XRGB-mini Framemeister

[pyrotek85]

Yeah that's what I do as well. I'll actually be trying out a component switch box too in the near future when I rearrange things, as I have a PS2 in addition to the GC and Xbox you mentioned. Now if only I can get my hands on that gscartsw scart switch...

I forgot about the PS2. I've got 5 of them from buying a crate full of consoles from Thor Aakerlund. I've got an old Gamestop component selector that works great, and it even has custom plastic label tabs for Gamecube, Xbox, PS2, etc. I don't think it's made any more (at least the model I have), but there may be different models available on ebay or Amazon.

I got mine at monoprice. It's a bit larger than the framemeister but I just sit that on top of it.

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=1 ... 1&format=2

[RGB32E]

I've got 5 of them from buying a crate full of consoles from Thor Aakerlund.

CSB. Quite the name drop! Met him several years back!

[FBX]

I've got 5 of them from buying a crate full of consoles from Thor Aakerlund.

CSB. Quite the name drop! Met him several years back!

He lives just a few minutes drive from my house. I was surprised at the coincidence since I've heard so much about him.

[STG4WD]

Hey all,

Have recently upgraded to an XRGB Mini, but found myself with an instant problem...

When I plugged my PAL Saturn scart cable into the Euro Scart adaptor, the picture was visible but all the colours are completely messed up. Blue comes out as red, white comes out as yellow and the rest of the colours are pretty much missing in action!

Has anyone else come across this issue? Any suggestions on how to solve?

I have already proved that the Mini and the adaptor are not to blame- they both work fine with other sources. So it must be a problem with the Saturn itself, or the Saturn scart lead?

[Valandil]

Thanks! I wasn't interested in the wii virtual console due to side-by-side comparisons showing it is a bit more 'blurry' than RGB from the original consoles. I suppose if the reported output resolution is the same when you check the full status in the Framemeister, you might could use the original console profiles.

Thanks for the response man, actually at the moment I don't have a SNES or modded NES so unfortunately I can’t compare the full status in the Framemeister. I’m planning on getting a SNES and mod my NES for RGB but at the moment I mainly use the Wii VC for these consoles as it outputs glorious 240p and it’s easier to get the games from the eshop than hunt the carts; of course I’d love to play in original hardware but at the moment that’s not a possibility for me. It’ll be awesome if you could post the full Framemeister status of the NES/SNES and I’d do the same for the Wii VC so we could compare them, sorry if it’s too much to ask!

Also, will you be working on new profiles or that’s it for the time being? Is the Wii in your schedule

Thanks again FBX!

[AndysSeveredHead]

Hi, again, I'm trying to move away from TV's, and consolidate all my consoles under one PC monitor, but I'm having a few problems. Maybe someone here can help:

1. My main problem is my PS1, specifically when it comes to games that switch between 240p/480i (eg. Silent Hill); obviously the Framemeister won't help me there. I'm willing to settle for playing through my PS3, but I'd prefer to play on the original hardware. Is there a way to hook a PS1 up to a monitor?

2. The specific monitor I'm using is a Dell U2414H; it has no VGA or DVI ports, but it does have Displayport and, more importantly, HDMI for my Framemeister. Have there been any problems running the Framemeister through 1080p monitors?

3. Does anyone have any experience with this particular monitor? I've seen a few posts online claiming its native resolution over HDMI is only 1900x1080. Can anyone confirm this? I still have time to return it. I figure native display resolution is independent of inputs, but I'm admittedly inexperienced, and am unable currently to setup the monitor to test it; I bought it as part of my first ever PC build...which hasn't come together yet.

Can anyone here shed some light on these questions? Thank you.

[Fudoh]

1) not without another linedoubler. You can wait for Marqs' scaling unit which should handle the transitions quite smoothly.
2) It's fine.
3) I use two U2414. They're great. Native res 1920x1080 - on all inputs.

[AndysSeveredHead]

Thank you, Fudoh. That was beautiful.

I saw that project, but I don't see any mention of a time frame. I suppose that means I'd better get used to playing through my PS3 for the foreseeable future.

[FBX]

I finally bought a new camera to replace the old crappy one I have. Here's a quick test photo I took (resized down from 16mp) of my Genesis in RGB 4x 320 profile on my 55 inch Sony display:

Spoiler

[Chocograph]

Sharp. I haven't bothered trying your profiles yet but I will once I've installed my rgb amp. I received it and I'll install it probably next week. It's for my 1chip snes. Should I install the resistors for the brightness or not?

[AndysSeveredHead]

It stinks that I can't test this monitor out for myself for now; apparently, the U2414H requires a DisplayPort connection for the initial setup...

