gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thread

[hex12]

After 2 weeks of waiting for customs clearance I have now also received my switches. Thank you!

I am using the special cables recommended by the guys of retrorgb.com and the shop mentioned from the YouTube RGB video of the channel "my life in gaming"
I am not as experienced with all those various sync RGB options, so I buy what others recommend to me and those cables served me well since 2 years now. I assume that they have some sync option being built in but I am not sure, they are those scart cables with the "famous" yellow sticker on it, maybe some of you know them.

With gscartsw all the old consoles work perfectly on my PVM and LCD Beamer / Framemeister setup, but with PS1, PS 2 and Xbox I get a shaking, slightly vibrating picture on both the PVM and the LCD Beamer.

Maybe you guys can help me or at least point me out which cable to buy. I'm located in Europe, so the RGB cables from https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/son ... laystation
would be a good shop for me to buy. But as I am a sync noob, I don't know which cable to pick

Thanks

If you can Sync on luma versions, it is the best quality.
I also received my GSCARTSW, very good quality item, while my GCOMPSW probably went to Farmington instead of Italy and lost in the Avalon clouds...
I will wait for 2 more weeks then i will ask for refund or a new shipment...

[Rupert H]

Thanks guys. I will open the Duo up and see what I can do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[driftminister]

After 2 weeks of waiting for customs clearance I have now also received my switches. Thank you!

I am using the special cables recommended by the guys of retrorgb.com and the shop mentioned from the YouTube RGB video of the channel "my life in gaming"
I am not as experienced with all those various sync RGB options, so I buy what others recommend to me and those cables served me well since 2 years now. I assume that they have some sync option being built in but I am not sure, they are those scart cables with the "famous" yellow sticker on it, maybe some of you know them.

With gscartsw all the old consoles work perfectly on my PVM and LCD Beamer / Framemeister setup, but with PS1, PS 2 and Xbox I get a shaking, slightly vibrating picture on both the PVM and the LCD Beamer.

Maybe you guys can help me or at least point me out which cable to buy. I'm located in Europe, so the RGB cables from https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/son ... laystation
would be a good shop for me to buy. But as I am a sync noob, I don't know which cable to pick

Thanks

If you can Sync on luma versions, it is the best quality.
I also received my GSCARTSW, very good quality item, while my GCOMPSW probably went to Farmington instead of Italy and lost in the Avalon clouds...
I will wait for 2 more weeks then i will ask for refund or a new shipment...

So choosing a sync on luma cable would be always better than a composite sync cable for all consoles using gscartsw?

Some pages ago in this thread I have read that Playstation users getting trouble with some luma sync with gscartsw, but I did not understand it completely. Is this somehow related?

[hex12]

After 2 weeks of waiting for customs clearance I have now also received my switches. Thank you!

I am using the special cables recommended by the guys of retrorgb.com and the shop mentioned from the YouTube RGB video of the channel "my life in gaming"
I am not as experienced with all those various sync RGB options, so I buy what others recommend to me and those cables served me well since 2 years now. I assume that they have some sync option being built in but I am not sure, they are those scart cables with the "famous" yellow sticker on it, maybe some of you know them.

With gscartsw all the old consoles work perfectly on my PVM and LCD Beamer / Framemeister setup, but with PS1, PS 2 and Xbox I get a shaking, slightly vibrating picture on both the PVM and the LCD Beamer.

Maybe you guys can help me or at least point me out which cable to buy. I'm located in Europe, so the RGB cables from https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/son ... laystation
would be a good shop for me to buy. But as I am a sync noob, I don't know which cable to pick

Thanks

If you can Sync on luma versions, it is the best quality.
I also received my GSCARTSW, very good quality item, while my GCOMPSW probably went to Farmington instead of Italy and lost in the Avalon clouds...
I will wait for 2 more weeks then i will ask for refund or a new shipment...

So choosing a sync on luma cable would be always better than a composite sync cable for all consoles using gscartsw?

