VOGONS


First post, by enloop

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This is something I am wondering because there's been similar feats done with old consoles as an example but I cannot locate anything PC related.

Can I do this? I understand it most likely depends on the Gfx card but where should I begin/ what should I look for when attempting to to do this?
I can't stand those very subtle fuzzy/blurry edges that surrounds the text on my monitor when I'm using VGA. 😠

Reply 1 of 10, by Jorpho

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enloop wrote:

there's been similar feats done with old consoles

The only one that comes to mind is the Analogue Nt, which I suspect contains an RGB mod plus a discrete analog-to-digital converter. Modding an old console to natively provide digital video is unlikely.

Reply 2 of 10, by candle_86

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Your best bet is a VGA to DVI Active Adapter that will need external power usually via an open USB port, that will make it a DVI digital signal, and if the system doesn't have USB you can always snake a USB cable to a diffrent running computer with USB, not sure aobut USB Wall warts however I wouldn't try them.

Reply 3 of 10, by Aideka

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The problem with adapters might be, that if you have a blurry picture coming out from your VGA port, then making the signal digital after the blur is already there won't do anything useful. In some cases those adapters might actually make the picture worse than what you have now, depending on your screen, its ADC and the adapters own ADC.

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Reply 4 of 10, by PhilsComputerLab

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I think what the OP has in mind is something like that HDMI Nintendo 64 mod.

A VGA card for example uses a DAC. So I think he is wondering if that digital signal, before it goes through the DAC, could be scaled up to a modern format. A Freesync compatible screen would handle the refresh rates just fine and the scaling should be DOS / Retro friendly.

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Reply 5 of 10, by enloop

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UPDATE: I have searched for a driver for my monitor. From there it allowed more refresh rates as well as a better color profile to match the profile in the monitor's settings. Coincidentally I end up finding a Sharpness setting on the monitor's menu. I didn't see it before because they use symbols for some of the settings and I didn't really bother to look at it. It was originally it was set to 5 and I raised it to the max (10). It looks much better now and I think that's as good as it's gonna get. I really love how the color pops out now though. 😘 Yay

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

I think what the OP has in mind is something like that HDMI Nintendo 64 mod.

A VGA card for example uses a DAC. So I think he is wondering if that digital signal, before it goes through the DAC, could be scaled up to a modern format. A Freesync compatible screen would handle the refresh rates just fine and the scaling should be DOS / Retro friendly.

You have the right idea but I realize what I was asking for was not what I was really trying to do. Essentially I'm trying to just increase the sharpness on the LCD monitor I'm using. It's pretty close to the TFT screen of the laptop but the laptop looks slightly more sharper and also has a more truer black color which I don't know if that's helping it look sharper.

I played with the monitor's settings and I was able to choose a lower gamma setting that made the black colors look more darker and almost enhancing the look of the sharpness but I can still see the difference. Any specific settings I can tweak on the system or monitor to help output an improved sharpness? I'm still looking 😐

Reply 6 of 10, by enloop

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I have not been able to set True Color (32 bit) AND a resolution of 1280 by 1024 pixels at the same time. Whenever I try to set it to 32 bit color the resolution drops to 1024 by 768 pixels. Why? Is this limitation related to the graphics card, driver, monitor, video ram or ??? I'm trying to find some specific spec sheet on my S3 Savage/IX 16mb card. Depending on what is causing the limitation, can I change any settings to force it?

Reply 7 of 10, by Jorpho

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Yes, that sounds like it's probably a limitation of the video RAM on the graphics card.

I think Scitech Display Doctor/UniVBE provides a useful means of finding all the video modes supported by your card.

I don't think using True Color would accomplish much in your case.

Reply 8 of 10, by Azarien

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enloop wrote:

I have not been able to set True Color (32 bit) AND a resolution of 1280 by 1024 pixels at the same time. Whenever I try to set it to 32 bit color the resolution drops to 1024 by 768 pixels. Why?

One image of 1024x768x32bit takes 3 MB of video RAM, while 1280x1024x32bit takes 5 MB.
For double-buffering you need twice that.

Reply 9 of 10, by enloop

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Azarien wrote:
enloop wrote:

I have not been able to set True Color (32 bit) AND a resolution of 1280 by 1024 pixels at the same time. Whenever I try to set it to 32 bit color the resolution drops to 1024 by 768 pixels. Why?

One image of 1024x768x32bit takes 3 MB of video RAM, while 1280x1024x32bit takes 5 MB.
For double-buffering you need twice that.

I tried setting the resolution on the laptop to 640 and I even set it to 256 colors still nothing 🙁 Could I still be low on memory or whaaat... I should dig more into it but I'm caught up with some other stuff atm. The card has 16MB so I don't see the problem. Know any generic software that helps control the graphics card settings more directly? I have everest, but I don't know really from what I see.

Reply 10 of 10, by Jorpho

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enloop wrote:
Azarien wrote:
enloop wrote:

I have not been able to set True Color (32 bit) AND a resolution of 1280 by 1024 pixels at the same time. Whenever I try to set it to 32 bit color the resolution drops to 1024 by 768 pixels. Why?

One image of 1024x768x32bit takes 3 MB of video RAM, while 1280x1024x32bit takes 5 MB.
For double-buffering you need twice that.

I tried setting the resolution on the laptop to 640 and I even set it to 256 colors still nothing 🙁

This is unclear. Are you saying you cannot switch to 640x480x256?