[CkRtech]

It stinks that I can't test this monitor out for myself for now; apparently, the U2414H requires a DisplayPort connection for the initial setup...

Err? It is a monitor. What sort of initial setup do you mean? There should be a menu button for OSD setup that is available no matter what....right?

[AndysSeveredHead]

Well, I spent about an hour+ trying to install drivers for the monitor connected to a laptop over HDMI, but it wouldn't recognize the monitor; neither the software for installing the drivers, nor Windows itself. So I figured it needs to be setup over DisplayPort first, and I don't currently have a computer with that port.

[Fudoh]

The U2414H does require neither a Displayport connection nor any kind of driver. I don't have either.

Once you switch the monitor on it should show up as a secondary display on your windows installation (desktop priorities, extended desktop settings). If it doesn't I would replace the HDMI cable. If you're using a Redmere HDMI cable, remember that these are usable in one direction only.

[STG4WD]

Hey all,

When I plugged my PAL Saturn scart cable into the Euro Scart adaptor, the picture was visible but all the colours are completely messed up. Blue comes out as red, white comes out as yellow and the rest of the colours are pretty much missing in action!

Has anyone else come across this issue? Any suggestions on how to solve?

I have already proved that the Mini and the adaptor are not to blame- they both work fine with other sources. So it must be a problem with the Saturn itself, or the Saturn scart lead?

Anyone come across this problem before with PAL Saturn?

[Fudoh]

You should check if the Saturn Scart cable and the adapter you're using are actually using the same GND pins.

[Moonwalker]

Hi everybody, I have some questions about the new firmware.

- Is there support for scanlines when connecting th x360 via hdmi now?
- i heard a lot about scanline improvements, is there a 1080p scanline solution now?
- what is the best resolution to set the x360 to play the shmups in tate then? 480p! Right?

Everybody gathered so much information here, bit in a thread with almost 300 pages its nearly impossible to find. Wouldnt it make sense to create a sticky post woth the most important informations, profiles, settings anf so on?

Thank you in advance.

[Shining]

I'm seriously starting to think that my Mini's been faulty since i got it back in 2012. I just can't get 720p scanlines to look good no matter what. I've tried lowering the sharpness, contrast, change scaler settings etc. but they always look a bit uneven when a bright background is being displayed. I recently got my old 55" Toshiba replaced by a 55" Sony and the scanlines look about the same on my new set. Here's an old pic i took some years ago where you clearly can see the uneven scanlines. What do you guys think?

[Fudoh]

If you got any game with software scaline support - Raiden Fighters or Futari on the 360 or one of the Ages 2500 titles on the PS2. Just compare those to what you get with your Mini and you will immediately know who's to blame.

Doesn't look too bad though. 720p to 1080p upscaling isn't perfect to begin with. For 240p content the Mini's scanline output in 720p mode is as perfect as it gets. It's a simple 1:2 pattern. Two lines without scanlines for every darkened line. If you add to much sharpness on the TV's side, it will look worse. Edge and Detail Enhancement as well.

[Moonwalker]

Fudoh, could you please help me out with my questions above?

[FBX]

Doesn't look too bad though. 720p to 1080p upscaling isn't perfect to begin with. For 240p content the Mini's scanline output in 720p mode is as perfect as it gets.

As of the current firmware, it's possible to get 'decent' scanlines in 1080p mode, but the game has to be perfectly integer-scaled to 4x. It ends up being a 3-1 ratio of lit versus darkened. On 5x scale, it ends up being way too thin at 4-1 ratio.

[Fudoh]

- Is there support for scanlines when connecting th x360 via hdmi now?

HDMI scanlines were enabled very early on in the unit's life.

- i heard a lot about scanline improvements, is there a 1080p scanline solution now?

it got better, but 720p w/ scanlines is still the benchmark.

- what is the best resolution to set the x360 to play the shmups in tate then? 480p! Right?

yes. 480p is a requirement. I guess that most people don't bother with running a 360 through the Mini. With a direct RGBHV feed from the 360 along with a SLG3000/MiniSLG unit you get perfect results without the added input that the Mini introduces.

[cerestan]

This isn't strictly gaming related but I'm hoping I can get some help with an issue I'm having.

I've been using an XCapture-1 to convert some old vhs tapes to digital, it seems a bit fussy on the composite connection as it sometimes flashes up "No Signal" while recording ( and "HDCP" for some reason ). As well as this it's extremely fussy about the video pausing, and fast forward and rewind where I'm lucky go get a picture at all.

I've got a Framemeister as well and a cursory try with that is producing the exact same result. Could you recommend any settings on the Framemeister that would minimise the problem?

