PixelFX, a cadre of retro hardware developers responsible for the N64Digital and PS1Digital, have announced a tentative release date for their latest project; a new revision of the DCDigital based off the same PixelFX framework as their other projects.
The original DCDigital (nee, DCHDMI) is a modification that samples the Dreamcast’s digital A/V signals straight from the motherboard and uses them to generate a high quality, low latency HDMI video feed that works well with modern displays. While the first revision of the mod is still feature rich and looks terrific, it does lack the resources needed to implement newer features that the retro gaming community has come to expect from these kinds of products (e.g., slot-mask filters, motion adaptive deinterlacing, etc.). The second revision of the DCDigital addresses this by using a similar platform to the N64Digital, which has received a handful of really impressive features over the last few months. The DCDigital HW2 mod improves over the original by offering:
- Less than a frame of latency
- A polyphasic scaler that supports up to 1440p output
- WiFi support for configuration and firmware updates
- CRT simulation filters and scanlines
- PixelFX’s take on HQx-style smoothing filters
- Motion Adaptive Deinterlacing
- Support for the Dreamcast-based Naomi 1/2 arcade systems with a separate flex cable
The nice thing for owners of the DCDigital v1 is that the DCDigital v2 is a drop in replacement, so you ideally shouldn’t need any advanced knowledge or experience with a soldering iron to upgrade your console. Plus, the flex cables for the v2 should still be compatible with the v1 board which would make it easier to resell/rehouse your old mod if you so choose. PixelFX has stated that boards should be available to purchase for $200USD on December 10th, 2022 at 10:00AM EST, although they’ve been clear to emphasize that this is a tentative date and that it is subject to change.
Lastly, an interesting development on PixelFX’s website is the appearance of a PSXDigital listing that seems to imply compatibility with both the original Playstation and the Playstation 2. The PS1Digital just received a significant firmware update not too long ago that backported tons of features from the N64Digital, and the word from PixelFX at the time was that the PS1Digital would not be receiving a hardware redesign. If this isn’t a typo or something, the existence of a PSXDigital that is compatible with multiple consoles would suggest that this has changed, but no other information is listed as of the publication of this article.