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Retro AV Club Thread 2: Classic Gaming Done Right!

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Crynox

Neo Member
You are right, I really just need to get a 20" PVM and maybe get a separate monitor.

Still, since you have the OSSC I would like to know if you tried hooking up a Wii to it? I really would like a better option and I have a lot of old VGAs and several new TN and IPS LCDs available to me. So I can experiment with things till I am happy if you think the line doubling works well.

I am on the waiting list for the OSSC (but already have a XRGB-Mini) with the hopes that it could be a good solution for some of my edge case issues.

I've been trying to find some direct feed of Wii to OSSC but I am having issues finding anything that isnt' off screen filming.

Yes I tried my Wii on my VGA monitor and an LCD monitor. My opinion is that compared to my PVM it looked awful on the LCD and whilst Ok on the VGA monitor nowhere near as good as the PVM.

I think it's because Nintendo games are very colourful and therefore very suited to a PVM with it's bright screen.

I also have a nice Plasma TV and so have checked out component 480P, but I'm happier playing Wii and GC on my PVM on RGB at 480i, I think it looks better and is the best solution for me.
 

linko9

Member
In my quest to capture my SNES, I got a SCART to S-video cable, since s-video should be better than composite, and the SCART to composite converter was pretty much the same price.

41HZWSTKVHL.jpg

The idea is when my SCART splitter comes in, one fork goes to the monitor, and the other to this cable, which then goes into my cheap USB capture dongle (has s-video and composite). Had no idea if it would work; turns out it doesn't. I DO get an image, but it's very faint and black and white, both when hooked into my monitor, and my capture device. Audio is wired correctly. So I guess the pins are not wired in the way I want from SCART to S-video? My SNES is supposed to be capable of outputting both SCART and S-video, though I've never tried it with a simple SNES S-video cable. Is there any hope of using this cable to get a color picture? And perhaps more importantly, if I do get a SCART to composite converter, will it run into the same problem? Luckily I'm only out $10 at worst.

edit: after some extensive googling, it seems that something trying to output RGB SCART cannot really output S-video no matter what you try. But it should work with a composite converter. We'll see.
 
In my quest to capture my SNES, I got a SCART to S-video cable, since s-video should be better than composite, and the SCART to composite converter was pretty much the same price.



The idea is when my SCART splitter comes in, one fork goes to the monitor, and the other to this cable, which then goes into my cheap USB capture dongle (has s-video and composite). Had no idea if it would work; turns out it doesn't. I DO get an image, but it's very faint and black and white, both when hooked into my monitor, and my capture device. Audio is wired correctly. So I guess the pins are not wired in the way I want from SCART to S-video? My SNES is supposed to be capable of outputting both SCART and S-video, though I've never tried it with a simple SNES S-video cable. Is there any hope of using this cable to get a color picture? And perhaps more importantly, if I do get a SCART to composite converter, will it run into the same problem? Luckily I'm only out $10 at worst.

edit: after some extensive googling, it seems that something trying to output RGB SCART cannot really output S-video no matter what you try. But it should work with a composite converter. We'll see.

Pretty sure that kind of cable is for driving Y/C from s-video to a scart connection that will take it properly. You'd need a circuit designed to encode RGB to Y/C to make SCART to s-video happen, which are kinda pricey.
 
Im fairly sure it outputs 240p only when in "interlaced" mode and fed a game with a 240p source. I would think games that switch between 240p/480i would do the same with the psp's output.

I'd imagine that's the case.

Minor footnote, the tube shooter Internal Section was 480i on PS1 and looks to be 'real' 480p when played on the PSP and output via component on progressive settings.
 

purdobol

Member
In my quest to capture my SNES, I got a SCART to S-video cable, since s-video should be better than composite, and the SCART to composite converter was pretty much the same price.

Does the SNES outputs sync on composite or csync? If it's the first then connecting capture dongle to the pvn output should work flawless. Or you can split the cvideo into two wires. If the SCART splitter comes you can buy cheap SCART -> chinch adapter and connect the composite video that way.

