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Upscalers, CRTs, PVMs & RGB: Retro gaming done right!

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Khaz

Member
I'm actually covered there too. I have a PVM-14L2 with a pretty damn sharp Trinitron tube but thin black lines.

I believe the Ikegamis use Panasonic tubes. Were those common in Euro TVs?

I don't know about their internals, but in-line shadow mask was the default display for most TVs, aperture grille being patented by Sony. I do believe any consumer TV with the same technology will look the same, provided they are properly tuned. The difference being the size, and the shape of the tube (flat or round, slim or full) that can influence how a picture look.
 

Madao

Member
I'd probably be a mostly-Framemeister gamer, but I'd still prefer to eventually get my N64 RGB modded so I can connect it to a CRT when I like. I hope this isn't foolish choosing that over HDMI mod....? Still a reasonable option?

the HDMI mod can let you have both outputs since the original analog output is untouched and you could add the RGB mod on the same machine.

right now i'd say it's a price vs convenience thing. hopefully the price will get down eventually when the demand is better met.

Gamma is wayyyy off in the analog captures. It looks crushed in the car stats screen. Is there any way you can calibrate that on the capture device?

Edit: It's also likely that your Framemeister settings are wrong. Toggle the the limited/full input settings on the Framemeister.

i tried changing settings before taking them but i don't have a reference since there's no 240p suite for N64 to calibrate properly.

should i try making the image look the same as the HDMI captures?
 

televator

Member
the HDMI mod can let you have both outputs since the original analog output is untouched and you could add the RGB mod on the same machine.

right now i'd say it's a price vs convenience thing. hopefully the price will get down eventually when the demand is better met.



i tried changing settings before taking them but i don't have a reference since there's no 240p suite for N64 to calibrate properly.

should i try making the image look the same as the HDMI captures?

I don't think that would be accurate. I think the fact is that black information has been limited (what ought to be different shades of black are now the same level of black), and simply manipulating the image won't resolve all the detail. I'm pretty sure just changing the Mini to the correct RGB range will fix a lot of it.
 

rpgb46

Member
I'd like hook my RPi 2 up to a CRT display but I'm not sure of what the discrepancy is between PAL and NTSC displays.

I'm in the UK but I'd like to get as much of the display visible, while achieving the most authentic look possible across multiple retro consoles - I don't want much, I get it!.

I think more recent CRTs sold in the UK probably support 60hz but I wasn't sure. Is there a good way of identifying this when shopping around in most likely, second-hand shops?

I also remembered that a lot of later CRT displays were flat instead of curved, I'd think this would be personal preference for a lot of people but is there a consensus on what looks better? I'm leaning towards a 4:3 curved display hopefully, 21 inches.
 

Khaz

Member
I think more recent CRTs sold in the UK probably support 60hz but I wasn't sure. Is there a good way of identifying this when shopping around in most likely, second-hand shops?

They all do. only the earliest models (think, 70s, maybe early 80s) sometimes don't. But any good looking second hand TV will display a 60Hz image.

What some don't, especially the cheap brands, is decode NTSC signal. So using an import console/game with Composite would only give you a black and white image without sound. But RGB is unaffected by it.

Even if the TV can use NTSC via Composite/S-video, it's very uncommon to do NTSC via RF. Only the newest, upper range TV can, sometimes. Using an old American or Japanese console from the 70s can be tricky in Europe.
 

eEK!

Neo Member
I also remembered that a lot of later CRT displays were flat instead of curved, I'd think this would be personal preference for a lot of people but is there a consensus on what looks better? I'm leaning towards a 4:3 curved display hopefully, 21 inches.

In my experience flat tends to have better geometry and curved tends to have better contrast, although the geometry thing could just be that flat CRT weren't around long enough to go all crazy.
 
In my experience flat tends to have better geometry and curved tends to have better contrast, although the geometry thing could just be that flat CRT weren't around long enough to go all crazy.

My experience is the opposite. Flat CRTs typically have far worse geometry at the edges. Flat CRTs have unique engineering challenges that had to be worked around as best as possible by the designers.

