OSSC (DIY video digitizer & scandoubler)

[Blair]

@Blair: Ah yes, I know that problem. Try adjusting the sampling phase; with a bit of "wiggling" back and forth (this isn't about hitting a certain value as you might very well end up with the default, but about adjusting the sampling phase) you can convince the OSSC to let go of that pesky horizontal ringing.

thanks for the suggestion Thomago, I'll try fiddling with it some more tomorrow.

in the meantime here are some screenshots of the OSSC on a Sony e400 MultiSync CRT, I wanted to show how nice OSSC works with both 2-D graphics and 3-D graphics. (I think it looks pretty awesome, the colors are stunning).

(when I get a spare moment I will test out and take screenshots of the Optimal timings marqs posted here, http://junkerhq.net/xrgb/index.php/Optimal_timings)


[Sega Saturn+240p line double mode+scanlines 100%]








[Original Xbox+480p Component to RGB digital conversion+HD fury2 VGA out]

[paulb_nl]

direct 480p digitization produces a nice clean image. however, in line doubled mode everything becomes jagged and pixelated, and some graphics have a bit of ringing and halo effect. regardless of the display or video processor. I took some screenshots. ( check out my gallery link).

Thats mainly because the OSSC currently uses horizontal pixel duplication with 480pX2 to go from 720 to 1440 pixels. That causes the pixelization.

[Galdelico]

Great pics, Blair. The Saturn looks amazing! Is it your monitor limiting you to Line Double, or just personal tastes?

And speaking of monitors, I guess I'll ask this here as well...
Aside from those ones mentioned in the compatibility sheet at VGP, can you guys recommend me a good 27" to use the OSSC to its fullest with?
I'm still torn between 27" and 24" - 24 is perfect for desk gaming, but the new one would go and replace my old 21" Trinitron, so I may sit a bit further than a meter and half - mainly because I have no clue about how Line Triple 4:3 is going to work on modern 1440 displays. If it's windowed and too tiny, I wouldn't bother. Otherwise, I'd go for a 27" no doubt. Also, I need a panel that can be rotated, for TATE games.

Due to my past experiences, I'm leaning towards Asus again:

MG278Q

ROG SWIFT PG278Q

What do you guys think about it? Any tips?
Thanks in advance!

[Thomago]

Do you really want to go with a TN panel? I mean... TN makes kind of sense in 144 Hz gaming monitors, but as the OSSC will be limited to 60 Hz anyway, you may want to go for good image quality instead.

[Galdelico]

You're right, and I'm aware of that. Nonetheless I'm also quite afraid of the typical issues with IPS screens (glow, dead pixels...) that seem to come up very often, in customers reviews. But yeah, that's why I'm looking for clues.

For example, there's this IPS 27" from Asus again, but the average score isn't exactly the hottest (same goes with BenQ monitors too).

[Dookie1985]

Just thought I'd drop a couple of pictures I took during testing.

Mega Drive (Brightness due to not changing settings on my phone for the pictures)







Master System







Still need to do some tweaking but just as default, still looks amazing.

Weird issue that I'll have to look into more. Strider works fine in the master system, but if I take the game out to play the built in Alex the Kidd in Miracle World game, I get sound but no picture.

[Xyga]

For example, there's this IPS 27" from Asus again, but the average score isn't exactly the hottest (same goes with BenQ monitors too).

In that category (simple 60Hz 1440 IPS/PLS/AHVA monitor) the LG 27MB85R is better IMHO, though more expensive (+/ 500 zeni)
Of course if you can put that much money why not go for one of the top 3 in that list.

The biggest problem when buying an IPS/PLS/AHVA monitor is the very high probability (50% maybe?) of receiving an unit with excessive backlight bleeding.
Always buy those from a reliable seller with a solid, flexible returns and exchange policy (e.g not eBay)

[Herr Schatten]

I got my OSSC last week. What a fantastic piece of hardware it is. The picture quality is amazing, especially the vibrant colours. Tested with the following consoles/computers:

- Amiga
- PC-Engine
- PS2
- Master System
- Mega Drive
- Saturn
- SNES
- Wii

I had to fiddle around with the options a bit to get a stable picture from PC-Engine, Mega Drive, and SNES, but now it all works flawlessly.

Next I'll have my NES and my Atari 2600 RGB-modded and see how that turns out.

[LeGionellz]

Hi all,

i just received my OSSC and bought it primarely to play snes on my hd panel. I have a 1 chip (snes mini) modded for rgb. It works perfectly when connected to my hd panel directy. When connected to the OSSC I get a black screen, while the OSSC does pick up the signa and sync. Which options should I set / play around with ?

Thanks !

[Harrumph]

A friendly reminder to new owners that contributions to the TV compatibility report thread are highly appreciated!

[marqs]

marqs: have you gotten a NESRGB yet? Still planning too? Wondering if you will be getting the same issues I have.

Last time I checked orig. Famicom models were sold out, and seems to be still :/.

So the OSSC is giving me these numbers for my NTSC PS2 inputs for (what I believe to be) 480i, 240p, and 480p respectively. They don't seem to be the numbers I expected, though. Anyone wanna point me to further reading or explain this to me? Why am I not seeing 480i/240p/480p?