Something like this
speaka-professional-przejsciowka-av-3-x-cinch-zenski-scart-meski-.jpg


RGB and S-Video will not work at the same time since they're using same pins for different signals. So the only thing left is composite or capture device capable of RGB input.
Just make sure SNES outputs cvideo.
 

linko9

Member
Does the SNES outputs sync on composite or csync? If it's the first then connecting capture dongle to the pvn output should work flawless. Or you can split the cvideo into two wires. If the SCART splitter comes you can buy cheap SCART -> chinch adapter and connect the composite video that way.

Something like this
speaka-professional-przejsciowka-av-3-x-cinch-zenski-scart-meski-.jpg


RGB and S-Video will not work at the same time since they're using same pins for different signals. So the only thing left is composite or capture device capable of RGB input.
Just make sure SNES outputs cvideo.

Thanks for the reply. It's outputting sync as csync. So to be clear, you're saying that even with the adapter you posted, it won't work?
 

purdobol

Member
Thanks for the reply. It's outputting sync as csync. So to be clear, you're saying that even with the adapter you posted, it won't work?

It won't. Csync carries only sync signal. Sync on composite sends video and sync signal at the same time. So if snes is outputting only csync the capture dongle would only get sync signal and no video. So no picture.
 

linko9

Member
It won't. Csync carries only sync signal. Sync on composite sends video and sync signal at the same time. So if snes is outputting only csync the capture dongle would only get sync signal and no video. So no picture.

OK thanks. I think for now I'll just get a SNES s-video cable and use the s-video out on my monitor when I want to record. But eventually I'll want to try to record the RGB signal. Is there any reasonably cheap way to do that? I see there are RGB SCART > HDMI converters, but they're expensive, and then any HDMI capture card is also pretty pricey.
 

purdobol

Member
Really don't know much about capture devices to be honest. Only once had cheap dongle (EasyCap).
I think your best bet is trying to find capture card that have vga input (D-Sub 15). Or DVI input but that's risky. It has to be analog DVI not digital.

VGA card will work. And should accept csync. But even if it doesn't, there's always an option to use sync stripper just in case.

When it comes to analog -> digital conversion (RGB to HDMI) you get what you pay for sadly.
 

purdobol

Member
So something like this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VGA2USB-vid...996669?hash=item3f7384673d:g:Kl0AAOSw5cNYeSlS

And then any SCART to VGA cable like this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/361224212922?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

would work? Or do I have to be careful about what kind of cable?

That will work if VGA2USB accepts csync (always check the specs). If not than you have to be carefull about the cable. And buy one with sync stripper inside. Or make one. It's pretty easy if you have basic soldering skill.
 

linko9

Member
Well, assuming that the product on ebay is this, or similar:

https://www.epiphan.com/products/vga2usb-pro/tech-specs/

it says this under "VGA signaling"

R,G,B plus separate HSYNC and VSYNC signals
R,G,B plus CSYNC signal
R,G,B with Sync-On-Green synchronization

That's good, right?

edit: and do you think it will be a problem that it doesn't explicitly support 240p resolution?

edit2: OK strike all that, this is actually the product:

https://www.epiphan.com/products/vga2usb/tech-specs/

and it says this under "video format options"

RGB plus HSync and VSync (5 wire)

but you think it would work with a sync stripper?
 

StevieWhite

Member
Me and a buddy successfully installed an RGB Amp in my N64. I'm super pumped - it's the first time I've successfully completed an RGB mod. Very rewarding experience. The improvement is noticeable, buy I'm psyched to see how everything plays out once I remove the anti-aliasing this weekend.
 

Kawika

Member
Im fairly sure it outputs 240p only when in "interlaced" mode and fed a game with a 240p source. I would think games that switch between 240p/480i would do the same with the psp's output.

This is correct, interlaced mode will output 240p correctly. If you set it to progressive for PS1 games it won't look right.

Also check out Firebrand X's profiles if you have a XRGB mini because I really like the way it handles PSP content.

Yes I tried my Wii on my VGA monitor and an LCD monitor. My opinion is that compared to my PVM it looked awful on the LCD and whilst Ok on the VGA monitor nowhere near as good as the PVM.

I think it's because Nintendo games are very colourful and therefore very suited to a PVM with it's bright screen.