Of course, rounded CRTs have a sort of distortion of their own because of the rounded shape and viewing angles.
 

entremet

Member
My experience is the opposite. Flat CRTs typically have far worse geometry at the edges. Flat CRTs have unique engineering challenges that had to be worked around as best as possible by the designers.

Of course, rounded CRTs have a sort of distortion of their own because of the rounded shape and viewing angles.

I can confirm. I have flat CRT and the geometry is a bit warped at the edges.
 
I can confirm. I have flat CRT and the geometry is a bit warped at the edges.

CRTs were made curved for a couple of reasons.

1) They are more resistant to imploding (remember, they are vacuum tubes, literally) naturally. Flat tubes have to be made of thicker glass to resist implosion, making them heavier and larger.

2) Focal length from the gun(s) that spray the electron beam is closer to constant across the entire screen. With a flat screen the edges are much further from the gun than the center. Engineers compensate for this as much as is feasible with complicated circuitry, requiring a more complex design (and resulting in using more components that will drift over time).
 

eEK!

Neo Member
I can confirm. I have flat CRT and the geometry is a bit warped at the edges.

That'll be a total of zero advantages for flat CRTs then.

I tended to stick with curved as the contrast was more important to me and only ever used other peoples flat CRTs.

Its certainly possible that my friends were simply better at calibrating geometry than me, even now I tend to just spend a minute messing with the H-Center, then call it good enough if most of the screen is visible.....
 

Mega

Banned
You're a bad influence. I just bought one for $78 shipped.

:p

Is it the exact same model? There are several more advanced models that are TM14-xx. I picked mine knowing it was a nice mid-90s set with shadowmask and 500 or 600 lines of resolution (conflicting specs but it's one of these). It also has EBU phosphors but I'm not clear on the difference between than and SMPTE-C phosphors. I know Trinitrons have the latter and they're supposed to be less likely to color drift over their lifespan.
 
:p

Is it the exact same model? There are several more advanced models that are TM14-xx. I picked mine knowing it was a nice mid-90s set with shadowmask and 500 or 600 lines of resolution (conflicting specs but it's one of these). It also has EBU phosphors but I'm not clear on the difference between than and SMPTE-C phosphors. I know Trinitrons have the latter and they're supposed to be less likely to color drift over their lifespan.

Same one. Same seller. Hey, new games are $60 plus tax. $78 isn't a bad gamble to me.

hey! what about me? is there another one =P
 

Madao

Member
Can a dual modded N64 output to two separate displays (one RGB, other HDMI) at the same time?

it can.

technically mine doesn't have RGB but dual output is possible and the RGB mod would be in the original output for CRT.

I don't think that would be accurate. I think the fact is that black information has been limited (what ought to be different shades of black are now the same level of black), and simply manipulating the image won't resolve all the detail. I'm pretty sure just changing the Mini to the correct RGB range will fix a lot of it.

now that i remember, i set it to limited because my TV's whole setup is set to limited thanks to the Wii U not supporting it and me not wanting to toggle the setting all the time.
i'll test by changing it to full for these.
 

televator

Member
it can.

technically mine doesn't have RGB but dual output is possible and the RGB mod would be in the original output for CRT.



now that i remember, i set it to limited because my TV's whole setup is set to limited thanks to the Wii U not supporting it and me not wanting to toggle the setting all the time.
i'll test by changing it to full for these.

Nice. Just as a cautionary comment: I'm pretty sure the FM's input and output settings are independently set. So be sure both input and output are set to the same range.
 

psylah

Member
Those euro SCART to BNC cables don't require a PAL TV, do they?

I assumed the only reason they do the distinction between the japanese and euro scart connectors is because of the pin organization, not due to a pal / ntsc incompatibility.
 

Peltz

Member
Those euro SCART to BNC cables don't require a PAL TV, do they?

I assumed the only reason they do the distinction between the japanese and euro scart connectors is because of the pin organization, not due to a pal / ntsc incompatibility.

Correct. It's just the pin layout.

It does not matter whether it's pal or ntsc.
 