Some pages ago in this thread I have read that Playstation users getting trouble with some luma sync with gscartsw, but I did not understand it completely. Is this somehow related?

I don't have read about that, maybe SuperG can help if Luma Sync cables for PS2 have troubles (RGC cables).
I was speaking from quality pointy of view, Luma Sync is better that C-Sync in my opinion

[nmalinoski]

So choosing a sync on luma cable would be always better than a composite sync cable for all consoles using gscartsw?

Some pages ago in this thread I have read that Playstation users getting trouble with some luma sync with gscartsw, but I did not understand it completely. Is this somehow related?

As I understand it, sync on composite is the most correct for SCART, but you will want a properly-shielded cable for it.

Sync on luma is a well-liked alternative, because any interference from the luma line is supposed to be significantly less or less noticeable than that from composite video.

A composite sync (CSync) cable is really only needed for, say, direct connection to a PVM, BVM, or other device that does not support a CVBS or luma as sync; it is not needed or desired for use with the gscartsw_lite, as the sync regeneration feature will already generate composite sync on output, and additional inline sync strippers (such as those in SCART heads) have been known to conflict with the gscartsw_lite's sync regeneration feature.

(You could always turn sync regen off to use CSync cables, but you'd probably really only want to do this if all your cables were CSync, otherwise you might end up having to turn sync regen on or off for each console, which I think undermines the purpose of an automatic switch.)

I was speaking from quality pointy of view, Luma Sync is better that C-Sync in my opinion

I'm not sure this makes sense. As I understand it, the argument for sync-on-luma is that there's less of a signal to interfere with the RGB lines than composite video (sync-on-composite) when a given cable is not properly shielded; therefore, a CSync signal (composite sync; please don't conflate this with sync-on-composite), which lacks any video data, would cause even less interference.

[hex12]

I'm not sure this makes sense. As I understand it, the argument for sync-on-luma is that there's less of a signal to interfere with the RGB lines than composite video (sync-on-composite) when a given cable is not properly shielded; therefore, a CSync signal (composite sync; please don't conflate this with sync-on-composite), which lacks any video data, would cause even less interference.

If you notice the video, and from what i could understand from My Life in Gaming videos, for how it is managed, luma sync is the best option and if you compare csync vs luma on these videos, the quality of luma is better, even if it is not so noticeably than luma vs composite on sync.
I don't confuse with sync on composite, i know it is the worst quality option, but if you put on a balance, luma sync has less problems and so at the end it is the best option even if it is a svideo standard

[superg]

I'm not sure this makes sense. As I understand it, the argument for sync-on-luma is that there's less of a signal to interfere with the RGB lines than composite video (sync-on-composite) when a given cable is not properly shielded; therefore, a CSync signal (composite sync; please don't conflate this with sync-on-composite), which lacks any video data, would cause even less interference.

If you notice the video, and from what i could understand from My Life in Gaming videos, for how it is managed, luma sync is the best option and if you compare csync vs luma on these videos, the quality of luma is better, even if it is not so noticeably than luma vs composite on sync.
I don't confuse with sync on composite, i know it is the worst quality option, but if you put on a balance, luma sync has less problems and so at the end it is the best option even if it is a svideo standard

csync is better than sync-on-luma which in turn is better than sync-on-composite (if we are into that interference topic again). I'm not sure to which My Life In Gaming video you're referring to. If you're talking about PSX/PS2 specific MultiAV - it doesn't carry csync at all, only cvbs (composite) and S-Video Y (which is sync-on-luma) - so in that particular case Y might be better than cvbs, but not in general.

[driftminister]

Now I am really confused which cable to pick

[superg]

Now I am really confused which cable to pick

PS1/PS2: don't pick "csync" cable because it has LM1881 sync cleaner integrated, you don't want to process your signal twice. You're left with two choices, cvbs (composite) or sync-on-luma, pick whichever one you want. I personally use cvbs.

