XRGB-mini Framemeister

[ZellSF]

well there is idd.

if the gc component cables just wouldn't cost as much as a used wii.

You can't connect a Game Boy Player to a Wii

The difference in image quality is much smaller than I thought it would be.

[Fudoh]

Phil, here you go:

Original layout:

top row:

20 RGB (B) = light blue cable
18 GND (B) = connected to Pins 21, 17, 13

bottom row:

21 GND = cable shielding
19 RGB (G) = light green cable
17 GND (G) = connected to Pin 18
15 RGB (R) = pink cable
13 GND (R) = connected to shield from (B) Coax
09 Sync = yellow cable
07 GND (V) = connected to shield from (G) Coax
05 Audio (R) = thin red cable
03 GND (Audio) = connected to shield from (R) Coax
01 Audio (L) = thin white cable

Mod to the following:

- remove all GND wires, all interconnects and those from the Coax lines.

- light blue cable - remove from Pin 20, solder to Pin 07
- light green cable - remove from Pin 19, solder to Pin 11
- yellow cable - remove from Pin 09, solder to Pin 20

- thin red cable - remove from Pin 05, solder to Pin 02
- thin white cable - remove from Pin 01, solder to Pin 06

rewire GND wires like this:

- (R) coax shielding - solder to Pin 13
- (G) coax shielding - solder to Pin 09
- (B) coax shielding - solder to Pin 05

- bridge 21, 18, 17 and bridge any of the video coax shieldings to the audio ground (Pin 04).

[Fudoh]

You can't connect a Game Boy Player to a Wii
The difference in image quality is much smaller than I thought it would be.

that's true, but for some reason the Wii signal just doesn't scale well on most processors....

[RGB32E]

well there is idd.

if the gc component cables just wouldn't cost as much as a used wii.

You can't connect a Game Boy Player to a Wii

The difference in image quality is much smaller than I thought it would be.

Well... don't forget about a modified GCN component cable (component -> RGBHV conversion)! Yes, the GCN component cables are expensive (though I'm sitting on 6+ new ones)! I'm curious to re-mod one of my RGBHV converted GCN cables with a SYNC combiner circuit and test 480p RGBS with the mini! (might be awesome)

I've seen acem's GCN SPDIF mod, but he uses an external master clock instead of one from the system as it isn't provided on the digital AV connector. Anyone know if the 12MHz clock is available internally?

[philexile]

well there is idd.
The difference in image quality is much smaller than I thought it would be.

In those screenshots, the blurriness is apparent, but as Fudoh said - it doesn't upscale well. Also, the output looks 'dirty' - I don't know how else to explain it. But your right, the cost difference is tremendous. I got a "deal" on Cube YUV cables years ago. They seem to go for much more now surprisingly.

Fudoh, thank you for the instructions!

[Fudoh]

Ever compared transcoded YUV from the Cube to RGBHV from a modified cable ? I was wondering if there's an advantage in using a modified cable, maybe for color resolution reasons ?

[RGB32E]

Ever compared transcoded YUV from the Cube to RGBHV from a modified cable ? I was wondering if there's an advantage in using a modified cable, maybe for color resolution reasons ?

http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id= ... odigitalav

Apparently the digital video output is:

sent as 4:2:2 YCrCb component.

I suppose modding the component cable is primarily useful when trying to connect the GCN to a monitor that doesn't accept component for 31kHz/480p, or where a scaler does a better job with RGB than component. IIRC, in most cases RGBHV ends up resulting in better PQ because the signal isn't being treated as video (reason 2).

The other thing I thought of is if anyone has tried making a HDMI or DVI adapter with a component cable. While the video DAC/ASIC in the cable is proprietary, I'd imagine it might be feasible to build a digital transmitter into the cube!

[Zapf]

I hope they fix 1080p scanlines soon, I've done more testing and my nes looks so much better in 720p frame meister mode compared to 1080p game mode 1 / 2 / picture (even better than 720p picture mode + scanlines tbh, but thats just my opinion). No issue with jailbars or noise at all in that setup.


On a related note, is it possible for heat to affect the image quality of an nes rgb mod? I feel like the jailbars / image quality was worsening over the span of 10 minutes switching back and forth between modes - perhaps its just in my head?

[philexile]

Hi Fudoh,

Unfortunately, I tried this rewiring and it still does not work. Just for confirmation, see below:

PIN 2 - thin red wire (right audio)
PIN 4 - ground bridged to PIN 21
PIN 6 - thin white wire (left audio)
PIN 18 - ground bridged to PIN 21
PIN 20 - yellow wire (video)
--
PIN 5 - ground (blue)
PIN 7 - light blue wire (blue)
PIN 9 - ground (green)
PIN 11 - lime green wire (green)
PIN 13 - ground (red)
PIN 15 - pink wire (red)
PIN 17 - ground bridged to PIN 21
PIN 18 - ground, bridged to PINS 4, 17, & 18

I'm at a loss. This isn't rocket since and I've rechecked my wiring multiple times. Could my XRGB Mini be defective?

