I think the reason the Dreamcast supports VGA natively is because the Sega NAOMI arcade hardware uses VGA at 480p 31khz, and since the Dreamcast is basically a consolized NAOMI, the VGA support remains intact.

This is awesome! I just nabbed one, its a bit pricey at $85 but after attempting to use VGA on the Dreamcast so many times this is totally worth it. VGA cables are "meh" and don't have the best compatibility, VGA boxes are nice but you have to go through a decent amount of work to get it to run on a modern TV and are inconvenient overall. I was also super disappointed that VGA wasn't easily attainable on the Framemeister. Kind of wish this came out earlier, I think I spent more on my VGA, upscalers, and those Dreamcast VGA cables over the $85 they're charging for this.

Hey Adam - thanks for the sweet video. Picked up my first ever Dreamcast today - gonna grab one of these as soon as they're back in stock!

Cool stuff, really tempts me to get back in to collecting for the Dreamcast

If I had a dollar for every time Adam had to explain the difference between resolution, graphics, and image clarity, I could afford so many Framemeisters that I could build a house out of them.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

If I had a dollar for every time someone said they were the same thing I could build a second story to your Framemeister house.

@CAPCOM784

7 жыл бұрын

Its good that he always explains because there is always a new subscriber or someone just getting started in the hobby.

maybe the dreamcast had the VGA support because the arcade equivalent (A. K. A. Naomi??) would use VGA monitors on the cabinets?

I bought one and finally got it. I love it! keep the videos coming

i been watching your videos for over last year maybe two I just wanted to say I really love your videos your channel seems a lot different than others I like how knowledgeable you are in the research you do just wanted to say thank you for all the content you make

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks dude!

It's unbelievable that it looks that much better than the Framemeister. But I wish you had compared it with a regular VGA box+cable as well so we could've seen all of the differences

Finally an adapter that hears our demands for real HDMI connectivity \o/ I need that, just for the sake of Sturmwind already.

@worldhello1234

7 жыл бұрын

If you like to pay 85 bucks for this HDMI passthrough, go on.

@_BitJager_

7 жыл бұрын

Sturmwind

Thank you so much for this review Adam. I'm going to place my order.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching.

Yooooo, that looks amazing! I really didnt think it would look that good

I can tell you exactly whay the Dreamcast has VGA output. The Dreamcast was based off the Naomi arcade hardware. Basically they just took the Naomi hardware and tweaked it a little and that is all. And that arcade system supported VGA of course for the arcade. So it was literally zero extra work to include VGA support. In fact, removing VGA support would probably cost more to remove the feature, so they just included it.

An easy way to tell if your TV can do 480p through HDMI if you have a Xbox 360 (with HDMI port) connect it to the TV, go into settings, console settings, display, HDTV settings and choose 480p, if the display shows than your TV supports 480p through HDMI

Great video man, will definitely be the go to video out until the custom Dreamcast board comes out.

I'm going to look into getting one of these. Top video as usual Adam!

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

>HDMI box for Dreamcast SAY NO MORE. I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE. Edit: Yes, I have watched through the video and my TV DOES support 480p through HDMI, so I'm all set to go.

@Sebastian-xy3xk

7 жыл бұрын

I'd honestly wait for the HDMI Mod for the Dreamcast coming up soon. It doesn't convert the video from Analog to Digital like this does but it rather taps onto the Dreamcast's Video Chips to get a 100% Pure Digital Video signal which is better than VGA ^-^

Going from composite to hdmi is like playing without my glasses on then putting them on.

Thanks Adam. I'm not a collector but I held on to my dreamcast collection because there are so many reasons why it really is something special. You're definitely the authority on everything DC. Keep up the good work!

ur dreamcast games and care for the dreamcast is absolutely amazing I need to get a new dreamcast

wow it really does look nice via the HDMI..

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Hell yeah.

I know PAL region has its issues with lazy game conversions, but man the last console I used composite cables with was the NES 30 years ago! How did americans survive on composite for the 4th, 5th console generations? Madness.

Awesome video Adam! This thing looks awesome.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks.

9 months after first watching this video, and I have FINALLY got mine pre ordered! Hallelujah!

Question how does the stand alone Akura view vs the Toro/Framiemister/scart upscaled to 1080 images view.

@JustAnotherGamerUS

7 жыл бұрын

Jay Jennings I second your question

pre ordered this as soon as you dropped this video still have no idea when it will ship, anyone else know?