[driftminister]

Now I am really confused which cable to pick

PS1/PS2: don't pick "csync" cable because it has LM1881 sync cleaner integrated, you don't want to process your signal twice. You're left with two choices, cvbs (composite) or sync-on-luma, pick whichever one you want. I personally use cvbs.

Awesome, thanks!
I will avoid the csync cables for PS1/PS2 then and choose the sync on luma version like that one: https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/son ... A-LIGHTGUN

And for all the other consoles from Sega, Nintendo, NeoGeo and also Xbox Classic (which gives me the same trouble right now like the PS1/PS2) I choose the csync version instead as the best option, right?

[superg]

Now I am really confused which cable to pick

PS1/PS2: don't pick "csync" cable because it has LM1881 sync cleaner integrated, you don't want to process your signal twice. You're left with two choices, cvbs (composite) or sync-on-luma, pick whichever one you want. I personally use cvbs.

Awesome, thanks!
I will avoid the csync cables for PS1/PS2 then and choose the sync on luma version like that one: https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/son ... A-LIGHTGUN

And for all the other consoles from Sega, Nintendo, NeoGeo and also Xbox Classic (which gives me the same trouble right now like the PS1/PS2) I choose the csync version instead as the best option, right?

Well, the general rule is don't get anything with integrated sync processing. If console outputs csync natively, you can get it. If not, pick another cable. I prefer cvbs, but that's just me.

[RGB0b]

Remember that if you get good quality, shielded cables, the quality will be the same as a csync cable:

https://youtu.be/otNXQiFjlF4
https://youtu.be/HV2cSKhO6v0
http://www.retrorgb.com/systems.html

The only advantage of using csync with shielded cables is compatibility, but if you're using the gscartsw_lite, that's not a factor, as it has sync processing built-in. The ONLY console that's an exception is the PS2 in 480p RGsB mode. My absolute favorite fix for that is this: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=60996

...but that's only needed for people who require 480p RGBs through the gscartsw_lite; 240p/480i works perfect without any mod. For 480p, using a component video cable might be easiest for most people. I think Dan's offering that csync mod, as well as iFixRetro for people who are interested.

[DirkSwizzler]

@driftminister If you're chasing the best quality cable. Be prepared to change your mind more than once. If you want to save your wallet, set the bar lower with "this will work".

I've got a significant graveyard of cables that work fine but the available options changed and something else was a better choice.

But the general methodology for finding the best cable are:
1. Actually compatible with your specific model of console. Output options can change between regions and model revisions.

• And be sure to buy from a reputable seller like retrogamingcables.co.uk or retro-access.com . Otherwise your cable may be built out of spec which might cause headaches that are hard to solve and/or equipment damage

2. "Fully shielded". Which is sometimes different than the generic claim of "shielded". Sometimes plain "shielded" just means that the outer jacket of the cable is shielded. When what you really want is for each line inside the cable to be shielded from every other line in the cable.
3. No internal sync stripper. Sometimes this is hard to identify. So it's best to double check that the console itself outputs csync before buying a csync cable.
4. If all the above have been met. Then it's the time to consider composite sync > sync on luma > sync on composite.
5. Get the shortest reasonable length possible. It's not going to make a significant difference if your cable is fully shielded. But it will eat away at your OCD if you're anything like me.
6. Wait a few months until some new bypass mod comes out, or a new piece of gear comes out, or someone does a bit more research into some funky quirk. Then get out your wallet again.


EDIT: Be sure to buy from a reputable seller
EDIT2: Forgot to mention that shorter is technically better

[hex12]

Guys someone that had the problem of international dispatch sent to domestic destination can tell me if he had received item and how much time passed ? Also destination country.
My GCOMPSW is not joining and post company does not have it in charge. It neither joined the airport before post take in charge.
If someone can share i appreciate, i should use the experience to see how manage the situation with referral to my country.
Thanks

[superg]

Guys someone that had the problem of international dispatch sent to domestic destination can tell me if he had received item and how much time passed ? Also destination country.
My GCOMPSW is not joining and post company does not have it in charge. It neither joined the airport before post take in charge.
If someone can share i appreciate, i should use the experience to see how manage the situation with referral to my country.
Thanks

I submitted the search request to USPS, will forward you the confirmation number to your email. I'm not sure how long it will take them to respond but if your unit won't come until February 20 and no information from USPS I will ship you a new one.

