Some Questions

[ifrit05]

Hello, I understand a lot of these questions have already been answered but I'm getting frustrated.
I have one of those cheap SCART to HDMI upscalers for my SNES and AMIGA but the motion blur is really annoying while moving vertically. I was thinking about getting a GBS-8200/8220/HD9800 to replace it. Just some questions.

GBS/HD8900
1. I understand the 8220 has an extra cloned VGA out compared to the 8200, but what's the difference between the GBS versions and the HD9800 hardware wise? I couldn't find any info on this.
2. As I recall, the 8200 is usually a V4, 8220 is V3, and the HD9800 is usually V5. What's the software differences? Is the higher the version the better one to get?
3. Some people report "white speckles" that seem to have to do with the memory used. Is this a common issue?
4. Is this basically worth is over what I currently have? I fixed a 5:4 monitor I got from work and plan to use it with this.

Other options include getting a XRGB-mini after taxes, or maybe even getting a SONY PVM/BVM (I will eventually get one of these hopefully).

SONY CRT's
1. What's the difference between the PVM's and BVM's?
2. What are some alternative manufactures that make monitors like the PVM's/BVM's and what are the models called?
3. Most importantly: Where's the best place to get these? eBay seems to be more of a hit or miss and craigslist is barren.

Or maybe just hold off and get the XRGB-mini as a good middle ground? IDK, what are your guy's thoughts on this? Thanks.

[Fudoh]

Unless you add a custom firmware to the GBS it will look almost exactly the same as your current converter.

[Guspaz]

PVMs are professional monitors and BVMs are broadcast monitors. In practice, that differentiation is meaningless, because PVMs were typically used for broadcast work (I've got four PVMs and all of them came from a TV station where they were used for broadcast work).

In practice, BVMs are typically considered to be higher quality than PVMs, and the method of input also differs: PVMs normally have mostly fixed inputs/outputs with possible support for one input/output add-in board, while BVMs typically have no fixed inputs/outputs and rely entirely on multiple add-in boards.

Another popular manufacturer for professional monitors is JVC. They look very similar to PVMs visually [EDIT: I mean in terms of their chassis], and some of them are reportedly quite good. Their model numbers seem to start with BM, TM, and VM. I couldn't tell you what the different prefixes mean.

One word of caution: some JVC monitors that support S-Video use a proprietary S-Video connector that is almost impossible to find adapters for. It's a strange 7-pin DIN connector that has a BNC-like locking collar. I've got one such JVC monitor, and I've no clue how to find an adapter for it that doesn't cost hundreds of dollars.

[ifrit05]

Thanks for the reply's.

Been lurking on your site for a while now Fudoh reading every now and again. It's really helpful and insightful!
It just sucks that the price gaps are so huge between budget upscales and the more well known famous units (i.e. XRGB-mini).
I'll try to research some more but if anyone else has any input that would be awesome.

Side note: Live it when people come to my house and ask WTH is up with my weird video cables for my consoles and stuff. I show them the quality of the video and their jaws drop every time. I actually have a buddy still using RF on his Genesis/Megadrive. I almost want to vomit when I see him play it.

EDIT: What are your thoughts on a Sony PVM-14M2U? It's going for about $100 right now on eBay.

[FinalBaton]

You should make an offer for the 14m4U instead. maybe he'll agree on $100

[ifrit05]

Well crap, I already bid on the 14M2U... The 14M4U's are looking like they are just a bit more expensive. Hmmmm... What's the difference? More TV lines? Does that really effect the quality that much?

EDIT: On second though I'm just gonna stick with bidding on a 14M2U. I can always get another/better one later on (maybe even a 20 incher). Baby steps.

[FinalBaton]

Well crap, I already bid on the 14M2U... The 14M4U's are looking like they are cheaper. Hmmmm... What's the difference? More TV lines? Does that really effect the quality that much?

All I know is that they have more TV lines. Don't know if they are better in other areas
Don't know either if 800 vs 600 TV lines makes a huge difference on 14 inch either. I have a 600 tv lines 1354Q and see pretty much solid colored lines on videogames, can't really see the gap between Tv lines unless I get real close, like 10 inches away from the screen or something.
But TV lines is not the only thing that counts, of course

EDIT : just read somewhere that the 14M4U is actually identical to the 1354Q except for the better vertical resolution. And my 1354Q looks really nice so I would definitly recommend that

[ifrit05]

Cool, thanks for the reply. I think I'm just going to go for the 14M2U. There's no watchers and it's not buy it now or best offer, decent price too.
All I know is that I've wanted one off these since I was like 13 reading up on 'em. I've waited 12 years to finally have one.

[FinalBaton]

Nice, hope you will get it! You're gonna have so much fun playing on an RGB monitor, if you're like me it will be almost a religious experience! lol

Just read that the 14M4U/14M2U are the successors to the 1354Q, so with the 600 lines 14M2U you should have pretty much the same monitor as me! You will love it, it looks so damn clean and vibrant, and the contrast is very well balanced, it's really handled well. Colors are very nice too, you will immediatly see how elegant this looks compared to a consumer CRT. Let me know if you got it!

600 lines on 14" is plenty fine, you'll see
In retrospect I think seeking the M4U version (800 lines) might only be necessary for the 20" model

[gray117]

Maybe stating the obvious; but I presume the horizonatal blurriness/smudging is simply from your tv/monitor and nothing to do with scaler used?

Presume a contemporary lcd [or similar] screen given hdmi conversion? May not be much to be done if so - can look into if there's any options for overdrive etc ... though that may add lag?


If it's a crt then it's phosphor persistence - you may find there's a pot that can be adjusted on/near the neck tube [at least often on sony trinitrons] that can reduce phosphor persistence, often slightly decreasing visible contrast... always presumed this v slightly adjusting beam strength/timing... Of course only try this if you're comfortable rooting around inside your crt.

[ifrit05]

Well my LCD monitor has a 1ms response time so it isn't that, it's deff. the upscaler. I've read reviews of it and everyone mentions it.

[RetroGame❤]

Well my LCD monitor has a 1ms response time so it isn't that, it's deff. the upscaler. I've read reviews of it and everyone mentions it.

If this is the scaler that you speak of, then yes... It is a piece of sh*t!


It has terrible motion blur and input lag... If you just want to game on a flat panel HDTV, you really should consider an XRGB-mini a worthwhile investment.