@ROOMBAfloorvac

7 жыл бұрын

RallyDon82 Mine just shipped a few days ago. ETA is 2-3 weeks to USA.

nice to know about this thing, since i have been interested in reviewing some dreamcast games lately, thanks

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Sure thing.

Awesome video as always, appreciate the heads up on the cheap cables. I did not give in to those! I wish this was out sooner. I went through the work of doing the internal vga mod haha.

@N8invacationland

7 жыл бұрын

autospeed yea me too!

Hey Adam, You mentioned lightgun games on HDTVs. I have around 10 different lightguns for a few old game consoles (Master System, Mega Drive, Saturn, Dreamcast and Xbox). I know they won't work on a HDTV. But is there someone working on a gadget somewhere, like a sensor bar that can read the lightguns for a HDTV like the Wii, or is this even possible? I am dying to play Confidential Mission on my Dreamcast again!

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

No, it won't work, period. The technology is completely different.

@kost4899

7 жыл бұрын

Get Money ready and be amazed, for what that guy has created :) www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LightConn-Dreamcast-Wireless-Gun-for-HDTVs-SERVICE/262819713668

@RuddsReels

7 жыл бұрын

+kost4 WHAT!? WOW! THAT IS AMAZING!!!! (*looks at price in pound sterling*)... HOW MUCH!!!!!? OVER £100 FOR ONE LIGHTGUN!!!! A bit pricey for me, but this is a good sign that it is possible to make it work!! Hopefully this will get cheaper with time! Thanks kost4 for showing this to me! Maybe Adam could mention this in one of his videos!

@RuddsReels

7 жыл бұрын

+Adam Koralik You should find kost4's link interesting!

@kost4899

7 жыл бұрын

Unfortunately not even for the light Gun, but for the service of modding, you send him the light gun and he mods it for you and sends it back. Actually that guy put quite a lot engineering effort for that, how he makes it work is really smart. The dreamcast junkyard has an article about this. The downside is that this only works with one gun, so no 2 player fun. The developer also sells a wireless controller known as the DreamConn for a similar high price. But people that bought the DreamConn really like it. I might also buy one in near future.

im pritty shore the reson the dreacast had vga on it was to do with the fact that the dreamcast was the console version of the Sega Naomi arcade units

Great video buddy. May have to get one in the future when I eventually get a 4k TV, as most don't have VGA ports like my current TV. Excellent.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Awesome!

was holding out on something like this now its here i have already pre-ordered it i trust them considering the great reviews the behar bros gear has got.

I wish a good quality PS2 HDMI box existed (need a good quality Wii one to). I also wish the same kind of thing existed for the original Xbox. Because, when you think about it, component is being phased out of existence, with fewer and fewer TVs having it. And we definitely need something that plugs directly into (and is powered by) the consoles. Because with independently powered, scart to hdmi & component to hdmi adapters, there's just too many cables going all over the place....

I'm waiting on them to start selling them again

@dolemite8282

6 жыл бұрын

Me too! I messaged them a few days ago and said we should be able to place orders in the next few weeks.

Just received my 2 Akuras. Sweet product and works great.

Awesome! I have just preordered mine! Can't see the time to get it! :D

You da man for providing the list of VGA bootable and non VGA compatible titles Adam. Thank you very much. I had trouble trying to "Figure it out" lol.

@ferdc2916

5 жыл бұрын

I think Dino crisis can be patched

Thanks for the informative video-- solidified my decision to finally get a Dreamcast!

I really want to pick one of these up sometime! Gotta finish off the last 10 games I need first!

Pre ordered mine directly after this video. I can't wait to finally play and record my Dreamcast games in a great quality.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Hope you like it!

Oh my god I'm so happy. I can finally stop trying to find a high quality VGA to HDMI box.

Awesome video review Adam, I am new to your channel and I am convinced that I need this device in my retro gaming life. Thank you so much for the review, I can't wait to pre order Dec 3rd 2017.....

@AdamKoralik

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

I have a VGA compatible monitor and I was about to buy those to my VGA cables. thanks for the advice Adam!

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Sure thing.

Holy amaze balls. Looks incredible. Need one.

Yes, I enjoyed the video. Thanks for making those.