[hex12]

Guys someone that had the problem of international dispatch sent to domestic destination can tell me if he had received item and how much time passed ? Also destination country.
My GCOMPSW is not joining and post company does not have it in charge. It neither joined the airport before post take in charge.
If someone can share i appreciate, i should use the experience to see how manage the situation with referral to my country.
Thanks

I submitted the search request to USPS, will forward you the confirmation number to your email. I'm not sure how long it will take them to respond but if your unit won't come until February 20 and no information from USPS I will ship you a new one.

Thanks

[gordon-creAtive]

People are... people.

Gscartsw v3.4 RGB SCART Switch powered
Item Sold
Item condition:Used
Ended: Feb 04, 2018 , 10:15PM
Winning bid:US $615.00
[ 35 bids ]
Shipping: Read item description or contact seller for shipping options.
Item location:Sacramento, California, United States
Seller:
kgc3088 (313 )

I wonder why somebody would pay 600 bucks on this one instead of getting the lite for far less. Ok, you have to wait some time for a new batch, but is cutting that wait really worth ~ 400 USD? Or are the dropped features really that important?

[superg]

People are... people.

Gscartsw v3.4 RGB SCART Switch powered
Item Sold
Item condition:Used
Ended: Feb 04, 2018 , 10:15PM
Winning bid:US $615.00
[ 35 bids ]
Shipping: Read item description or contact seller for shipping options.
Item location:Sacramento, California, United States
Seller:
kgc3088 (313 )

I wonder why somebody would pay 600 bucks on this one instead of getting the lite for far less. Ok, you have to wait some time for a new batch, but is cutting that wait really worth ~ 400 USD? Or are the dropped features really that important?

Wow...
It's way too much for outdated v3.4. The current lite stock is shipped to me, should be here this week. I have some extra units right now but I figured I will put them on sale with the new batch.

[DirkSwizzler]

People are... people.

Gscartsw v3.4 RGB SCART Switch powered
Item Sold
Item condition:Used
Ended: Feb 04, 2018 , 10:15PM
Winning bid:US $615.00
[ 35 bids ]
Shipping: Read item description or contact seller for shipping options.
Item location:Sacramento, California, United States
Seller:
kgc3088 (313 )

I wonder why somebody would pay 600 bucks on this one instead of getting the lite for far less. Ok, you have to wait some time for a new batch, but is cutting that wait really worth ~ 400 USD? Or are the dropped features really that important?

Wow...
It's way too much for outdated v3.4. The current lite stock is shipped to me, should be here this week. I have some extra units right now but I figured I will put them on sale with the new batch.

I’m telling you, there’s still a bit of demand for the 3.4’s features. I disagree that it’s worth $600, but I could definitely see myself paying over $200 if I didn’t already have one.

[superg]

I’m telling you, there’s still a bit of demand for the 3.4’s features. I disagree that it’s worth $600, but I could definitely see myself paying over $200 if I didn’t already have one.

Probably Input 8 "passthrough" (which was logic side effect rather than feature) and separate HV sync (with a processing delay).

[DirkSwizzler]

I’m telling you, there’s still a bit of demand for the 3.4’s features. I disagree that it’s worth $600, but I could definitely see myself paying over $200 if I didn’t already have one.

Probably Input 8 "passthrough" (which was logic side effect rather than feature) and separate HV sync (with a processing delay).

Those are the big points I mentioned a couple dozen pages back. And I could see a small desire for switchable LPF (after mod).