Main status screen shows total number of scanlines of input and whether signal is interlaced or progressive. As e.g. 240p is just an umbrella term for non-interlaced signals that have around 262 scanlines at ~60Hz, the exact values are more informative and help in debugging. In adv. timing menu, "240p" mode contains common parameters for all input signals that fall under that group. With some exotic sources, the group may be selected incorrectly and user needs to tweak parameters for valid output. For example, Seibu SPI boards output 293 scanlines @54.5Hz and OSSC classifies it as 288p (nominally 312 scanlines @50Hz) since it's actually closer to that mode. However, with 288 active lines there's too little time for vblank and thus no output until user reduces V.active to e.g. 240.

I'm sorry but you're wrong about that. upscaling algorithms aren't the problem (as I've used many of them), I tested the OSSC with two different pure-analog display's (a Sony e400 multiscan and a LaCie Electron blue IV) those don't have upscaling, they just display the image they receive. And the problem is still there.

The flicker filter on the original Xbox is disabled by default with 480p and 720p content. (At least, that's how all of mine function)

This problem is coming from the OSSC, either my unit is defective, there's a bug in the software, or the feature never actually worked in the first place and wasn't properly tested.

480p linedouble was done quite fast and I haven't used it much since my TV doesn't accept it. However, I just connected PC via VGA to OSSC and checked this sharpness test pattern in both 640x480 and linedoubled 1280x960 on my desktop monitor. Every original pixel was transformed into 2x2 pixels in latter mode as expected, and I didn't see anything weird either.

[arovane]

Got my OSSC back today, it was faulty and scart was not responding. Now it's working well, beautiful piece of equipment! I've run some tests, and it is indeed faster than the framemeister, almost no lag at all. Which is good cause that's the one reason I was interested in the OSSC in the first place First thing I noticed: Line triple doesn't seem to work with my Panasonic plasma screen. The screen is 4 years old. Now to some console set up tests:

Megadrive/MegaCD/32X: Perfect
Dreamcast with Toro: Perfect
Saturn: Perfect
NESRGB: Perfect
Master System: Perfect
PS1: Perfect
N64 RGB: Perfect
Super Famicom: Bad syncing, picture can't stabilize
Neo-Geo: No picture!
Pc Engine RGB: No picture!

So far, I can't seem to make the Neo Geo and Pc Engine to work at all. I get sound but no picture. I use only very good cables so that is not the problem. Those consoles were working with the Framemeister.

Once I get to make those 3 consoles to work properly I can safely say that this is the best upscaler out there. The Framemeister is -almost- beaten!

[seikenflyer]

Hi all. I received mine today, and i tested with the Playstation 2 via component and a Mega Drive via Scart. Both great, but i couldnt get line triple mode out of the Mega Drive. I guess my Sony 47W805A isnt compatible (I thought it would). You guys know if i can tweak the setup so i can enable it on my tv, or line triple mode is or isnt compatible with a tv tright out of the box and thats it. Thank you.

Ps. Only thing i had to tweak was the Analog sync LPF that i had to set it to 2.5MHz: Heavy filtering. Below that the sync ocasionally went off and on.

[Thamiel]

I have a 47w800a which I believe is the Australian version of your set. Lx3 isn't compatible directly into the set, I run mine into a DVDO VP30 then to the TV and it works perfectly.

Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk

[seikenflyer]

I have a 47w800a which I believe is the Australian version of your set. Lx3 isn't compatible directly into the set, I run mine into a DVDO VP30 then to the TV and it works perfectly.

Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk

Thanks. Unfortunatelly i can´t have VP30 now. I was trying to zoom the screen a bit in Advanced Timing Tweaker but i wasnt able to do it as well on my Sony, maybe new firmware increase compatibility. Other than that, OSSC is great.

[Galdelico]

In that category (simple 60Hz 1440 IPS/PLS/AHVA monitor) the LG 27MB85R is better IMHO, though more expensive (+/ 500 zeni)
Of course if you can put that much money why not go for one of the top 3 in that list.

The biggest problem when buying an IPS/PLS/AHVA monitor is the very high probability (50% maybe?) of receiving an unit with excessive backlight bleeding.
Always buy those from a reliable seller with a solid, flexible returns and exchange policy (e.g not eBay)

Thank you for the suggestion, added the LG to my list! Seems very solid, and still fits into my budget.
Just like you, that nasty bleeding is the biggest gripe for me too... And due to the fact I'm going to constantly play with a noticeable amount of black borders around the frame, not having a distracting background would be preferable.

Also, huge thanks for the link as well. I noticed one of the Asus monitors I mentioned (the ROG Swift) is quite high on there, but it honestly feels like an overkill, especially since I'll be taking advantage of around 50% (even less maybe) of its features/specs, with my setup. I don't own a gaming pc and I don't even plan to get a PS4/XBOXOne anytime soon.
I'm looking for a quality monitor, not necessarily a top-tier monster.

And yeah, I'm absolutely going to avoid eBay for my purchase, even though all the negative feedbacks I'm reading on Amazon reviews (do to them shipping refurbished items, or opened up ones) aren't getting me all that excited either.

