6-port SCART switch from Otaku Games?

[accaris]

First time I saw this was today when someone commented about it in the new My Life In Gaming video. https://otaku-games.com/index.php?route ... duct_id=61
Has anyone seen or heard of this thing before? I tried searching for it here with no results. There's almost no information about this switch on their facebook or website.

[Xer Xian]

They are also selling a version with additional six 6xRCA inputs: https://otaku-games.com/index.php?route ... rgb+switch

I can't deny I'm tempted to buy this monstrosity as I never use two consoles at the same time. Hmmm..

[lettuce]

Hell it might not be the most pleasing to the eye but you cant argue with the price, i might get one just to see how good it is.

The 6xRCA inputs version is crazy looking heck i wold love to see a 10-12 scart socket version

[billcosbymon]

Definitely much more affordable. I don't get why the gscartsw costs waaay too much.

[Guspaz]

Definitely much more affordable. I don't get why the gscartsw costs waaay too much.

That's a powered automatic switcher with a focus on quality and other features like acting as a distribution amplifier (powered splitter), sync stripper, sync separator, etc. This is a mostly unpowered manual switch with as yet unknown quality with no such extra features. They're not comparable.

[accaris]

Apparently they're releasing a version very soon with a case.

[lettuce]

Definitely much more affordable. I don't get why the gscartsw costs waaay too much.

That's a powered automatic switcher with a focus on quality and other features like acting as a distribution amplifier (powered splitter), sync stripper, sync separator, etc. This is a mostly unpowered manual switch with as yet unknown quality with no such extra features. They're not comparable.

That maybe the case but my Brandbridge scart switch cost me £15 and never had any issues with it (bar the sending power to another console, but easily fixed) on the 8 or so console i have, i just dont see where the £170 is going, a sync sripper and separator doesn't cost that much. It does look the part, has a large selection of inputs and from what My Life Iin Gaming say it does produce an ever so slightly bright image!, but £170's worth?......im not so sure.

Hopefully the Lite version will be more reasonably priced

[lettuce]

Apparently they're releasing a version very soon with a case.

Where have you read this and do you know if they have plans for a model with more scart sockets?

[accaris]

Apparently they're releasing a version very soon with a case.

Where have you read this and do you know if they have plans for a model with more scart sockets?

They replied in the comments for the most recent My Life In Gaming SCART switch video on Youtube.

[lettuce]

Apparently they're releasing a version very soon with a case.

Where have you read this and do you know if they have plans for a model with more scart sockets?

They replied in the comments for the most recent My Life In Gaming SCART switch video on Youtube.

Thanks

[Shoryukev]

That maybe the case but my Brandbridge scart switch cost me £15 and never had any issues with it (bar the sending power to another console, but easily fixed) on the 8 or so console i have, i just dont see where the £170 is going, a sync sripper and separator doesn't cost that much. It does look the part, has a large selection of inputs and from what My Life Iin Gaming say it does produce an ever so slightly bright image!, but £170's worth?......im not so sure.

Hopefully the Lite version will be more reasonably priced

It depends on what you're looking for. Some people look for the best bang for your buck while others want the best regardless of the price. Some want best picture quality, others are okay with a little degradation for the sake of convenience.

I've gone down the path of ditching SCART for BNC connectors or I'd be very interested in how it stacks up.

[werk91]

https://otaku-games.com/index.php?_rout ... using.html

Not bad looking either

[bobrocks95]

Those SCART ports are so recessed that I'm not even sure cables would fit... Surely some have larger cases than others?

[Guspaz]

At least one of my SCART cables (my only scart-to-scart one for that matter) will definitely not fit into those super-recessed ports due to its curved head. What were they thinking? They shouldn't be recessed at all.

[Xyga]

design fail

[Hoagtech]

Those SCART ports are so recessed that I'm not even sure cables would fit... Surely some have larger cases than others?

That wont work for half my scart cables. I don't think they compensated for housing size.