[djc5166]

The only advantage of using csync with shielded cables is compatibility, but if you're using the gscartsw_lite, that's not a factor, as it has sync processing built-in. The ONLY console that's an exception is the PS2 in 480p RGsB mode. My absolute favorite fix for that is this: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=60996

Dan modded both my ps1 and ps2 for csync output, they have been great so far and no more messing with luma or sync strippers, everything in my setup is csync now.

Can't wait for his next trick, maybe I'll play some Wii once it's hdmi'd.

[KonradKlaus]

So I have been enjoying my GSCART Lite for a few months now. It is a fantastic product, however, tonight a weird issue popped up. It seems as if it is outputting an inconsistent sync signal on my snes. I have my snes plugged into my gscart via a c sync cable into my ossc. If I plug the snes directly into my ossc, it runs fine. If I run any of my other consoles through the switch it works fine. With the snes though, it goes in and out and flickers all over the place. I tried different ports on the switch, I tried my n64 sync on luma cable. Any ideas as to why this would happen all the sudden?

[hernan43]

So I have been enjoying my GSCART Lite for a few months now. It is a fantastic product, however, tonight a weird issue popped up. It seems as if it is outputting an inconsistent sync signal on my snes. I have my snes plugged into my gscart via a c sync cable into my ossc. If I plug the snes directly into my ossc, it runs fine. If I run any of my other consoles through the switch it works fine. With the snes though, it goes in and out and flickers all over the place. I tried different ports on the switch, I tried my n64 sync on luma cable. Any ideas as to why this would happen all the sudden?

I had a similar issue with my snes jr. in my specific case I turned off the switch (sync regen?) and my issue went away. Not sure if this is the same thing as what you are seeing.

[superg]

So I have been enjoying my GSCART Lite for a few months now. It is a fantastic product, however, tonight a weird issue popped up. It seems as if it is outputting an inconsistent sync signal on my snes. I have my snes plugged into my gscart via a c sync cable into my ossc. If I plug the snes directly into my ossc, it runs fine. If I run any of my other consoles through the switch it works fine. With the snes though, it goes in and out and flickers all over the place. I tried different ports on the switch, I tried my n64 sync on luma cable. Any ideas as to why this would happen all the sudden?

Did you change anything lately? Or you just connected a new SNES console? Is it modded SNES Mini?

[KonradKlaus]

I had a similar issue with my snes jr. in my specific case I turned off the switch (sync regen?) and my issue went away. Not sure if this is the same thing as what you are seeing.

I thought that might be the culprit too, but when switched the nothing was sent by the gscart.

Did you change anything lately? Or you just connected a new SNES console? Is it modded SNES Mini?

No, weird, right? It is a stock 2 chip snes, same snes that my set up has had since the beginning. I got it to work once when I turned off the Low Pass Filter on the OSSC, but then after rebooting it stopped working again and the Low Pass Filter did not effect output.

[superg]

I had a similar issue with my snes jr. in my specific case I turned off the switch (sync regen?) and my issue went away. Not sure if this is the same thing as what you are seeing.

I thought that might be the culprit too, but when switched the nothing was sent by the gscart.

Did you change anything lately? Or you just connected a new SNES console? Is it modded SNES Mini?

No, weird, right? It is a stock 2 chip snes, same snes that my set up has had since the beginning. I got it to work once when I turned off the Low Pass Filter on the OSSC, but then after rebooting it stopped working again and the Low Pass Filter did not effect output.

So no Mini then. When it flickers, do you see green LED blinking on the switch?
Did you try to toggle sync regeneration and see if it changes anything?

[Orrimarrko]

Hey Guys,

I've watched all of the My Life in Gaming episodes about this stuff, and I'm still not 100% sure that I follow everything. So, I was hoping to get some solid, specific advise.

I have a Framemeister (though haven't used it yet), and plan to get a gscartw_lite. I know that I'll need a SCART to mini din cable to connect to the front of the Framemeister, as it comes with a JP-21 version.

