Talk:VMU
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Original VMU Screen Resolution/other hardware limitations etc
[edit]Good article otherwise. Enjoyed reading about them. — Preceding unsigned comment added by ~2025-43823-34 (talk) 00:10, 30 December 2025 (UTC)
Homebrew applications
[edit]There was a good homebrew scene for these devices - this would be good to mention in the article.
John Maushammer (me - posting here so it's not conflict-of-interest) did a lot of reverse engineering of the device (hardware, file system, transfer protocols), disassembled the BIOS, and made a VMU-parallel port uploader -- http://www.maushammer.com/vmu.html
Marcus Comstedt wrote a simulator, an assembler, and some games for the device -- http://virtuamunstaz.de/
VMU Colour Depth
[edit]Interestingly, the API for accessing the VMU from the Dreamcast used 4bpp images for displaying images on the VMU. Only the high bit of each pixel was used to decide whether the pixel would be on or off. This may have been because Sega was considering bringing in greyscale or colour VMUs at a later date.
The game Redline Racer by Criterion Studios featured VMU graphics that would have revealed a hidden message if Sega had ever bought out such improved VMUs, as the message was encoded into the lower bits of the VMU pictures. TimTim 13:54, 10 May 2006 (UTC)
Are you going to insert this into the article as trivia, or not? I think it's worth including. Paul Haymon 10:58, 2 September 2006 (UTC)
- It's an interesting conjecture, but needs a reference. Have Sega representatives or game developers ever commented on these expanded-pallete VMUs? ˉˉanetode╦╩ 11:17, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
That's curious that they would use such a wasteful format, and not try to do greyscale "in software" (like done by TI calculator hackers). 68.0.226.163 01:48, 23 January 2007 (UTC)
USB Nexus card?
[edit]The article claims such a thing, but I don't think so. Likewise, I don't think there are even any serial port ones. Just parallel. I wish USB ones existed, but pretty sure they don't.76.226.113.15 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 22:08, 6 September 2009 (UTC).
- Actually, I own the USB version, that has a buncha pages. It has never lost data, but I did lose the USB cable. The end of the cable is something funky, so I can't just replace it with a Philips USB extension kit. Apple8800 (talk) 00:33, 20 April 2011 (UTC)