My analog A/V setup - 240p goodness

R-CADE_Gaming · February 20, 2013, 5:29am

<img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/setupfull.jpg”>Here is my home theater and gaming setup as it stands right now. I put a lot of work into this and just thought I would share a little about it. I finally have everything connected and easily switchable, without ever having to move around or even see any wires. I mostly play anything up to Gamecube on the Sony Trinitron KV-27FS120 CRT TV in the center. Every single console outputs RGB video over custom cables. This runs through my custom switching setup and through an RGB to component transcoder to get the best possible video quality. This is about as good as it gets for real 240p, and higher-res stuff looks decent in 480i. For the PS3, I can change between RGB and HDMI output in the video settings menu. I can set the LG 32LD450 that’s sitting up above on that little table in front of the CRT for modern 720p/480p stuff; you can see the power cable and HDMI cable sitting to the left and right of the CRT, ready to be plugged in. The box above the PS3 is a home theater PC, for movies and music and games and such, which also outputs HDMI in 1080p. I have a larger LG LED TV that I use sometimes, but it’s only for movies, as it has some input lag (the 32" is only about one frame). What would really be nice would be one large low-lag flat screen on a sliding mount, so that it could slide up to reveal the CRT behind it. <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/setupclose.jpg”> Here is a close-up of the “business end” of the setup. All of the consoles run through the bank of three chained switch boxes on the top left. This provides switching for up to ten consoles. Simply turn the knobs to the positions indicated on the labels, and you have picture and sound from the console selected. As you can see, there are two slots still available, in case I get around to buying a Wii or Japanese 360, or I pull my Saturn or XBox or N64 out of the closet. Each console has separate individual adjustments on the front of the switchboxes for red, green, and blue color levels. There are adjustment pots inside the three holes to the right of every knob position, which can be adjusted with a “tweaker” (small flat head screwdriver). The switchbox at the end of the chain also has a sync separator circuit. Basically you can feed the switchboxes any kind of RGB (RGBs, RGB with composite as sync, RGBHV, etc.) and it will output RGBHV (also known as VGA). You can also feed in composite, s-video, or component, and it will pass it through a seperate output. (EDIT: This kind of flexibility can be useful when connecting so many different systems with different requirements, but now that I have every single one of my consoles set up for RGB these other outputs aren’t used anymore). See the next post for details on the switch box and the cables used. - The RGBHV coming out of the 3 switchboxes then runs through other switchbox to the right. This allows you to select whether to pass the signal through the Extron Super Emotia on the bottom left, or bypass it. There are certain games which are meant to run in 240p, but are only available out of a console in 480i or 480p, such as Third Strike Online, Mega Man 9/10, certain shmups on 360, and Game Boy games played with the Gamecube Game Boy Player. An Emotia allows these games to be forced back into 240p (without ANY input lag too) to regain real scanlines and that “classic” look. The Super Emotia includes horizontal size and position and vertical position controls, and this switchbox adds red, green, and blue color level adjustment for it as well. More info on Extron Emotia’s here: <a