VGA Box Question/Request for Advice

Hoping to get some advice about my DC setup. I'm currently using a Naki VGA box and a Monoprice VGA to Component adapter to connect to a 4:3 Zenith CRT HDTV.

The picture is very dim and washed out like it needs an amp somewhere in the mix. I can crank the color, brightness, and contrast on the TV and end up with a decent picture, but I don't want to adjust it every time I switch sources. I've cleaned the connectors, and wiggled everything to confirm there wasn't a short or loose connection.

I know the Monoprice adapter is outputting a strong signal because the OSD is nice and bright. Even so I got a replacement from Monoprice but got the same results. I know the Monoprice adapter isn't the best piece of equipment around, but I don't think it's entirely to blame.

When I connect the DC VGA box directly to my Samsung LCD TV the picture is better, but still a little weak compared to what I get from my PC. I only have the one VGA box, so I don't know if this is typical or not, can someone here with more experience chime in on that?

I've tried three different VGA cables and that didn't seem to make much difference. I'm thinking if I get a shorter gold-plated cable I might be able to shave a little resistance off the equation but I really think this is going to need more than that.

How difficult would it be to build some kind of VGA amp to pump up the signal? I imagine it would be similar to the RGB amps used for PC Engine RGB mods, but perhaps not?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Try a CRT computer monitor.

 

How would that give me a better picture on my HDTV?

 

Try another VGA box or Dreamcast - I have two VGA boxes (one original Sega HKT-8100 and one cheap clone) and several DCs and have never noticed any issue with video brightness with any of them. I just tried again using 2 different LCD panels and an old NEC Multisync CRT monitor, and it's possible that the peak white on the DC VGA output is very slightly dimmer than the composite, but not to any degree that you could see unless you look at it extremely closely.

One of my friends had a DC with an RGB output problem that seems similar to what you are describing (the composite output was fine, the RGB was low both in RGB and VGA modes) - and in the end the only way I could fix it was to replace the video encoder chip with one from scrap dc main logic board I had.

 

To help diagnose your Dreamcast.

 

I didn't even consider that there might be something wrong with the DC because the composite and S-Video out look fine, but that IS a good point. I'll have to bust out my other DC and see if it has the same issue.

 

Well I suppose. What I was thinking when I said that, was perhaps VGA from the DC is tuned to look good on a CRT.