How good is the Wii VC scaling of PC Engine games? I know that some are incorrectly coded for 480i, but I've heard even the 240p ones have to scale the 256 pixel horizontal resolution to 320 aka that the Wii doesn't have a timing to output 256x240. My Wii is in storage, as I foolishly thought I'd probably never need it again when the Wii U came out. Does anybody play games like Dracula X on the Wii with a P/BVM type monitor? Is the scaling an issue?
 
Folks, even the s-video on the JVC HD/SD broadcast monitors (also available rebranded as Panasonic) is crazy good.

m5AaqYf.jpg


When I get my Gameboy Player I'm going to give zero shits about finding a component cable.

Edit: The banding in that photo is not even slightly perceptible when I look at the screen; I just checked. I guess I can't see in 1/60sec.
 

Ramune

Member
How good is the Wii VC scaling of PC Engine games? I know that some are incorrectly coded for 480i, but I've heard even the 240p ones have to scale the 256 pixel horizontal resolution to 320 aka that the Wii doesn't have a timing to output 256x240. My Wii is in storage, as I foolishly thought I'd probably never need it again when the Wii U came out. Does anybody play games like Dracula X on the Wii with a P/BVM type monitor? Is the scaling an issue?

Dracula X via Component (VC 240p mode afaik; makes the tone when doing the 240p switch)


I don't have any issues with it, but outside of one instance of playing DX natively on an actual PC engine at Retro World Expo, I don't have much to compare to. Granted that was using AV cables, but it was on a Trinitron, and PC Engine's Composite is actually pretty decent compared to most.....

I also have Lords of Thunder if you want pics of that one....
 

D.Lo

Member
How good is the Wii VC scaling of PC Engine games? I know that some are incorrectly coded for 480i, but I've heard even the 240p ones have to scale the 256 pixel horizontal resolution to 320 aka that the Wii doesn't have a timing to output 256x240. My Wii is in storage, as I foolishly thought I'd probably never need it again when the Wii U came out. Does anybody play games like Dracula X on the Wii with a P/BVM type monitor? Is the scaling an issue?
The PCE hucard games are blurry 480i, but the PCE CD games are 240p.

They may have fixed the later hucard releases, but that was certainly the case to start with. I stopped buying them after aa year or two.

Regarding horizontal scaling, I've never seen any issues. DX looked perfect to me, and I know the game very very well.
 

Peltz

Member
Not sure if this is the appropriate place to talk about it, but Nintendo Store in NY has N3DS units at kiosks being output to fairly large LCDs.

It actually doesn't look as bad as you'd think. Certainly, it'd be better in native res on a CRT or something because this is definitely being upscaled to a higher resolution on the LCD.

I always find the displays used on Kiosks to be an interesting thing. They generally look pretty good. But this sort of looks like shit.

If they're going to rig kiosks, why not have some custom screens manufactured for 1:1 scaling? Or better yet, how about some large 240p screens for native resolution?

I'll post pictures when I get a chance.
 

Madao

Member
Not sure if this is the appropriate place to talk about it, but Nintendo Store in NY has N3DS units at kiosks being output to fairly large LCDs.

It actually doesn't look as bad as you'd think. Certainly, it'd be better in native res on a CRT or something because this is definitely being upscaled to a higher resolution on the LCD.

I always find the displays used on Kiosks to be an interesting thing. They generally look pretty good. But this sort of looks like shit.

I'll post pictures when I get a chance.

i wonder how it compares with capture devices modded onto the 3DS.
 

Peltz

Member
i wonder how it compares with capture devices modded onto the 3DS.
Well, I can't comment on that. But it's definitely a lossless signal but with some slight input lag.

P.S. They also have a Wii U hooked up to a giant modern jumbotron style dot matrix display that takes up an entire wall. If that's not native 720p then it's perfectly scaling everything. Too bad not all of the pixels have the same color balance and brightness. You can see the image is composed of many smaller dot matrix panels that were cobbled together without frames.

It actually looks really REALLY good despite not being configured 100% properly.
 

