Will a standard resolution monitor sync to a 480 lines interlaced signal?

roothorick

Active member
Joined
Apr 2, 2008
Messages
1,336
Reaction score
14
Location
Wisconsin
Will a standard resolution monitor sync to a 480 lines interlaced signal?

I see what appears to be interlace shimmer on the monitors of our Time Crisis 4, and I have a theory as to what they did, but I'd like to ask the gurus if this is even possible.

Will a standard resolution monitor sync to an interlaced VGA signal? I mean, the theory fits, 480i has sync rates of 15kHz/30Hz (same as 240p aka standard res), but I don't know if interlace sync works any differently. Has anyone ever tried it? I could imagine building a YPbPr->RGB converter and sync separator and using it to hook up a game console to an arcade monitor.

Why I ask, is what I think they did is made the game for VGA, interlaced the signal on the RSX (remember, PS2 based), and simply put standard res monitors in the machine. Since the sync rates for 480i and 240p are the same, the monitor doesn't know the difference. Boom, high res on a std monitor. MAWS says TC1-3 were 640x480 as well, wouldn't be surprised if they used the same trick throughout the entire series.

If it works, that means 1024x768 on a medium res, and 1280x960 (!) on a high res, are both completely within the realm of possibility. So, a game maker could do real HD resolution games as kits for cabinets with Wells D-series or other tri-sync chassis, assuming the digital sync circuits are smart enough (or dumb enough?) to gracefully handle interlaced signalling.
 
Answered my own question -- yes, yes it will. Sega ST-V BIOS runs in VGA-interlaced before handing off to the game, which may or may not switch to standard progressive. In fact, a LOT of games from the mid-to-late 90s ran in VGA-interlaced and were intended to be hooked up to std res monitors. Probably still a common practice today.
 
Back
Top Bottom