OSSC (DIY video digitizer & scandoubler)

[Guspaz]

GC has fixed pixel clock, so its refresh rate can only be changed by modifying number of scanlines and/or scanline length. Playing around with the numbers you provided, you end up to following parameters to get claimed refresh rates:

GBI LL:
27000000/(858*526) = 59.8261Hz

GBI ULL:
27000000/(866*522) = 59.7276Hz

That also explains why ULL is not as compatible since many displays will sync only with 525+-1 -line signals. On those displays where ULL works, I recommend setting H. samplerate to 866 in adv. timing for best quality (I'll add this to wiki soon).

Unfortunate. The strange thing is the projector syncs fine over s-video (although that was an NTSC cube, not the current PAL cube), but not over HDMI (via PAL RGB output). But I don't know if the timing is really the same. This thing is putting out what I assume is PAL60 RGB at NTSC resolutions? Would that be different than straight NTSC RGB (if I had a gcvideo)?

Sounds like grounding issue to me since AV1 and AV3 inputs do not share any logic. GARO's outputs are probably just split without buffering (I guess they are not meant to be used simultaneously) so gain will be lower since R/G/B are terminated twice.

A quick test shows that connecting the GARO's VGA output to a different VGA display didn't result in the OSSC syncing, only connecting the GARO directly to the OSSC.

I checked the GARO's ground SCART pins, and found that pin 14 (data ground) and 17 (composite/sync out ground) were not grounded (not connected to the GARO's ground plane). I soldered some wires in place to connect those two pins to ground, but it didn't make any difference. I also confirmed that, with only the SCART cable connected, I see continuity between the OSSC and GARO ground plans (tested from GARO power socket ground to OSSC VGA connector shell).

Both the GARO and the OSSC are connected to the same power bar via AC adapters, and don't use the same power supply (5v for OSSC, 12v for GARO). Could any of this be a problem? Could it be a ground loop?

In the mean time, I have a workaround, even if it does add an extra cable to an already super crowded area. I think my next step is to contact beharius and see if he has any thoughts.

[Triple Lei]

Yeah, me three. Mine arrived in the US on 11/6, made its way to San Francisco on 11/7, and is... still there? Come on, I'm already in California.

Well, the day is still young, we Americans do get mail on Saturdays, and today's not a holiday, so we'll see.

Quoting myself from earlier today just to say I just received mine!

For reference, I placed my order on November 4th. Can't complain...

[mickcris]

Not sure what the deal is with mine. It came into the USA in Chicago. Made it to the Austin, TX hub (i live in ausitn) and now it's back in Chicago.

[Triple Lei]

One of the first things I tried with the OSSC was Duck Hunt on my HD CRT (Panasonic Tau (CT-36HL43G)), and it works! I'm now killing ducks on that huge 36-inch screen, with scanlines.

Bad news? The remote doesn't work for me at all (that, or my batteries were dead to begin with). Luckily those Pronto codes work on my hacked 5.00 PSP running iR Shell. Are those really all the buttons I need?

[Simon Belmont]

I don't know what it is with post in the US but things getting stuck seems really common. I remember Coury from My Life In Gaming had his review unit stuck for nearly 4 weeks. We assumed it was lost, shipped another one that turned up within 5 days, only for the stuck one to suddenly turn up a few days later.

Tonight's OSSC invites just went out, if you're number 1519 or under you should have one now. Stock is really starting to dwindle now, so if you want one and you've had an invite, grab one now. If it's 48 hours since you got your invite you're still welcome to order as long as the site shows that there's stock.

Will you get to 1641? I should have money for it in a few days.

[brocoli]

edited

[BuckoA51]

I received my DIY OSSC a few weeks ago, and now that I have got it soldered, I tried to write initial firmware but haven't been able to yet

Please ask on the official forum for support with that.

Will you get to 1641? I should have money for it in a few days.

It's possible, stock is getting low though.

Bad news? The remote doesn't work for me at all (that, or my batteries were dead to begin with). Luckily those Pronto codes work on my hacked 5.00 PSP running iR Shell. Are those really all the buttons I need?

