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[Hellraizah]

Ok, so I admit I am completely lost about this.

I'm trying to find a way to get the best picture possible with my Neo. I got the XNEO-1 box, which gave me a much better picture in S-video than the mod did. But there are still some "scanline" problems that I would like to get rid of. On the XNEO-1, there are 2 outputs for what I guess is RGB. The first one seems like a DYN output while the second one is some kind of 15 connector over 2 rows with screws on both side (à la DB-15).

So today, I go the the electronics store to try out my Neo on a TV equipped with RGB input, and when I try to plug the cable, I realize that the RGB input on the TV (Benq LCD H200) is a DB-15 format (like VGA) and that it's not the same as the one on my XNEO.

If anyone can help me on this, that would be very cool. I tried a lot of research on RGB, but every info is so scarce that in the end it doesn't really mean anything. There seems to be a shitload of different connectors when speaking about RGB, but none match with the ones on my XNEO.

EDIT :
A pic of the connectors (excuse the poor quality)

 

[radios shipping overview]

The RGB your Neo-Geo outputs is 15khz and low-resolution, which is supported by just about exactly zero modern TVs. The "RGB" supported by modern TVs is 30khz, which I believe is equivalent to VGA. There are some old Amiga, Commodore, and Apple IIgs monitors that support the signal, and you may be able to find one cheaply at a thrift store. Another way to use the signal is with an X-RGB2 scan converter box, which will convert the signal to plain, monitor-compatible VGA.

Lots more RGB info is available here: http://atarilabs.com/meat/2000/1201_rgbprimer.shtml

To get RGB out of the unit, you could either use a Neo Geo-compatible RGB cable with the DIN plug, or you could figure out (or find) the pinout of the DB15 plug and build an RGB cable with that information.

Edit: and if scanlines are what's bugging you, RGB won't help much: it'll look similar to S-video, but with much much better color accuracy and no bleeding. The X-RGB2 can remove scanlines altogether, though, leaving you with an image like you'd see in a PC emulator with no image processing turned on.

 

[Hellraizah]

Thanks A LOT for the answer. I was looking at that XRGB2+ thing today and I was wondering if it was any good.

Anyways, another solution I was looking at was the component video mod by Jeff Kurtz (www.neobitz.com). I'm not really sure about this one either since my Neo Geo is already S-video modded and the picture coming out of the mod is absolutely atrocious. Anyone seen the component mod ?

 

[radios shipping overview]

Huh, that converter looks interesting. I wonder how much he'll charge for it, and how decent the component quality will be. I'll probably need one of those if I ever buy a modern TV and not an arcade monitor...

 

[BenT]

Thanks for the link to the Kurtz adapter. That's interesting. I may have to rethink my RGB plans.

I'm not sure, though, why you would want to remove scanlines from your low-res games. Scanlines soften the image. It's the lack of scanlines that makes most current 2D releases look so ugly.

 

[Hellraizah]

I probably didn't say it right. It's not really scanlines. It's "lines" that goes up and down on my TV right now. I use a LCD TV by Panasonic for my Neo Geo and it seems the output could be better. As I said, the S-video output from the mod is really ugly (colors are WAY off, and there's vertical line going through the screen at all time). The X-NEO got things a lot better, but I still think it can be better than this.

 

[BenT]

Oh, it's LCD? Then your image is line-doubled (lacking horizontal scanlines) already.

In that case, the XRGB-2 or 2+ could be a good choice for low-res stuff like NeoGeo, as they have special scanline effects you can turn on to simulate a real low-res, interlaced display.

Btw, why does your Neo S-Video mod suck? I just bought a modded system (I wanted the system for its low serial, but it just happened to be modded) but haven't tested its picture yet. I wasn't aware S-Video could be screwed up.

 

[Hellraizah]

Why it sucks ? I don't know, seriously, but I guess I just don't like the image it gives. It's TRULY shitty on my TV, and I don't understand how could someone could be satisfied with that image. I tried it on diffenrent TVs (CRTs and LCDs), and it was shitty on every one of them. On contrast, the X-NEO gives really good colors, the pictures is not as sharp, but overall it's WAY better.