Phil, here you go:

Original layout:

top row:

20 RGB (B) = light blue cable
18 GND (B) = connected to Pins 21, 17, 13

bottom row:

21 GND = cable shielding
19 RGB (G) = light green cable
17 GND (G) = connected to Pin 18
15 RGB (R) = pink cable
13 GND (R) = connected to shield from (B) Coax
09 Sync = yellow cable
07 GND (V) = connected to shield from (G) Coax
05 Audio (R) = thin red cable
03 GND (Audio) = connected to shield from (R) Coax
01 Audio (L) = thin white cable

Mod to the following:

- remove all GND wires, all interconnects and those from the Coax lines.

- light blue cable - remove from Pin 20, solder to Pin 07
- light green cable - remove from Pin 19, solder to Pin 11
- yellow cable - remove from Pin 09, solder to Pin 20

- thin red cable - remove from Pin 05, solder to Pin 02
- thin white cable - remove from Pin 01, solder to Pin 06

rewire GND wires like this:

- (R) coax shielding - solder to Pin 13
- (G) coax shielding - solder to Pin 09
- (B) coax shielding - solder to Pin 05

- bridge 21, 18, 17 and bridge any of the video coax shieldings to the audio ground (Pin 04).

[ifog]

Is there a image quality difference between :
- A Nintendo D-Terminal Gamecube cable
- A D-Terminal to component adapter cable + a Nintendo Component Gamecuble cable ?

[shinjig]

Quick question regarding resistors on the RGB lines. Does it matter what the order is between the 220 uf capacitor and the 75ohm resistor?

[Fudoh]

my nes looks so much better in 720p frame meister mode compared to 1080p game mode 1 / 2 / picture (even better than 720p picture mode + scanlines tbh, but thats just my opinion).

the difference between Meister Mode and Picture Mode + SCanlines is that Meister has the higher LPF, so you lose more details, but gain smoother color gradiants in dithered areas.

Is there a image quality difference between :
- A Nintendo D-Terminal Gamecube cable
- A D-Terminal to component adapter cable + a Nintendo Component Gamecuble cable ?

no, 100% the same.

[Konsolkongen]

On a related note, is it possible for heat to affect the image quality of an nes rgb mod? I feel like the jailbars / image quality was worsening over the span of 10 minutes switching back and forth between modes - perhaps its just in my head?

Perhaps. When I did my NES RGB mod a few months ago I didn't amplify the sync signal, and as the PPU got warmer I got more and more video dropouts.

[RGB32E]

On a related note, is it possible for heat to affect the image quality of an nes rgb mod? I feel like the jailbars / image quality was worsening over the span of 10 minutes switching back and forth between modes - perhaps its just in my head?

Perhaps. When I did my NES RGB mod a few months ago I didn't amplify the sync signal, and as the PPU got warmer I got more and more video dropouts.

Weird... I've always had my RGB-NES with buffer circuits for RGBS and have had mine running for 4+ hours without having any issues crop up over time. I know that there are a number of revisions of the NES. Perhaps some work better than others? Here's mine... could have been nicer, but if it doesn't break, I'm not going to fix it:



I've since moved the twisted pair for +5VDC and ground directly to the voltage regulator legs. I'm using a dual NJM2267 for the RGBS signals with 1100pF film caps to ground on the RGB outputs (none for sync). Also in the pic is a 1000uF bypass cap I added for fun... doesn't seem to make a difference, but perhaps that helps over time? Meh!

[Konsolkongen]

Hey, this was before I added anything for the sync line. Now that I use an NJM amp (like yours) for my sync everything is perfect For RGB I use the THS-amp.

Basically I just took sync from the PPU directly, which obviously wasn't strong enough, but if I ran the signal through my Extron Matrix and enabled sync processing that would make the picture stable in most cases, but it would get worse when the PPU got warmer

[RGB32E]

Hey, this was before I added anything for the sync line. Now that I use an NJM amp (like yours) for my sync everything is perfect For RGB I use the THS-amp.

Haven't tried the 4 channel THS yet?

[Konsolkongen]

I wasn't aware of such a thing

[Hamburglar]

I don't see it with my SFC. Have you manually adjusted the A/D conversion level on the Mini ? If you have the flicker on light blue backgrounds changing the A/D level by 2-4 steps might be enough to fix it. The flicker might move to more magenta-ish areas though. Give it a try.

Ok I know this is an old post, but I have done this to remove flickering on certain colors. You are right, though, and it makes other colors flicker instead. So if I get rid of the flickering on the blue background of Super Mario Bros for NES, it will show up in, for example, a brown background in another game.

