I am expecting my parts for my Scart switch mod using a VGA switch, and I want to bounce some ideas first, see if my idea is feasible.
Hey you think I can squeeze the capacitors inside of a plastic backshell for the DB15HD connector housing?
Might be possible, but would be very tight. Why not just put a set inside the switch on its output?
Oh Like you have it?
My other idea as I cut off the Scart ends, since my upscaler uses a female scart port is to have the outgoing cable have one of the good scart male ends.
This leaves me flexible for future riggins, including if I need to use a scart cable that I can’t modify (like if I using someone else’s scart cable and system).
I want to explore all options before I start to cut and crimp cables.
http://www.troll.me/images/futurama-fry/not-sure-if-sarcasm-or-just-honest-remark.jpg
Most of my SCART ends were reusable, with solder lug connections and a fold-able “clam shell” cover, just like a d-sub. See if you can open them up and desolder instead of just cutting the cable. It will give you more cable length, save you from stripping, and you can reuse it for your “outgoing to scaler” cable. If not, most of the cables on eBay are like this if you need a reusable connector.
It was not sarcasm, I didn’t mean it that way.
Fry holds no ill will, just confusion. No worries, lol.
Has anyone made a chip or circuit replacement for the PlayChoice PPU encoder to do the NES RGB mod, or is ripping one off of a PlayChoice board still the only option?
AFAIK it’s still the only option, and it’s a bad idea. You end up doing a lot of work, ruin a PlayChoice 10, and end up with an NES with an incorrect color palette. Your best bet is to use a TV with a decent NTSC decoder, or use an external one.
There is an opinion, but its just as pricey (if not more so) than finding a working Playchoice 10 motherboard.
The Famicom Titler, its a Sharp made, nintendo licensed combination Famicom and subtitle generator. Its the only RGB enabled Famicom available commercially.
Even then you have to hack the console to get to the RGB
http://www.chrismcovell.com/gotRGB/fctitler.html
Please Note:
The same games that are incompatible with the NES to Play Choice 10 adapter or PPU RGB mod on a NES are also incompatible with the Famicom Titler.
The same visual and graphical issues also might appear, but these issues are less noticeable with a Famicom titler than it would be on a RBG hacked NES PPU.
Guys please dont hack up Playchoice 10 games. I play my NES games thru my playchoice cab…This guy name 2600 created an adapter to play your NES games on your Playchoice.
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r225/baklakiller/2012-12-22175829.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r225/baklakiller/2012-12-22181758.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r225/baklakiller/2012-12-22182127.jpg
http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r225/baklakiller/2013-01-16012906.jpg
Actually, it’s all stuff I picked up during the time when I was really interested in emulator programming and console development, combined with an interest in electronics and a semester of computer engineering classes.
I should probably clarify that “outside the RGB color space” is assuming that white is represented by maximum brightness in each color channel, in which case the brightest colors on the NES can drive certain color channels as much as 40% or so above the white value. Since CRTs typically don’t clamp electron gun voltages strictly at white, the result is that the brightest NES colors are more saturated than one would expect. (In theory, some dark colors can drive certain color channels as about 15% or so below black, but CRT phosphors can’t really get darker than “not lit”.)
This is to say nothing of the fact that NES doesn’t actually output “white”, but instead outputs a “super-white” that is about 10% brighter than white. This is notable because it means white on the NES often results in on-screen image distortions, typically with a scanline spreading horizontally in proportion to the amount of white used on that scanline. A good example of this is the NES Dragon Quest games - this distortion is really easy to notice on the left and right borders of any wide text box in those games.
The NES can also output a “super-black” - this color is not intended for use on-screen, and exists only for technical reasons I don’t feel like going into, though a handful of unlicensed games used it because the devs didn’t know any better. This color is known for causing major image distortions on some TVs (and possibly not working at all on others), because the voltage for it is midway between black and the voltage used for sync pulses.
The big one is simply the fact that each pixel is only 2/3 of a Chroma cycle in length. Because of this, the color of a pixel on-screen is affected by its horizontal neighbors, and more savvy developers used this effect to create more detailed graphics than one would think possible.
You though pretty much correctly, actually. Several Playchoice 10 colors differ from their NES equivalents by design, presumably to correct deficiencies in the NES’s color palette, like it’s lack of pure reds and greens or true yellow. Many of these differences are actually far larger than the difference between the real NES palette and an RGB approximation of it.
You can set the upper and lower maximum voltage for each gun in some TV service menus.
On mine, there are some offset values for a variety of picture settings which only affect composite sources. Since everything else is on component, I adjusted these values specifically for the NES, so it’s looking pretty good.
Haha, I guess not.
Like shading; effectively increasing color depth?
Wow, nice! But don’t you need something to support the weight of the cartridge?! That looks pretty iffy just hanging out there like that.
The PCB motherboard actually goes vertically into the Playchoice 10 cab, so its not that bad. i think someone was going to make an extension which would make it easier to switch out games. Haven’t been keeping up with it.
So I got everything to mod my Scart cables except for the damn backshells.
I refuse to hit up radio shack as there shells are overpriced and I want thumbscrews on my DB housing.
So I order from one seller online, they haven’t shipped even though the order was put in more than 2 weeks ago.
Apparently their warehouse was empty before I made the order, so I have to cancel my order on Amazon.
They wouldn’t even cancel the order on their end, I had to contact Amazon to do so.
Advice to everyone else, hit up Digikey, Mouser, or Element14 first.
This does give me time to get some tech flex tubing so I can start color coding some of my lines once I start to make my mods.
I order everything I possibly can on Digikey. Selection is enormous, prices are reasonable if not the best, and shipping is very quick.
After a number of setbacks and now a unusable Scart cable, I decided to find and buy a Hama brand Scart switch, I don’t have too many consoles set up for scart any ways just a SNES and a PS2, and my Dreamcast is set for regular VGA.
Too bad retro_console_accessories haven’t open their shop back up yet, I could use a good NTSC SNES scart cable now. There is folks on the NEO GEO forums that I can talk to for getting a SNES scart.
So my XRGB 2 Plus setup is up and working now.
The device got a built in scan line generator too.
But I might still go for a standalone SLG so I can also utilize scan lines on my Dreamcast.
Seeing as I got in around the mini era I have to wonder, what’s stopping you from creating a custom cable for your DC that’s compatible with your XRGB (because what do I know, they could be different) and just using that scanline emulation?
Well I got the DC set up for VGA, The XRGB 2 Plus outputs VGA so I stick to it like that.
There DC scart cables out there already
I am also considering switching my Xbox 360 from component to VGA