XRGB-mini Framemeister

[NormalFish]

nother side note on the scanlines thing. I really like the my life in gaming series on RGB it's a great intro course, but they are dead wrong when they say scanlines look bad on 1080p. They obviously weren't using the settings found in this thread and definitely need to change that. When I saw my scanlines weren't even in 1080p it basically affirmed this in my head and I wrote them off. Can be very confusing.

Scanlines used to be terrible on 1080p, and were remedied (though not entirely) in a relatively recent firmware update. It's likely their video predates that.

Scanlines in 1080p only look good with vertical integer scaling, and the most recent firmware updates seem to have taken them a step backwards where they will now only look good when the vertical zoom is set to the same dimensions as "SMART_2X". Anything above that and the INT_SMOOTH function is misaligned.

A while back there was an update (1.20 or something?) that drastically changed 1080p scanlines. I believe it was the same patch that added profiles and the current scanline options. Prior to that, 1080p scanlines were pretty universally terrible. I believe that is the cause of the comment from MLiG.

[austin532]

Just signed up to give a huge thank you to Austin and FBX for all the work they have done and are doing on the Framemeister settings. Just got my mini this week and loaded up some profiles. I am in god tier gaming heaven! Thanks again guys for all you do!

Thanks, I assume you are talking about the scanline settings? Which one is your favorite?

Yes indeed, first of all your info about which scaling settings create even scanlines was invaluable in this thread. That's the one thing that had me stumped, and I feel there isn't enough info about it out there. I was messing with all the mini settings wondering why the scanlines were all misshapen and not even, had pretty much given up on them.

Yeah, you have to set your TV to Full Pixel mode otherwise they won't look right. Meaning no overscan.

I like all the settings really I need to really sit down and play some more games with all of them. In particular though i like the CRT scanlines as a bare minimum effect that everyone should at least try. They really improve the jagginess and give it that nice arcadey look without interfering too much with the picture or darkening the brightness, which I find to be a problem with the thicker scanlines.

Yeah, CRT settings are my favorite. I've probably spent more time with those than any other setting. While there is no set in stone scanline look due to the image brightness or darkness, I feel this is the average look of them.

I think what FBX is currently working on with his individual settings links on his webpage combined with the same kind of thing for your scanlines would be the silver bullet/essential reading that would really get the uninitiated up and running quickly. I've worked with tech as a profession for a long time and even I found there is quite a learning curve if you don't know exactly where to look.

Hell, I think if you guys got together and did a little 5$ one time pay thing with proper bin files and easy setup guides for everything mini related, pictures, videos and all that, you'd get a ton of people (myself included) willing to pay for something like that. You could use the dough to help pay for your time (i'm sure a ton of time went into these settings), buy more obscure systems and make more perfect setup guides, etc.

A $5 pay? Why would I do that? I'm here to help the community, not make money off of them. FBX is more than welcome to use my scanline settings on his site or guide or whatever he wants.

[masqdgamer]

Wasn't aware of the switching issue, what are some popular games that do this?

Off the top of my head, the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night does this, so every time you open or close the menu (which you do very often in that game), the framemeister gives you a black screen for multiple seconds. There are a few SNES games that do this, IIRC? One of the Secret of Mana games? I don't recall.

Chrono Cross and Valkyrie Profile on PS1 and Daytona CE on Saturn also iirc
Isnt it pretty much any game that switches between different resolutions ?

[NormalFish]

Wasn't aware of the switching issue, what are some popular games that do this?

Off the top of my head, the Saturn version of Symphony of the Night does this, so every time you open or close the menu (which you do very often in that game), the framemeister gives you a black screen for multiple seconds. There are a few SNES games that do this, IIRC? One of the Secret of Mana games? I don't recall.

Chrono Cross and Valkyrie Profile on PS1 and Daytona CE on Saturn also iirc
Isnt it pretty much any game that switches between different resolutions ?

Yeah, any switch between 240p/480i will give you 5+ second down time. Some games are quite a bit worse though, since they use 480i for menus or something, which is quite jarring. There are plenty of smaller things (such as the PS1 intro screen) which result in a resolution change but aren't quite such a deal breaker.

[Guspaz]

The IR issue is a stretch at best.

It prevents many people from using their HDMI switcher's remote controls. It's an annoyance to many people.

Define "many." I think I've seen people complain about this issue only a small handful of times.

AFAIK, anybody who owns a Monoprice HDMI switch.

[FBX]

Check 44h and see for yourself! It's not stored in per input/res data.

44h? What editor are you using to view the entries?
At any rate, the end result is the profile won't activate ZOOM when loaded. So whether it technically saves the status or not is a completely moot point.

[RGB32E]

Check 44h and see for yourself! It's not stored in per input/res data.

44h? What editor are you using to view the entries?

If you can't figure out what I'm referring to, there's no need to explain (hint: memory location).

At any rate, the end result is the profile won't activate ZOOM when loaded. So whether it technically saves the status or not is a completely moot point.