Am I doomed to adjusting A/D level the rest of my life for each and every game I play?

[RGB32E]

Ok I know this is an old post, but I have done this to remove flickering on certain colors. You are right, though, and it makes other colors flicker instead. So if I get rid of the flickering on the blue background of Super Mario Bros for NES, it will show up in, for example, a brown background in another game.

Am I doomed to adjusting A/D level the rest of my life for each and every game I play?

A/D level can only go so far. I take it that you're picking up noise from the system, cable, and/or particular RGB mod implementation? Do you have any sources that don't have this issue?

[MaxDOL]

Just got the mini. I have trouble with firmware 1.06. I can not switch language to English.
No problem with firmware 1.05. Do not know why.

[Zapf]

It is a known bug for 1.06

[Hamburglar]

Ok I know this is an old post, but I have done this to remove flickering on certain colors. You are right, though, and it makes other colors flicker instead. So if I get rid of the flickering on the blue background of Super Mario Bros for NES, it will show up in, for example, a brown background in another game.

Am I doomed to adjusting A/D level the rest of my life for each and every game I play?

A/D level can only go so far. I take it that you're picking up noise from the system, cable, and/or particular RGB mod implementation? Do you have any sources that don't have this issue?

It shows up in everything; SNES model 1 (even the 1 chip one), RGB modded AV Famicom, RGB modded SNES 2, etc.

It's impossible to see in a Sega Saturn game but that's because none of the games have flat graphics or colors like NES and SNES does.

[BuckoA51]

The Wii's component output is odd indeed, I fed mine into an Optoma recently and it looked awful, and that's on a machine that's supposed to be king of 480p processing. Currently I find transcoding it to VGA first helps (though maybe not as much as I previously made out, having gone back and compared it again).

Those composite picture's from GregI don't look bad at all to me either, so that or S-Video might even be a backup option.

If you think that, why are you getting a Framemeister at all? Remember only component out from the cube will let you run at 480p (on games that support it).

[ZellSF]

Definitely don't upgrade to 1.06 if you own a PAL PS2, it broke NTSC PSX game video output here. Good thing the firmware downgrade/upgrade process is so straightforward.

[RGB32E]

I have three SNES model 2's and as we know the model 2's have the BA6596F. Well I opened all of them up today and I found one of them does not have the BA6596F! In fact, it has one I never heard of before:



What the....???

I opened my second SNS and found that it has the expected RGB encoder (BA6596F). What are the serial numbers of each? I'm curious to know what ranges use the BA6595F (S-RGB) and BA6596F (S-RGB A)! Also, while taking a look at this post over on nfggames I noticed that pin 7 (CSYNC) is the input pin, and not a buffered output. I suppose this should work fine to use though IIRC (it's been years since I RGB modded my other SNS)? Maybe I'll try using YOUT instead for pin 3! :p

http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?PH ... 8#msg23778



Also, while scoping out the PCB for S/PDIF modding I noticed that the main signals (ILRCK, ISCLK, and SDIN) are routed all the way over near to the cart slot before connecting to a through hole! D: Master clock and reset are the same as the 1-chip though!

[RGB32E]

Definitely don't upgrade to 1.06 if you own a PAL PS2, it broke NTSC PSX game video output here. Good thing the firmware downgrade/upgrade process is so straightforward.

Have you tried more than one particular model of NTSC Playstation? I encountered issues with particular NTSC playstation models... not all, but some revisions wouldn't display correctly, while others would! Do you have more than one model to try? My 5501 didn't work, but others did! A sync stripper fixes the issue I had though.

[philexile]

Hello,

I'm having some problems with the N64 version of RESIDENT EVIL 2. The N64 is RGB-modded with an amp. This is the only N64 game that seems to have this issue. I think the resolutions are switching, which causes the Mini to get confused. For instance, the in-game menu is 240p, but I think the actual gameplay is 480i. It makes the game unplayable.

See video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGk-hSLsyPE

Any suggestions? I'm using 1.04 firmware.

Thanks

[Zapf]

Yeah, someone said it had somethin to do with hdmi handshaking or something similar. Mine screws up if I let the sonic 2 attract screen go to the 2 player mode (480i). I'm on 1.05.

I remember someone mentioning (prior to 1.06) using an sync stripper / booster (like the one included with the micomsoft capture card) lowered the time it took to re-display the image (though its not helping with my sonic 2 issue).

1.06 is supposed to have sync improvements, maybe you should try that (I will once I get my shelving set back up this week).

Makes me wonder if the best solution for this is to just pre line double the n64 video before sending to the frame meister. Does anyone know if snes games with switching resolutions exist / have the same problem (aren't there rpgs with hi rez menus?)

[philexile]

But doesn't the 1.06 firmware have a bug that disables the English menu?

[Zapf]

yeah, i guess you'll have to type out the menu before updating =s (share if you do)