GARO - Universal Component Video Transcoder with Scanliner

[beharius]

They are not ready yet.

[LEGENOARYNINLIA]

Soon?

[beharius]

Sorry. A little bit delayed due to the customs.
https://flic.kr/p/JWJP1a

[Plasia]

I'm very keen

[masqdgamer]

any paypal option?

[Gunstar]

Sorry. A little bit delayed due to the customs.
https://flic.kr/p/JWJP1a

Hey Beharius, is there an updated ETA on this?

[beharius]

Yes, they are ready. We will be shipping them from tomorrow.
https://flic.kr/p/KoHkNQ
https://flic.kr/p/JTfiGN

[Gunstar]

It outputs the exact same resolution it's fed with. 1:1. No upscaling, no stretching. Nada.
These are processed on the TV though.

Hey Beharius, I've just received the GARO and it doesn't appear to be 1:1, I should be getting 720x480 from the Wii but my monitor is reporting 640x480. My other transcoder passes through the non vesa timed signal and the monitor won't report the pixel resolution as it should be.

[Fudoh]

What display ? And what's your other transcoder ?

[Gunstar]

It's a PC Crt = Mitsubishi Diamondtron, I'm using this mayflash component to VGA transcoder:


When the Wii or Xbox goes through it, the PC Crt never reports a resolution but a quick check of the Wii through the GARO the PC Crt is showing 640x480.

[Fudoh]

I wouldn't worry about it. There's no way that the Garo alters the resolution and your monitor won't do it either. You can check this using a 1:1 pixel pattern from the test suite (or the power bars at the bottoms of the screen in GGX). There shouldn't be any loss in resolution or any soft spots.

[Gunstar]

I'll try and get the test suite up. I was under the impression that I'd be losing horizontal resolution as 720x480 is squished into 640x480. I know the xbox renders past 640x480 in 4:3, I'll have to check that too but the image is definitely a different proportion to the mayflash, similar to what the ebay scaler does.

[Fudoh]

was under the impression that I'd be losing horizontal resolution as 720x480 is squished into 640x480

you would on a LCD, but not on a CRT.

[beharius]

You can change the sync polarity via jumpers on the board, currently they are negative.your Mayflash shows negative&positive syncs.
Probably you turned the mayflash's switch to change the v sync polarity. This resulted a different resolution.
Garo doesn't alter the resolution by default, it's the correct one.

[Gunstar]

You can change the sync polarity via jumpers on the board, currently they are negative.your Mayflash shows negative&positive syncs.

I'll have a play around with that, thanks for the info.

So far it's picture quality is equal to the Mayflash, which I think is superb and have heard from some other people uses a solid chip for transcoding. It's passed the Mario Kart Double Dash lighting desynch test which the Mayflash fails, I'll have to try it with No More Heroes but so far so good. Both the Mayflash and the GARO show this magenta horizontal streak on certain bright screens, for example switching in and out of Wii Channels on the OS or the cloud intro screen when you start Donkey Kong Country: Returns. A very minor issue especially compared to Desynching.

Considering all the various cheap transcoders and not so cheap (I couldn't get a hold of some of those rarer models Fudoh mentions in his guides but did get a key digital device) this is easily the best no hassle option out there.

[beharius]

Thanks, I am glad you like it, enjoy it!

[LEGENOARYNINLIA]

I get a random flash in the picture here and there. It seems to be more frequent if there is a lot of white in the picture.

I'm using a fat PAL PS2 (SCPH-3904) and I'm running NTSC-J games in 480p with a third party component cable.

Any ideas what might be causing this? I was also hoping I'd get a full screen picture with the Garo but I get the same borders as I get with my Waka.

EDIT: I switched to a BNC breakout cable and that fixed it.

