Why won't anyone RGB mod an NTSC Gamecube?

[Secret5]

This seemed like a good thread to ask this. So there's a dude on ebay offering this cable and I was wondering:

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/OFFICIAL-Nintend ... p/$_57.JPG

Isn't the end of that cable only supposed to have either d-terminal or component plugs? Is this a modded digital port to RGB Scart cable then? And if so, is it capable of 480p because it plugs into the digital port?

Would this cable plugged into a Scart to HDMI upscaler produce a stunning image or what? I was just so confused what the deal was with this cable so I thought I'd ask people who know a thing or two about cables. And obviously people here do, so yeah.

[Guspaz]

I don't think the author was able to sort that out either, right? It doesn't tear for me, but IIRC is just awful for others. Of course, ULL is in black-and-white through S-Video so I use the low-lag version anyway.

I use the ULL version on S-Video without any colour problems, although it's possible that broke in a newer version than what I have.

Would this cable plugged into a Scart to HDMI upscaler produce a stunning image or what? I was just so confused what the deal was with this cable so I thought I'd ask people who know a thing or two about cables. And obviously people here do, so yeah.

There seem to be a few such cables for sale, although that one is in poor condition (you can see damage on the white RCA plug). I don't see why such a cable would exist, since it's for europe, where they had RGB signals from the standard multi-AV port without a need for the digital connection, and I've not heard of such a cable.

My guess is they're modded cables, so I'd recommend against buying them: safer to buy legitimate component cables and scale from that. Upscalers like the Framemeister support component.

EDIT: I see the same cables being sold from Hong Kong here too, where they're stated as not being official cables:

http://www.goldenshop.com.hk/AI-trad/gc/qrgbcable.htm

So probably they bought legit cables and modified them.

[bobrocks95]

Any Gamecube cables that use the digital port connector were at one time official Nintendo component or D-Terminal cables. No third party ever made digital port connectors, the multi-system component cables that claimed to work with the Gamecube output composite and connected to the standard multi-out.

I have no idea why someone would make a custom SCART Gamecube cable. People in Europe would have SCART cables already. People in Japan would have wired it to JPN21. People in America would have just used component. The mod can be reversed, but I don't know why it ever happened in the first place. Maybe people in Europe who imported NTSC Gamecubes? Wouldn't component have been prevalent over there by that time, or was component really just a US thing?

I use the ULL version on S-Video without any colour problems, although it's possible that broke in a newer version than what I have.

I'll try it again, I tried I think the very first ULL version when GBI first came out. I brought it up to Extrems and he answered in a way that made me think it just wasn't possible to get color in the ULL version, but maybe he fixed it later on or I misinterpreted him. I've just updated the low lag version since then.

[darcagn]

There seem to be a few such cables for sale, although that one is in poor condition (you can see damage on the white RCA plug). I don't see why such a cable would exist, since it's for europe, where they had RGB signals from the standard multi-AV port without a need for the digital connection, and I've not heard of such a cable.

My guess is they're modded cables, so I'd recommend against buying them: safer to buy legitimate component cables and scale from that. Upscalers like the Framemeister support component.

EDIT: I see the same cables being sold from Hong Kong here too, where they're stated as not being official cables:

http://www.goldenshop.com.hk/AI-trad/gc/qrgbcable.htm

So probably they bought legit cables and modified them.

I've never seen those cables before, but this is my guess:

Those cables are for the Panasonic Q, which did not have a multiAV connector, just the digital-out connector and 3 RCA connectors for left/right audio and composite output. If you imported a Panasonic Q into Europe and wanted to use a SCART connection you'd need this cable. The Macronix chip is modded for RGB mode instead of YPbPr mode, and then the 3 RCA cables are used to get composite video (for syncing, since the Macronix chip does separated H/V sync in RGB mode) and audio signals to the SCART connector.

And if so, is it capable of 480p because it plugs into the digital port?

