Clock Signal vs Dega

Clock Signal is a free emulator for running classic software on Linux and macOS without first having to learn the original machine or emulator controls. It supports systems including the BBC Micro, Apple II, Atari 2600, Commodore Vic-20, early Macintosh, MSX, Sega Master System and ZX Spectrum. When you provide disk, tape or ROM media, it can identify and configure a machine, issue the commands needed to start the software, and speed up loading where possible. It does not import or take ownership of your files. The emulator processes video signals such as composite video and generates audio at the emulated machine’s source rate before filtering it for host output. Its README gives typical audio latency as 5–10 ms; display latency depends on host hardware. It aims for cycle-accurate emulation, which it says it achieves in some cases. Acorn Archimedes, Commodore Amiga and early PC compatible emulation is less complete than for the other listed systems. A BIOS is required. The project is MIT licensed, with macOS releases using Cocoa and Metal and Linux builds available through Qt, OpenGL or SDL options.

Dega is an emulator for Sega Master System, Mark III, and Game Gear games. It runs on Windows and *NIX systems; its README names Windows 95, NT, 98, 2000, ME, and XP. The software is free for non-commercial use only, and the GitHub repository has no releases. Dega supports Python scripting for input, resets, movie playback and recording, and access to a running game's RAM. Python can be used as a module in another program or embedded in the emulator. The distribution includes memory.py, a Python memory viewer and trainer. Users can record a movie and continue recording later from a saved state. Windows provides save-state slots, and Dega also supports a gzip-compressed .dgz save-state format. Other features include loading ROMs from ZIP files, AVI encoding from movie files on *NIX, and Yamaha 2413 FM audio for machines equipped with that chip. It can also combine some games' flickering-glasses effect into a red-and-blue image for red/blue glasses. Technical information estimates compatibility at 97%.