Questions that do not deserve a thread

[Shoryukev]

That's definitely not surprising, it is a dinosaur after all LOL. Maybe I won't take it home, I can probably get Doom and King's Quest VI running through dos-box or something on my newer PC. I could have sworn there was some sort of advantage to using a pre-XP machine for mame, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was.

[FinalBaton]

If there's a 486 or a Pentium 1, I would definitely grab it You could now play Doom, Hexen, Heretic, (and Duke Nukem 3D if you get a Pentium 1) and the vast majority of DOS games on native hardware!

Maybe that machine will have a soundcard as well! probably an AdLib/Soundblaster, but maybe something else. If not then you could buy one, or a midi module (Roland SC-55, Roland MT-32)

[Einzelherz]

It'll make a great dos/win98 machine but beyond that I wouldn't expect much.

[bobrocks95]

Does anybody know if modern A/V Receivers have per-input RGB range control? I'm thinking the Wii U could easily cause issues here.
What about the ability to turn off upscaling on sub-1080p resolutions?

I feel like all the edge cases involving gaming might mean the best solution is to route audio and video completely separately...

[ZellSF]

Does anybody know if modern A/V Receivers have per-input RGB range control? I'm thinking the Wii U could easily cause issues here.
What about the ability to turn off upscaling on sub-1080p resolutions?

I feel like all the edge cases involving gaming might mean the best solution is to route audio and video completely separately...

The default assumption for TV content is that it's limited range. The Wii U is never going to be a problem connected to TV equipment. It's when you connect it to a PC monitor you have problems. It's when you connect equipment set to full range RGB to a few TVs you have a problem (not all of them support it).

RGB full range vs limited range present another problem with AVRs and switches though, unless your TV is able to detect the color range of your device and is able to store image settings separately for both limited and full range, you're going to want to use a splitter (or a AVR with two hdmi outputs) to output image from the AVR and/or switch to two separate inputs on the TV so you can have two different profiles, one for limited range and one for full range.

Most AVRs should have some sort of HDMI passthrough function. You should be using that. Test it for input lag. I don't think it's a problem today, but one AVR manufacturer used to be sort of known for it, so test.

[Star1]

Is the output from a DIY sync stripper exactly the same as directly from Csync, or is there some marginal difference?

[Xer Xian]

I am considering to give emulation a try on one of my consoles, but I don't know which one I should pick. I've got an unmodded Wii and already modded 360 and PS3 (rgh and rebug cfw). I can also get an original PAL Xbox for cheap if it's really worth it (I sold mine quite a few time ago due to 360's BC.. shame on you Microsoft for not supporting Otogi 2 and PAL PD Orta ). Priorities are of course fidelity to the original experience and lowest possible lag, but ease of use would be welcomed too. Anyone? Should I just buy everdrives/ODEs for all my systems and give emulation (and inflated retrogames prices) the finger?

Edit: Btw, I've also got a 3.56 PSTV that sits on a drawer. Any chance it will be able to catch up with Wii/Xbox emulation-wise?

[Dochartaigh]

I have a 5x SCART switcher with one SCART output. That one output goes to my 3x PVM's which are all daisy-chained together via BNC RGB cables.

I would like the same image to display on my 2x consumer grade Sony Trinitron TV's (which have S-Video) as well. How do I do that?

The PVM's do have S-Video in/out but that's on a separate channel/line and they don't cross with the RGB line so I don't think that's an option.

[bobrocks95]

I have a 5x SCART switcher with one SCART output. That one output goes to my 3x PVM's which are all daisy-chained together via BNC RGB cables.

I would like the same image to display on my 2x consumer grade Sony Trinitron TV's (which have S-Video) as well. How do I do that?

The PVM's do have S-Video in/out but that's on a separate channel/line and they don't cross with the RGB line so I don't think that's an option.

Daisy chain the last PVM's RGB signal into an S-Video converter, and then put that into a powered S-Video splitter.

Looks like the only RGB to S-Video stuff I see is hobbyist, like the Jrock or this adapter.

[Xer Xian]

There are also retailed products on ebay (made by Extron and maybe Kramer and others) designed to take RGBHV from a PC and ouput a PAL/NTSC video signal through composite and/or s-video. Be careful of the supported resolution though, 15Khz might not be accepted.

Edit: Of course, even if 15Khz input was accepted, 240p output would be out of discussion for everything but Extron Emotia's, which are not exactly readily available.. this would also require some sync processing to get RGBHV from RGBs, so yeah, a pure signal transcoder would be better after all, forget about the above ^_^

[Dochartaigh]

Daisy chain the last PVM's RGB signal into an S-Video converter, and then put that into a powered S-Video splitter.

Looks like the only RGB to S-Video stuff I see is hobbyist, like the Jrock or this adapter.