Not without modifying the cable. Since it's using the composite video cable to get its sync signal, and the composite video will only have 15KHz sync, it wouldn't be possible to do 480p with this cable without further modification. You would have to...
1. convert the cable back to a component cable, or
2. you would have to tap into the H/V sync on the Macronix chip to plug it into a VGA-capable display, or
3. tap into the H/V sync on the Macronix chip, convert H/V sync to C-sync, then have that go to the SCART connector, and then it would ONLY work for devices that take 480p over SCART--this was not part of the SCART standard so it might not work with your monitor (it would work with XRGB-mini though)

[bobrocks95]

Had not considered the Panasonic Q, that makes sense. I thought it had a multi-out anyway- guess it came bundled with D-Terminal cables?

[darcagn]

Had not considered the Panasonic Q, that makes sense. I thought it had a multi-out anyway- guess it came bundled with D-Terminal cables?

Unfortunately not, it only came with composite cables.

The back of the Panasonic Q has white/red RCA audio out, a standard yellow composite out, a standard s-video port, and an optical audio out that unfortunately can be used for DVD/CD playback ONLY, not for games. And, of course, the digital AV out port for D-Terminal/Component cables.

[Guspaz]

Did they really sell that many Panasonic Q that it would be worth it for HK vendors to make "knockoff" cables out of OEM cables? It's unfortunate anyhow: my stance is that the original cables are rare and expensive enough that they should not be modified: either use them as-is, convert/adapt them to something else, or use GCVideo.

[darcagn]

Did they really sell that many Panasonic Q that it would be worth it for HK vendors to make "knockoff" cables out of OEM cables? It's unfortunate anyhow: my stance is that the original cables are rare and expensive enough that they should not be modified: either use them as-is, convert/adapt them to something else, or use GCVideo.

The Panasonic Q was a hot import item in the GameCube's heyday. DVD playback was a fairly important feature so a lot of people chose to import Panasonic Q consoles. Besides, they look badass as well! The HK-based companies that were exporting these consoles to the West were modifying both the GameCube portion of the system as well as the DVD player portion of the system to be region free, so it doesn't surprise me that they would mod the Macronix cables too.

Yes, the original cables are rare and expensive these days, but back in the day, they weren't expensive at all. Hell, I sold mine in 2008 or so on eBay and only got something like $75 for it.

[mickcris]

Mega released a teaser. looks like he is going to make an external solution also

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-yohDS6hY

[bobrocks95]

Very nice to hear, surprised he's able to pull off an external solution. I guess the digital port needs to be removed for the internal version, that will probably be the hardest part (IIRC I heard the grounding pins are difficult to remove).

[Guspaz]

Why would the digital port need to be removed for the internal version? The solder points on the bottom of the motherboard seem quite easy to access, and the GCVideo Lite could be wired directly to the multi-av port to grant RGB compatibility with existing SNES cables.

[bobrocks95]

If you watch the video, at least for the digital version, it fits with no case modification and shows a 3D printed (presumably) HDMI port. Putting 2 and 2 together would mean that one of the ports has to go for mega's particular internal solution.

[Guspaz]

YouTube is blocked here, but I suppose that replacing the digital port is a decent way to make room for the HDMI port.

EDIT: Upon watching on my phone, it looks like they're just removing the digital port so that the 3D printed HDMI port can be stuck in there, not because it has to be removed. The opening for the digital port is definitely the logical place to put it. The analog option probably doesn't require removing the port.

My ideal solution would be to install the internal analog option wired up to the Multi-AV port, and then use an external option for HDMI. This would be the most flexible solution: you can plug an RGB cable into the Multi-AV port, or you can plug an HDMI-to-dterminal cable into the digital AV port. I'm not sure that would work, though: can the GameCube provide enough power on the +5v to power two GCVideo units? Are the signals on the pins strong enough for two of them to be hooked up at the same time, even if only one is active? etc.