The Dreamcast VGA Box is an accessory for the

Dreamcast The is the final home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was released in Japan on November 27, 1998, in North America on September 9, 1999 and in Europe on October 14, 1999. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, prec ...

, a video game console produced by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

, that allows it to output to a

computer monitor A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or textual form. A discrete monitor comprises a electronic visual display, visual display, support electronics, power supply, Housing (engineering), housing, electri ...

or a

high-definition television High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...

(HDTV) set through a

VGA connector The Video Graphics Array (VGA) connector is a standard connector used for computer video output. Originating with the 1987 IBM PS/2 and its VGA graphics system, the 15-pin connector went on to become ubiquitous on PCs, as well as many monitors ...

480p 480p is the shorthand name for a family of video display resolutions. The p stands for progressive scan, i.e. non-interlaced. The ''480'' denotes a vertical resolution of 480 pixels, usually with a horizontal resolution of 640 pixels and 4:3 a ...

, otherwise known as

progressive scan Progressive scanning (alternatively referred to as noninterlaced scanning) is a format of displaying, storing, or transmitting moving images in which all the lines of each frame are drawn in sequence. This is in contrast to interlaced video us ...

. The Dreamcast was one of the first consoles to support 480p and HDTV in general. Sega released the VGA Box as an official accessory in Japan on January 14, 1999, at an

MSRP The list price, also known as the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or the recommended retail price (RRP), or the suggested retail price (SRP) of a product is the price at which its manufacturer notionally recommends that a retailer ...

of ¥7000; it was only available in the United States via Sega's

online store Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the ...

, retailing between $30 and $50. Though the VGA Box did not receive a release in Europe, PAL consoles can use it since it has no

regional lockout A regional lockout (or region coding) is a class of digital rights management preventing the use of a certain product or service, such as multimedia or a hardware device, outside a certain region or territory. A regional lockout may be enforced t ...

The official VGA Box includes a

for video output and a

headphone jack A phone connector is a family of cylindrically-shaped electrical connectors primarily for analog audio signals. Invented in the late 19th century for tele''phone'' switchboards, the phone connector remains in use for interfacing wired a ...

for

stereo audio Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

output; it also includes an

S-Video S-Video (also known as separate video, Y/C, and erroneously Super-Video) is an analog video signal format that carries standard-definition video, typically at 525 lines or 625 lines. It encodes video luma and chrominance on two separate chann ...

connector and

RCA connector The RCA connector is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry analog audio and video signals. The name refers to the popular name of Radio Corporation of America, which introduced the design in the 1930s. Typically, the output i ...

s for

composite video Composite video, also known as CVBS (composite video baseband signal or color, video, blanking and sync), is an analog video format that combines image information—such as brightness (luminance), color (chrominance), and synchronization, int ...

and stereo audio. Most third-party versions are functionally identical to Sega's model, but some designs like Performance's add features such as VGA

passthrough Passthrough (or pass-through) may refer to: * Passthrough (electronics), a device used to pass an unmodified signal ** Analog passthrough ** Pass through device (automotive) ** Passthrough, a term used to describe the use of cameras with head-up d ...

. Most Dreamcast games are compatible with the VGA Box so long as they display in 640×480; this applies to most 3D titles. Games marked as incompatible typically present an error message upon boot; such a designation was determined via a simple toggle switch in the game's code. As such, VGA output from most incompatible games can be forced via having the VGA Box unplugged while booting a game, temporarily switching the VGA Box into TV mode while booting a game, or using a boot disc such as DC-X. This loophole is not possible for games that only display in lower resolutions, with most sprite-based games rendered fully incompatible with VGA output as a result. Though a handful of sprite-based games supported VGA, most notably ones from

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

, at least some, if not all of their sprites were originally designed for lower-resolution displays and may resultingly appear less detailed when displayed through VGA due to poor

image scaling In computer graphics and digital imaging, image scaling refers to the resizing of a digital image. In video technology, the magnification of digital material is known as upscaling or resolution enhancement. When scaling a vector graphic image ...

References

Notes

External links

*
DCTP - Dreamcast VGA Box
* {{Sega, Dreamcast Sega hardware

VGA Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the IBM PC compatible industry within three years. T ...

See also

References

Notes

External links