Sony PGM2950Q - VGA oh noes

[J-P]

Hey guys - apologies in advance for any noobishness.

I've gone and bought a Sony PGM2950Q for $50 (and nearly broke my back trying to get it up 2 flights of stairs, down a hallway and onto a strong desk)...

Only after getting it home did I realise it was 480p/31Khz only and with only RGBHV(via BNC) inputs. DOH! I'm aware there is a thread with a similar story, but I'm wondering what the budget options are for connecting old consoles to this thing as right now I can't afford to run out and spend the money for an XRGB unit.

I have it connected to a PC for MAME and the Dreamcast and I have to say it's pretty awesome. Though I'm going to have to find a solution for scanlines (with the DC), I'd like to connect my NES, PC-Engine and PS2.

Any cheaper options for getting 240p onto this beast (without lag)? Will I have to put the inputs through a scanline generator if I want scanlines?

Tate mode is going to give me muscles with this thing.

[FinalBaton]

Hey guys - apologies in advance for any noobishness.

I've gone and bought a Sony PGM2950Q for $50 (and nearly broke my back trying to get it up 2 flights of stairs, down a hallway and onto a strong desk)...

Only after getting it home did I realise it was 480p/31Khz only and with only RGBHV(via BNC) inputs. DOH! I'm aware there is a thread with a similar story, but I'm wondering what the budget options are for connecting old consoles to this thing as right now I can't afford to run out and spend the money for an XRGB unit.

I have it connected to a PC for MAME and the Dreamcast and I have to say it's pretty awesome. Though I'm going to have to find a solution for scanlines (with the DC), I'd like to connect my NES, PC-Engine and PS2.

Any cheaper options for getting 240p onto this beast (without lag)? Will I have to put the inputs through a scanline generator if I want scanlines?

Tate mode is going to give me muscles with this thing.

Marqs' line doubler should do exactly this and will be cheaper than an XRGB-3 :
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=52158

You found that PGM in Quebec?

[J-P]

Hey that was quick FinalBaton - will PM Marq and see if it's available as yes, that should be a good one-stop solution which is what I'm looking for.

I found it in Montreal and grabbed it up as quick as I could. Thought it was a PVM, but as far as I'm aware it has an identical tube.

Wife was in for a bit of a shock hahah.

Will have to look into how to access the controls though as it has some slight pincushioning on one side.

blurry cam is blurry.

[FinalBaton]

Wow that's really cool! Nice find

There are not too many professional Sony monitors that pop up in the province but looks like sometimes if you keep your eyes peeled you can snag one! congrats

[Guspaz]

I didn't have any luck finding any in Montreal, so ultimately I reached out privately via contacts and managed to get five monitors from Trois Rivieres. It helps to know people who work or worked in the television industry. Unfortunately, only one of the monitors does RGB (the PVM-14L2), because three of them are PVM-14N5U (composite/s-video only), and one is a JVC unit (essentially composite only, uses proprietary ancient 7-pin s-video).

But hey, I did get one RGB monitor in great condition, which was the ultimate goal, so I'll probably just keep one N5U as a backup and give the rest of the monitors to the videogame department of a local convention.

[Ed Oscuro]

I'd consider an XRGB-2 plus (or older) for something like this, except yeah Marqs' scaler should be great and I'd get that.

Could you share what it was being used for before? I understand some of these were seen installed as flight information displays in airports. This one doesn't look like it was abused that way, though

[bobrocks95]

He'll need to add an HDMI to RGB converter of some sort right? That might crank up the price higher than an XRGB-2 after all's said and done.

[J-P]

Guzpaz - I've seen PVM's fairly regularly popping up on Kijiji, but they always seem to sell for over $500 and for something that may have had many thousands of hours of usage and probably need a really good service... not willing to pay that much tbh. This was a lucky find, just a shame that it's 480p only.

He'll need to add an HDMI to RGB converter of some sort right? That might crank up the price higher than an XRGB-2 after all's said and done.

I read through the thread for Marq's scaler and saw in some of the pics that it had hdmi out. Pretty sure that I read he was replacing it with DVI out though. Will ask him via a PM as that would indeed be a pain.