Dear Adam. I have watched you series for a very long time now. Interestingly it's this very subject in fact! "getting the best video signal from the Dreamcast" that made me start watching. So I just preordered the Akura. I believe by your recommendation this is going to be incredible for me seeing as I have been playing Dreamcast on a SD picture tube on rca cords since 2000 lol. As you can tell this HDMI cord is a big deal lol. I suspect once this is a regular item and not a preorder it'll sell out like the Rhia lol. Keep on being the Dreamcast guy I wish I could be!!

These guys are great and make awesome well made products. I bought the Toro from them and I absolutely love it.

This is what I've been waiting years for.

Thank you for the advice. I watched this video about two weeks ago and it was not available on their site at the time. I checked back today and got it on order.

@travismaltby6547

6 жыл бұрын

Ordered and received in less than 3 weeks

Amazingly informative Adam! Especially with the included list of games. I've said it before and I'll say it again God I love being a...n Adam Koralik Subscriber!

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

+Jared sharkey Thanks!

@1nerdyshark

7 жыл бұрын

Adam Koralik seriously I love that there is someone on KZread that has the same love for the dreamcast as I do. Ace shit man

Thanks Adam! Got mine as soon as the video was over ... and I own the tomee vga and I thought it looked pretty good

@bsimpson2288

7 жыл бұрын

BBz 79 So picture quality wise, how does it compare to the tommee? I've been using my tommee vga for years now on different tvs and monitors and I think it looks great but everyone shits on em. I couldn't care less about scan line generators so is that the only difference or is there a difference in picture quality/clarity too?

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

The issue with the Tomee bullshit cables isn't that they offer inferior picture, it's that they're poorly made. They lack additional features (which yes is optional), and suffer from massive TV and monitor compatibility issues. If you have a set that's working, congratulations. But don't expect them to last long.

@bbz79

7 жыл бұрын

B Simpson I don't know yet. I pre ordered it and I have to wait a month but I'd go with Adam. I bought the tomee years ago before I knew better

man I wish I saw your video like a week ago cuz I bought a vga cable and that shit didn't work on my samsung tv. Your videos are informative and funny and straight up awesome! Thanks

@herohunter81

7 жыл бұрын

andrew garibay the Tomee cable he hates I used and it's a big upgrade to composite. It works fine on my HDTV. I took side by side pictures and it's night and day and I've showed the pictures to multiple people. In my case they work and I'm happy with something that works for that price.

Just got my Akura in the mail last week. I didn't know it existed prior to your video!

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Glad I could help!

@LaskyLabs

7 жыл бұрын

Abby Jameson lucky you! You got the money to get one!

@TastyAbbyJamz

7 жыл бұрын

Unfortunately, making money cuts into game time, though :'(

@LaskyLabs

7 жыл бұрын

Abby Jameson your right.

long time sub and I just want to point out that I love the fact that your background collection is only, say it.... SEGA!!!!! Adam Does what other KZreadrs don't!! As always Great Video... pun intended.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Ha, thanks.

Adam at it again with a great video! Thank you so much, I really enjoy watching your videos you're a natural at making these videos. You have great flow and especially you don't do those annoying cuts when you speak ala Max Headroom style that just about everyone on KZread does, I find those so annoying.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks.

Seeing that Bangai-O will work with this has put it on my list of things I need to get.

@AdamKoralik

6 жыл бұрын

Bangai-O has kind of funky output from what I recall.

Nice video Adam!

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks.

Maybe i'm remembering it differently, but I remember the VGA adapter being a big deal when the console was released. the Dreamcast Graphics chip was based on a upcoming PC Graphics Card, (which took over a year after the Dreamcast's release to come to market, being outdated by then.) so it natively supported VGA, So Sega did the smart thing by taking advantage of the tech already inside the Graphic chip. I remember when I finally abandoned the Dreamcast and got a PS2, and was really disappointed with the washed out colours, where I was playing the Dreamcast games using a RGB scart and looked so much better.

Damn! Great man, thanks Adam. Bought.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

Hi Adam great informative vídeo!

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

I've been using the Akura on my Dreamcast and Samsung Q70t. I absolutely love it. It makes the games look absolutely fantastic. I HIGHLY recommend spending the extra money to buy the Akura instead of something like the Pound cable.

Thanks Adam! I was waiting for reviews before making the decision, definitely looks good though! Always love your DC videos bro. If i plan to get a 4K TV set in the future, would you recommend this box or a upscaler like you show at around 10:05 of the video? Right now I go direct VGA into a 1080p monitor and it works and looks great.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Assuming your TV supports it, probably just go direct.

