Just a heads up for anyone looking for an easy way to play virtual boys on regular monitors!

Their site about the Virtual Tap mod (VGA and RGB)
http://furrtek.free.fr/virtualtap/

Currently asking Furrtek to get myself an order in, if this works it’ll be awesome!

Really impressive work. I like the mini VB console.

cool idea and not too expensive.
might concider 😛

just thinking if you want the internal displays to work,
where you put the internal display cable? because the mod replaces one?

[ziggaboogi]

After talking to them apparently it’s an adapter that connects between the main VB board and the LED displays.

So it would go like

Main Board -> Virtual Tap Mod -> Regular LED display

The only real modification to the system itself you have to do is to create a hole somewhere in the plastic casing for the video port to come out.

Edit:

As pointed out below, it looks like you’ll need to solder the original ribbon cable to connect this board to the original internal displays. Not quite as plug in play as I expected but still great that someone has created this mod.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by ziggaboogi.

It looks like you have to solder on the display cable to this board to still have the functioning internal display.

Oof, yeah it looks like it. I was planning on getting it for a spare head unit that doesn’t have the LED boards. So connecting the internal LEDs wasn’t really a concern of mine.

I’ll edit my earlier post to show it’s not quite as easy as cutting a hole.

I wish I had the soldering skill to pull that off. I’d love a version of the home console VB that Furrtek made too. I can’t begin to imagine what a kit like that would cost.

It's done! @furrtek pic.twitter.com/KI05qzc8dW

— wuffmallow.bsky.social (@Wuffmallow) September 1, 2018

retronintendonerd wrote:
I wish I had the soldering skill to pull that off. I’d love a version of the home console VB that Furrtek made too. I can’t begin to imagine what a kit like that would cost.

https://twitter.com/welshwuff/status/1035927080880492544

That’s cool! So unfortunate that it requires soldering; I’d prefer some kind of no-solder solution that can fit in between the mainboard and the flex cables to the LED boards. I think that would make it possible to sell reversible home console conversion kits.

Might also be cool to have swappable video output boards, so you could choose whether you want SCART, YPbPr, RGBHV/VGA, or HDMI output, assuming it’s not feasible to implement more than one at a time.

I already asked them and they mentioned that you can install one video board on each side of the main board.

So my current plan is to make a standalone VB console that has both RGB and VGA outputs. Seeing as I have a spare main VB board with no LED displays.

Hey,

Just registered to say this: there’s no soldering of the ribbon cable required. There are two connectors: one for the provided ribbon cable that goes to the main board, and one for the original display’s ribbon cable.

The only soldering required is for the video output and palette switch (7 wires max.)

I’ll make that clearer on the page and the install manual soon.

Thanks for your interest in my work 🙂

furrtek wrote:
Hey,

Just registered to say this: there’s no soldering of the ribbon cable required. There are two connectors: one for the provided ribbon cable that goes to the main board, and one for the original display’s ribbon cable.

The only soldering required is for the video output and palette switch (7 wires max.)

I’ll make that clearer on the page and the install manual soon.

Thanks for your interest in my work 🙂

Oh that’s fantastic! This makes it much more accessible to me with my soldering skills. I’m glad you finally joined the forum. Myself and many others on Twitter were hoping you would so you could talk about your work.

furrtek wrote:

Thanks for your interest in my work 🙂

Great to see you finally here!! 😀
Can’t wait to get my hands on one of these bad boys!

@furrtek, I second what @retronintendonerd wrote! Many of us have been aware of your work for quite some time since, as I’m sure you would not be surprised to learn, some of the systems you have modded in the past belong to members of this site and they have showcased them with pride! And I saw the recent video posted on Twitter by the person that put together the VB console (I’m the guy who commented that PlanetVB memebers would love this, btw). I’m quite interested in what your board opens up and still thinking about what route I may want to take on this personally… but you have come to the right place!

We have members that are skilled at soldering/repair/hardware mods, board design and fabrication, design and 3D printing of parts and enclosures, software development, game development, and more! Unfortunately, I am only skilled in providing financial support for some of these efforts 😀

In addition to the dual use application of your board, I am imagining the various talents of this site coming together to develop a kit (or the parts/plans) to consolize a VB (with irreparable displays for example) in an beautiful, clean, tidy little package… 💡

retronintendonerd wrote:

furrtek wrote:

…

Thanks for your interest in my work 🙂

…

Oh that’s fantastic! This makes it much more accessible to me with my soldering skills. I’m glad you finally joined the forum. Myself and many others on Twitter were hoping you would so you could talk about your work.

furrtek wrote:
Hey,

Just registered to say this: there’s no soldering of the ribbon cable required. There are two connectors: one for the provided ribbon cable that goes to the main board, and one for the original display’s ribbon cable.