Actually no, it's not a completely moot point, as the ZOOM setting is applied when you perform a load all (as hinted in my first post*). I can only speculate what you're doing wrong that would cause you to believe that. Works fine with V2.03 FW (and quite possibly earlier FW)!

*LOAD_SELECT will not apply the Zoom setting from a profile to an input on a fresh boot. It will appear to start working after performing a load all. Hence, it might do you good to actually take another look and not believe you always know what you're talking about, or else you might be spreading more misinformation...

[tusecsy]

Check 44h and see for yourself! It's not stored in per input/res data.

44h? What editor are you using to view the entries?

If you can't figure out what I'm referring to, there's no need to explain (hint: memory location).

At any rate, the end result is the profile won't activate ZOOM when loaded. So whether it technically saves the status or not is a completely moot point.

Actually no, it's not a completely moot point, as the ZOOM setting is applied when you perform a load all (as hinted in my first post*). I can only speculate what you're doing wrong that would cause you to believe that. Works fine with V2.03 FW (and quite possibly earlier FW)!

*LOAD_SELECT will not apply the Zoom setting from a profile to an input on a fresh boot. It will appear to start working after performing a load all. Hence, it might do you good to actually take another look and not believe you always know what you're talking about, or else you might be spreading more misinformation...

Whether zoom is turned on or off is dependent on the user in 2.03. If zoom is off when I load a profile with it "on" it stays off. You're wrong, get over yourself.

[RGB32E]

Actually no, it's not a completely moot point, as the ZOOM setting is applied when you perform a load all (as hinted in my first post*). I can only speculate what you're doing wrong that would cause you to believe that. Works fine with V2.03 FW (and quite possibly earlier FW)!

*LOAD_SELECT will not apply the Zoom setting from a profile to an input on a fresh boot. It will appear to start working after performing a load all. Hence, it might do you good to actually take another look and not believe you always know what you're talking about, or else you might be spreading more misinformation...

Whether zoom is turned on or off is dependent on the user in 2.03. If zoom is off when I load a profile with it "on" it stays off. You're wrong, get over yourself.

Can't fix stupid, but I'm going to try:

1. Create a profile with Zoom set to ON (e.g. on RGB input).
2. Reset the XRGB-mini (DATA -> Reset)
3. Power on the XRGB-mini
4. Verify Zoom is set to OFF
5. Switch to RGB input and verify Zoom is set to OFF
6. Load profile using Data->Load (NOT Load_Select)
7. Check Zoom setting

[FBX]

Whether zoom is turned on or off is dependent on the user in 2.03. If zoom is off when I load a profile with it "on" it stays off. You're wrong, get over yourself.

Actually he's right in that if you choose "Load" instead of "Load_Select" it does in fact work that way. The problem is he was being intentionally cryptic in order to have fun and troll, rather than simply just stating that.

[RGB32E]

Actually he's right in that if you choose "Load" instead of "Load_Select" it does in fact work that way.

Instead of automatically doubting and resisting what I had to share, you could have just asked how I was able to make loading the setting work (that being the actual problem here). Remember that for next time! As for the epiphany, you're welcome!

[TheShadowRunner]

Whether zoom is turned on or off is dependent on the user in 2.03. If zoom is off when I load a profile with it "on" it stays off. You're wrong, get over yourself.

Actually he's right in that if you choose "Load" instead of "Load_Select" it does in fact work that way. The problem is he was being intentionally cryptic in order to have fun and troll, rather than simply just stating that.

Word. So Zoom state is just broken for "Load_Select", good to know.

[RGB32E]

Word. So Zoom state is just broken for "Load_Select", good to know.

My theory is that because the Zoom setting is stored as a "global" setting instead of per input setting that you have to load ALL the profile data in order to consistently apply the setting. I could see Micomsoft considering this not as a bug, but "by design" (aka "user error" ).

[Braca862]

For the Dreamcast, I am considering getting the Toro VGA box.What would you recommend? VGA or RGB?

[tusecsy]

For the Dreamcast, I am considering getting the Toro VGA box.What would you recommend? VGA or RGB?

VGA if your display has it.

[lechu]

For the Dreamcast, I am considering getting the Toro VGA box.What would you recommend? VGA or RGB?

I have one. I use the RGB output through my XRGB-mini and get great picture. But when you do that, make sure the Toro itself is set to VGA mode. That way you get 480p through the Scart output. It looks incredible.

[Braca862]

Oh ok. Since my TV does not have a VGA port, I'll have to go with RGB. Where can I buy a male-to-male SCART cable? Also, I'm going to have to wait to buy a Toro since BBS is shipping all the pre-orders and won't have the VGA boxes in stock for a while.

[axlblazeadam]

Wow, so much hate just over who's right over loading a fucking profile setting. Jeez

[FBX]

Wow, so much hate just over who's right over loading a fucking profile setting. Jeez

All he had to do was just come out and say it, but if you know him, you know he couldn't resist the chance to troll. My personal favorite was the setup with "44h". He was just waiting for me to respond to that just so he could call me stupid. You know, like everyone automatically knows just as much as he does about it.

[NormalFish]

Not the first time, doubt it'll be the last unfortunately.