href=“http://scanlines.hazard-city.de/]http://scanlines.hazard-city.de/”>http://scanlines.hazard-city.de/]http://scanlines.hazard-city.de/</a> - After coming out of that switchbox, the RGBHV signal then runs through the Crescendo Systems TC1600 RGB to component transcoder in the center. The CRT I’m using doesn’t accept RGB, so it needs to be “translated” to component. These are basically equivalent video formats, so this can be done without any loss in quality. The TC1600 is a proper transcoder that will transcode colorspace only, with no change to resolution or any added lag. This is about the best transcoder of this type that you can buy, and it’s made by an enthusiast who will give you personal technical support that you couldn’t get with anything else. Many thanks to Kim Beumer, creator of the TC1600. Anyhow, you can see that I’ve modified it with a big knob on the front. This allows for horizontal position adjustment of the picture on screen. This is useful because different consoles and even different games can be skewed to the left or right a different amount when using RGB with a real CRT, and this can be quickly fixed after starting up a game by turning the knob left or right. The difference is much more noticeable when you’ve calibrated your display for proper geometry and minimal overscan. - The switchboxes also pass audio through the equalizer shown before it reaches the receiver. This can make a noticeable difference in getting full and balanced sound from some consoles. - Finally both the audio and video enter the Yamaha receiver on the right. On the receiver, the input selected just determines whether to use signals from the switchboxes or from the HDMI inputs from the PS3 or PC. Any HDMI video selected is passed to the HDMI cable for the 1080p TV’s, and any analog video is passed to the CRT. Audio is amplified to a matched Yamaha 5.1 speaker system. For stereo sources, I just use Dolby Pro Logic II Music decoding, which sends most of the sound to the left and right speakers and subwoofer, just using the center and surrounds lightly to fill out the room. <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/geometry.jpg”> I’ve spent a lot of time working with the service menu on the Trinitron to get the geometry, brightness, contrast, color, etc. all dialed in (with the TV off, press Display, 5, Vol +, Power on the remote to enter a Sony service menu). This is as good as I’ve gotten the geometry so far. The size is set so that most 240p games average just about a pixel or less of overscan to just fill out the screen without cutting anything off. It has the typical problems in the corners, and I’m going to see if anything can be done at the neck about the straightness of the horizontal lines and the blue convergence at the far right. It’s not noticeable in games unless you’re looking for it, but it’s not perfect. - Finally, here’s some screenshots. I’m having trouble with my camera trying to get a good representation of the color quality. In the pictures it always looks a little washed out, whereas it looks much better in person. I guess you’ll have to take my word for it, but here are the best shots I could manage: <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/sonic3k.jpg”> <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/marioworld.jpg”> <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/blazlaz1.jpg”> <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/blazlaz2.jpg”> <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/hagane.jpg”> <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/rondo.jpg”> <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/metroidzm.jpg”>The last picture is of Metroid Zero Mission in real 240p on the Gamecube Game Boy Player through the Super Emotia. It looks really nice with the scanlines, very similar to a Super Nintendo game.