Khaz

Member
It actually doesn't look as bad as you'd think. Certainly, it'd be better in native res on a CRT or something because this is definitely being upscaled to a higher resolution on the LCD.

I didn't know I wanted that. I do now.

The 3DS has a resolution 400x240, potentially 800x240 with 3D off. The engineer who designed that screen must have wanted to display it on a CRT, there is no other possibility.
 
I've seen 3DS tv mods (shou's tumblr, various twitch streamers) but it seemed to output to a plasma or LCDs. I assume it's a HDMI connection?
 

Borman

Member
3ds capture devices from Nintendo have HDMI I do believe. I have DS Lite capture units, those are standard Nintendo AV ports (2 of them to capture separately), S-video is the best on those though.

Modded 3ds units are typically USB.
 

entremet

Member
Can't tell. It's proprietary.. and so, so sorry!... I thought I had better pictures >_<

I will grab some close ups next time I visit.

12495140_10101341010191730_3484284209276534561_n.jpg


12919747_10101341009902310_6117395511646036631_n.jpg


12494867_10101341009932250_1502628109403068695_n.jpg



LOOK GUYS!!!11 IT'S THE NX!!1!

I saw those. I thought, man I'd love one. Although the 3DS resolution suits it best for smaller displays.
 
Honestly it bothers me immensely that Nintendo (and even Sony) didn't follow in the PSP's footsteps with video out. Seems like it should be pretty cheap to implement (with income from the cables as a bonus) and it's invaluable in the age of youtube, twitch, etc.
 
Honestly it bothers me immensely that Nintendo (and even Sony) didn't follow in the PSP's footsteps with video out. Seems like it should be pretty cheap to implement (with income from the cables as a bonus) and it's invaluable in the age of youtube, twitch, etc.

Yep! I love the output option for the PSP.
 

D.Lo

Member
Honestly it bothers me immensely that Nintendo (and even Sony) didn't follow in the PSP's footsteps with video out. Seems like it should be pretty cheap to implement (with income from the cables as a bonus) and it's invaluable in the age of youtube, twitch, etc.
You think Nintendo actually wants people making money from their intellectual property from their games being streamed?

If I'm Nintendo you just argued me into never including TV output ever lol.
 

Timu

Member
Honestly it bothers me immensely that Nintendo (and even Sony) didn't follow in the PSP's footsteps with video out. Seems like it should be pretty cheap to implement (with income from the cables as a bonus) and it's invaluable in the age of youtube, twitch, etc.
Agreed, makes capturing screenshots and footage easier for me when doing youtube vids.

Yep! I love the output option for the PSP.
Same here.
 

entremet

Member
You think Nintendo actually wants people making money from their intellectual property from their games being streamed?

If I'm Nintendo you just argued me into never including TV output ever lol.

I think Nintendo is wrong here personally. I see it as free marketing.
 
You think Nintendo actually wants people making money from their intellectual property from their games being streamed?

If I'm Nintendo you just argued me into never including TV output ever lol.
I think it's archaeic thinking like that which will push Nintendo further in to irrelevance. Especially given they're one of few massive devs still making gameplay focused titles, YouTube and twitch are the best advertising they could ask for.
 

Khaz

Member
I think it's archaeic thinking like that which will push Nintendo further in to irrelevance. Especially given they're one of few massive devs still making gameplay focused titles, YouTube and twitch are the best advertising they could ask for.

I think Nintendo is wrong here personally. I see it as free marketing.

Yeah but what you guys think is barely the point.
Should it? Sure. Will it? Lol no.
 

D.Lo

Member
Guys, DSi Shop is shutting down.

If you want DSi Ware with perfect screen quality and no borders, better act soon.

I started a thread about what games to download along with the official announcement:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=199938426&posted=1#post199938426
Thanks for the heads up!

Lol at 'you guys know who you are' ;)

They're pretty fine when unscaled on 3DS though, I had to get Risky's Revenge on 3DS because it was never released in Australia and you can't change shop regions on DSi (but can on 3DS). But I have most on DSi.
 
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