The only soldering required is for the video output and palette switch (7 wires max.)

I’ll make that clearer on the page and the install manual soon.

Thanks for your interest in my work 🙂

Thanks for clarifying!

furrtek wrote:

The only soldering required is for the video output and palette switch (7 wires max.)

That definitely makes it easier, but I might go as far as replacing the solder points with headers and premade DE-15/SCART dongles and palette switches; then it can be sold as a complete no-solder kit with an enclosure. (Unless soldering is needed to replace the mirror assemblies with that

What is the reason for having two separate versions of the board rather than one version of the board that, for example, has a jumper or a mode switch for toggling between 800×600 and 240p modes?

Also, why not an additional jumper or mode switch for toggling between 60Hz and the native 50Hz? My understanding was that the VB displays run at 50Hz, so won’t framerate conversion to 60Hz introduce studder?

Didn’t join sooner because I didn’t have much to share apart from research on the LED display. Even if that could have been a reason, everything’s already on my website. Not very suitable to start a discussion :p

Originally I planned to only sell the board to mod shops, as I really didn’t want to deal with people not following instructions and breaking everything.
That’s why I’m only proposing the bare bones kit right now. Maybe I’ll add an option to buy it pre-wired with the appropriate connectors later on.

The reason for having two versions is simply cost reduction. The logic for both versions couldn’t fit in the CPLD I currently use. To fit both, I’d have to use a larger, more expensive chip.
So in the end, the price would have been (slightly) higher and half of the logic would be wasted anyways.

About the 50/60Hz mismatch, I could change the NTSC version to provide a 50Hz output if interest is high enough. Otherwise the mismatch is dealt with the buffer mode jumper: you can either chose to have a single buffer (tearing, max 1-frame lag) or a double buffer (no tearing, 1-2 frame lag).

Sorry for the quick reply, if something needs to be detailed more, poke me !

[RunnerPack]

Are there any options for 3D output? e.g. could one buy two of these and output the R channel of one and the G & B channels of the other to one monitor and use anaglyph glasses, or would they not sync up? Could you make a version that could talk to each other and output a half side-by-side or over/under video signal, for use with 3D-capable displays?

EDIT: I just found the video you posted. It looks like a perfectly fine anaglyph output, like you’d get from an emulator. I have no idea why it’s listed under “no, it won’t work” in the FAQ, when it clearly does…

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by RunnerPack.

when it clearly does…

So you tried it, right ? You tried anaglyph mode in fullscreen on a 24″ monitor or projector, standing less than 3 meters away and the depth illusion worked ?

I’m sorry but I only see 2 flickering pictures. The max separation I get on Teleroboxer is about 6cm, which is way too large to work.
I’d question my sight but the 3 other people who tried it said the same thing (didn’t condition their answer, just asked if it worked).

Really wondering (no sarcasm) if it works for you, and if it’s the case, would like to understand !

furrtek wrote:

when it clearly does…

So you tried it, right ? You tried anaglyph mode in fullscreen on a 24″ monitor or projector, standing less than 3 meters away and the depth illusion worked ?

Yes, I have used Mednafen in both anaglyph and passive polarized mode, on a 23″ monitor (ASUS VG23AH), sitting at my desk, with the monitor about 3′ away, and the depth worked perfectly. It even works with your cam footage on the YT video (although not as well since you’re at an angle to the screen). There should be no problem with the separation, since it just overlays the screens pixel-for-pixel, which is the way VB games were designed to be viewed (with the IPD set correctly).

I’m honestly curious about why it doesn’t work for some people; especially VB fans. Maybe the real reason 3D displays never catch on is because those of us it “just works” for are in the minority of the population…

[Elrinth]

Installed mine today. Works like a clock. Thanks furrtek <3
only one detail I wish you could add for next person. please tell where to grab the 5V from, it wasn't crystal clear. I took mine from pin4 of the U8.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUQRLf2clSA&feature=youtu.be

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by Elrinth.

Thanks for sharing ! Glad it’s working fine.
It never happened but I’m always a bit worried that a weak solder point might crack because of shocks and temperature differences when shipping hand-assembled boards.

Thanks also for reminding me about the 5V line info. I was ready to add it to the final instructions but since I have to make another revision of the board, I’ll add a “SCART switch voltage” pad on it directly.

RunnerPack: I do have troubles seeing artificial depth in 3D movies, polarized or active. The 3DS and the similar lenticular advertisment displays work, but it still isn’t great. Only the VB really worked for me.
That’s why I asked other people to try the anaglyph output, but maybe they also had a similar “handicap”.

Technically speaking, it could be done on my board with just an additionnal wire and maybe a larger CPLD. Might try proposing it for people who are sure that the effect works for them.