[tacoguy64]

I have a couple of new things to report on.

Didn't get to mess around all that much with the OSSC but I did try my SNES on a different monitor and it works fine on that. Not only was it good but it also centered everything correctly. I'm still waiting on my dvi-d to vga active adapter to come to test on my Sony FW900.

I also got to try my N64 and something different happened that I'm not sure how to explain. If you look back at the N64 rgb/de-blur thread, I made a post showing these big vertical bars in the background when I hook up the system on both my plasma monitor with the xrgb mini and was getting them even on my multi-sync bvm. But hooked up through the OSSC, those black bars are gone and the results are just a better overall picture.

So far I'm happy with the OSSC. Im bummed out it doesnt play nice with my SNES on the plasma, but it works good on one of my pc monitors. Centering is still off but I haven't messed with that yet. Next I will need to do a firmware update and work on centering for my plasma.

[paulb_nl]

Maybe I should add auto-mode for sync lpf (similar to video lpf) since many users seem to have unreliable sync with default 'off'-setting.

Either auto mode or make sync lpf max the default setting. I have not yet seen any downside to keeping it on the max setting and it will have more reliable sync out of the box.

[Simon Belmont]

Can't update ossc firmware to 0.74?


I've tried 3 micro sd cards. I even bought a 2gb micro sd card this morning and it says invalid image? Downloaded the image from ossc wiki page. Nothing?

[ZellSF]

Can't update ossc firmware to 0.74?


I've tried 3 micro sd cards. I even bought a 2gb micro sd card this morning and it says invalid image? Downloaded the image from ossc wiki page. Nothing?

What program are you using to copy the firmware to the microsd card? You can't just copy the file, you need an image writer like Win32 Disk Imager.

[Simon Belmont]

Can't update ossc firmware to 0.74?


I've tried 3 micro sd cards. I even bought a 2gb micro sd card this morning and it says invalid image? Downloaded the image from ossc wiki page. Nothing?

What program are you using to copy the firmware to the microsd card? You can't just copy the file, you need an image writer like Win32 Disk Imager.

Of course I'm using Win32DiskImager. v0.9.5.

Put sd card in write image. I've formatted the sd card using windows and sd formatter still not working. I use win32diskimager for other stuff also and it works it seems something not working on ossc. Maybe I should try a 1 gb sd card. Need to find one?

[paulb_nl]

Of course I'm using Win32DiskImager. v0.9.5.

Put sd card in write image. I've formatted the sd card using windows and sd formatter still not working. I use win32diskimager for other stuff also and it works it seems something not working on ossc. Maybe I should try a 1 gb sd card. Need to find one?

Use something like HxD to read the sdcard. Run as administrator then Extras->open disk and choose Removable Disk under Physical disks. Does it say OSSC in the first bytes?

[h1ghju1ce]

Can't update ossc firmware to 0.74?

I've tried 3 micro sd cards. I even bought a 2gb micro sd card this morning and it says invalid image? Downloaded the image from ossc wiki page. Nothing?

I had a similar issue, In the end the thing that seemed to make the difference to it working, is the card reader/writer device

If you have another one (USB2/USB3) , or a built in one to a laptop maybe, that worth trying.

[BuckoA51]

Anyone want an audio upgrade? I've got a small number available if anyone wants to send in their OSSC for an upgrade.

https://www.videogameperfection.com/pro ... e-service/

Hopefully more in the new year.

[Herr Schatten]

Once I get to make those 3 consoles to work properly I can safely say that this is the best upscaler out there. The Framemeister is -almost- beaten!

I can't say anything about the Neo Geo, but I had the exact same issues with my SNES and PC-Engine. For me, setting analog sync LPF to 33MHz and H-PLL to 2 did the trick.

[BuckoA51]

Please ask for tech support in the official forums people.

[Simon Belmont]

Can't update ossc firmware to 0.74?

I've tried 3 micro sd cards. I even bought a 2gb micro sd card this morning and it says invalid image? Downloaded the image from ossc wiki page. Nothing?

I had a similar issue, In the end the thing that seemed to make the difference to it working, is the card reader/writer device

If you have another one (USB2/USB3) , or a built in one to a laptop maybe, that worth trying.

That could be the reason. I'll try to look for another one tomorrow.

Cheers for that.

[arovane]

Once I get to make those 3 consoles to work properly I can safely say that this is the best upscaler out there. The Framemeister is -almost- beaten!

I can't say anything about the Neo Geo, but I had the exact same issues with my SNES and PC-Engine. For me, setting analog sync LPF to 33MHz and H-PLL to 2 did the trick.

Thanks, that worked for the PCEngine. Still no luck with Neo-Geo and SFC though.

[Simon Belmont]

Finally got FW to update to 0.7.4. I tried it a few times and was saying invalid image over and over. I was just about tho give up and I must have pressed the OK button 10 times and then it said update FW 1=y 2=no. I said YES I guess in future updates I'll just keep pressing ok button lol

[Guspaz]

Future updates should be much easier since the SD card support was rewritten.