Does the LED on the top of the remote light up when you press a button? All remotes are tested before leaving here, so it's strange that it would die in transit.

Another round of OSSC invites just went out. If you’re number 1575 or under you should have one by now.

These are the last few of our batch and there won’t be any significant quantity again until 2017 now, so if you've had an invite, order soon!

[Simon Belmont]

Will you get to 1641? I should have money for it in a few days.

It's possible, stock is getting low though.

I sure hope so mate. I've been waiting for a while now for one. Hope to get that email in a few days?

[BuckoA51]

At current stock levels/uptake rate you should just sneak in I think.

[NormalFish]

At current stock levels/uptake rate you should just sneak in I think.

How long is the waitlist? Given the low uptake, I wonder how many folks are sitting at some crazy number thinking they won't get it, when they're way closer than they think.

[neorichieb1971]

I would imagine if the list has almost been gone through the real issue is when more will be made.

Because the list still consists of people that want one but can't afford it. When they run out, how long will it be before stocks are replenished?

[neorichieb1971]

Also, if anyone knows of a small ish TV that is currently in Currys around the 32" range that supports all video modes on the OSSC please let me know. I'm UK based obviously.

Considering this OSSC is sold out of the UK there is precious little information about what TV's support it. I would have gone down to Curry's and gotten a list of TV's that support this thing. Most of the youtubes of the OSSC are months old, although I'm seeing some fresh ones sprouting up.

[Simon Belmont]

At current stock levels/uptake rate you should just sneak in I think.

Waiting for email. Cheers

[cr4zymanz0r]

I think my spot is something like 2040. Will I possibly get in on this batch?

[BuckoA51]

I think that's unlikely

[Simon Belmont]

I think that's unlikely

I still have a members link to his OSSC he gave me a few days ago. He said he didn't have the money so I could have his spot. I didn't have the cash a few days ago, but I do now. Can I use this to buy it now?

I'm just going to order.

[Harrumph]

Considering this OSSC is sold out of the UK there is precious little information about what TV's support it. I would have gone down to Curry's and gotten a list of TV's that support this thing.

There is a thread here, inside is also linked the google doc that Bucko keeps, which also contains monitors in addition to TVs.

Obviously, both NA and EU/UK models have been reported, but usually it's not too hard to figure out which is the corresponding model or range in respective territory.

[BuckoA51]

I really need to transfer that spreadsheet to the Wiki as it keeps getting vandalised or at least bodged up accidentally.

Tonights OSSC invites just went out. If you’re number 1631 or under you should have had one by now. If not, please get in touch.

As I said last time, stock is now getting low, so when these are gone, they’re gone. I can’t guarantee stock at this point.

Also, a few people asked if they could put in an order after the 48 hour window. The answer is yes, of course! The 48 hour thing only means you’re absolutely guaranteed to be able to buy a unit, after 48 hours you can still buy as long as there’s stock.

[cr4zymanz0r]

If anyone had a spot reserved and can order now but changed your mind or don't have the money, I'd be glad to take your spot and do some testing with it and the Sharp X68000

[Gnomenthusiast]

I was swithering on whether to order this or not, however I am 100% glad I did.

Using with BenQ Projector, approx 95-100" projected image.

I've only played with it for a short time, however it does exactly what I needed it to (allow me to use PS1, MegaDrive, SNES, NES + N64 on projector and be smooth and playable).

Loving it so far, going to try it some more tonight. Love the way things are looking so far.

[BuckoA51]

Mind if I use those pictures on our social media Gnomenthusiast?

Tonight’s OSSC invites just went out. If you’re number 1695 or under you should have an invite by now. If not, get in touch.

There’s less than 50 units left now, so order quickly if you want one.

[arovane]

Only 50 left? Please keep one on the side to replace my defect one, I've send it back to you last week you should receive it tomorrow or thursday

[sofakng]

I'm not sure if this is blasphemy, but can the OSSC be plugged into the Framemeister to "normalize" the SNES (and other consoles) resolutions and to upscale to 1080p?

