Page 1 of 1

Taking DC screen shots

Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 12:22 am
by afaik
I've been wanting to put up a web page for some time and thought I might add a section to Sega's consoles. So I'm thinking, what's the best way to take screen shots of the dreamcast so fans can check out the quality of the games. Many gaming sites have pictures of low quality so I would really like to have some nice pics up with little compression. Maybe even do a comparison of the same games that ran on different systems.

What is the best way of going about with taking the pics from the console directly. I know there are some high resolution DC pics up that are 1600x1200, but those were taken from an emulator. I'd prefer to have the actual system running instead, just seems more authentic. But does that mean I'll be limited to 640x480?

Graphics were made such an important part of that era, and the DC both shone brightly and was dragged through the mud. I'm sure I can find a couple good games to show off the console.

I have an ati All In Wonder Card that I've experimented with, but I wasn't thrilled about the quality compared to the DC's VGA output since I had to use s-video. Pre DC/PS2 consoles, I figure I can use the AIW with minimal noticeable corruption of the pic. Anyone have any experience with what I'm talking about to lend some advice? Or is what I'm asking for only achievable from emulators?

Re: Taking DC screen shots

Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 10:27 am
by Falco Girgis
Actually, I wish that I knew more about the subject. Most people use "video capture cards" that have VGA input, I do believe. And I'm almost fairly certain that you would have a perfect (VGA) quality image this way.

Of course an emulator would give you a perfect quality image as well (screenshot). The only problem is that I'm not sure if DC emulation is far enough to emulate every game without any sort of graphical flaws.