[lettuce]

https://otaku-games.com/index.php?_rout ... using.html

Not bad looking either

That looks awful, would have looked loads better if they just used a solid plastic colour rather than transparent and what on earth is with those recess scart sockets!!?

Those SCART ports are so recessed that I'm not even sure cables would fit... Surely some have larger cases than others?

That wont work for half my scart cables. I don't think they compensated for housing size.

I think its the component socket bracket thats caused them to have the the top of the case so high and the reason for the recessed scart sockets, guess its cheaper to straight edge case

[Guspaz]

I think its the component socket bracket thats caused them to have the the top of the case so high and the reason for the recessed scart sockets, guess its cheaper to straight edge case

That screams of poor design, because I can think of at least three ways to mitigate that through either board or case design changes:

1) Put the SCART connectors on the opposide face of the PCB and flip the PCB upside down. Now you've got no components but the SCART sockets on the "top" of the board. PCB design would need to be revised to account for the reversed pinout.

2) Cut a hole in the top of the case above the RCA jacks so that the height of the top of the case can be reduced. Case-only change.

3) Don't ruin your switcher's primary purpose by adding a nice-to-have feature that most customers won't use. In other words, get rid of the optional RCA jack instead of making your whole product useless.

[werk91]

I was being sarcastic saying it doesn't look bad. But let's not forget the price of it. I've been messaging the seller on Facebook a bit and they say standard Scart cables fit just fine. I only have standard sized Scarts (like RGC sells) so that works for me. They promised to send photos with cables plugged in soon so I'll share them here when they do.

[SuperDeadite]

The best looker imo, but it ain't cheap:
http://classicpc.org/cpc_superselector.html

But if you just want stupidly huge:
10 inputs, 3! outputs.
https://sv35.wadax.ne.jp/~mobile-access ... _1900.html

[bobrocks95]

If anyone is actually considering dropping $300 on a SCART swotch, please do yourself a favor and switch to DSub or BNC connectors, where switches are dirt cheap by comparison.

[Guspaz]

BNC switchers are only dirt cheap if you live within the US, otherwise the shipping costs for the giant metal boxes (that's the other downside, BNC switchers are monsters) make it super expensive, not to mention the additional trouble to deal with the many restrictions of the crosspoint (like picky sync or strange audio connectors). Dsub switchers maybe there's cheap ones out there, but searching for 8-port switchers turns up mostly KVMs, and 8-port KVMs are more expensive than a gscartsw by a significant margin. Add to that the downsides, which are that you get stuck with the terrible dsub connector, much more annoying than scart and very little room to fit components like caps and resistors and such.

[orange808]

If anyone is actually considering dropping $300 on a SCART swotch, please do yourself a favor and switch to DSub or BNC connectors, where switches are dirt cheap by comparison.

I'm hoping to use HDRetrovision cables to get SCART out of my setup. There's a persistent rumor that all component switches stink, but it's awfully easy to find very nice matrix component switchers for very little. I've got two component switches that are great--and I got (each of) them for under $20 usd with shipping included.

I do love the gscartsw, though. It's a good switch.

[bobrocks95]

BNC switchers are only dirt cheap if you live within the US, otherwise the shipping costs for the giant metal boxes (that's the other downside, BNC switchers are monsters) make it super expensive, not to mention the additional trouble to deal with the many restrictions of the crosspoint (like picky sync or strange audio connectors). Dsub switchers maybe there's cheap ones out there, but searching for 8-port switchers turns up mostly KVMs, and 8-port KVMs are more expensive than a gscartsw by a significant margin. Add to that the downsides, which are that you get stuck with the terrible dsub connector, much more annoying than scart and very little room to fit components like caps and resistors and such.

Okay, genuine question then- did I just get insanely lucky getting my Extron switch on ebay? I got a 12-port DSub switch for $30 + $12 shipping. I don't think anyone else bid on it. Are they usually much more expensive than this?