Woah, your voice is sooo different during the composite gameplay capture! Doesnt even sound like you! haha Awesome vid man,, Glad to see the dreamcast is still going amazingly strong... My favourite console ever!

@nerdyneedsalife8315

7 жыл бұрын

I thought it was someone else speaking for a while

Thanks for the video! Any chance of a more technical follow up with more video capture/comparisons? Also interested in the integrated scanline generator - does it try to simulate 480p scanlines, or does it try to fake/mimic 240p scanlines by culling half of the image (your quick scanline capture section seemed to flick between a few different modes)? Do you use the colour/boost option during normal gameplay, or do you think it's generally not needed. Seems the option might be there to boost contrast when scanlines are in use (due to them inherently making an image darker on modern TVs). Again - thanks for your initial impressions.

cool video tech talk adam

Was waiting on this video, had a feeling it would get an approval from you, glad to see it did. Too bad it doesn't seem to have the Scart plug in option on the side like the Toro did.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Yeah, I hope they do a future version that does both.

Not having a separate power supply is a game changer. Definitely looking to pick this up.

I have a Sceptre HDTV that has VGA and lots of other inputs, except s-video and SCART. Pretty happy with it and would recommend them to other gamers. Even displays my old NES, SNES, and Turbografix 16 beautifully. It scales whatever input it gets to fill the screen, but I don't know if that's the same upscaling that you're talking about.

Hi Adam... Great video, I wanted to ask you if you noticed any difference in terms of quality image between the toro and akura since toro is analog and akura is digital, thanks !

Done, I pre-ordered it

I have the Manta VGA to HDMI and I admit most games are displaying in 16 by 9 though the scaler does a good job doing that but obviously I want the correct aspect ratio but given the Framemeister can do 4 by 3 and I need to get one for all my older consoles is this device really worth upgrading to!

That really really cool

I love my Kuro box but the thing to keep in mind with the Beharbros is that shipping takes a solid month. Worth the wait if you care about image quality.

@austinellis6461

7 жыл бұрын

dafoomie I second that it takes a month to ship

Great video adam! I've been thinking about getting a Dreamcast myself and this seems perfect for my setup despite having VGA on my tv. My only concern is if I wanted to use an upscaler to make this look better, I'm not sure if there's devices that upscale things iver hdmi.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

The Framemeister technically does, but it's not really designed for that.

Oh I need one of these for my dreamcast.

speaking about House of the Dead 2 lightgun capturing - theres ways to work around it with several more devices. It can be a combination of things from VGA distribution amps, vga to component transcoder converters, vga to hdmi box and of course the crt that accepts component in. This is something I'm going to finalize when friends and I finally get out co-op project rolling ;p I just got my Saturn lightgun set-up working yesterday for recording. Anyways -thanks for the video! Would be cool to see gameplay from both the Vga boxes to Atlona scaler and or framemeister solutions as well as this Akura.

I pre ordered it. Thanks Adam for informing me about this. I'm against preordering but I made an exception because I'm a proud owner of the Kuro. I know I can trust the quality of Behar Bros products.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Glad I could help!

@neron777la

7 жыл бұрын

JD Gaming 1050 pls let us know how it works or any new improvements??? on compatibility for example!??

RetroBit makes a cable like the Tomee cable, I've had it for 3 months and the quality is awesome. And I don't think it's going to break anytime soon, as far as compatibility every dreamcast game I got works for it even the home brows. And with it I get full 1080p.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

RetroBit isn't Tomee, I'm specifically talking about the shitty white ones made by Tomee. Compatibility issues refers to the cables inability to work with a large amount of monitors and TVs, not the games. You absolutely don't get full native 1080p with it, it's literally not possible. All that's happening is your monitor or TV is upscaling at best.

You should do a review of the Dreamconn and Lightconn wireless controllers, they seem pretty well made

I wonder if the VGA may also come from the potential business use of the machine. I recall seeing meeting software made in japan for the DC.

Glad to see there is a more concrete solution to using HDMI with a dreamcast. I have been lucky enough to have the original VGA connector box for the dreamcast combined with a HDMI converter to get the best picture out of my dreamcast. Any chance you could try this with the Marseille mCable Gaming Edition?

if I remember correctly, i think i read on a magazine or somewhere back then that Sega wanted to intertwine pc games with Sega Dreamcast gamers. They planned to eventually be able to cross-platform pc gaming with dc gaming. that's why they produced the keyboard, mouse, vga outputs and the Dreamcast Broadband Adapter (or BBA) and Modem Adapter

Maybe the reason why the Dreamcast output VGA is the GPU of the Dreamcast is a PowerVR 3D chipset, which was originally designed as 3D accelerator for PC desktop video card.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Probably a more sound reason.

