Gpx2 Has Tv-out?

[Huxley]

Personally I wouldn't mind if this function invloved purchasing a small add-on, though built-in finctionality would be ideal as long as the cost isn't too high. Either way is good

 

[Miner49er]

I totally agree with craigix. I have a TV-out thingy for my GBA and it's ace! It's cool to be able to play speccy games easily and quickly on any old TV!

 

[davey g]

That would require a re-design of the PC-board. That will probably mean a delay. Who knows what will be left out for cost reasons to make up for that connector or how much more will this cost now? Meh, it would have been much nicer to be able to play vertical MAME stuff and/or have a faster CPU instead of stupid blurry/smeary TV-out, which will be useless with HDTVs anyway.

​

Stop moaning so damned much. It's really getting on my nerves, and that's pretty hard to do.

 

[Dolfhin]

You're making quite a name for yourself DaveC, is their anything, anything at all that you DO like about the Gpx2.

Besides that we all know that the Gpx2 is only going to be bought by geeks, geeks love p0rno and nothing beats watching p0rn on the big screen! If I had to decide between the PSP and GPx2 I would definly pick the GPx2 for the porno alone!

 

[Jarska333]

except for the fact that all you really have to do to play an emulator on your computer is press 2 buttons and move your mouse like... 3 inches or less... Please tell me I'm not the only one who uses the quicklaunch bar... I really fail to see how it's any more of a pain in the ass to use the computer.

​

Only works if your PC is on 24/7. It's boot time that's annoying, not the button pressing.

"Anarchy @ gp32spain has confirmed that TV-OUT will be integrated, but will need just an optional cable "

And he knows, because? :huh:

 

[Captainbubby]

It might sound silly to some, but I was thinking of getting the XGP, due in part to the TV out function (well if the XGP did turn out to be dev friendly and open source) but if the GPX2 will have it, then that is fantastic news.

Why?

Becuase then as well as a cool handheld device we have an all-in-one console. Any Xvid/Divx file we had on the comp we could watch on our TV, we could play console games the way they were ment to be played at home on the big TV and then continue playing them on the bus.

I love the whole TV out fuction, this is the Number one most exciting thing for me

I truly hope a fully working C64 emulator comes out for this one (among a billion other ones)

 

[White Demon]

That would require a re-design of the PC-board. That will probably mean a delay. Who knows what will be left out for cost reasons to make up for that connector or how much more will this cost now? Meh, it would have been much nicer to be able to play vertical MAME stuff and/or have a faster CPU instead of stupid blurry/smeary TV-out, which will be useless with HDTVs anyway.

​

Stop moaning so damned much. It's really getting on my nerves, and that's pretty hard to do.

​

I can see where DaveC is coming from. If it drives the cost up or delays production, I would say it's pointless too (especially if it drives up price, as they want it to cheap). But if not, then go for it.

 

[A600]

"Anarchy @ gp32spain has confirmed that TV-OUT will be integrated, but will need just an optional cable "

And he knows, because?  :huh:

Because he's gp32spain webmaster and GPH told him

 

[Tobriand]

Hmm... re: DaveC, I think he just dislikes change - for the last week or two he's been positively positive about the GPx2 from what posts I've seen, presumably having gotten used to the idea that everything is still - potentially - up in the air concerning what the console can do... Dave, you'll come round to the idea once you see it - trust Craig. Or don't. Up to you. But if its change you're against more than anything, then know it. And equally, if its delay you're concerned about, ask yourself why? After all, you've already pointed out many a time that the GPx2 has yesteryear's specs - so really, if its obsolete from the outset, what difference will a month of delay make?

So far as TV-out's concerned, I'm all for it - precisely because, as CraigX says, it means easy transportation of movies... I've on occasion tried watching GP32 encoded films at full screen, on a PC, and those usually are at least passable; would be so nice to be able to take a decent sized film collection round to peoples' houses simply with a handheld.

In addition, of course, it gives us a universal console, although I do think its worth pointing out that multiplayer may be awkward (except for turn-based multiplayer) simply because there won't - I'm sure - be pad input. Which would, of course, be cool, but that, unlike TV-out is hardly an essential.

Could be a nice first mod though

That said, if GPH could contrive to make the TV out a 2-way thing with a serial port connected too, that would render the situation in an entirely different light, simply because of all those adapters for the PC - playing on DRMD with a megadrive pad on a TV but using a console an eighth of the size would be insanely cool, especially if you could then switch over to a NES emulator shortly afterwards, before watching Last Samurai or something...

Very good news imho.

 

[Julius]

In addition, of course, it gives us a universal console, although I do think its worth pointing out that multiplayer may be awkward (except for turn-based multiplayer) simply because there won't - I'm sure - be pad input. Which would, of course, be cool, but that, unlike TV-out is hardly an essential.

