, but i understand the hesitation.
If you plan on a second batch (and you will as it will be a great success), then crowdfunding will be perfect as you can already deliver.

 

Can't wait to see the finished product.

 

Would love one if you can get the QSB all sorted

 

I'll sign up for a pre order whenever you decide to take them and I agree with FamilyGuy on this being a success with crowd funding if and when you go that route.

 

Been avidly following the other thread.
Registered now as you've mentioned pre-orders.
Would be down for at least one (how many depends on the price).
Obviously QSB is preferable, but by no means a deal breaker.

(Also would buy any other 5th\6th gen systems you go on to develop!)

Great project.
Best of luck.

 

Dear

Do you have a n idea about the price?
How to mount it?
welding need?

Thanks

 

He said he wants to keep it around $100. You will have to cut a hole in the back to make the hdmi port assessable. I believe it sits under the Gdrom drive.

Yes you need to solder, or as you say welding.

You can see it installed here.

 

Thanks

This mod will be compatible with USB GD rom/GD Emu?

 

I'm in for a pre-order.

Ozone, do you think this DC board can be used for the PS1 at the first batch?

 

Since the image can't be viewed in your post I uploaded it so it can be seen.

 

Quite interesting. ^^

 

Looks very nice; any compatibility issues (physically speaking) with a GDEMU? Any word on final cost or number of solder points? I see a mention of a QSB (I assume Quick Solder Board) ala late generation Xbox 1 and some Xbox 360 Modchips, but early tests were showing no go?

 

I don't see why it would cause trouble with GDEMU since this mod only affects video output.

 

But look where it sits. I don't think it will cause problems but you never know it might be too thick to fit together with the USB-GDROM Controller as the place you cut for the USB port sits pretty close to where this HDMI port is. I am sure the final version might take that into account.

 

You could always make it external. Mount a port with enough pins, wire it up, and then put the HDMI adapter into its own little box that plugs into said port, like the PS2 Network adapter.

 

According to pictures it will be perfectly fine. There's almost enough room for another Dreamcast inside my Dreamcast with gdemu and a picoPSU...