Would this produce a better picture than only using the Framemeister by itself? (I don't think my Vizio accepts line-triple resolutions or SNES resolutions)

Because I'm a bit crazy and have purchased both the Framemeister and the OSSC, I now have a few different options:

1) Connect consoles (i.e. SNES) to Framemeister and output at 1080p.
2) Connect consoles (i.e. SNES) to OSSC (720p line-triple output) and then to Framemeister and output at 1080p.
3) Connect consoles (i.e. SNES) to OSSC and try to use 720p line-triple output on TV. (the TV will scale to it's native resolution of 1080p so won't that introduce a slight blur? Will the OSSC -> Framemeister most likely have better scaling?)

Thanks for any information

[BuckoA51]

Only 50 left? Please keep one on the side to replace my defect one, I've send it back to you last week you should receive it tomorrow or thursday

Do not worry I already did that

I'm not sure if this is blasphemy, but can the OSSC be plugged into the Framemeister to "normalize" the SNES (and other consoles) resolutions and to upscale to 1080p?

It could but there's no point whatsoever, the FM has great 240p handling and only mediocre 480p handling.

[Thomago]

only mediocre 480p

I'd actually call it outright bad. And that goes for anything above 480p as well.

[sofakng]

OK - Thanks. I've been trying to research as much information as possible to determine what's best for my setup. (Vizio 1080p TV)

It sounds like I might be better off with the Framemeister (for my setup). I'll have to do a little bit more research to see if there any advantages to the OSSC (again, for my setup; I don't want to criticize the OSSC at all!).

[marqs]

Unfortunate. The strange thing is the projector syncs fine over s-video (although that was an NTSC cube, not the current PAL cube), but not over HDMI (via PAL RGB output). But I don't know if the timing is really the same. This thing is putting out what I assume is PAL60 RGB at NTSC resolutions? Would that be different than straight NTSC RGB (if I had a gcvideo)?

I don't think GC's region makes any difference here, the projector probably just is more tolerant with analog inputs.

A quick test shows that connecting the GARO's VGA output to a different VGA display didn't result in the OSSC syncing, only connecting the GARO directly to the OSSC.

I checked the GARO's ground SCART pins, and found that pin 14 (data ground) and 17 (composite/sync out ground) were not grounded (not connected to the GARO's ground plane). I soldered some wires in place to connect those two pins to ground, but it didn't make any difference. I also confirmed that, with only the SCART cable connected, I see continuity between the OSSC and GARO ground plans (tested from GARO power socket ground to OSSC VGA connector shell).

Both the GARO and the OSSC are connected to the same power bar via AC adapters, and don't use the same power supply (5v for OSSC, 12v for GARO). Could any of this be a problem? Could it be a ground loop?

In the mean time, I have a workaround, even if it does add an extra cable to an already super crowded area. I think my next step is to contact beharius and see if he has any thoughts.

Strange indeed. I wonder which kind of circuit drives GARO's c-sync output.

[marqs]

Firmware v0.74 is now officially available with following additions (no picture processing related changes, though):

* New SD card controller supporting SDHC/SDXC cards
* Official fw image for boards with diy-audio
* Alternative fw images with menus translated into Japanese

[Gnomenthusiast]

Mind if I use those pictures on our social media Gnomenthusiast?

Sure thing!

I took a few more tonight, will post tomorrow.

If there's a list going, line triple definitely works on a BenQ W1070+ projector.

I only realised tonight that the OSSC allows you to trim the overscan around the Megadrive image. It's not perfect (I can't trim out all the blue around the screen in Sonic for example) but it's a huge improvement especially when using a projector).

[lolitsevan]

I got mine today (about 10 days total shipping to midwestern US for anyone interested) and it looks great on all the displays I've tried.

The issue I'm having is with my PEXHDCAP, I can't get an image. I saw that the OSSC is confirmed compatible with the Micomsoft SC-500N1, so I figured I'd give it a try on the pexhdcap, but no matter what settings I try I get no picture. Sorry if other people have already asked, but do I need force on the different firmware/software for the SC-500N1 to make it work? I'll keep messing with settings and see if there's something that I missed but I was curious to see how the image from an OSSC would compare to that of say a sync strike. Thanks.