R-CADE_Gaming · February 20, 2013, 5:33am

A discrete RGB signal yields the best possible picture you can get in terms of analog video (component is about equivalent). Luckily most consoles will put out RGB without modification, but there are a few different forms of it. The Genesis, SNES, and Saturn can output RGB with composite sync (RGBS), while the Playstation 1/2/3 can only output or RGB with composite video as sync (I’ll call this RGBC), or RGB with sync on green (RGsB). The Dreamcast is great because it can output RGBS, RGBC, or RGB with separate horizontal and vertical sync (RGBHV, also called VGA). I think the XBox 360 is the same way, I know it can at least do RGBS and RGBHV. The Wii is a little different in different territories. I haven’t messed with it yet, but I will eventually. I had to mod my NES, PC Engine, and N64 for RGBS (see next post). The Gamecube can output RGBHV, but I had to find a console with a digital video port and modify an expensive cable (more below). - As you can see, the problem with hooking up and switching a lot of consoles is handling all the different types of signals. What I do is use custom cables for all my consoles. They are wired a to DB15HD (VGA) connector in the following pinout: 1 Red 2 Green 3 Blue 4 (unused, reserved for future use) 5 Ground 6 Red Difference (Pr) 7 [Luminance (Y)]/Composite Video 8 [Blue Difference (Pb)]/[Chrominance (Cr)] 9 +5 volts 10 Composite Video for Sync 11 Left Audio 12 Right Audio 13 Horizontal Sync 14 Vertical Sync 15 Composite Sync By connecting only the appropriate pins for the desired signal type, these cables can carry composite video, S-video, component, RGBS, RGBC, or RGBHV, as well as analog audio all in the same cable. Here’s an example for one of my favorite consoles, the Super Nintendo: <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/cables1.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/cables1.jpg”></a> I bought an RGB SCART cable for the SNES on eBay, removed the SCART connector at the end, and soldered the appropriate wires to a d-sub connector. In this case: red, green, blue, c sync, +5v, audio left, right, and ground. Then I secured the connector in a d-sub hood for protection and strain relief, and snapped it shut. <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/cables2.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/cables2.jpg”></a> This is typical for several consoles, and can be wired easily, given these pinouts:<a href=“http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/gamescart/gamescart.htm”>http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/gamescart/gamescart.htm</a> - These cables are then connected to a custom switch box that is wired to my pinout: <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/switchbox1.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/switchbox1.jpg”></a> <a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/switchbox2.jpg”><img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/switchbox2.jpg”></a> This is a 4-way switch I made with color adjustment and sync processing. Four custom cables coming from the consoles are connected to the four inputs, A, B, C, and D, and one is selected with the switch on the front. The audio from the selected console is outputted to the two RCA jacks at the top, which go to the equalizer and then to the receiver. If the cable is carrying composite video, S-video, or component, it is outputted to the three RCA jacks at the bottom (composite comes out on the green jack; S-video comes out on the green and black jacks and requires a small adapter; they didn’t have blue RCA jacks in stock at Digikey, so I got a black). These other video connections are there in case the need arises, but I’m mostly concerned with RGB. The switch box has a simple circuit inside that will convert composite sync or composite video to horizontal and vertical sync. This means that regardless of whether the selected input cable is carrying RGBS, RGBC, or RGBHV, it will be outputted as RGBHV in the standard VGA pinout to the d-sub connector in the center. This can then be connected with a standard VGA cable to my transcoder. The TC1600 can actually work with c sync on the h sync pin, but there are a couple of reasons for me to use separate sync at all times. Before reaching the switch, the red, green, and blue color lines of each input all run through 100-ohm tweaker potentiometers. This allows the red, green, and blue color levels to be adjusted individually for each input. After the switch, the red, green, and blue lines run through 220uf capacitors. <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/switchbox3.