EDIT: I also see an 8x8 BNC Crosspoint right now for $40 shipped, buy it now.

[Guspaz]

There is also the gcompsw. It's a pretty small switch (4:1) but it's not super expensive ($90), has amplification to ensure no brightness loss, is automatic (like gscartsw), and could be daisy chained if you need more than 4 inputs.

[Guspaz]

BNC switchers are only dirt cheap if you live within the US, otherwise the shipping costs for the giant metal boxes (that's the other downside, BNC switchers are monsters) make it super expensive, not to mention the additional trouble to deal with the many restrictions of the crosspoint (like picky sync or strange audio connectors). Dsub switchers maybe there's cheap ones out there, but searching for 8-port switchers turns up mostly KVMs, and 8-port KVMs are more expensive than a gscartsw by a significant margin. Add to that the downsides, which are that you get stuck with the terrible dsub connector, much more annoying than scart and very little room to fit components like caps and resistors and such.

Okay, genuine question then- did I just get insanely lucky getting my Extron switch on ebay? I got a 12-port DSub switch for $30 + $12 shipping. I don't think anyone else bid on it. Are they usually much more expensive than this?

The story may be different for used: I was googling for new 8-port VGA switchers, everything was coming up KVM, and they were in the range of $400-500. So perhaps for new switches the cost is high, but for older switchers the cost is reasonable?

Looking at the shipping costs for crosspoint switchers, I'm seeing something odd. A lot of them are ~$40-45 shipping, which is about what I'd expect. But some of them list really cheap shipping, like one says $18 CAD shipping, and there is no way that you're going to ship a 26 lbs switch internationally for $18... so what the heck is going on?

[bobrocks95]

The story may be different for used: I was googling for new 8-port VGA switchers, everything was coming up KVM, and they were in the range of $400-500. So perhaps for new switches the cost is high, but for older switchers the cost is reasonable?

Looking at the shipping costs for crosspoint switchers, I'm seeing something odd. A lot of them are ~$40-45 shipping, which is about what I'd expect. But some of them list really cheap shipping, like one says $18 CAD shipping, and there is no way that you're going to ship a 26 lbs switch internationally for $18... so what the heck is going on?

I would assume that VGA isn't being used enough anymore for new units to be anything but niche high-end stuff. Old discontinued switches from companies that used to make them for professional use is where it's at.

For shipping on ebay, you can put whatever you want, so it doesn't really matter. Either people underestimating how much it costs to ship something, or they ship a lot and can get decent deals, or they just don't care and put in a complete ballpark value.

[orange808]

The cost of the cables seems like the biggest issue with the Crosspoints.

[Wolf_]

Definitely much more affordable. I don't get why the gscartsw costs waaay too much.

That's a powered automatic switcher with a focus on quality and other features like acting as a distribution amplifier (powered splitter), sync stripper, sync separator, etc. This is a mostly unpowered manual switch with as yet unknown quality with no such extra features. They're not comparable.

With technology "simple" is usually better than "advanced". I'm not a fan of automatic only switchers because if the game you are playing has a resolution change they can go into "seek" mode looking for new inputs when the resolution changes and it can take them a second to find the new video source on the same channel they were on. A manual switch without quality loss is the way to go.

That said I use a gscart because it isn't just a switch, it is also a sync stripper and soon the lite will also be a sync regenerator which has my interest peeked for the compatibility issues it may resolve.

Either way if they get their switch to look less dumb (say a functional, black case) then I'll pick one up for testing.

[Woozle]

The cost of the cables seems like the biggest issue with the Crosspoints.

It really is, but if you make your own cables it's not that bad. The audio cables with phoenix connectors are easy to make, it's the console specific connectors that give me issues.

I'm a CC fan because of its durability and the locking BNC connectors. The 8 outputs are useful for me because I feed my video signals to two upscalers, 2 PVMs, and a capture card. I only have an 8x8 CC, but I would get a bigger one if I could fit it under my TV :p