Needless to say when connecting the video straight to TV the picture is fine with no signal drop, so I don't think it's the vcr.

I'd be grateful for any advice you can give.

[FBX]

Important update to one of the profiles:

Code: Select all

Updates/changes:

Fixed SGBRGB7X to be properly sized at 7x. It was previously incorrectly set to 7.5x, causing alternating rows of 6-line versus 7-line tall pixels. The aspect ratio has now also been set to mimic the original handheld ratio of 1.0964 to 1.

So yeah, my math is terrible. The original scale I was setting the profile to turned out to be 7.5x, and I caught this when I went to add in aspect correction. So at any rate, the image will be quite a bit narrower than normal SNES pixels, but the AR will be 100% accurate to the original Game Boy's graphics

[Fudoh]

I've been using an XCapture-1 to convert

we got a seperate XCAPTURE thread. Might be a better choice to ask this.

But to answer this anyway: you need a TBC or a processor with built-in TBC functionality (some DVDOs have a dedicated VCR mode to help with this exact problem).

[nissling]

If you want a dedicated TBC, the Leitch DPS units are great for NTSC sources.

[Shining]

If you got any game with software scaline support - Raiden Fighters or Futari on the 360 or one of the Ages 2500 titles on the PS2. Just compare those to what you get with your Mini and you will immediately know who's to blame.

Sadly, i don't own any of those. Maybe i can use an emulator on my PC (NES, SNES, whatever), hook it up to the TV, enable scanlines and set it to output 720p?

[FBX]

Major new update to the profiles:

I developed a way to 100% mask the 4x Genesis profiles! This means ZERO colored border annoyance, as anything beyond the graphic boundary is completely blacked out. Also included now in the package is a text file listing every Genesis game that uses the less common 256x224 mode during main gameplay. It took me 3 weeks to create the list from testing all 700+ games in the Genesis library. Whew!

At any rate, all of the Genesis profiles have been streamlined and updated:

Code: Select all

Note on Genesis profiles below: The 256 profiles are aspect-corrected to match 4:3 ratio, while the 320 profiles are set to square pixels. This is because the vast majority of Genesis games in 320 mode did NOT take into account TV aspect correction. As such, several games that draw planets or spheres in 320 mode will only look perfectly round if the pixels are square in shape. However, if you're a stickler for authentic 4:3 correction, you can change ZOOM_WIDTH value to 50 for the 4x320 profile and 43 for the 5x320 profile.


GEN4X256:  (Genesis RGB 4x scale for the less common 256x224 mode)

This is for the original NTSC Sega Genesis console and is scaled to 4x the original 256x224 resolution via an RGB CSync cable, and is aspect-corrected to 4:3 ratio. This profile is aligned to the less common 256x224 mode that roughly 25% of the game library for the Genesis uses during main gameplay. See the included Genesis 256 mode games list for more details on which games are best suited to this profile. Suggested display area: -1


GEN4X320:  (Genesis RGB 4x scale for the more common 320x224 mode)

This is for the original NTSC Sega Genesis console and is scaled to 4x the original 320x224 resolution in square pixels via an RGB CSync cable. This profile is aligned to the more common 320x224 mode that roughly 75% of the game library for the Genesis uses during main gameplay. See the included Genesis 256 mode games list for more details on which games are NOT suited to this profile. Suggested display area: -1


GEN5X256:  (Genesis RGB 5x scale for the less common 256x224 mode)

This is for the original NTSC Sega Genesis console and is scaled to 5x the original 256x224 resolution via an RGB CSync cable, and is aspect-corrected to 4:3 ratio. This profile is aligned to the less common 256x224 mode that roughly 25% of the game library for the Genesis uses during main gameplay. See the included Genesis 256 mode games list for more details on which games are best suited to this profile. Suggested display area: Full Pixel (even at this unscaled screen setting, there will be 4 pixels cropped from the top and bottom of the image)


GEN5X320:  (Genesis RGB 5x scale for the more common 320x224 mode)

This is for the original NTSC Sega Genesis console and is scaled to 5x the original 320x224 resolution in square pixels via an RGB CSync cable. This profile is aligned to the more common 320x224 mode that roughly 75% of the game library for the Genesis uses during main gameplay. See the included Genesis 256 mode games list for more details on which games are NOT suited to this profile. Suggested display area: Full Pixel (even at this unscaled screen setting, there will be 4 pixels cropped from the top and bottom of the image)

[cerestan]

Thanks for the help guys, looks like I'll be investing in a TBC then.

The Leitch DPS doesn't seem so common this side of the pond but I'll keep my eyes open.

[nissling]

I think the DPS-575 accepts PAL too, if that's of interest.