Sega genesis - SEGA SVP question

Author

SEGA SVP question

no_spam

2004-11-12, 6:45 am

Hi all,

Just a bit curious about the SVP chip found in the Virtua Racing cart. I
remember reading the review of the game all those years ago now & it was
detailing the specs of the SVP chip & they mentioned that it would also
have interesting uses for sound. Does anyone know what they might mean
or could elaborate on that ???? Also, any pages out there that detail
the specs of the SVP chip versus the SuperFX chip from Nintendo/Argonaut ???

Thanks heaps,
Brad.

BelPowerslave

2004-11-12, 6:02 pm

> Hi all,

quote:

>
> Just a bit curious about the SVP chip found in the Virtua Racing cart. I
> remember reading the review of the game all those years ago now & it was
> detailing the specs of the SVP chip & they mentioned that it would also
> have interesting uses for sound. Does anyone know what they might mean
> or could elaborate on that ???? Also, any pages out there that detail
> the specs of the SVP chip versus the SuperFX chip from Nintendo/Argonaut ???
>
> Thanks heaps,
> Brad.

I hadn't heard anything about the SVP being used for sound at all...and they
certainly didn't make any use of it in Virtua Racing. From flipping through
these old mags I've recently uncovered, I do remember that Sega had that wild
plan of releasing a Game Genie-like cart that only had the SVP chip in it, and
it'd be required for all these high-end game they were going to release. Perhaps
this is when they were planning on doing something with the audio via the SVP
chipset. Of course, the stand alone SVP cart eventually got turned into the
full-blown 32X system, in which they did have another chip for sound...

Bel
--
Whip XXX Gaming: http://www.whipassgaming.com/

"...we traveled together...east, always into the east."
- Marius, Diablo II

Scott H

2004-11-12, 6:02 pm

no_spam no_spam wrote:

quote:

> Hi all,
>
> Just a bit curious about the SVP chip found in the Virtua Racing cart. I
> remember reading the review of the game all those years ago now & it was
> detailing the specs of the SVP chip & they mentioned that it would also
> have interesting uses for sound. Does anyone know what they might mean
> or could elaborate on that ???? Also, any pages out there that detail
> the specs of the SVP chip versus the SuperFX chip from Nintendo/Argonaut
> ???
>
>
> Thanks heaps,
> Brad.

I've got comparison picks of Virtua Racing and Virtua Racing Deluxe
(32X) on my site. Apart from that the SVP chip isn't very well
documented, and isn't even emulated yet. You'll notice in the
screenshots that the 32X version has noticably 2-3 times the polygons
per scene, but it's worth noting also that Virtua Racing SVP runs at
less than 10 frames per second, while the 32X game is a fairly steady
15+FPS. Since both VRs flatten any Super FX games in polycount per
scene, it's fair to say that the SVP, much less the 32X, was
significantly more powerful than both the FX-1 and FX-2 chips.

--
Scott

Game Pilgrimage
http://users4.ev1.net/~sheath

no_spam

2004-11-16, 5:00 pm

BelPowerslave wrote:

quote:

>
>
> I hadn't heard anything about the SVP being used for sound at all...and they
> certainly didn't make any use of it in Virtua Racing. From flipping through
> these old mags I've recently uncovered, I do remember that Sega had that wild
> plan of releasing a Game Genie-like cart that only had the SVP chip in it, and
> it'd be required for all these high-end game they were going to release. Perhaps
> this is when they were planning on doing something with the audio via the SVP
> chipset. Of course, the stand alone SVP cart eventually got turned into the
> full-blown 32X system, in which they did have another chip for sound...
>
> Bel
> --
> Whip XXX Gaming: http://www.whipassgaming.com/
>
> "...we traveled together...east, always into the east."
> - Marius, Diablo II
>
>

Thanks for the info. The magazine was Mean Machines Sega from the UK but
sadly I threw out all my old SEGA & Commodore 64 mags a few years ago
when I was very tight for space & I've been regretting it ever since !!!
I'm desperately trying to remember what was said but yea it had a box of
the SVP specs & I think (don't quote me) they mentioned something about
the ability to add extra channels for sampled sound using the chip as an
addon to the YM2612 FM synthesis & the 1 DAC channel currently
available. Hmm wonder if the chip could function as an addon for both
graphics and sound at the same time eh ?

The SVP chip had one of the Hitachi SH-1 CPUs found in the 32X right ??
& the 32X had another chip for sound ?? Do you know what difference it
was to the Megadrive/Genesis sound chip ? & whether both sound chips
could be used in tandem ?? Seems like there was a whole of promise with
the setup that went underutilised.......

Thanks,
Brad.

What pray tell were these high-end games they were going to release ?? I
don't remember reading anything about that at all..... in fact I never
read a reference to any other game that was going to use the SVP chip....

ammonton@cc.full.stop.helsinki.fi

2004-11-16, 5:00 pm

no_spam <""bradleq(no_spam)\"@optushome(no_spam).com.au"> wrote:

quote:

> The SVP chip had one of the Hitachi SH-1 CPUs found in the 32X right ??

No. The chip used is still unknown. The 32X used two SH2s.

quote:

> the 32X had another chip for sound ??

The 32X provided two digital audio channels (one left, one right).

