Discussion UltraVGA - Interest Check

Noah

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Hello Nintendo 64 enthusiasts,

As some of you may know, the N64 has long been plagued by composite video being the only source of video out due to there not being any other alternative other than RGB on the earlier revisions. However, as we all know that means you can't trim as much off of the boards and the only screen we know of that takes RGB is the ever-costly PSone/Zenith screen.

However, ShockSlayer has reached out to N64 legend Marshallh, creator of products such as the 64Drive and UltraHDMI, and he has come up with a solution. Enter, UltraVGA (name not final.)



This board, based on UltraHDMI, will be able to equip any N64 with 480p VGA out and features some UltraHDMI features like gamma, deblurring, etc. This will also allow for the N64 to be trimmed much smaller as you will be able to remove the stock encoder/DAC.

Most eBay VGA screens will NOT accept interlaced signals for portables, making this the only full VGA solution for modern N64 portables.

Marshall needs to know how many boards to expect to produce, so we need to know, how many of you are interesting in getting one or more of these boards?

Expected cost: $50-60 per board depending on amount of boards

If you would have the money for one or multiple boards and would be interested in getting one, please post below with the desired quantity.

Thanks!
 
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ttsgeb

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I would like to be signed up for 3ish of them because VGA is the one true video signal.
When would the group buy take place so I can have the funds set aside? Is there a threshold we need to reach, or just when you all feel like it?
 

ShockSlayer

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@ttsgeb We're gonna make this Friday our cutoff point. If the thread doesn't pick up much between now and then, we'll probably cutoff earlier so that we can get a final price-point so you guys know exactly how much we need from you. If it's more than 60 each we'll cover the difference.

Right now, with Gman, ttsgeb, Noah and I, that puts us at a total order of 15. If we get more orders, it might be cheaper per person.
 

Shank

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Interesting. I'd love to make an n64 portable... eventually. Put me down for one.

What advantages would this offer that gc video n64 wouldn't?
 

Noah

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GCVideo doesn't work on the N64 for portables.

It is only used as a DAC and outputs 240i, hence the reason it won't work on portable screens.

Also since this is based on UltraHDMI it'll have some of the features such as deblurring and gamma.

Also another also, this will run off of 3V3 which means the N64 doesn't need 7.4V in anymore since the 7085 only powers the on board DAC and the audio amp which most people cut off anyways. So now it is 100% possible and more efficient to run the N64 off of only 3.3V
 
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I would be down for 2 of 'em. :)
 
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Sent gerbers off for a couple prototypes to make sure the design is good.
If we reach more units I will probalby change fabs and this will help reach the target price (I'm not making any money with this, direct cost)
 

ShockSlayer

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Very nice. Also, for those of you who're curious about wiring this up; this picture shows the breakout pads(1-17) underneath the FFC connector. They're also labeled on the bottom of the board, so this will be easy to wire up.
 
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Interested in 1-2, quick question; how will this interact with PAL N64s; will they output 576p?
 
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Interested in 1-2, quick question; how will this interact with PAL N64s; will they output 576p?
The short answer is: not well.

It depends entirely on the ability of the screen to sync to a signal besides standard VESA 640x480 (this is not a DTV standard, it's a PC monitor standard).
I'd have to look at one of those screen datasheets to know if it will take 576p (which is a digital TV standard). The board can generate anything up to a 50mhz pixel clock which is where the dac runs out of gas.
 
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