I'd consider an XRGB-2 plus (or older) for something like this, except yeah Marqs' scaler should be great and I'd get that.

Could you share what it was being used for before? I understand some of these were seen installed as flight information displays in airports. This one doesn't look like it was abused that way, though

Sorry, but I have no idea. The guy who I got it from was using it for a previous Mame project... but not sure what it's original purpose was. This unit has 1995 stamped on the back, luckily it seems to be in nice condition. It even came with the stereo SSX7A speakers attached (haven't hooked those up yet). I'd consider one if I could find one for under $150, but Marq's seems to offer a pretty exact match for what I need and I'd rather put some money back into the community.#

Thanks for all the suggestions and pointers so far though - very helpful.

[bobrocks95]

I read through the thread for Marq's scaler and saw in some of the pics that it had hdmi out. Pretty sure that I read he was replacing it with DVI out though. Will ask him via a PM as that would indeed be a pain.

As far as I know he's replacing it with DVI-D, which still won't give you analog RGBHV without an active converter.

[Ed Oscuro]

Looked up details of the XRGB series again - it looks like the XRGB-3 will be a good choice actually, in B1 mode for 2ms lag. Don't know if the older units got any kind of measurement like this but they should be just as low, if not lower - but 2ms lag is very acceptable, just a portion of the screen.

[Hoagtech]

Hey that was quick FinalBaton - will PM Marq and see if it's available as yes, that should be a good one-stop solution which is what I'm looking for.

I found it in Montreal and grabbed it up as quick as I could. Thought it was a PVM, but as far as I'm aware it has an identical tube.

Wife was in for a bit of a shock hahah.

Will have to look into how to access the controls though as it has some slight pincushioning on one side.

blurry cam is blurry.

I love that monitor. 50 bucks is a steal for that thing

[J-P]

Hoagtech - yeah, I was actually willing to offer more for it, but the guy wouldn't take more than $50. Was definitely one of the nicer purchasing experiences I've ever made.

I read through the thread for Marq's scaler and saw in some of the pics that it had hdmi out. Pretty sure that I read he was replacing it with DVI out though. Will ask him via a PM as that would indeed be a pain.

As far as I know he's replacing it with DVI-D, which still won't give you analog RGBHV without an active converter.

Ah bum. Oh well... there goes that idea, back to saving the pennies I go then, this will be just a mame monitor for now. I'm using an old Commodore 1702 (modded to accept s-video) for the old stuff right now anyway, so it's not the end of the world.

Looked up details of the XRGB series again - it looks like the XRGB-3 will be a good choice actually, in B1 mode for 2ms lag. Don't know if the older units got any kind of measurement like this but they should be just as low, if not lower - but 2ms lag is very acceptable, just a portion of the screen.

Thanks for the recommend, when I have $300+ to spend I know where it'll be going . Does that do scanlines too? This won't display a 240p signal so it'll have to be scaled+line-doubled. Will go off and do some researchings.

[Fudoh]

stay with Marqs OSSC before your spend any money on a XRGB. Marqs unit performs better, has component inputs, so you can trancode YUV sources as well. You get internal scanline overlay for both 15 and 31khz sources and if you add a cheap HDMI/DVI to VGA converter you can perfectly well use this on your PGM.

I had the same monitor. Very nice unit.

[Ed Oscuro]

In that case, do forget the XRGB. Marqs' unit looks really flexible for other uses so it will be a good use of money.

[J-P]

stay with Marqs OSSC before your spend any money on a XRGB. Marqs unit performs better, has component inputs, so you can trancode YUV sources as well. You get internal scanline overlay for both 15 and 31khz sources and if you add a cheap HDMI/DVI to VGA converter you can perfectly well use this on your PGM.

I had the same monitor. Very nice unit.

I think I can definitely say this is a learning experience - but a good one. I've reserved one of Marqs OSSC units for whenever the next batch is being done, guessing early next year. Stupidly discovered that I already have an 'active' DVI > VGA cable anyway. So that's that sorted. I shall go forth and twiddle my thumbs for a few months methinks. Can't wait to see what the megadrive/supergun looks like through this thing