Duplicating Video

smittles2003@yahoo.com · Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:19 pm

I'm currently in a planning stage for making an N64p... I've been reading the forums and I think that I can do it, but I had an interesting idea that im not sure has been discussed before or not. I know you can put the controller ports on a portable, but how easy (or hard) would it be to simply duplicate the audio and video signal from the N64 and then carry it to "dummy stations" (players 2-4 possibly...just have a screen and a controller in a case...no n64 inside, just so it would plug in and provide everyone their own screen for multiplayer games...)

I was thinking you could just put more RCA jacks or some other way...(possibly even a headphone jack because it would carry the 3 signals and be cheap, but im not sure if there would be a large decrease in quality if carried over that...)

If anyone has any advice or questions, just post...I'll try and make a little diagram in paint real quick in case it's hard for other people to visualize what I mean...

Thanks!

Smittles2003

Neildo_64 · Post by **Neildo_64** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:44 pm

Hmmm....sounds interesting. I actually had pretty much the same idea but threw it out due to lack of friends to play it with...

Actually, I'm kiding about the friends part. I just didnt do it because the more I thought about it, the more I just got bored with it I guess.

But, in my opinion, it's a great idea and I would love to see someone do it! Its mostly one of those features that would be for "show it off" but it would still be schweet and I think you should go for it. It wouldnt really be that hard (except maybe some noise if the wires were really long. But hey, you could always go wireless

)

smittles2003@yahoo.com · Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:51 pm

wireless would be really cool...not sure if there is anything that would work that isnt really expensive...does anyone see any problems with putting the video and sound over a headphone cable? I assume there would be at least some degrading of the signal becuase of the cable, but since it's only about a 5" screen, would it be very noticable?

You could also hook up the console station and use the others simply as controllers which would be pretty cool...(on a larger TV...using RCA jacks to hook up the console to the TV...)

If anyone knows of any wireless transmitters/whatever that might work with this set-up, i would really appreciate knowing...

thx,
smittles2003

Neildo_64 · Post by **Neildo_64** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:54 pm

I have a cheap UnWired (brand name) set of wireless headphones that I got from my uncle that he said he gave about $10 for. But its infrared so the receiver has to be able to "see" the transmitter. (not good unless you're sitting right in front of it)

smittles2003@yahoo.com · Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:58 pm

yah...something like that w/o the infared might work...

but, would something like that distribute all of the signals a regualr cable would? im just thinking that it would probably only give out L and R audio, no ground for the third wire...i guess if there was a cheap wireless one, you could just have mono sound for the convieniece of wireless...

im not sure if that's correct or not, i just dont think it would be very easy to add (or use) a third signal...(maybe im really off tho...just my initial thoughts...)

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:59 pm

lol. i dont think anyone is going to be sending video wirelessly anytime soon. well. it would certainly be really hard.

and you would notice any degredation on a 5" screen as much as you would on a 32" one, they still have the same resolution. its not really a big deal though.

i suggest using coaxial cable, since its shielded. it will cut down on the interference. some headphone cable is coaxial, some isnt.

smittles2003@yahoo.com · Thu Mar 30, 2006 10:10 pm

do you know about how much interference would be caused by using either shielded or unshielded headphone cable? I think it would be easier to use that if there isnt much interference...i just think it would almost be too much hassle to use coaxial cable to hook up another player or 2...just wondering...

thanks...

smittles2003

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 4:14 pm

It would by cool to split the video so that all it shows is that players screen. Eliminates screen cheating and would make it easier to see on a 5 in. screen.

usbcd36 · Post by **usbcd36** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:54 pm

One thing I remember seeing awhile ago was a little box that you could plug into any composite video source, and it would transmit to channel 60 or something. This, combined with a wireless controller could make for a very nice wireless session. It's true that it is a little impractical, but heck with that, it'd be cool anyway!

Just remembered that there was no wireless N64 controller (at least none you could find for a reasonable price). This makes me think: why not use a Cube64 and wavebirds?

Ok, so I don't know if they work with it, so sue meâ€¦

vskid, that would be nice, but it would require a little much work (plus the resolution would be crap too).

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 9:52 pm

Ya, resolution would suck, but having crap resolution on a full screen would be better than 1/4 screen of crap resolution. It would be hard/impractical to do though.