Quality Of Tv Out?

[StriderNo9]

Just curious any idea on the quality of the TV out option? Anyone ever use this with the GP2X or PSP? How does it fare? Any difference in the visuals? Does it stretch to full screen on a 32 inch TV? How about wide screen?

 

[Mutilator]

i got the cradle for the gp2x and it works great on tv out only thing i would say is that sometimes u get parts of the screen missing which sucks but the games etc. are still playable and look fine...i would say the quality of the display really depends on ur tv as some games and emulators on my tv look horrible because of the size diference. as for the psp i cant really say as i havent got one

 

[Squidge]

On the Pandora, TV out is still under development. It works, but I think it would be best to show something proper rather (eg. a nice X screen or emu) than the tests which have been done so far.

 

[Yrx]

On the Pandora, TV out is still under development. It works, but I think it would be best to show something proper rather (eg. a nice X screen or emu) than the tests which have been done so far.

Tests, huh? I wonder what kind of "tests" Squidge could be doing that wouldn't be appropriate to show the community. After all, what could he possibly be watching on a TV through a console capable of internet access?

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Squidge]

Tests, huh? I wonder what kind of "tests" Squidge could be doing that wouldn't be appropriate to show the community. After all, what could he possibly be watching on a TV through a console capable of internet access?



Oi! Do remember that I can delete your account



I just mean we have confirmed the TV Out as working, but it's not properly configured, so it's not going to look as good as it could do. We all know people constantly get the completely wrong stick (rather than just the wrong end of it), so I think I'll not say anything about TV yet

 

[sm1988]

:lol: funny. yea this is a top priority for me considering that I am going to use this for an arcade cabinet with a 32" tv. I really hope that the quality will be good. but I have faith that it will be top notch. I dont think that there would be this much time and effort being put into this project just for it to have a crap tv out. it just would not match the rest of the pandora as far as being more on the high end side.

 

[Edy]

Where the TV-out connector will be? I haven't seen it in latest renders...

 

[rememberthe8bit]

Since the Pandora is 800x480, NTSC is 720x480, and PAL is 720x576, is this system going to require a high-definition TV?

 

[StriderNo9]

Since the Pandora is 800x480, NTSC is 720x480, and PAL is 720x576, is this system going to require a high-definition TV?

Good question!

 

[Prophet]

Since the Pandora is 800x480, NTSC is 720x480, and PAL is 720x576, is this system going to require a high-definition TV?

It's not necessarily that cut and dry, especially because Pandora is outputting analog signals.

Also, tv-out on Pandora is independent of the internal LCD, so I get the sense that the 800x480 spec doesn't necesssarily apply to tv-out at all.

Squidge...?

 

[Chip]

Since the Pandora is 800x480, NTSC is 720x480, and PAL is 720x576, is this system going to require a high-definition TV?

Absolutely not. The video out options are limited to composite and S-video. Those formats are defined by standards and limited by the physical characteristics of the cables / connectors / signal modulation they use. Composite and S-video signals don't technically have a horizontal resolution, and are limited to 486 lines of vertical resolution for NTSC and 576 lines for PAL. If your TV has composite or S-video inputs, you'll be able to hook the Pandora up to it with no problem. The picture won't look nearly as sharp as on the Pandora's built-in screen, but that is a limitation of the video format, not the Pandora. It will look fine for video games and movie playback.

 

[Squidge]

Also, tv-out on Pandora is independent of the internal LCD, so I get the sense that the 800x480 spec doesn't necesssarily apply to tv-out at all.

Squidge...?

Me? I know nothing!

(and I'm unlikely to play with TV out, as I don't have a TV)

 

[PolloLoco]

I'm hoping the TV out ends up solid on this one. . . It's one of the only complaints I have about two of my handhelds.

My Archos 504 output is not anamorphic. It cannot properly fill out an HDTV screen (either stretches, squashes or crops) - while it does wonderfully on an SDTV. This is also the case with the newest 605's as well - and the competition, the Cowon A3 and Q5. It's a shame that these $300+ portable video players can't perform as well as a $30 DVD player in this regard.

Sony PSP output is weak. It does great with movies whether you're using composite or component cables. But video games, whether native or homebrew - can only go out to a progressive source. AND THEN, only at the PSP resolution of 480 x 272. Which means your game/program is badly letterboxed on all sides, unless your TV has a great zoom function. There's a great homebrew program called FUSA which is working to fix this, but it's definitely nowhere near complete.

So . . . I'm hoping TV Out on the Pandora meets these expectations and can provide proper anamorphic output to an SDTV or HDTV source.

 

[javaJake]

This'll be my first "advanced" hand-held. I've always gone advanced on desktops but as I look to mobilize my resources the Pandora will be perfect.

So, in light of that, as long as TV-out works and is usable. I'll be thrilled.

 

[PolloLoco]

Squidge, I gather you know the most about TV-out on this thread though you're trying not to say anything concrete.

Do you have any idea when we'll know more about the properly configured TV-Out? Do you think it'll be straightened out by launch?

 

[Squidge]

Do you have any idea when we'll know more about the properly configured TV-Out? Do you think it'll be straightened out by launch?

A> When its tested?
B> Yes

 

[PolloLoco]

Do you have any idea when we'll know more about the properly configured TV-Out? Do you think it'll be straightened out by launch?

A> When its tested?
B> Yes


Thanks. I perhaps read too much in your earlier responses. I thought there might be trouble - and that current tests had already failed.

 

[Squidge]

No, the problem is that we had early omap evaluation modules which didn't have TV out configured. We've never bothered to look at it as it's not that important, so we are waiting for the real hardware before configuring it up and testing it.

 

[PolloLoco]

I have a new question on this topic.

I have a PSP slim, and while TV Out is enabled - it's pretty poor. It exports video at 480x272, the PSP's native resolutiona and doesn't scale to the size of your screen. The result is badly letterboxed on all sides. The reason is that Sony determined that full screen output would slow down games too badly.

Homebrew coders created FUSA, a background program to enable fullscreen output. It's great, but even while using hacks and optimization - there's some significant slowdown even when using homebrew and emulators.

Can we expect similar slowdowns with the Pandora TV Out? Or does the TV out hardware take the extra workload?

I just want to temper my expectations if this is going to be a problem with smooth gameplay.

 

[Prophet]

Polloloco,

The Pandora will be handling Tv-out in a totally different manner than PSP. It won't have that problem.

Note that Pandora will only support composite and S-Video, so the one shortcoming is you can't have VGA or HD signal output.