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Whilst i'm looking forward to the new gscartsw design, I must admit I was kind of hoping for a seperate standalone unit that could seperate sync from green, so that it could be used with all existing gscartsw.

In my opinion the ideal addon for the gscart would be a a "gsyncsw" 4:1 switch unit, which would feature a VGA (DE-15) input with L+R audio, a 'Component' input with L&R audio (Same 6x vertical RCA connector as used on gcompsw) and two SCART sockets, with one SCART output. The unit would take RGBHV, RGsB or RGBS and output only RGBS, making it ideal for use with the Dreamcast, PS2 and Xbox. It wouldn't be a transcoder, so the 'Component' input would simply be there to allow people to use old Component cables to carry RGsB (For instance the Xbox can use a hacked "VGA" BIOS to force RGsB output from the AV port over the same pins that the Component cable already uses) The "gsyncsw" could then be connected to any existing gscartsw, giving users an extra three inputs with greater sync compatibility.

Maybe i'm just dreaming, but is this something you might ever consider superg?

Forgot to mention, the new gscartsw has microUSB power supply.

Question: Since you're adding a USB connector anyway, would it be possible to add a USB serial console to query/remote control the switch instead of using the EXT header?

I doubt somebody will go through the trouble writing the driver for it given that nobody utilized the EXT port.

Would it need a special driver? Couldn't you just use a Prolific chip, like most USB serial cables? Or, perhaps simpler, what about simply exposing serial TX/RX lines with a header?

Why would I spend another $5 for an unused functionality? I saved $1 by removing the EXT header because nobody used it.

I would really really love manual switch option, and I think you said this is possible with the EXT header. I don't know how to use the header to make a manual switch button, or I would. How can I learn how to use it? If I knew more I can think of several uses I'd be interested in.

The prototypes are here, debugging a few things and checking power consumption.

The prototypes are here, debugging a few things and checking power consumption.

The prototypes are here, debugging a few things and checking power consumption.

@superg hi. Been using my gscartsw for ages now and am happy with it, but was wondering about the upcoming revision. When I bought the gscartsw I think you were saying you'd be releasing an add-on to enable sync-on-green in the future (to work with that version of the gcsartsw)? Are you saying now that it'll require this new revision of the SCART switcher (and no add-on is coming)?

Ideally I'd prefer not to have to sell my existing one to upgrade to get the sync-on-green functionality.

I don't think so, sorry. If I ever do gsyncsw [unlikely], it wouldn't be something you've just described.

I understand, but since you are currently redesigning the gscartsw for RGsB might you also consider adding RGBHV support over SCART? SCART Pin 10 could carry HSYNC, and Pin 12 could carry VSYNC, and then it could output ouput RGBS (and/or RGBHV). That way with a simple SCART adapter the gscartsw could be used as a VGA switch/sync combiner as well?

There is no advantage in having separate HV sync, it's not improving the picture, just using two wires instead of one. Using digital pins to pass analog signals is not very nice and standard, apart from you'll need custom adapters to VGA or whatever you want to use (BNC?). Too cumbersome configuration. The clean solution is to mix HV sync to composite sync before entering the switch - there are even ready made devices that do exactly this, Micomsoft XSYNC and I think beharius has some device for that.

It generates an invalid csync signal for the SCART port because it just XNORs the H and V sync together, which is incorrect and won't work properly with many digital devices like the OSSC.

As far as I can tell through google the Micomsoft XSYNC1 was a CSYNC separator? (and apparently its no longer sold) The Beharbros design also has some "critical design flaws":-
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=61472

Guspaz is talking about the Garo which is a transcoder. They made a separate sync combiner (Kenzie?) that worked well as far as I could tell. I even used it to fix the sync on the Garo.

The extron 201rxi and 203rxi also combine sync nicely. 202rxi works well also but it has a male 8 pin dsub input instead of the VGA seen on the 201 and 203. I would suggest using this and then a BNC to scart cable (make sure there's a resistor on the sync line) to go to the gscartsw. It also converts sync on green to RGBS so there's your standalone device. The 201's go for something like $40 on eBay, you really can't beat it.

Hi superg! I ordered a gscartsw_lite and gcompsw a while back and have been really loving both for use with my Framemeister. Great work on these products!!

I very recently picked up a PVM and am now interested in feeding output from both of these switches into the PVM. The PVM(-14L5) seems to only have one set of BNC RGB input. Since gscartsw_lite has two SCART outputs, a SCART <-> BNC adapter from the gscartsw_lite's other SCART output seems like a really good way to get my SCART RGB signals into the PVM.

My question, then, is this: for my gcompsw / component devices, would it be possible to get a Component <-> SCART transcoder (like BeharBros Garo or the $60 one on Amazon) and chain the gcompsw into the gscartsw_lite, for eventual simultaneous output to my PVM and Framemeister via RGB? Will these two devices interact correctly in this way? Or is there potentially a better way to also feed in my component sources to the PVM (and notably keep a stream going into my Framemeister)?

Thanks!

Also if you're tech savvy you can carefully route passive SCART to Component adapter because both gcompsw and gscartsw are electrically compatible. I think somebody also did that.

Will the new gscartsw with RGsB support work with component video signals? Assuming passive component to SCART cables are used. By "work" I mean auto select the active input and pass the component signal through unmolested.