[BuckoA51]

A shiny thing turned up today, quite unexpectedly! Thanks Beharius, I will get to reviewing it as soon as possible.

garo-picture by videogameperfection, on Flickr

[BuckoA51]

So disappointingly I'm still getting the old purple/pink tint issue with the Garo the same as I got with the old Startech transcoder. Well, it's not as common as it was with the Startech transcoder but it still happens. Here's an example. First up is Wii (PAL launch model @ 480p)->OSSC (AV2 Component)->VP50 Pro->TV

IMG_1181 by videogameperfection, on Flickr

Now here's Wii (PAL launch model @ 480p)->Garo->OSSC (AV1 SCART)->VP50 Pro->TV

IMG_1182 by videogameperfection, on Flickr

The purple tint seems to come and go on that screen with the Garo, but is never there when going directly to the OSSC. Any ideas? I tried taking the 50 Pro out of the chain just in case, but no difference. There's no switching hardware between the Wii and the OSSC/Garo.

[LEGENOARYNINLIA]

The scanline switches don't seem to do anything on my unit. Everything else works fine.

[BuckoA51]

Update - Purple tint problem disappears if I use VGA out rather than SCART. Since SCART 480p is rare I don't think this is a huge problem.

Scanlines work fine on my unit.

Further update - Purple tint happens on the Framemeister too, and of course 480p via SCART is the only option there, a shame.

[Gunstar]

The scanline switches don't seem to do anything on my unit. Everything else works fine.

Scanlines don't work for me, I'm using a 12v psu, ordered a 9v to see if that changes.


Just took out the Extron 203 out of my chain (Console > GARO > Extron> PC Crt), the pink/magenta streaks that occur on bright white screens is gone! I also tested it with the level boost and peak controls set to zero and still there would be pink streaks. A little frustrating since the Extron is great at brightening the image.

Interestingly enough the Mayflash desynch's are shortened, before the screen would go off for 1-2 seconds but now it's a quiver or half second at worse.

[BuckoA51]

Just took out the Extron 203 out of my chain (Console > GARO > Extron> PC Crt), the pink/magenta streaks that occur on bright white screens is gone!

Hmm, definitely no Extron interface here and still having those issues.

[Gunstar]

Just took out the Extron 203 out of my chain (Console > GARO > Extron> PC Crt), the pink/magenta streaks that occur on bright white screens is gone!

Hmm, definitely no Extron interface here and still having those issues.

Is that now through the VGA?

[LEGENOARYNINLIA]

Scanlines don't work for me, I'm using a 12v psu, ordered a 9v to see if that changes.

I'm also using a 12V PSU. I'll get a 9V one if it works for you.

So far I've only noticed positive things compared to other devices I've used previously. With the Garo my monitor doesn't even lose sync during the flashy bits of KOF '98 UM's intro, and 240p PS1 games also look pretty damn nice. The LED is ridiculously bright though.

[BuckoA51]

Is that now through the VGA?

No only SCART, but of course SCART is the only option when using it with the Framemeister.

I'm using a 9 Volt PSU.

[Gunstar]

Scanlines don't work for me, I'm using a 12v psu, ordered a 9v to see if that changes.

I'm also using a 12V PSU. I'll get a 9V one if it works for you.

So far I've only noticed positive things compared to other devices I've used previously. With the Garo my monitor doesn't even lose sync during the flashy bits of KOF '98 UM's intro, and 240p PS1 games also look pretty damn nice. The LED is ridiculously bright though.

I'll report back when I get the 9v.

Yeah, zero desynchs here too, just tested out No More Heroes for a bit, you can now see the double flash when you get the jackpot symbols. lol the LED is crazy bright!

Ah, that's a shame about the Scart output. I don't know what to think, GARO via VGA and through my Extron was showing the pink lines, even with zero level or peak boost; but without it, it seems fine.

[beharius]

I haven't seen these issues before. Have you tried on a different console like Xbox? If there is anything wrong, I can replace it. You may try to change your cables too. Or in some resolutions scanlines may not be visible on your screen.

[juji82]

No tint with my Garo with Scart out to my mini.
Sorry for the bad quality, just took without light.

[BuckoA51]

I don't get a tint on the home screen either. It largely depends on what else is going on with the picture. Go to the same screen I was on.. it's Wii options->data management->Channels.

Have you tried on a different console like Xbox?

Xbox seems fine.

You may try to change your cables too.

Same cable works fine with Garo using RGBHV out and direct to OSSC.