Brilliant idea! I like the "RGB to Component Video, Composite Video & S-Video Encoder ( v4.x )" version which outputs S-Video AND Component cables since one of my CRT's has Component although it's not HD). I emailed jrok since there's no pricing on that site. Is there no pre-made box like this? (i.e. one with BNC or RCA connectors) Or I assume I would have to cannibalize a RCA/BNC wire to solder it directly to the Jamma connector? And it looks like I would need a 5v power source as well if I'm reading the diagram correctly?

Of course after I checked out the above I double-checked how my PVM's are daisy-chained, and the last one in the chain, my only 20", is a 20N2U which ONLY has BNC inputs - no outputs...so I might have to go back to the drawing board... Any other ideas? Possibly splitting the SCART coming off the switcher, then grab the RGB signal from that? (or grab it off a BNC/RCA or whatever...)

[Guspaz]

Splitting without amplification may not give you the experience you're looking for. You'll need a distribution amp (aka "powered splitter") for video signals. They don't care about what the video signal is (RGB, composite, s-video, YPbPr) as long as it fits under the bandwidth they support and has enough channels. Of course, sometimes BNC-everything isn't convenient, so you can get distribution amps with different connectors (like s-video).

You'll need to use one of the products that bobrocks95 mentioned, in combination with a distribution amp and either an RGB-to-component converter (like the shinybow sb-2840 or the fusion box) or an s-video distribution amp. I see two possible configurations:

SCART switch output -> 3 (or more) way RGB distribution amplifier (RGB DA)
RGB DA 1 -> PVM 1 -> PVM 2 -> PVM 3
RGB DA 2 -> RGB-to-S-Video converter -> Consumer CRT 1
RGB DA 3 -> RGB-to-component converter -> Consumer CRT2

Or this:

SCART switch output -> 2 (or more) way RGB distribution amplifier (RGB DA)
RGB DA output 1 -> PVM 1 -> PVM 2 -> PVM 3
RGB DA output 2 -> RGB-to-S-Video converter -> 2-way S-Video distribution amp
S-Video DA output 1 -> Consumer CRT 1
S-Video DA output 2 -> Consumer CRT 2

Keep in mind that a product with multiple video outputs that is not intended as a splitter (such as the jrok converters) may not be designed to drive more than one output at a time. Check with the manufacturer first to see if the device is able to safely drive the two outputs simultaneously.

[Dochartaigh]

Damn - and I thought this would be easy! I have some more research to do. Thank you for the info everyone.

[Remistewart]

I bought an SD2SNES cartridge off ebay for my SNES, and I'm getting awful audio buzzing on games. This isn't an RGB cable grounding problem as my genuine cartridges work without any audio static at all. The static is also present on the SNES music player inside the SD2SNES, so it isn't an issue of picture signals interfering with the audio. I was wondering if someone else has experienced this with an official SD2SNES cartridge? Is there some sort of audio grounding that I could fix within the cart given its probably a Chinese clone?

[FinalBaton]

Fudoh, if you're around :
does the XSelect D4 do as good a job transcoding RGB to component as the reference Kramer FC-14?

[Fudoh]

I haven't done a 1:1 comparion to the Kramer, but the XSelect-D4 is indeed very good. The only downside is that you don't get component output through RCA/Cinch, but trough D-Terminal only.

[FinalBaton]

I haven't done a 1:1 comparion to the Kramer, but the XSelect-D4 is indeed very good. The only downside is that you don't get component output through RCA/Cinch, but trough D-Terminal only.

Thanks, that's good to hear! So with a d-terminal to component cable, this becomes a great solution (also a switcher, takes RGB and Component, and even transcodes 31kHz sources)

For some reason I never knew about this product, it kinda eluded me since I didn't do researches on it before. But now I'm really wanting one. I'm kinda blown away by it actually

[ForkBomb]

I'm currently in the process of installing an NESRGB into an AV Famicom. I'm trying to desolder the PPU, and earlier I got frustrated and, without thinking, took a wire cutter and cut a bunch of the pins to make it easier to access the solder. Did I ruin the PPU, or do the pins not to be too long to work with the mounting bracket?

If the latter, is it possible to simply carefully take a wire cutter and cut the bottoms of the PPU pins on the top side of the motherboard and still have them long enough to use the NESRGB?

[Dochartaigh]

Is there a list somewhere about which Olympus PVM monitors are rebrands of Sony PVM monitors?

I've been looking at a couple different Olympus models (OEV 142, 143 mainly, but also the 203), and can literally only find 1 or 2 sources on the entire internet saying what Sony monitors they're exact rebrands of. Just hoping to find something that's better than 1 single person confirming something online (plus I really want to lookup the correct specs/features and manuals for them).