I also have a nice Plasma TV and so have checked out component 480P, but I'm happier playing Wii and GC on my PVM on RGB at 480i, I think it looks better and is the best solution for me.

My guy got a BVM 20F1U that as a little damage so he's willing to cut a deal. I think I am going to just get that and be done with the 480p dream. There are very few games on Wii and Gamecube I want to play.

Besides, I think once the Gamecube HDMI mod is adapted to the Wii we are all going to be using LCDs for those consoles anyway. I would much rather invest in a Wii for this type of mod thanks to homebrew and perfect gamecube bc. I only use my gamecube for gba games these days anyway.
 
Besides, I think once the Gamecube HDMI mod is adapted to the Wii we are all going to be using LCDs for those consoles anyway.

LCD is dirty trash, OLED or plasma, please. ;)

Also 240p CRT with Gamecube is the ultimate way to play GBA games and I don't see that changing soon. Likewise for Virtual Console on Wii, I don't see all hobbyists switching to flat panels. Don't forget that many people are using GCN and Wii with CRTs for lag, not just the aesthetic.
 

Crynox

Neo Member
This is correct, interlaced mode will output 240p correctly. If you set it to progressive for PS1 games it won't look right.

Also check out Firebrand X's profiles if you have a XRGB mini because I really like the way it handles PSP content.



My guy got a BVM 20F1U that as a little damage so he's willing to cut a deal. I think I am going to just get that and be done with the 480p dream. There are very few games on Wii and Gamecube I want to play.

Besides, I think once the Gamecube HDMI mod is adapted to the Wii we are all going to be using LCDs for those consoles anyway. I would much rather invest in a Wii for this type of mod thanks to homebrew and perfect gamecube bc. I only use my gamecube for gba games these days anyway.

LCD is dirty trash, OLED or plasma, please. ;)

Also 240p CRT with Gamecube is the ultimate way to play GBA games and I don't see that changing soon. Likewise for Virtual Console on Wii, I don't see all hobbyists switching to flat panels. Don't forget that many people are using GCN and Wii with CRTs for lag, not just the aesthetic.

The BVM sounds good, but I agree with Beer Monkey, Wii is best on an RGB CRT. You can't beat it for 240P gaming and like I said IMO it is also best for its 480i games too.

Since I got my Plasma, (living room general use), its made me realise that my Sony LED LCD for Xbox and PS is just pants despite it being quite a good model. The colours pale in comparison.

Plasma or OLED all the way.
 
My SCART supergun arrived today. I need to get a power supply but can't wait to start using it on my PVM. My arcade's monitor is on it's last legs.

nZFEDrc.png
 
Hello, all. I found a PVM-20M2MDU that I might be able to jump on, but I wanted to ask a question. I currently have a Sony Trinitron CRT which supports up to 480i. I was hoping to get a PVM or BVM to get that glorious 480p (the interlacing of the 6th gen consoles drives me a little crazy).

I was wondering about the audio, though. This PVM appears to support only mono audio, is that correct? There does not appear to be any L/R audio inputs that go in or out of the TV. Can it support passing through the stereo signal over a single cable which I have to break out into separate L/R wires for my receiver?

Thanks for any help!

EDIT: Also, any general advice on what to look for and questions to ask when looking into one of these PVM? I would not want to be taken for a sucker.
 
Hello, all. I found a PVM-20M2MDU that I might be able to jump on, but I wanted to ask a question. I currently have a Sony Trinitron CRT which supports up to 480i. I was hoping to get a PVM or BVM to get that glorious 480p (the interlacing of the 6th gen consoles drives me a little crazy).

I was wondering about the audio, though. This PVM appears to support only mono audio, is that correct? There does not appear to be any L/R audio inputs that go in or out of the TV. Can it support passing through the stereo signal over a single cable which I have to break out into separate L/R wires for my receiver?

Thanks for any help!

EDIT: Also, any general advice on what to look for and questions to ask when looking into one of these PVM? I would not want to be taken for a sucker.

With my PVM, I use a SCART to BNC cable that has RCA audio jacks as well. I feed the audio jacks into sound bar instead of the PVM although I think I will switch to a more traditional two-speaker system at a later date.
 

