For a proper introduction, I thought I'd offer a brief history of what I've experienced so far in regard to game video processing and hardware.
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Back in 2008, I got really interested in chasing console image clarity when I picked up this cheap VGA cable for my Dreamcast.
It looked amazing (to me) on my 17" Dell CRT, and far better than the composite video cable I'd been using, but the build quality left much to be desired...
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= Then I got hooked on scanlines when I picked up the Hanzo box... An excellent build seeing as it's hand-crafted, and scanlines on MVC2 are sublime!
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But I soon learned the harsh reality of scaling on fixed-pixel displays, when my Sharp Aquos TV failed to properly scale the 640x480 signal from the PC VGA input...
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So I got this little MINI VGA2HDMI, and while it actually did a much better job scaling the Dreamcast to 1080p than expected, it felt cheap and often overheated...
Having been spoiled by the Dreamcast's rare and native 640x480 VGA output, I wondered if similar results could be achieved on my other consoles...
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= I did a modest amount of research (too modest) into the greatness that is RGB and then proceeded to buy this piece of garbage for my Saturn...
The RGB colors were BRILLIANT, but that's about it...! The image was completely UNACCEPTABLE due to poor scaling, terrible input lag and motion blur!
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= What really dragged me down the proverbial "rabbit hole" was when I started looking for a way to clean up the image on my PS2.
I naively believed it might be possible to get my PS2 looking as sharp as my DC, and that's where I learned that interlaced signals and HD displays don't play nice...
In my search to de-interlace the PS2's ugly 480i output to my HDTV, I sent several emails back and forth to Fudoh (sorry mate), trying to better understand the situation.
That's when I read about the Waka Upscan Conveter on his webpage, and I ended up buying his from the sales bin. (Still have it, and it's quite a gem).
The Waka really shines with the PS1's 240p output, however, since it doesn't truly de-interlace, it does only a modest job with 480i on the PS2.
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= So I picked up a DVDO Edge (secondhand) from a guy who used to work at Silicon Image, and it really did do a wonderful job de-interlacing 480i content!
Final Fantasy XII, a game that does not support progressive scan and cannot be forced to, is a great example of 480i content that looks amazing with the DVDO Edge.
I didn't use the Edge for 240p content, because while it does support it, it's just not sharp enough due to the ringing issue...
A great thing about the Edge is that it is able to scale content to whatever specifications you might desire on a fixed-pixel display (reminiscent) of a CRT monitor...
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= Sadly, my time with the DVDO Edge was short lived due to overheating PSU issue that apparently plagues these units. After only a few months, mine died on me...
With a $160 flat repair fee, the Edge went back in the box and into the garage to await whatever future it may have. In the meantime I searched for another solution.
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= = I figured with relative praise they'd had, I might try out the HD BOX Pro, so I picked up a clone by Coosis (a UK based company), and it really amazed me!
This unit handles PS2 480i de-interlacing on-par with the DVDO Edge (at least to my eyes), and looks great on a CRT at 640x480 or an HDTV at 1080p!
It even works relatively well as a pure component to VGA transcoder, although the built in color and picture settings do seem to alter the image a bit...
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= After having a baby, and being sidelined from gaming and acquiring new hardware, I've moved my hobby into my own "man cave" (a spare studio/bedroom near the garage).
So I've been reverting back to the use of CRTs, and that's led me to pick up a 20" Dell Trinitron re-badge and a 22" inch NEC MultiSync FE1250+ (with a Diamondtron NF tube).
Paired with CraftyMech's Mini SLG, both of these 31Khz monitors (especially the NEC) have become my new favorite gaming displays... They look absolutely stunning!!!
I actually have a 25" Samsung Gaming Monitor/HDTV sitting right next to the NEC on my desk, but nothing on it even comes close to touching the NEC CRT.
Running everything in 640x480 (basically line-doubled, transcoded or simply de-interlaced but not scaled) has given me the best results, and with an SLG looks quite nice.
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= I must admit that while it's been in my face at every turn, I've made a point to avoid the XRGB-mini Framemeister thus far simply because it doesn't support VGA out...
Maybe that's a stupid reason to ignore what everyone considers the king of 240p processing, but I've really come to love 31Khz monitors, and I'm not so interested in HDMI anymore...
I suppose I could chain the XRGB-mini to an HDFury or clone, and perhaps that might work out, but it just seems overly complicated, and I'm trying to make things simpler.
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I'm currently trying to figure out whether to pick up an XRGB-2 or XRGB-2 Plus, as they both seem very uncomplicated, they both have VGA out, and they both handle 240p quite well...
The problem is, while I only have consoles (no arcade PCBs), and people seem to say the 2 Plus is the one to get for consoles, I've also heard that it has an unstable image...
So I'm not really sure which one to try for, though I realize that either of them will be hard to come by at this point... Anyway, that's where I'm at right now... And the search goes on...