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/switchbox3.jpg”></a> This is what the switch looks like inside. It looks like an impossible rat’s nest at first, but it’s not really that bad once you start working on it. When you buy these, the d-sub’s and the switch are already wired. All of the guts can be unbolted and removed as a single piece to drill all the extra holes for my added parts and put them in. Then I just needed to reroute a few of the lines going to the output, and the red, green, and blue lines coming from the inputs. About three quarters of the wiring didn’t have to be adjusted. <a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/switchbox5.jpg”><img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/switchbox5.jpg”></a> That blue thing in the center is the heart of the switch. It’s just a simple rotary switch that all the connections run through. <a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/switchbox4.jpg”><img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/switchbox4.jpg”></a> This is the sync circuit. It uses an EL4583 chip to seperate sync, and two CPC1002N optical relay chips to pass the horizontal and vertical sync created to the appropriate output lines. The circuit is activated and powered by +5v coming from the selected input (luckily all the consoles that output RGBS or RGBC output +5v). So when pin 9 is not powered, the optical relays disconnect the circuit from the output, and native RGBHV sources can pass their sync straight through to the output. This also means that the switchbox requires no external power supply. <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/syncdiagram.png”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/syncdiagram.png”></a> EL4583 and CPC1002N’s can be bought from Digikey.com. The datasheets are available here: <a href=“http://www.intersil.com/content/dam/Intersil/documents/el45/el4583.pdf”>http://www.intersil.com/content/dam/Intersil/documents/el45/el4583.pdf</a> <a href=“http://www.clare.com/home/pdfs.nsf/www/CPC1002N.pdf/$file/CPC1002N.pdf”>http://www.clare.com/home/pdfs.nsf/www/CPC1002N.pdf/$file/CPC1002N.pdf</a> The only other thing going on inside electrically is the potentiometers on the input color lines and the capacitors on the output color lines. - Here are some more examples of cables I use: <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/cables3.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/cables3.jpg”></a> Here’s one for the Playstation 1/2/3, and one for the Genesis. The Playstation cable I used had that A/V breakout halfway through. It’s not really in the way of anything, and could be used to pass composite to a Guncon or something. <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/cables4.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/cables4.jpg”></a> This one is for Dreamcast is a little different. It has some DIP switches on it to activate the mode select lines on the console’s video out. These allow for selection between two 15kHz RGB modes, or 31kHz RGB (VGA). More info here:<a href=“http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:dreamcastav”>http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:dreamcastav</a><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/cables5.jpg”><img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/cables5.jpg”></a> This one is for a Gamecube. In order to get RGBHV out of one, you have to hack an official component or d-terminal cable, and modify the connections to a chip found inside the cable. I could only find a component cable and it was pretty expensive. I removed the original output cable, and wired it up as a small adapter dongle with a female d-sub in my pinout. I also integrated the standard connector to add audio. A standard VGA cable can be used to connect between this and my switch box. More info here:<a href=“http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:gamecube_rgb”>http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:gamecube_rgb</a> <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/switchbox/cables6.jpg”> Since I had the other halves of the cables I used for this sitting around, I figured I’d make something out of them. This can be connected to my Gamecube dongle for component video. You need to set the DIP switches on the dongle for RGBHV or component. This cable can also be connected to my Playstation cable with a gender changer for component video. This works because of the shared pinout. You just need to switch back to component in the display settings. - Anyway, this is what can be done with d-sub connectors and switch boxes and such. The connectors are a lot smaller and easier to work with than SCART connectors, and the switch boxes are also very cheap ($12-15 USD) and versatile. They’re small (about 6x2x4 inches), non-directional, and don’t require a power supply. The main limitation of the switcher is of course the limited number of inputs, but you can chain them together. Three 4-ways chained will give you ten inputs. They don’t add any more resistance in the lines than a short length of wire, and I can’t see any reduction in brightness when compared to a straight connection. Of course, only the one at the end of the line needs a sync circuit, filter capacitors, audio breakout, etc. It doesn’t have to be as complicated as mine either. The color adjustment pots are not totally necessary, and depending on your sources and your monitor/transcoder/scaler/video processor/whatever, you may not need a sync circuit. You could easily use a d-sub switch without any modification this way, and you might be able to use a DB-9 instead of a DB-15. An audio breakout, SCART connection, etc., can be provided with a custom cable connected to the output. - My multi-console arcade cabinet will have various systems connected this same way, but I’m working on a circuit that will do the switching with relay chips instead of a physical switch. This will allow for some fancy tricks.