I had thought, that for the most part, to go with csync cables whenever possible. Now I read here that maybe you don't need that with the gscartw_lite. I had planned to buy these through Retro Access (retro console accessories on ebay), but there are so many choices... Sync on this, sync on that, csync, metal plated male plug, grounded, shielded, upgraded to coaxial pro cabling - if you're not a technical person (like me), it's too much.

So, I am hoping that someone can just let me know what I need (what isn't necessary or even is a bad option), for the retro systems.

Does how the modificiation was done make a difference?

Sorry to sound like such a noob or whatever; I'm older and just really want to buy the stuff that will work the best, plug and play.

Thanks in advance to any helpful responses.

Orri~

[hernan43]

Hey Guys,

I've watched all of the My Life in Gaming episodes about this stuff, and I'm still not 100% sure that I follow everything. So, I was hoping to get some solid, specific advise.

I am a novice myself when it comes to understanding all the ins and outs of this stuff. I've been purchasing whatever the My Life in Gaming recommended cable is for my various consoles. Their analysis seems to be very sound and I've had good results just using whatever they seem to think is best.

Some consoles they say to get CSYNC cables for and some consoles CSYNC doesn't seem to be as critical of an option. So there is some flexibility there.

[superg]

Hey Guys,

I've watched all of the My Life in Gaming episodes about this stuff, and I'm still not 100% sure that I follow everything. So, I was hoping to get some solid, specific advise.

I have a Framemeister (though haven't used it yet), and plan to get a gscartw_lite. I know that I'll need a SCART to mini din cable to connect to the front of the Framemeister, as it comes with a JP-21 version.

I had thought, that for the most part, to go with csync cables whenever possible. Now I read here that maybe you don't need that with the gscartw_lite. I had planned to buy these through Retro Access (retro console accessories on ebay), but there are so many choices... Sync on this, sync on that, csync, metal plated male plug, grounded, shielded, upgraded to coaxial pro cabling - if you're not a technical person (like me), it's too much.

So, I am hoping that someone can just let me know what I need (what isn't necessary or even is a bad option), for the retro systems.

Does how the modificiation was done make a difference?

Sorry to sound like such a noob or whatever; I'm older and just really want to buy the stuff that will work the best, plug and play.

Thanks in advance to any helpful responses.

Orri~

@driftminister If you're chasing the best quality cable. Be prepared to change your mind more than once. If you want to save your wallet, set the bar lower with "this will work".

I've got a significant graveyard of cables that work fine but the available options changed and something else was a better choice.

But the general methodology for finding the best cable are:
1. Actually compatible with your specific model of console. Output options can change between regions and model revisions.

• And be sure to buy from a reputable seller like retrogamingcables.co.uk or retro-access.com . Otherwise your cable may be built out of spec which might cause headaches that are hard to solve and/or equipment damage

2. "Fully shielded". Which is sometimes different than the generic claim of "shielded". Sometimes plain "shielded" just means that the outer jacket of the cable is shielded. When what you really want is for each line inside the cable to be shielded from every other line in the cable.
3. No internal sync stripper. Sometimes this is hard to identify. So it's best to double check that the console itself outputs csync before buying a csync cable.
4. If all the above have been met. Then it's the time to consider composite sync > sync on luma > sync on composite.
5. Get the shortest reasonable length possible. It's not going to make a significant difference if your cable is fully shielded. But it will eat away at your OCD if you're anything like me.
6. Wait a few months until some new bypass mod comes out, or a new piece of gear comes out, or someone does a bit more research into some funky quirk. Then get out your wallet again.


EDIT: Be sure to buy from a reputable seller
EDIT2: Forgot to mention that shorter is technically better

This.
To summarize: get individually shielded cables to get better image quality, don't get cables with integrated sync stripping IC. My personal advice is to get composite sync version cable for Saturn, some people had troubles with their Saturns. Properly mod your consoles, check retrorgb.com.