-a

Scott H

2004-11-16, 5:00 pm

no_spam no_spam wrote:

quote:

> BelPowerslave wrote:
>
> Thanks for the info. The magazine was Mean Machines Sega from the UK but
> sadly I threw out all my old SEGA & Commodore 64 mags a few years ago
> when I was very tight for space & I've been regretting it ever since !!!
> I'm desperately trying to remember what was said but yea it had a box of
> the SVP specs & I think (don't quote me) they mentioned something about
> the ability to add extra channels for sampled sound using the chip as an
> addon to the YM2612 FM synthesis & the 1 DAC channel currently
> available. Hmm wonder if the chip could function as an addon for both
> graphics and sound at the same time eh ?
>
> The SVP chip had one of the Hitachi SH-1 CPUs found in the 32X right ??
> & the 32X had another chip for sound ?? Do you know what difference it
> was to the Megadrive/Genesis sound chip ? & whether both sound chips
> could be used in tandem ?? Seems like there was a whole of promise with
> the setup that went underutilised.......

Technically speaking any processor can be used as a sound chip, it's
just a matter of what the software uses it for. For example, the
Genesis uses, in addition to the YM synth chip, the Z80 CPU of the
Master System for its sound, the Saturn uses an advanced variant of the
Genesis CPU for its sound processes, the Dreamcast had a 64-bit chip
that, outclassed the CPUs of all previous consoles, for its sound chip.
So, yes, they could have put the SVP chip into a cart, and only used
it to add to the sound quality, but judging from the price of Virtua
Racing, I doubt what little benefit it'd have to the audio would justify
the price.

quote:

> Thanks,
> Brad.
>
> What pray tell were these high-end games they were going to release ?? I
> don't remember reading anything about that at all..... in fact I never
> read a reference to any other game that was going to use the SVP chip....

There was magazine speculation, but never anything announced.

--
Scott

Game Pilgrimage
http://users4.ev1.net/~sheath

ammonton@cc.full.stop.helsinki.fi

2004-11-16, 5:00 pm

Scott H <sheathx013@yahoo.com> wrote:

quote:

> Technically speaking any processor can be used as a sound chip,
> it's just a matter of what the software uses it for. For example, the
> Genesis uses, in addition to the YM synth chip, the Z80 CPU of the
> Master System for its sound

There is a difference between using a processor to control a sound chip
and actually using the processor to produce sound. AFAIK there is no way
to access either sound chip from the cartridge port, so a cartridge
would either have to include its own audio output or transfer the audio
to the Megadrive's memory where either of the on-board processors would
mix it with the normal digital audio channel.

quote:

> the Saturn uses an advanced variant of the Genesis CPU for its sound
> processes,

Runs faster, otherwise the same model.

quote:

> the Dreamcast had a 64-bit chip that, outclassed the CPUs of all
> previous consoles, for its sound chip.

The sound controller is a 32-bit ARM7TDMI, the same processor used in
the Gameboy Advance (running at a faster speed).

-a

Scott H

2004-11-16, 5:00 pm

ammonton@cc.full.stop.helsinki.fi wrote:

quote:

> Scott H <sheathx013@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> There is a difference between using a processor to control a sound chip
> and actually using the processor to produce sound. AFAIK there is no way
> to access either sound chip from the cartridge port, so a cartridge
> would either have to include its own audio output or transfer the audio
> to the Megadrive's memory where either of the on-board processors would
> mix it with the normal digital audio channel.

Hmm, good point, and I guess the Genesis mixes its video with the 32X
through the output wires and not the cartridge port as well. Why can
the cartride output video, as in Virtua Racing and Snes chipped games,
but not audio?

quote:

>
>
>
> Runs faster, otherwise the same model.
>
>
>
>
> The sound controller is a 32-bit ARM7TDMI, the same processor used in
> the Gameboy Advance (running at a faster speed).

Ack, you're probably right, all of my old source pages are shut down,
and a quick search of google didn't bring up any soundchip info for me.

--
Scott

Game Pilgrimage
http://users4.ev1.net/~sheath

ammonton@cc.full.stop.helsinki.fi

2004-11-16, 5:00 pm

Scott H <sheathx013@yahoo.com> wrote:

quote:

> Why can the cartride output video, as in Virtua Racing and Snes
> chipped games, but not audio?

In Virtua Racing, the SVP chip produces 8*8-pixel tiles which are
transferred into VDP memory as normal background graphics (IIRC they
are first transferred into main memory and then sent into VDP memory by
the 68000). I'm not too familiar with the SNES, but AFAIK the hardware
is designed so that hardware connected to the cartridge port can
directly interface with the graphics/sound hardware.

-a

Scott H

2004-11-16, 5:00 pm

no_spam no_spam wrote:

quote:

> Hi all,
>
> Just a bit curious about the SVP chip found in the Virtua Racing cart. I
> remember reading the review of the game all those years ago now & it was
> detailing the specs of the SVP chip & they mentioned that it would also
> have interesting uses for sound. Does anyone know what they might mean
> or could elaborate on that ???? Also, any pages out there that detail
> the specs of the SVP chip versus the SuperFX chip from Nintendo/Argonaut
> ???
>
>
> Thanks heaps,
> Brad.