R-CADE_Gaming · February 20, 2013, 5:36am

After a long wait, I’m finally getting RGB out of my NES. I wasn’t interested in the Playchoice 10 PPU RGB mod because of the palette issues, not to mention not wanting to kill a PC10. Fortunately, Tim Worthington (“viletim”) recently came out with an ingenious little circuit board called the NESRGB that solves all of these problems. It is installed in between the stock PPU and the NES main board, and can output high quality RGB with a selection of color palletes (one of them being the normal color palette we’re accustomed to from the composite output). More info here: <a href=“http://etim.net.au/nesrgb/index.htm”>http://etim.net.au/nesrgb/index.htm</a> <a href=“http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=47617”>http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=47617</a> Here’s the NESRGB installed in my front-loader. <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/nesmod1.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/nesmod1.jpg”></a> I removed the RF output and channel select switch (won’t be missing those), and installed a DB-15HD connector to output RGBS + audio using my pinout. This way it can be connected to my switch boxes using a standard VGA cable. <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/nesmod2.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/nesmod2.jpg”></a> Here it is all back together. <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/nesmod3.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/nesmod3.jpg”></a> - After watching eBay for at least 6 months, I finally got myself a PC Engine Duo R around Christmas of 2012. I’d been looking for a while since I’d already had a mint copy of Rondo of Blood for about a year. Anyhow, as soon as I got it, I kind of halfway region modded it so I could play my US copy of Blazing Lazers. When I say halfway, I mean I just cut some of the pins on the HuCard connector and quickly rewired them so I could play US cards, but then Japanese cards were unplayable. Eventually I got around to installing a proper switch to change between regions easily, and I also did an RGB mod while I was at it. For the region mod I referenced this site:<a href=“http://www.multimods.com/SlotMod1.html”>http://www.multimods.com/SlotMod1.html</a>and for the RGB mod I referenced this site:<a href=“http://www.gamesx.com/rgbadd/rgbturbo.htm”>http://www.gamesx.com/rgbadd/rgbturbo.htm</a>I decided to put everything for both mods on one small board that’s about 2 x 2 inches. This turned out to be a pretty tight fit, but it worked out. Here’s what I came up with; the “bottom” of the board: <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod1.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod1.jpg”></a> On the far left of the board are the four transistors for amplifying the RGB signal, one each for red, green, blue, and composite sync. On the right are four CD4066 chips. I’m basically using each one as a 4PST switch. There are 8 pins on the card connector which must be switched one of two ways, so I combined the four 4066’s to make an 8PDT switch. I could have done it with fewer chips, but 4066’s are dirt cheap, and I had a ton of them lying around. On the top are some little “L” brackets and nuts and bolts for d-subs that were convenient for mounting the board to a piece of shielding that sticks up at the back of the system. This also provides the whole circuit with a connection to shield ground. Here is the board mounted in the system; you can see the “top” of it, where all the connection points are: <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod2.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod2.jpg”></a> On the left are all the connections among the various pins of the 4066’s, and on the right are all the resistors for the RGB amp circuit. I basically used the exact circuit from the page I linked to, but I skipped the 220uF capacitors on the outputs because they’re included in my switchbox. The stray red and black wires to the right of the board are for the +5v and ground that will run the whole thing, tapped from the original video output. The bunches of wires at the bottom left are coming from the card connector. I desoldered the original DIN-5 A/V output connector, and replaced it with a DIN-8: <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod3.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod3.jpg”></a> You can see that four of the pins are soldered into the original mounting points; these will carry the +5v, ground, and left and right audio that was always there. The other four pins are bent up so I can solder my RGB and sync outputs to them. You can also see a better view of how the board is mounted to that shielding to the left. Here’s the new DIN-8 from the outside; looks pretty original: <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod4.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod4.jpg”></a> Here’s what connects to the new output. It’s a little dongle I can plug a standard VGA cable into to carry RGBS video and audio to my switchbox: <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod5.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod5.jpg”></a> Here’s everything wired up: <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod6.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod6.jpg”></a> You can see the appropriate connections from the card connector running through the 4066’s to be switched, with a toggle switch ready to be routed to the outside of the system; and the RGB and sync signals, tapped from the graphics chip, running through the amplification circuit and out the DIN-8 connector. The toggle switch just provides 5v on one wire or the other to activate a set of 4066’s and select a region. Finally, here’s the switch mounted under the card door. Drilling the hole for this switch was really the only irreversible modification to the system: <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod7.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod7.jpg”></a> You just put in a card and set the switch one way or the other to pick a region. For disc games it doesn’t matter which way you set it. Well, everything’s working pretty well so far. HuCard games from either region load right up, and Rondo of Blood never looked so good with the RGB output! - Also, here’s a picture of the N64 after RGB modding. <img src=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/analogavsetup/n64rgbmod.jpg”><a href=“http://rcadegaming.com/images/pcemod/pcemod6.jpg”></a>

vandutch · February 21, 2013, 1:26am

Very educational… And freaking awesome!!!

Pablo_the_Mex · February 21, 2013, 2:51am

Very cool, thanks for sharing.

R-CADE_Gaming · February 21, 2013, 3:08am

Thanks guys!

Moonchilde · February 21, 2013, 4:03am

snip.