[masqdgamer]

For the Dreamcast, I am considering getting the Toro VGA box.What would you recommend? VGA or RGB?

I go from the Toro -->FM-->HDMI / HDTV, mainly because the VGA input on the HDTV in my game room looks washed out at 640x480

[masqdgamer]

Oh ok. Since my TV does not have a VGA port, I'll have to go with RGB. Where can I buy a male-to-male SCART cable? Also, I'm going to have to wait to buy a Toro since BBS is shipping all the pre-orders and won't have the VGA boxes in stock for a while.

I use this and it works great.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 3154133006

[RGB32E]

Wow, so much hate just over who's right over loading a fucking profile setting. Jeez

I find it bizarre that FBX got hyper defensive when I pointed out a fact about the profile files that provided clues about the Zoom setting. Upon further investigation, the distinction between Load and Load Select became apparent that was previously overlooked. No hate on my part, just calling shenanigans on FBX's foot-in-mouth and his continued blame game (finding fault with my posts instead of just asking how to load the setting!).

[tusecsy]

Wow, so much hate just over who's right over loading a fucking profile setting. Jeez

I find it bizarre that FBX got hyper defensive when I pointed out a fact about the profile files that provided clues about the Zoom setting. Upon further investigation, the distinction between Load and Load Select became apparent that was previously overlooked. No hate on my part, just calling shenanigans on FBX's foot-in-mouth and his continued blame game (finding fault with my posts instead of just asking how to load the setting!).

Or your first post could've been "use the load function instead of the load select function for proper zoom loading", but it wasn't, because you are doing nothing but trolling for attention. fbx and his presets brought me here, he's the man, you're not, sorry.

[opt2not]

Wow, so much hate just over who's right over loading a fucking profile setting. Jeez

I find it bizarre that FBX got hyper defensive when I pointed out a fact about the profile files that provided clues about the Zoom setting. Upon further investigation, the distinction between Load and Load Select became apparent that was previously overlooked. No hate on my part, just calling shenanigans on FBX's foot-in-mouth and his continued blame game (finding fault with my posts instead of just asking how to load the setting!).

Or your first post could've been "use the load function instead of the load select function for proper zoom loading", but it wasn't, because you are doing nothing but trolling for attention. fbx and his presets brought me here, he's the man, you're not, sorry.

RGB32E and FBX have been going at it for a while on various topics regarding this awesome piece of hardware. It's just run-of-the-mill competitive nerd banter.
You're new here. Stick around longer and actually contribute to the site before you start trying to throw long-time members under the bus.

[TheShadowRunner]

RGB32E and FBX have been going at it for a while on various topics regarding this awesome piece of hardware. It's just run-of-the-mill competitive nerd banter.
You're new here. Stick around longer and actually contribute to the site before you start trying to throw long-time members under the bus.

hmm no, RGB32E has been going at it, not FBX. Get your facts straight.
And the fact he's a newcomer has nothing to do with his reading ability / common sense.

[opt2not]

RGB32E and FBX have been going at it for a while on various topics regarding this awesome piece of hardware. It's just run-of-the-mill competitive nerd banter.
You're new here. Stick around longer and actually contribute to the site before you start trying to throw long-time members under the bus.

hmm no, RGB32E has been going at it, not FBX. Get your facts straight.
And the fact he's a newcomer has nothing to do with his reading ability / common sense.

Ok fine, RGB has been going at it for a while now. I'm not defending him or anyone. I'm just saying it's not right for some noob to just drop in and start calling out members.

[masqdgamer]

RGB32E and FBX have been going at it for a while on various topics regarding this awesome piece of hardware. It's just run-of-the-mill competitive nerd banter.
You're new here. Stick around longer and actually contribute to the site before you start trying to throw long-time members under the bus.

hmm no, RGB32E has been going at it, not FBX. Get your facts straight.
And the fact he's a newcomer has nothing to do with his reading ability / common sense.

Ok fine, RGB has been going at it for a while now. I'm not defending him or anyone. I'm just saying it's not right for some noob to just drop in and start calling out members.

damn, thats hardcore.

[FBX]

At any rate, the information was useful, so I've updated all my pages to suggest using "LOAD" instead of "LOAD_SELECT", though it may take a few mins for the web site to update the corrections.

I also updated the General Framemeister Notes to include the use of Artemio's color bar test pattern for calibrating A/D. It's important to get this right as A/D is prone to crushing the brighter colors as you turn it up. I found my 1CHIP-03 SNES was especially sensitive, and required a safe setting of 120. Meanwhile the RGM Amp mod for the SNES Jr allowed for a much greater setting of 140. So basically each user really needs a flash cart so they can do the Test Suit tests themselves. A screenshot of the color bar test pattern is also shown on the page:

http://www.firebrandx.com/generalframemeisternotes.html

[FBX]

Finished the first of the Gamecube pages:

http://www.firebrandx.com/gamecubeprofiles.html

Also found a couple of mistakes in the Gamecube profiles while reviewing these, so I've updated the package with the fixes. The mistakes were minor misalignment issues.