Crynox

Neo Member
Hello, all. I found a PVM-20M2MDU that I might be able to jump on, but I wanted to ask a question. I currently have a Sony Trinitron CRT which supports up to 480i. I was hoping to get a PVM or BVM to get that glorious 480p (the interlacing of the 6th gen consoles drives me a little crazy.

I didn't think that model supports 480P ?
 
Is anyone here aware of the possibility Framemeister will be releasing a 4K version soon? (Or perhaps this can just be an upgrade to the existing Framemeister, beats me) just curious. I don't have a 4K and don't plan on getting one for long time regardless.
 
Is anyone here aware of the possibility Framemeister will be releasing a 4K version soon? (Or perhaps this can just be an upgrade to the existing Framemeister, beats me) just curious. I don't have a 4K and don't plan on getting one for long time regardless.

while it is likely that micomsoft is preparing to put out a new XRGB unit by ~2018-20, there's absolutely no information about what it is and as the supply of Framemeisters should be sufficient for at least a year, it's not really on many peoples' minds.
 

mechafan64

Neo Member
What would be the best way to have a PC display 480p on a PVM 20L5?

As i have a GTX 970 card, would it be DVI->VGA->component, or HDMI->SDI?
 

Khaz

Member
What would be the best way to have a PC display 480p on a PVM 20L5?

As i have a GTX 970 card, would it be DVI->VGA->component, or HDMI->SDI?

I'd go with VGA, then either encode it to Component or keep it in RGB with combined Syncs. That way you can keep your HDMI out for a dual display with a modern monitor.

Though why not use a CRT PC monitor? 480p is standard VGA. The picture quality should be at least on par, and on a 21" you can go up to 1600*1200 if you ever need it.
 

Wounded

Member
I'm having a ton of trouble with my PAL PS1 not displaying NTSC games correctly on my CRT. From what I gather it's to do with how the PS1 manages overscan since the same TV works fine with my PS2 on the same cable.

Now I can pick up an S-video cable for next to nothing, but I'm aware it's not generally as good as SCART. How much of a quality drop am I looking at here? I'm wondering whether it's worth even grabbing one.
 
So I had a bit of a score today. Picked up. 20" Pvm and a 14" pvm for $125. Can anyone recommend a simple scart switch 2 port for switching between a framemeister and the pvm?
 

Madao

Member
just like the impatient fool i am, i ended up buying a D-Terminal GC cable to replace my component cable that i sold last year. selling the cable before i got the OSSC was a huge mistake. now i'm waiting for the D-Terminal->Compoennt converter (it was cheaper to do this than buying a GC component cable by several bucks. in the end i ended almost in the zero since i used up what i had earned in the previous sale)

well, moving on from that, what i really wanted to ask (specifically to PEXHDCAP users) was this: do you change settings to capture footage even if you use the same input source?
for example, with the OSSC, i can route all my older consoles to the same input i use for HD consoles (HDMI) but i was wondering if it's necessary to change a setting even if the data path is identical (outside resolution. i know i need to set the resolution i'm capturing at with Amarec for proper ratios and that)
 

Timu

Member
just like the impatient fool i am, i ended up buying a D-Terminal GC cable to replace my component cable that i sold last year. selling the cable before i got the OSSC was a huge mistake. now i'm waiting for the D-Terminal->Compoennt converter (it was cheaper to do this than buying a GC component cable by several bucks. in the end i ended almost in the zero since i used up what i had earned in the previous sale)

well, moving on from that, what i really wanted to ask (specifically to PEXHDCAP users) was this: do you change settings to capture footage even if you use the same input source?
for example, with the OSSC, i can route all my older consoles to the same input i use for HD consoles (HDMI) but i was wondering if it's necessary to change a setting even if the data path is identical (outside resolution. i know i need to set the resolution i'm capturing at with Amarec for proper ratios and that)
Not really, I just use the same settings for the most part.
 

Kawika

Member
I finally got a BVM 20F1U (why don't we have you got a PVM/BVM/XRGB you got a vita gif for this thread?). I bought it off a sony tech and you know, I think I kind of got hosed.