R-CADE_Gaming · February 21, 2013, 4:58am

Just like all “standard definition” televisions it can display any reasonable 15kHz signal. 15kHz refers to the horizontal scan rate, and since these TV’s are designed to run at 15kHz that means they can display resolutions around 480i OR 240p. They do NOT have a “native resolution” of 480i that they’re locked into or anything like that; that’s a common misconception about televisions. It will display 480i as an interlaced picture if that is how it is receiving the signal, but if you feed it a 240p signal it will display it just as received as well. If it converted to 480i before actually being displayed you would be able to see that in the scanlines. There would be twice as many, and they would be much thinner. You can tell just from the screenshots that it’s real 240p. These kinds of TV’s didn’t even have scaling and processing capabilities, this came with later “HD-capable” models such as your XBR. That is likely a 31kHz set. 31kHz means resolutions around 480p or 940-1080i. It had to “upscale” 720p to something interlaced because it’s not capable of a horizontal scanning rate fast enough to finish 720 active lines every field at 60 fields per second (60Hz). However, convert that to interlaced and it only has to scan half of the lines each field, which is doable at the 31kHz horizontal scan rate it’s designed for. As for the “bump in the center,” that’s an effect of the electron gun trying to scan onto a flat-face tube. Not all the points on the tube are equidistant from the electron gun in the back as they were with a traditional round tube, so it’s much harder to draw a perfectly straight line. Vbow does not affect this, as that controls the bowing along the vertical axis, not the horizontal. Anyhow, it’s not noticeable in gameplay unless you stop concentrating on the game to actively look for it. The convergence problem is even less noticeable with anything but a test pattern, but, as I said, I’ll see if there is anything that can be done with the two of these issues with the physical adjustments at the tube neck. It’s difficult to achieve perfect geometry with a CRT, but in terms of 240p content, the pros far outweigh the cons. The look of real scanlines and the subtle natural smoothing of a shadow mask (or aperture grille in the case of a Trinitron) is hard to beat, not to mention guaranteed zero input lag. I’m not trying to hate on modern displays. Modern 720p/1080p content is great on a low lag flat panel display, and I’ll certainly be looking for a larger one of those in the future.

Moonchilde · February 21, 2013, 5:24am

snip

R-CADE_Gaming · February 21, 2013, 8:39am

<div>What may be confusing is that standard definition TV’s are not compatible with 480p, again because that requires a 31kHz scanning rate, which wasn’t possible until newer TV’s advertised as “progressive scan” became available.</div>

Moonchilde · February 21, 2013, 9:32am

snip

R-CADE_Gaming · February 21, 2013, 11:15am

snip

rcaido · February 21, 2013, 11:59am

Don’t mind moonchild he still believes Claw is not a bullshit character in ST.

Very cool setup bro! Looks like you put a lot of work into this. I play my old school console on a Disney princess TV.

Kyle · February 21, 2013, 5:21pm

Someone more OCD than myself! I love it.Recommendations:Get a Super Famicom + Pro Action Replay. It looks cooler than the SNES and can be best friends with your Hagane.Get a model 1 Japanese Mega Drive or High Definition Graphics Genesis. Better audio output with more bass.Get Shinobi III for the Genesis. It’s a better game than Hagane. :P I am using a Wii for NES emulation at 240p over component. It’s annoying, but I’m holding out for the Bunnyboy HDMI NES or whatever is eventually sorted out that isn’t the usual RGB mod.

Moonchilde · February 21, 2013, 6:13pm

snip

mistahsnart · February 21, 2013, 9:07pm

I dig the setup. I’m currently using a 27" Wega (KV27FV17) for my retro systems. RGB SCART -> Component for everything. Do you have any issues with image shift from console to console? For example: I’ll get my Saturn perfectly centered with about 1px of overscan on all sides, but then when I kick over to PS2, The image is shifted 10 pixels to the right. I’ve always just took it as needing to adjust the screen as I switch consoles, but I’m wondering if you know of any tricks to get a more universal fit for various systems?

Smashbro29 · February 22, 2013, 2:10am

And I thought what I was planning was complex.