Could be a nice first mod though

That said, if GPH could contrive to make the TV out a 2-way thing with a serial port connected too, that would render the situation in an entirely different light, simply because of all those adapters for the PC - playing on DRMD with a megadrive pad on a TV but using a console an eighth of the size would be insanely cool, especially if you could then switch over to a NES emulator shortly afterwards, before watching Last Samurai or something...

Very good news imho.

​

Well, Linux and SDL open new possibilities, for that kind of things.
I bet you could plug the USB connection in an externally powered USB hub, plug a few controllers into it and you are good to go (if the emulator supports it, but since most emulators are PC ports which have these functionality already build in, it would be really easy to implement).


Another thing I really like about this TV-out is, that it will probably not be blurry at all, since the gpx2 actually supports high resolution videofiles.

 

[triksR4rabits]

All I have to say is THANK GOD. for a portable media/emulation handheld, this is essential; now I'm even more excited... can't wait to see what kind of emu's come out for this thing

 

[DaveC]

So far as TV-out's concerned, I'm all for it - precisely because, as CraigX says, it means easy transportation of movies... I've on occasion tried watching GP32 encoded films at full screen, on a PC, and those usually are at least passable; would be so nice to be able to take a decent sized film collection round to peoples' houses simply with a handheld.

​

Well TV video encoders are pretty complex circuit wise, plus it will be using some power even if not in use decreasing battery life. That would add cost to it. It seems no one cares that this unit has a poor button layout for playing vertical MAME stuff, or a slow 200 MHz CPU and all they care about are movies. I for one have .00000001% interest in watching fuzzy low-res compression artifact ridden blurry movies through a crap RF cable on a shitty old TV, what a way to ruin the experience. HDTV is the future not this garbage. So we are sacrificing game playability for that? That sucks. It would be MUCH better to have a faster CPU for better emulation and a better button layout for the added cost. I don't see what the big draw is for watching shitty low res movies. Go get a portable DVD player or something.

 

[Cyclops]

Well TV video encoders are pretty complex circuit wise, plus it will be using some power even if not in use decreasing battery life. That would add cost to it. It seems no one cares that this unit has a poor button layout for playing vertical MAME stuff, or a slow 200 MHz CPU and all they care about are movies. I for one have .00000001% interest in watching fuzzy low-res compression artifact ridden blurry movies through a crap RF cable on a shitty old TV, what a way to ruin the experience. HDTV is the future not this garbage. So we are sacrificing game playability for that? That sucks. It would be MUCH better to have a faster CPU for better emulation and a better button layout for the added cost. I don't see what the big draw is for watching shitty low res movies. Go get a portable DVD player or something.

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Being not one who is exited by any tv-out cabability, because I can't imagine using it. Although places where is could be used have been stated, and clearly some people like it. It will sell better as a Media Player because of it, yeah!. TV-out has been included becuase its cheap to do on the chip. I'd like it cheaper still. The button layout has been discussed at length. Personally I'm glad that they have upped the buttons by two, but this has been discussed at length elsewhere.

 

[Sonic-NKT]

DaveC you are so annoying.. if it doesnt interest you than dont post.
I really like the movie feature, and will often use it... going on a long trip and take several movies with you on one sd + other stuff.
i really cant understand you, why are you talking about hdtv here? what has hdtv to do with playing some divx movies and emulator on the TV, im happy about this feature and will use it. At home: playing homebrew and emus on tv or taking a movie to a friend.
And DaveC, SNES, GENESIS, NeoGeo and all those other machines arent hdtv.. and hdtv movies are to big and i really dont need. Also.. why should i buy a portable DVD player when i want to watch a movie on the go, those units are muuuuch bigger than a gpx2 and much less portable.

 

[DaveC]

DaveC you are so annoying.. if it doesnt interest you than dont post.
I really like the movie feature, and will often use it... going on a long trip and take several movies with you on one sd + other stuff.
i really cant understand you, why are you talking about hdtv here? what has hdtv to do with playing some divx movies and emulator on the TV, im happy about this feature and will use it. At home: playing homebrew and emus on tv or taking a movie to a friend.
And DaveC, SNES, GENESIS, NeoGeo and all those other machines arent hdtv.. and hdtv movies are to big and i really dont need. Also.. why should i buy a portable DVD player when i want to watch a movie on the go, those units are muuuuch bigger than a gpx2 and much less portable.

​

So then get one of those Archos things. They hold alot more than an SD will and look better.

And this does concern me. It seems like gaming features are being sacrificed for other things like movies. The GP32 was a game/emu player first and a media player second. This time it seems GPH is going towards movies more and games less (hence the slow CPU). This is stupid because there are already tons of movie players out there. Why do we need yet another? The focus should be more on HB games because there aren't very many open handhelds out there anymore.

