Playing console games with a TV card...

[phan108]

Well, as the topic says, I want to play console games with a TV card. However, how good is the quality? I'm running a very capable 1280x1024 LCD screen, and right now, I'm using an external Viewsonic machine that hooks up directly to the analog cable of my LCD screen. The quality is pretty subpar. Everything is blurry and the colors stink. Plus, there's a whole bunch of shadows when it goes from a blackscreen to another one. It's a pretty big eyesore.

Can a TV card give me the same sharp quality or at least close to the same quality of a normal TV? And if so, what are the cheapest video cards that you would recommend? I'm not looking for something outstanding, just something very decent.

[Evander]

depends on the software you use. powervcr was bundled with my card. image from a playstation was less than tv quality, but the real bummer was the horizontal shearing/tearing of the screen.

if you have a tv card compatible with dscaler available free at www.dscaler.org I think you will be quite pleased with the picture. set the picture to 720x480 (default setting is lower I believe), adjust the colors/contrast/brightness/sharpness, adjust the deinterlace filter if desired, and you've got yourself a fine looking picture, probably you can see more detail than on your tv (when I tried tekken I could clearly see the eyeballs and facial features which i didn't much notice before)

as for which cards are compatible with dscaler I don't know. all i know is that my card works (asus tv 880). but if you check their site or ask around you can probably find a suitable card for you but I recommend you get one with svideo input

[phan108]

Thanks for the info. Did some research and I think I might have a go at it and buy a cheep WinTV-Go card.

[lordsmurf]

I think an ATI ALL IN WONDER may be perfect for this. I has a nice playback quality and does fullscreen in ATI MMC.

[Shocker Milwaukee]

My suck-ass TV card introduces a slight delay while converting the signal, thus prohibiting real-time playback of video games.

Have a nice day!

[g8r]

I tried and wasnt happy with the results in dscaler and ati. using tv wonder card. was happier with used $10 tv.

[deckard8]

I think for the best picture you're gonna have to bypass the card altogether and go for a direct connection between console and monitor. There are vga adaptor cables available for most consoles. Do a search on Google.

[Evander]

Sorry my advice didn't help. Did you remember to change the resolution to 720x480? It definitely won't look tv quality if you don't do that (or at least 640x480). You can also ask on the dscaler forums on how to optimize for your particular console as there are probably others who have tried the same thing

[lordsmurf]

I tried and wasnt happy with the results in dscaler and ati. using tv wonder card. was happier with used $10 tv.

That's a crappy card, the TV Wonder series. You should try the All In Wonder.

But the best advice was a direct monitor connection.

[Suntan]

Another option (unless you are playing the latest consoles IE: Gamecube, PSII or Xbox) would be to try emulation. Why hook up a console to a computer when you can use the computer itself?

There are free emulators for everything up to and including the first Playstation (I am currently reliving my youthful SuperNintendo years.)

-Suntan

[hrlslcbr]

phan108, can you tell me which viewsonic device you are using? I was tempted to buy one to play GameCube on my monitor (using YPbPr out, 480p) Thanks.

[dj4monie]

I have SNESX9, RockNES and ePSX

I agree, if you just want to play games from your PC, just use the emulator. I have NES. SNES and Playstation too and I ripped most of my own games or own the games for which I have ROMS for so its all legal.

For PSX games the access time from your HD can't be beaten by the machine. PSX games load 2-3X as fast as they would on the PS and PSOne I have, which both have 2X speed CDROM drives.

But...

If your trying to capture (which I most likely why you posted here) then use a good card like the Winfast series or All In Wonder card, which you can use your direct S video input and stereo from the game system and capture videos.

One of these days I'm going to capture my drifting from GT2...

Good Luck