SyncSlayer II - SCART to VGA Adapter

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Rikrok
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Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2017 2:59 pm

Re: SyncSlayer II - SCART to VGA Adapter

Post by Rikrok »

An update on connecting my consoles to the Wells Gardner D9400-

I tried the SCART2VGA, it didn't work, I got a no signal message with a garbled image in the background. I order SyncSlayer, it works! Also my concern about it specifically saying 15kHz- it works fine with 480p from the Dreamcast (using the Retro Gaming Cables 480p scart cable). 240p and 480p worked straight out of the box but 480i was giving me a black screen. I tried changing the jumper on the SyncSlayer from Csync to Hsync and now everything works. Needless to say I'm very happy.
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kitty666cats
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Re: SyncSlayer II - SCART to VGA Adapter

Post by kitty666cats »

Rikrok wrote:An update on connecting my consoles to the Wells Gardner D9400-

I tried the SCART2VGA, it didn't work, I got a no signal message with a garbled image in the background. I order SyncSlayer, it works! Also my concern about it specifically saying 15kHz- it works fine with 480p from the Dreamcast (using the Retro Gaming Cables 480p scart cable). 240p and 480p worked straight out of the box but 480i was giving me a black screen. I tried changing the jumper on the SyncSlayer from Csync to Hsync and now everything works. Needless to say I'm very happy.
That's weird! This link makes it seem like it should work with all sorts of levels of RGBS and RGBHV, both positive and negative sync to boot! - https://na.suzohapp.com/images/pdf/well ... 0_SPEC.pdf

Did you use a external PSU with the SCART2VGA, or did you adjust the solder to pull 5V from SCART? If the former, I wonder if it was the PSU. Also, did you try the SCART2VGA with & without the LM1881 activated?
Rikrok
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Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2017 2:59 pm

Re: SyncSlayer II - SCART to VGA Adapter

Post by Rikrok »

As I understand where that document says "Standard CGA / EGA / VGA/ sync (positive or negative)" it's referring to the sync frequencies, but it still requires RGBHV not RGBS, which is why the SyncSlayer works and the RGB2SCART doesn't.

I tried with two different power supplies and the switch in both positions.
Rikrok
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Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2017 2:59 pm

Re: SyncSlayer II - SCART to VGA Adapter

Post by Rikrok »

I'm having one issue with the SyncSlayer. I emailed Retro Gaming Cables about it but haven't had response, maybe someone here can help...

I have their Dreamcast 480p scart cable connected to a trisync arcade monitor, vga input via a SyncSlayer II. It has a switch "between true ‘HSync’ or ‘Csync as Hsync’ via pin jumper". I need to keep this set to Hsync otherwise my 480i consoles don't display anything, however the Dreamcast in 480p has the top, say 1/8th, of the screen heavily slanted to the right (this doesn't happen with the Wii or original Xbox in 480p, connected via component to a Retrotink Comp2RGB and then the same). Below that initial distortion things look great. I can fix the problem by changing the jumper to Csync but then none of my 480i content displays.

Does anyone know what's causing this slanted image (obviously something to do with sync but what exactly) and is there a way to play my Dreamcast in 480p without changing that jumper every time?
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kitty666cats
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Re: SyncSlayer II - SCART to VGA Adapter

Post by kitty666cats »

An Extron RGB interface with serration pulse removal would likely fix that issue - some units have a dedicated dipswitch for it (labeled “SERR”) and others have the feature via an interior jumper.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Inline-2005-Un ... 4508203037

^ this thing has said feature, may end up being cheaper than the more popular Extron branded interfaces.
Rikrok
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Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2017 2:59 pm

Re: SyncSlayer II - SCART to VGA Adapter

Post by Rikrok »

kitty666cats wrote:An Extron RGB interface with serration pulse removal would likely fix that issue - some units have a dedicated dipswitch for it (labeled “SERR”) and others have the feature via an interior jumper.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Inline-2005-Un ... 4508203037

^ this thing has said feature, may end up being cheaper than the more popular Extron branded interfaces.
Interesting, thanks for pointing me in the right direction
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segasonicfan
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Re: SyncSlayer II - SCART to VGA Adapter

Post by segasonicfan »

As a hardware engineer and someone who is no stranger to designing sync filter and correction circuits, I just want to add my +1 for a very high quality product here.

The price is extremely reasonable for the expenses for creating something like this, including the laser cut case, and multiple jumper settings, screw terminals, etc. don't forget that these hobbyist products cannot compete with "economies of scale" like Walmart, Amazon, etc. since parts are not bought in the millions, but in the hundreds (at most) for a significant markup.

The ISL59885 is a fantastic circuit and not a inexpensive one at that. The options here are terrific and you'll be very hard-pressed to find anything better in this price range.

Note: Tri-Sync signals and Dreamcast interlacing (and interlacing in general) are extremely hard to correct for many reasons I won't get into here. Creating a product like this that works with 100% of every weird kind of videogame signal out there is crazy difficult. This is good stuff.

Just my thoughts anyway :)
I design retro gaming add-ons and repair old consoles :)
My Website: Segasonicfan Designs http://www.segasonicfan.wixsite.com/retro
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kitty666cats
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Re: SyncSlayer II - SCART to VGA Adapter

Post by kitty666cats »

As far as I can tell from experience with Extron interfaces, those interlace issues are usually squared-away if you adjust the internal jumper for forced narrow-band sync. I don’t know what they use, or the hows and whys… but yeah, the combo of serration pulse removal and forced (negative) narrow-band sync seems to be very friendly to signals from video game consoles 8)
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