The comment about HDTV is referring to the fact that the old crummy NTSC/PAL format is on it's way out, and HDTV is on it's way in. This TV-out is supporting an obsolete and poor quality format. What will it be anyway? PAL? NTSC? which ever it will end up will make it useless for one regeon.

It would be ok if this was added by an external accessory but having it built-in just overcomplicates things and adds cost for those that don't want it. It just uses more power, is one more thing to break, and may even hurt the quality of the built in screen by introducing electrical noise to the screen or causing it to be dimmer because of power requirements.

 

[Alpha2]

So then get one of those Archos things.  They hold alot more than an SD will and look better.

And this does concern me.  It seems like gaming features are being sacrificed for other things like movies.  The GP32 was a game/emu player first and a media player second.  This time it seems GPH is going towards movies more and games less (hence the slow CPU).  This is stupid because there are already tons of movie players out there.  Why do we need yet another?  The focus should be more on HB games because there aren't very many open handhelds out there anymore.

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Archos AV700 100GB Mobile Digital Video - $779.99
Archos AV4100 Pocket Video Recorder - $684.99
Archos PMA430 Pocket Media Assistant (120hrs) - $674.99
archos AV480 80GB Personal Video Player - $599.99
archos AV700 40GB Mobile Digital Video - $569.99
archos AV420 20GB Pocket Video Recorder - $364.99
Zen Portable Media Center (80hrs) - $459.99
Samsung HDD Portable Media Center (20gb) - $359.00
Sony PSP - $25.00 (1gb memstick $115.00)
CyberHome CH-LPV330 Portable Media Player - $149.00 (comes with a 32mb sd, 1gb SD card $79.99)

Suggested retail price for the GPx2 - $185.00 (1gb SD card $79.99)

Are you getting a clue yet Dave? Very few people could come up with 200 hours worth of video to jam on one of these expensive bloated archos players and even the PSP has it's draw backs. Such as the Memorystick itself, the CYber home device is probably the closest thing to a GPX2 but only plays Mpeg video and will not play ANY games at all.

The GPX2 was always intended to be both a media player and game system that was more affordable and more useful than the players already on the market just as the Idea was for the GP32.


Also HDTV will not be standard for atleast another 3-4 years so maybe their NEXT next gen system will be more to your liking.

 

[Cyclops]

Easy now girls. Its a discussion in which you are both right. Your just have different priorities for last minuite changes to the GPX2. Nobody has said anything here I disagree with, and nobody here will change anyones viewpoint. Please see the other persons side.

This on the other hand concerns me:

3 tv out is available now! admin 2005-08-01 911
There will be a tv-out accessory available
But according to customer's enthusiastic suggestions we have decided to add accessories for tv out.

taken from the faq. If its optional and not a standard connector, thats rubbish. I'd rather it was cheap standard and never use it. Than an expensive optional extra.

If optional was ever going to be an issue, I'd personally rather have an additional card slot, or USB-host, not some propriatry rubbish. The GP32's USB cable was one of the worst things about the GP32.

 

[Captainbubby]

Why on earth would you have a TV out fuctiion with HDTV at this point? Are there are HD Divx/Xvid files on the internet? Are HD-DVD's even out yet?

I think that comment was a few years too early

 

[Sonic-NKT]

@cyclops:
yes your right..

but have to say one more thing, i still go too school so i dont have the money to get 2 expensive different device if i can get one thats cheap and can do both great, also i dont need thousands of movies on the go, just one that i want to watch.
and why do we need more than the gpx2 hardware for homebrew games? most homebrew games wont need that. it would be better for some emus but lets wait and see what this unit can do with those 2 cores and 2D acceleration.

 

[Tobriand]

Point taken, DaveC and others who aren't so interested in lower-quality films on a TV. Fair enough. In which case, you're absolutely correct to state that its of little use to you.

However, I have been using long play on VHS for the last 14 years, and have yet to see a film that I consider in sufficiently bad quality to, as you put it, ruin the experience.

HDTV may be the future for people who want their high quality stuff... personally, though, as long as the picture has not too many artifacts (something VHS is a lot better at than DivX, I'll admit), and isn't wonky (i.e. one of those horrible filmed-at-cinema versions of films you can buy here for 20p), I'm satisfied. The extra quality would certainly add to the experience if you were using a massive widescreen TV or projector, but otherwise I'm afraid I'm satisfied with yesterday's technology.

Hell, if it weren't for the ease of watching the things on my computer, and being able to watch them in 3D, and of course, bulkyness, I'd still be buying good old VHS tapes - fewer atrifacts than DVDs, even if the resolution is lower.