R-CADE_Gaming · February 22, 2013, 3:54am

I forwarded this thread to my friend Cliff, who I mentioned previously, for some additional info. Here is his response from an email:<div style=“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Verdana; line-height: normal;”> </div><div style=“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Verdana; line-height: normal;”>I worked in Broadcast engineering for over 40 years, with FCC First and General Class Licenses, and was Chief Engineer for eight different broadcast facilities during that time.</div><div style=“font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, Verdana; line-height: normal;”> </div><div style=“font-size: 10pt;”><div>The significant AND ONLY difference between 240p and 480i:</div><div style=“font-family: Arial, Verdana; line-height: normal;”> </div><div style=“font-family: Arial, Verdana; line-height: normal;”>They are identical in every way, except that the second field of 480i is delayed by 1/2 horizontal line!</div><div style=“font-family: Arial, Verdana; line-height: normal;”> </div><div style=“font-family: Arial, Verdana; line-height: normal;”>THAT and only THAT is what makes it Interlaced.</div><div style=“font-family: Arial, Verdana; line-height: normal;”> </div><div style=“font-family: Arial, Verdana; line-height: normal;”>For both 240P and 480i the H and V frequencies are identical: 15750 for H and 60 for V. By delaying the second field [all 262.5 of the even numbered lines] in 480i by 1/2 H line, thevideo is then interlaced. By the way, this has to happen at the videosource and can’t be changed in an NTSC ONLY TV.</div><div style=“font-family: Arial, Verdana; line-height: normal;”> </div><div style=“font-family: Arial, Verdana; line-height: normal;”>There is nothing in a standard NTSC “15KHZ” TV set, not the CRT, not the video amp circuitry, or anything else that can change a non-interlaced 240p progressive scanned incoming signal into an interlaced signal and display it as an interlaced image.</div></div>

R-CADE_Gaming · February 22, 2013, 4:17am

Thanks for the compliments!<div> <blockquote class=“Quote”><div class=“QuoteAuthor”><a href="/profile/4387/rcaido">rcaido</a> said:</div>
<div class=“QuoteText”>I play my old school console on a Disney princess TV.</div>
</blockquote>

C’mon, why do you have one-up me here?<div> <blockquote class=“Quote”><div class=“QuoteAuthor”><a href="/profile/8688/Kyle">Kyle</a> said:</div>
<div class=“QuoteText”>Get a Super Famicom + Pro Action Replay. It looks cooler than the SNES and can be best friends with your Hagane.</div>
</blockquote>

The Super Famicon does look so much cooler than an SNES. I don’t know what Nintendo of America was thinking. Unfortunately though, you’d really have to hack up a Super Famicom to fit US cartridges in it, whereas a Super Nintendo fits both types of cartridge easily.</div><div> </div><blockquote class=“Quote”><div class=“QuoteAuthor”><a href="/profile/8688/Kyle">Kyle</a> said:</div>
<div class=“QuoteText”>Someone more OCD than myself! I love it.Recommendations:Get a model 1 Japanese Mega Drive or High Definition Graphics Genesis. Better audio output with more bass. </div>
</blockquote>

I’m getting full stereo with the cable I made, and using the equalizer means I can have as much or as little bass (or any other frequency) as I want.<div> <blockquote class=“Quote”><div class=“QuoteAuthor”><a href="/profile/8688/Kyle">Kyle</a> said:</div>
<div class=“QuoteText”>Get Shinobi III for the Genesis. It’s a better game than Hagane. :P </div>
</blockquote>

Blasphemy!!.. I’ll give it a try. Hagane’s pretty sweet though.</div><div> </div><blockquote class=“Quote”>
<div class=“QuoteAuthor”><a href="/profile/43971/mistahsnart">mistahsnart</a> said:</div>
<div class=“QuoteText”>Do you have any issues with image shift from console to console?</div>
</blockquote>

Check my comments about my transcoder halfway down the first post. I modded it with that large knob on the front to allow me to adjust the horizontal position shift on the fly. It’s just a 10-turn pot controlling the horizontal sync width.<div> </div><div>There are things you can do in the console to alter the horizontal shift. You can even place resistors of varying sizes on the c sync line in your cable to get a little bit of adjustment. However, the thing is that there can even be variations among timing values used by different games among the same system, so it’s best to just have a convenient manual adjustment available somewhere.</div></div>

Kyle · February 22, 2013, 5:35am

Which is why you need the Action Replay.