I am excited about this, I use an old Sony 40 Inch 480P/720P/1080I 4:3 ratio tv. I hope that this fixes the issues I have when running games through the VGA adapter that then goes to a DVI adapter. The problem is that it doesnt take up the whole screen in 4:3 . I hope this thing works to alleviate these issues.

Adam just to make you aware your list applies for NTSC releases only, a number of PAL releases had the VGA mode removed for some unknown region or had other bugs that prevent it from running correctly. Skies of Arcadia for example had VGA support totally removed in PAL and Capcom vs SNK has a bug where only the hz selector screen works in VGA mode on the PAL version.

Yes, yes I am. (jealous of your Dreamcastic shirt)

I think you're right in respect to the choice for vga support. Quake 3 on the DC was part of the PC network. DC was attempting to also attract the PC gamer market. Especially being the only console to offer network interface at the time. Not to mention the broadband adapter. VGA then seems like an obvious choice to attract PC gamers to offer the VGA connectivity and practically replace the PC tower and connect to VGA displays. Totally valid speculation from a marketing standpoint.

Hey Adam, I just ordered an Akura right now! I bought a Dreamcast on eBay this year and got it delivered on the 9th, how cool is that? thanks for the videos it's awesome, you're awesome.

Hey Adam, When you buy a game, what process do you go through to decide whether you buy it on PS4 or Xbox? If there is a long explanation, that would be a good, short video for you to do. Thanks

thank you Adam ,if it wasn't for you I wouldn't know this would exist! ! going to purchase this real soon.... only one question I have to ask? shipping from turkey is quick or do you have to wait a while to relieve this item? thanks again for this vid!!

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Depends on where you live. I live in the US so it took a couple weeks, can take up to a month. If you're in Europe, probably wouldn't take as long.

many many years ago i asked adam why no one has created an hdmi box for dreamcast , i guess finally my question has been answered

I bought it, just waiting to be shipped on the 7th

While those non VGA games you listen won't work from the original discs, there are some people re-programming / patching their isos in order to be VGA compatible. Some people are currently doing that for Dino Crisis for example.

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Yep, definitely cool.

So Adam, would you say this is the very Best device for getting the best picture from your Dreamcast on an HDTV compared to all the other things you have used with the Dreamcast? Does the quality look the same like on a CRT TV or better?? I'm a Hugh fan of the Dreamcast as well and just got one recently after I got rid of my original back when Sega quit the hardware business I always regretted getting rid of it, but I got it back and I also got a new HDTV a couple months ago and would like to get it to look the same or better when I had to hooked up to my CRT TV back in the day So if this would fix the picture then I would be very interested in buying one Thanks!

Brilliant powered by the console is brilliant. Is it better than Toro and others?

Thanks a lot for this nice review. I have been looking for a long time to get decent imange quality for my DC on my 4K TV and the Akura seeems to be the answer. I know there might e better solutions out there like the Framemeister or the OSSC but they are a bit too expensive to me. For my other retro systems I am fine with my generic scart to hdmi scaler. But for my dreamcast I want something better. So such device like the Akura is the solution for me as I really enjoy VGA Quality on my Dreamcast. I tried a generic vga to HDMi converter once and the image was great but it was not a stable image. So I send it back.

@DamnDealDone

6 жыл бұрын

OSSC is not really expensive if you have ten consoles all outputting via scart. Just need the additional cost of a scart switcher though.

I've seen VGA on some CRT TVs. It's not the typical D-sub connector though, instead it's 5 RCA jacks. RGBHV for Red, Green, Blue, Horizontal Sync, and Vertical Sync, at 31khz (not 15khz like RGBs). Flat/wide screen Sony Trinitron CRTs come to mind, the silver-coloured ones of the early 2000's when the PS2 dominated.

Hi Adam - Great video as usual. Just Pre-ordered my Akura yesterday. Just wondering what model of Hauppagge PVR you use to capture game footage ?

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Hauppauge HD PVR 2.

@albey1816

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks Man.

I had always thought that the native VGA output support was based on the PowerVR video chipset was based on something that would be found in a PC video card (and there was a PC model using the same Series2 PowerVR chip - Neon 250).

you know ya shit mate .great video

@AdamKoralik

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks.