FPGA Replay Board

[Darrin]

DVI->VGA appears to work just fine on any of my LCD monitors.  DVI direct connection does not work with Phoenix.  There is also a non scan-doubled mode (15KHz), so I was trying to connect a DVI->VGA->RGB converter board to see if an old Amiga monitor would work.  I don't think its worth the effort at this point.

It seems that most games use a standard 60Hz refresh with VBI, so I don't think this is too common.  You can look through the MAME info and see which games were non-standard.

I have to tell you, I am pretty excited about this board.  Once I got everything setup correctly, it's pretty simple.  I think a micro-ATX case is going to be mandatory.  It spooks me a bit to have everything laying out on the counter, with test leads and such everywhere.

Thanks, so the DVI-VGA connection I have "should" be good for Pheonix then?  Just don't to DVI-DVI?

I've been using my FPGA Arcade uncased and just sat on a wooden desk since I had it.  Hopefully my X500 case isn't going to be too much longer.  

[JimDrew]

Well, that is the case for the version of Phoenix I am testing.  I am not sure how much it will change before it is officially released.  I am just stunned to see this working.  To me, it's more amazing than the Amiga core (only because I have seen Amiga cores before, never a FPGA based arcade machine emulation).

Mike has put together a pretty outstanding piece of hardware, and the software support and integration is really going to make this something that developers will want to pick up and support.

[psxphill]

To me, it's more amazing than the Amiga core (only because I have seen Amiga cores before, never a FPGA based arcade machine emulation).

This one has been out for a while.
 
http://arcade.gadgetfactory.net/
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW-ybUw_Elk
 
This one is new... http://pipistrello.saanlima.com/index.php?title=Welcome_to_Pipistrello hdmi ftw (it can even sorta do 1080p http://hackaday.com/2013/03/08/pumping-1080p-video-out-of-an-fpga/)

[amiman99]

This one has been out for a while.
 
http://arcade.gadgetfactory.net/
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW-ybUw_Elk
 
This one is new... http://pipistrello.saanlima.com/index.php?title=Welcome_to_Pipistrello hdmi ftw (it can even sorta do 1080p http://hackaday.com/2013/03/08/pumping-1080p-video-out-of-an-fpga/)

Did anyone ported Minimig cores to those FPGA boards? Are they compatible?

[JimDrew]

This one has been out for a while.
 
http://arcade.gadgetfactory.net/
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW-ybUw_Elk
 
This one is new... http://pipistrello.saanlima.com/index.php?title=Welcome_to_Pipistrello hdmi ftw (it can even sorta do 1080p http://hackaday.com/2013/03/08/pumping-1080p-video-out-of-an-fpga/)

Considering that the games for this device originally came from FPGA Arcade, there are no issues making these for the latest hardware.  The gadgetfactory hardware uses the little Spartan 3 with only 500K gates.  The Pro version uses a the S6.  The FPGA Arcade hardware uses a FPGA chip that has 1.6M gates, it offsers a 30bit video DAC, audio chip, etc. .. way more hardware.  In fact, the cost of the XC3S1600E Spartan FPGA chip itself is about double of what gadgetfactory is charging for their entire pro board!  You get what you pay for... more gates means better functionality, giving you the ability to emulate much more complex systems.  The FPGA Arcade is overkill if you are just wanting to play Pacman - but if you want to emulate an Amiga, Atari ST, etc. at a level never before possible due to gate constraints, the FPGA Arcade board is the way to go.

[freqmax]

For any serious Amiga implementation a XC3S1600E is more or less a minimum requirement. Or else one will be stuck with a slight incompatible 68000 without AGA/RTG.

Seems Pipistrello can handle HDMI directly with its Spartan-6 LX45 board for 150 USD. But the hackaday articlle hints that the picture is somewhat unstable?
Anyway it's the way past HDMI association
(though the legality of a soldered HDMI connector is cloudy at best)

[mikej]

For any serious Amiga implementation a XC3S1600E is more or less a minimum requirement. Or else one will be stuck with a slight incompatible 68000 without AGA/RTG.

Seems Pipistrello can handle HDMI directly with its Spartan-6 LX45 board for 150 USD. But the hackaday articlle hints that the picture is somewhat unstable?
Anyway it's the way past HDMI association
(though the legality of a soldered HDMI connector is cloudy at best)

I really don't know how they get away with this. The HDMI connector cannot be used unless licensed. The boards are not CE/FCC certified either.

Looks like all the arcade game stuff is direct from my site as well.

At least they have published their changes and kept the license header, but it would be nice if they linked to fpgaarcade and were open about their sources

Glad to see people are using the stuff though.
/MikeJ

[ChaosLord]

I really don't know how they get away with this. The HDMI connector cannot be used unless licensed.

Your statement is only true if the HDMI MAFIA sue the manufacturer and win the court case which requires them to persuade/threaten/bribe a judge and jury into accepting that slavery and extortion are part of civilized behavior.

The concept that the MAFIA can own all the connectors past, present and future, of the entire universe is ridiculously immoral, vile and evil.

I mean they claim to own WIRES.  Wires!  Wires have been around for centuries!  How can you own wires that you didn't pay for?  How can you own wires 1000 years in the future built by ppl who don't exist in your lifetime?

Its slavery.  Slavery is wrong. Period.

[gaula92]

Its slavery.  Slavery is wrong. Period.

Slavery is an euphemism for capitalism here, imho.
Capitalism is killing us all.

[psxphill]

Slavery is an euphemism for capitalism here, imho.
Capitalism is killing us all.

Without capitalism we wouldn't have computers.

[gaula92]

Without capitalism we wouldn't have computers.

That's NOT true. URSS wasn't capitalist (and I don't condone state communism) and they had computers.

[mikej]

Your statement is only true if the HDMI MAFIA sue the manufacturer and win the court case which requires them to persuade/threaten/bribe a judge and jury into accepting that slavery and extortion are part of civilized behavior.

The concept that the MAFIA can own all the connectors past, present and future, of the entire universe is ridiculously immoral, vile and evil.

I mean they claim to own WIRES.  Wires!  Wires have been around for centuries!  How can you own wires that you didn't pay for?  How can you own wires 1000 years in the future built by ppl who don't exist in your lifetime?

Its slavery.  Slavery is wrong. Period.

Not saying I agree with it for sure....
http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/terms.aspx

That is why I use a DVI connector - which is open. Fortunately HDMI protocol is a superset of DVI, so an HDMI input will accept DVI.

There would be nothing to stop you running embedded audio and high resolution HDMI formats over the DVI connector of course, if the PHY supported it.

Directly connecting the FPGA has it's own issues with signal quality at higher resolutions, the IO is not really up to the job. Let's see what the new generation FPGAs can do.
/MikeJ

[ElPolloDiabl]

The problem isn't capitalism, it's greed. There is also the welfare mentality, "I should have stuff for free".

[psxphill]

more gates means better functionality

Only within the same architecture, Spartan 6 & Spartan 3E are different architecture. The Spartan 6 LX45 seems to be just a little more expensive than the Spartan 3E with 1.6M gates, while the Spartan 6 has less gates it has more units.
 
I don't know enough about the different FPGA architectures to determine which is better.
 
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/c/semiconductors/programmable-logic-circuits/fpgas/?sort-by=Number+of+Logic+Cells&sort-order=desc&view-type=List&applied-dimensions=4294511735,4294489143,4294489119,4294484685,4294508744,4294508738&lastAttributeSelectedBlock=4294958899&sort-option=Number+of+Logic+Cells

[gaula92]

The problem isn't capitalism, it's greed. There is also the welfare mentality, "I should have stuff for free".

Capitalism = greed, by definition.

[psxphill]

Directly connecting the FPGA has it's own issues with signal quality at higher resolutions, the IO is not really up to the job. Let's see what the new generation FPGAs can do.
/MikeJ

The pipistrello will be interesting to watch, although I'd like to see something a bit more than 8 bit.
 
http://www.gadgetfactory.net/2013/07/spectrum-zx-with-hdmi-out-on-the-pipistrello/
 
Xilinx seem to be pushing HDMI now, all their evaluation boards seem to have them. I don't know what resolution their higher end FPGA's can achieve though.