Sega Saturn VCD Cards

There is an option in Nero where you can tell it that it should not reencode the video.

 

x

 

im trying to burn an "xvcd" but most app i tried want to reencote it to standard vcd, the sega saturn can read xvcd just fine as far ive read in some places.

I just havent found a program that lets me burn xvcd.

 

Procoder 3 is one of the best mpeg software encoders out there... Then just use Nero to burn it, it doesn't re-encode the file as long as it's complying the VCD standard... Vivid was making great quality video cds once upon a time. I also had some video cds made especially for CDI at the time by Philips which are still amazing like Pavarotti concert etc. Also the bundled demo disc with the Euro version of Video CD cart is great too...

 

Heh. I can't even find a database listing what VCDs were sold here. If there was ever any info, it's long disappeared from the net.

 

When I built test VCDs here I used the official VCD build application from Phillips. I don't remember where I got it but it was made free/available for everyone by Phillips itself. So it's possible you can find it on the web.

But as with any development tool, it requires a lot of patience and "grass pasture" by the user in order to learn how to use it.

I used it in conjunction with TMPGEnc:

http://www.tmpgenc.net/

It will encode MPEG1 streams for free. :thumbsup:

 

I also had a few original VCD's and got to make a few of my own.
However there are lots of features that I never found in VCD mastering software like indexes, anyone ever managed to build a VCD with indexes or even menus?

Saturn's VCD card supports these features

 

i think i managed doing that, but it was tedios process similar to writing html code to be hand made

 

I prefer Panasonic MPEG Encoder over TMPGEnc.
In the old days, it gave me better results.

 

Sorry for necromancy bumping...
Can't find any answer to the following question:
What are the differences between RG-VC20 (sold in Asia) and RG-VC3 (sold in Japan)?
Obviously the stickers on the product, but what about the hardware and software -- are they exactly the same? Maybe language changes only?

 

As far as I can tell, there is no difference between them at all. They are both NTSC/PAL compatible and have PhotoCD support. The VC3 came with Japanese documentation and packaging and in a smaller box (I.E. one that was the same size as the RG-VC2 box).
I think it's very likely it's exactly the same product just renumbered to fit in with the model numbers used on the previous versions.

 

Thanks!
Hopefully i should be getting one of each soon, so i can post some pics of the pcb

 

Just noticed that there's a "2nd version" Asian card, supposedly more recent than the RG-VC20, that looks exactly like the European card, but the back side has "CE" instead of an arrow. See photos at the bottom of this page.

European:
https://segaretro.org/File:Saturn_MK-80310_Back.jpg

Asian 2nd version:
https://segaretro.org/File:Saturn_Asian_Video_CD_back.jpg

Seems like this Asian card only supports PAL? Otherwise they would have used different labels? Why does it have to be so confusing...

 

No, it's PAL/NTSC - that card was never available on it's own, just supplied as part of the special Video CD version of the Saturn - it's not the same as the VC3/VC20 though, since it doesn't support Photo CD

 

Woah really. Theres absolutely no way of telling it apart except for the ce/arrow at the back. And that page on segaretro doesnt even say it doesnt do photocd. I may have to contact them so they can rectify.

How did you know that? Couldnt find any info on that vcd console bundle card.

They could have given it a different label...

 

Well, there is a degree of inference there, but all HK/Singapore/Malaysia "Video CD" Saturn's I ever saw had that card in them, and they would play both PAL and NTSC VCDs but didn't support Photo CD. I suspect the lack of a custom label is just another symptom of the low level of effort put into those machines - like the way they have white Japanese style cases but black power sockets because they use unmodified PAL power supplies (yes, they also have 5 pin output sockets on the PSU with only 4 pins on the motherboard).

 

You can buy officially licensed VCDs from yesasia.com. Like La La Land or the latest Hong-Kong action movies with english subs. Just a friendly heads up

 

That's cool, sounds like nobody ever paid attention (I almost discarded it as it looked like a PAL card and I wanted a PAL+NTSC one).

It does look like a hasty cheap job, in fact I've been thinking this model is probably Sega's response in Hong Kong to the PlayStation SCPH-5903 Video CD model. The Saturn is "always" VCD ready since it accepts cards, so writing "Video CD" on the casing makes very little sense, unlike the PS1 where the VCD board is inside. So I think it's a cheap/fast project by Sega to try to sell a few more units in HK.

Also... they chose a white model for the VCD units... similar to Sony that made an exclusive lighter casing for their VCD model. Looks like an inside joke of some sort

 

All those "Asia" model Saturns were basically Japanese spec units with a 220V power supply - at the time the video CD units came out the regular ones were in white cases too (since the Japanese producion had already switched over to them) - so the only difference between the Video CD units and the regular ones was some screen printing on the CD lid, the label and the pre-installed VCD card.

I don't think they sold that well, to be honest - then and now, the vast majority of Saturns you find in HK are Japanese grey imports (I guess they outnumber the official ones by about 3-4:1) - this was partly because a lot of consoles in HK were sold pre-modded and hence the lack of an official warranty wasn't a big deal (since it would have been void anyway), and partly because gray imports are completely legal in HK.

 

Saturn released in Korea were different in that regard. They were basically US spec units with 220V power supply. Believe Samsung Saturn was this type. There was another one after Samsung stopped to sell Saturn and that one's probably last Japanese spec units in US Saturn housing with 220V power supply. Legends goes the company (Karma Entertainment) was going to sell but went under and hundreds of those units at the warehouse till early 2000 when another company(?) found the stock and sold them at cheap price. If you ever see a black Saturn released in Korea but with no Samsung logo you are looking at the unit in question.