[Guspaz]

Not all olympus CRTs are PVM rebrands, but it's pretty easy to tell visually. For example, if it has a tube that curves in two directions, like the Olympus OEV201, then it's not using a Trinitron tube, and thus isn't made by Sony. Trinitron tubes only curve in one direction (the left and right edges of a Sony CRT are straight).

[ForkBomb]

[I don't know how the "new posts" indicator works, so I'm going to bump my question just in case]

I'm currently in the process of installing an NESRGB into an AV Famicom. I'm trying to desolder the PPU, and earlier I got frustrated and, without thinking, took a wire cutter and cut a bunch of the pins to make it easier to access the solder. Did I ruin the PPU, or do the pins not have to be too long to work with the mounting bracket? Or can I just use solder to make the connections?

If the latter, is it possible to simply carefully take a wire cutter and cut the bottoms of the PPU pins on the top side of the motherboard and still have them long enough to use the NESRGB?

[Guspaz]

If you left enough of the legs sticking out of the PPU, you can still make those connections by bridging the gap with something, although it'll be enormously more difficult depending on how much of the legs you left.

[horaceappleton]

Maybe a rudimentary question. I'm getting a PS4 soon, and I've literally never owned anything but old composite-video CRT TVs. What should I look for to find a TV that accepts HDMI input but has the most minimal input delay?

[Dochartaigh]

Not all olympus CRTs are PVM rebrands, but it's pretty easy to tell visually. For example, if it has a tube that curves in two directions, like the Olympus OEV201, then it's not using a Trinitron tube, and thus isn't made by Sony. Trinitron tubes only curve in one direction (the left and right edges of a Sony CRT are straight).

Thank you for the tip, but I'm trying to look up the specifications, TV lines, inputs, available menu options, etc., etc. of these Olympus monitors and those manuals simply aren't out there. BUT, when they have nearly-identical Sony PVM brothers and sisters (which those three models I listed I'm pretty sure do, since they say "Trinitron" on the TV front), it's pretty easy to find the manuals of those Sony monitors - so is there some list out there compiled by the 'experts' (or at least people who know more than me about these, which is most which shows which Olympus models are identical to which PVM models?

[bobrocks95]

Maybe a rudimentary question. I'm getting a PS4 soon, and I've literally never owned anything but old composite-video CRT TVs. What should I look for to find a TV that accepts HDMI input but has the most minimal input delay?

https://displaylag.com/'s list is a good place to start. A lot of the models listed are old and unavailable though, and I'm not sure of their exact testing methods...

We also had a modern displays thread on here somewhere, it may be helpful to look through the most recent pages on it for TV discussions.

Good 1080p sets are drying up fast as 4K pushes forward into the midrange of the market. As someone posted and then deleted, if size isn't a concern, a good 1080p monitor is much easier to find and will almost certainly have no lag.

Also as a note, for PS4-era games low input lag isn't really a must outside of maybe the rhythm genre. Many games have 50+ ms of controller lag built right into them; the nature of most games don't require twitch inputs like 2D platformers/shooters/etc did.

[Xyga]

displaylag.com average the three Leo Bodnar readings, which is er... so at the time Rtings.com is a better place for TV lag measurements, they tell the middle bar reading in several video modes.
avforums.com and hdtvtest.co.uk are good too (middle bar also I think), only need to find/convert the models numbers to north-American ones. Both are rather high-end focused though.

[Xer Xian]

Consoles->RGBHV D-Sub cables->Extron MVX 84 out 1->OSSC VGA input->DVI-to-VGA converter->Extron MVX 84 out 2&3->PC CRT monitor 1&2.

Would this setup work? Anyone here has the same VGA distributor and can confirm it can route any given input to any given output (webpage is not very clear on this.. at least it does say it supports 15khz.. )? Also, about audio: 1) can I use a 2xRCA-to-3.5mm jack adapter for audio input (should I worry about its quality) and 2) any idea where I can get a Phoenix/captive screw to RCA adapter to make the audio output more compatible? I found just one seller on ebay (http://www.ebay.it/itm/2-Pin-Phoenix-to ... SwuYVWmSX7) and his shipping cost to Italy is ridiculous..

[ForkBomb]

I finished installing my NESRGB, but when I turn it on, I just get random flickering white lines on the screen and/or nothing at all. The Everdrive N8's light also doesn't turn on. Screeching noises come out from the audio as well. Can someone help?

[Harrumph]

There is a thread dedicated to NESRGB, I think you should post there.

[jay]

I picked up a Toshiba 27AF61 today for about $7. I got it home and immediately noticed some issues going on after I hooked my SNES and NES up.

All four corners are blurry, the image seems to distort more than I'd find normal during transitions of dark/bright scenes (might be my imagination), and there is some weird distortion happening on the left edge of the screen that look like uneven scanlines.

Anyone have any idea as to what may be causing these? I highlighted the issues in the images below.

http://imgur.com/a/syzln