Compared to the XRGB its really muddy looking. I thought it would look as sharp and crisp as my PVM 14M4U and it doesn't even come close. It looks blurry. I am wondering if there is an equivalent to sharpness setting that I could dial up before I think about selling this to someone else. I don't want to deal with a Monitor this huge if its not going to look as good as my PVM (especially since I got the PVM for $45 and I paid considerably more for 20F1U).

The technician calibrated it to the proper settings and was telling me how he had his equipment calibrated at Boeing. I just want to know if any of you have this Monitor how does it compare to the sharpness of a XRGB or smaller PVMs. FYI the monitor has about 25K hours on it so its not the tube.
 
I finally got a BVM 20F1U (why don't we have you got a PVM/BVM/XRGB you got a vita gif for this thread?). I bought it off a sony tech and you know, I think I kind of got hosed.

Compared to the XRGB its really muddy looking. I thought it would look as sharp and crisp as my PVM 14M4U and it doesn't even come close. It looks blurry. I am wondering if there is an equivalent to sharpness setting that I could dial up before I think about selling this to someone else. I don't want to deal with a Monitor this huge if its not going to look as good as my PVM (especially since I got the PVM for $45 and I paid considerably more for 20F1U).

The technician calibrated it to the proper settings and was telling me how he had his equipment calibrated at Boeing. I just want to know if any of you have this Monitor how does it compare to the sharpness of a XRGB or smaller PVMs. FYI the monitor has about 25K hours on it so its not the tube.

Throw some pics up.
 

Kawika

Member
Throw some pics up.

I didn't think to take pictures. I was just asking if anyone knew if there was a way to adjust the sharpness (or focus). To me, it looks off so perhaps there is a way to dial that setting. I can't imagine getting a monitor from a former Sony Tech that has a good reputation would sell something broken this way.
 
Just a heads up: your photos might pick up a beat frequency from the screen's refresh rate. If you're using a phone, you might find it impossible to take a photo without part of the screen being black. You can avoid this by manipulating the exposure time. I usually take photos of my PVM with a 1/15 s exposure.
 
Is anyone here aware of the possibility Framemeister will be releasing a 4K version soon? (Or perhaps this can just be an upgrade to the existing Framemeister, beats me) just curious. I don't have a 4K and don't plan on getting one for long time regardless.

Honestly, there's nothing that I can imagine a 4k framemeister will do that a current one won't. I use my FM on a 4k Vizio and the picture looks great and the input lag is minimal.The extra 18ms or so that th TV's scaler takes the 1080p image from the FM to 4k isn't noticable at all and I'm pretty sensitive to lag.
 

Kawika

Member
Just a heads up: your photos might pick up a beat frequency from the screen's refresh rate. If you're using a phone, you might find it impossible to take a photo without part of the screen being black. You can avoid this by manipulating the exposure time. I usually take photos of my PVM with a 1/15 s exposure.

Yeah I usually use my DSLR and match the camera to the frequency of the monitor. I think most people would be happy with the image but it doesn't look as good as my smaller PVM. I just wondered if anyone knew their way around the BVM menu enough to tell me where a sharpness adjustment was. I wanted to try that before I wrote it off. Both slots inputs are the same quality so I don't have one bad slot before someone suggests that.

All things equal. The picture quality is best on my PVM, the next is the XRGB and last is the 20F1U which really is surprising.
 

flyover

Member
Honestly, there's nothing that I can imagine a 4k framemeister will do that a current one won't. I use my FM on a 4k Vizio and the picture looks great and the input lag is minimal.
Yeah, I was surprised at how good the Framemeister looks on my 4k (Sony 850D). I'd never gotten things to look quite right on my old 1080p Sony. It refused to stay full pixel at settings below 1080p (would always try to stretch/overscan content), and I often didn't like 240p content at 1080p output.

I was afraid the upscaled 720p output would be smeared or blurry on my new TV, but it's great. I'm sure that depends on the TV and your eyes/preferences, but I had good luck with mine. Scanlines look perfect, too, when I use them. I'm playing my old Genesis and PS1 games more now than at any point since those systems were first in circulation.

That said, if/when a 4k Framemeister is released, I'm sure I'll grab one.
 
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