nmalinoski wrote:
… what can be done to enable compatibility on NTSC TVs that don’t support 50Hz? … and would it involve dropped frames?
RunnerPack wrote:
50->60Hz would actually require inserting a frame after every fifth one.
If you buy a flat screen in Europe today, it supports all the HDMI / Blu-ray formats – incuding 60 Hz. So I would have guessed that this only was a problem with CRTs and that modern screens worldwide also support all the HDMI formats today, including 50 Hz?
But converting the VB’s 50.2Hz to 50Hz would still require dropping one frame every five seconds, though.
It’s good that you can get a TV that works, but there is much less support for 50Hz outside of PAL territories, which is why I specified compatibility with NTSC TVs. My US-market Samsung LCD does not support 50Hz or any kind of PAL or PAL-like video, although chances are good that the 4K TCL TV I’ve been looking at should work fine with 50Hz.
Elrinth wrote:
afaik Furrtek is the only one working on something able to output video to a tvscreen.
do you have a homemade board/system which can read the vb graphics data from it’s chips and output hdmi already?
The wording of the original post is that this was only brainstorming; and, as far as I can tell, there are no prototypes, and nothing has yet been announced.
UHATEIT wrote:
There were replacements on ebay for $15 and then for $10 there are ones on Amazon. I am half tempted to just get one and see how well it is and smells. I tried putting my used one in a plastic bag with a dryer sheet as recommended but it dodn;t seem to do much for it at all.
Not smell related, but, if you’re talking about the RepairBox visors, and you intend to use one on your VB, keep in mind that you may need to poke new holes in the material so that it fits properly on the bracket.
At least with the one I bought a while back, it was the same dimensions as the original, but the holes weren’t punched with the same spacing, so it fit tighter around the bracket, leaving way too much excess where your nose is supposed to fit.
I came up with a bunch of things to think about for such a mod, but I unfortunately can’t edit my previous post, so a new one it is.
How, precisely, should such a mod handle the 3D convergence? I agree that players should be able to turn off 3D for some type of 2D play. Would it be possible to make the convergence be adjustable, as it is with the 3DS?
What kinds of 3D modes would be supported? Color anaglyph? Over/under? Active shutter? (Admittedly, I have a poor understanding of how 3D is handled over HDMI.)
What kind of scaling should be used? Would it be simple, lag-free line-doubling/-tripling/etc., a la the OSSC; or would there be a full framebuffer with more sophisticated scaling, and therefore some degree of lag; and could that more sophisticated scaling be disabled in favor of the simple line doubling, like the UltraHDMI’s Direct Mode?
What resolutions beyond (I assume) 720×480, 1280×720, and 1920×1080 should be supported, if any? I would hope 16:10 and 4:3 resolutions would be available.
Since the VB runs at 50Hz, and I can imagine that wouldn’t be a problem in PAL regions (where the VB wasn’t sold), what can be done to enable compatibility on NTSC TVs that don’t support 50Hz? Would there need to be framerate conversion to enable compatibility on 60Hz displays? How would that look, and would it involve dropped frames?
How would the output options be configured? Simply with the proposed switches and watching the output for changes? Or would this have some sort of OSD, and, if so, would that OSD be visible on both the HDMI output and the native displays (since it’ll be fitted between the main and the display boards), or just the HDMI output?
How would such a mod handle a change in displays, such as if you were to take your VB to a friend’s or relative’s house? If you have your mod normally outputting to something like a 1920×1200 monitor at that resolution, then plug it into a display that supports a max of 1920×1080, does the mod behave? Does it keep outputting at 1920×1200, because that’s what it was configured to use and then require the user to change the resolution, or does it check the EDID info for the connected display (when available) and automatically fall back on the next-best compatible resolution?
And speaking of potentially incompatible configurations, assuming no OSD is available on the native displays, how would users perform a factory reset and get it back to a compatible default?
When the HDMI output is active, would such a mod mute audio on the VB, including or excluding the headphone jack?
If installation will indeed require soldering for power, I suggest including some kind of connector so the mod can be removed/replaced without desoldering anything.
I wouldn’t be able to try the 3D (except maybe an anaglyph mode), but if anyone’s going to make something like this, count me in for a test board; I have two VBs I’ve been itching for more use after NES Freak repaired them.
It would probably have to go out one of the speaker inserts; the way the VB is constructed, there wouldn’t be an easy way to make or install a no-cut sandwich mod, like what has been done with HDMI mods for the original Game Boy and the front-loader NES.
On the bright side, this would be a damn easy install; you’d really just need a long game bit driver to get the bottom shell off.
If you actually want to use the case for storage, I would look into either keeping the case you have as a collector’s item and not using it, while getting a second case to actually use; or take the foam out, put it in a trash bag (labeled, of course) for protection, and look into making your own foam inserts that you can [relatively] easily replace.
Probably not. If you have a US-market AC tap, it expects the US/EU-style SNES plug, which is 5.5mm OD, 2.5mm ID, 9.5mm length. The adapter you linked looks like it uses the Japanese SFC-style connector. It might work if you have the Japanese-market AC tap, as I believe that is compatible with the FC and SFC AC adapters.
Dreammary wrote:
You will never regret having the permanent solder fix done to your Virtual Boy.
Agreed. I recently got both of my Virtual Boys repaired by NES Freak, and I don’t think one has worked properly like this since I bought it, and the other never worked properly; I don’t think I’ll ever have to do anything with the ribbon cables again.
