ZX-VGA-JOY - Would this ever be possible on a CPC?

[Syncmaster319]

VGA on a Speccy... Is this theoretically possible on the CPC?

It looks amazing.

http://www.indieretronews.com/2019/09/zx-vga-joy-fabulous-speccy-hardware_26.html

Live in action..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkzzTLYRqZk&t=149s

[Bryce]

Possible - Yes. But, just like this device, it would be incompatible with all and any software that hadn't been specifically written for it. What's the point?

Bryce.

[Skunkfish]

I got the impression that this device works with existing software on the Speccy?

[Bryce]

It specifically says that it's not a converter, which if true, means that it has it's own VRAM which the software would need to be writing to. It also has several VGA resolutions that are higher than the Speccy Res.


Bryce.

[Duke]

You could monitor IO writes to have all CRTC and GA settings aswell as RAM writes, that would be relatively easy.
The hard part is rendering the output signal with all the tricky CRTC effects in realtime.

[scruss]

With a bit of fiddling and a RetroTINK board, you could likely do Amstrad CPC → HDMI. The results I've seen from other machines are truly stellar: very sharp, no latency/tearing.

[LambdaMikel]

You could monitor IO writes to have all CRTC and GA settings aswell as RAM writes, that would be relatively easy.

@zhulien had shared this link a while ago; this card does exactly this


https://www.bytedelight.com/?page_id=1800

[Bryce]

So I did some more checking last night. It seems it's reading the original VRAM area and upscaling. So it would be compatible with existing software, and give you all the colour clash any Speccy user could wish for :DTechnically this would be also possible on the CPC, but slightly more difficult to do due to the CPC's architecture.

Bryce.

[||C|-|E||]

It certainly looks very nice!! I always struggle to get the desired picture quality from old devices in new displays. Lately, I found that the OSSC covers all my needs, although I still use the Amstrad with the original CRT screens. The OSSC works beautifully with it though, but I keep it connected to the Megadrive. However, something like this device would be superior: the OSSC is just an upscaler and anything like jailbars, etc. gets upscaled too. In my case, I happen to love machines famous for having them: the Amstrad Plus range and the SEGA 16 bit systems. You can mod both to reduce their impact, but still, it would be beautiful to completely get rid of them and other artifacts 

[SkulleateR]

I would absolutely love to see anything like the zxjoy for my amstrad, maybe even adding three joy ports, so we can have 4P games ? Just a wish 

[Bryce]

There are already "4 joystick adapter" solutions for the CPC.

Bryce.

[SkulleateR]

I Know, but then I don't have to buy two devices 

[LambdaMikel]

The only game I could imagine that would be fun with 4 players is M.U.L.E.
Which was never ported to the CPC AFAIK...

[SkulleateR]

The only game I could imagine that would be fun with 4 players is M.U.L.E.
Which was never ported to the CPC AFAIK...

Wow M.U.L.E. !! Played it a lot on my friends C128 


Hmmm, M.U.L.E. on CPC, let me think about it .... 

[villain]

The only game I could imagine that would be fun with 4 players is M.U.L.E.
Which was never ported to the CPC AFAIK...

Megablasters is still GREAT FUN with four players!

[Syncmaster319]

So I did some more checking last night. It seems it's reading the original VRAM area and upscaling. So it would be compatible with existing software, and give you all the colour clash any Speccy user could wish for :DTechnically this would be also possible on the CPC, but slightly more difficult to do due to the CPC's architecture.

Bryce.

Thanks All..... interesting.

I have an OSSC which is great but its not perfect.  Eg... during the Pinball Dream loading screens its loses sync, main game is fine though.  Seen this with some demos.

I think it struggles with interlace signals.... I am no expert so may be wrong!


Mark

[Bryce]

Most converters have issues if the software is using CRTC tricks to create effects. Analogue CRT's will display whatever you send them, but any digital display (which use signal sampling) sets and remains with timing it sensed when it booted or was manually set.

Bryce.