OSSC (DIY video digitizer & scandoubler)

[austin532]

So what other devices work well in stabilizing the OSSC image besides the DVDO's? I hear that generic HD Video Converter scaler that no one likes for Scart actually works well for HDMI and greatly improves the odds of displaying 3x, 4x, and 5x.

[Blair]

Hey ya !!
Just grabbed a low serial aes (2k)
Here what it done with the 1200p's OSSC :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK4ULMiOigo&t=
Just magic !!

Beautiful footage fafangus! What application did you use to make the recording?

Did some testing tonight.

WiiU component @480p line2x
Duo works
Vp50pro fail

Snes mini rgb @240p:
Duo x3/x4/x5 works in dvi mode.
***5x requires timing adjustments to keep stable image even in dvi mode.
***hdmi mode might work with some timing adjustments but I didn't try.

Vp50pro x3/x5 works in hdmi mode.

Excellent work citrus3000psi, more confirmation that the Duo and Edge Green are virtually the same when it comes to OSSC compatibility. (And as of the most recent firmware update, they both perform exceptionally)

Are you running the Duo in game mode? (And also making sure that PReP and Chroma Upsampling Error detection is off for all video modes?) also have you tested 480i pass through at all? (I'm sure it probably works fine).

So what other devices work well in stabilizing the OSSC image besides the DVDO's? I hear that generic HD Video Converter scaler that no one likes for Scart actually works well for HDMI and greatly improves the odds of displaying 3x, 4x, and 5x.

Have you made sure to adjust HDMI and DVI compatibility settings? Just to be sure, I've done that on a few TVs and its increased compatibility.

As I recall a few users reported that adding HDMI splitters helped with compatibility in a few setups. That might be something to try. Outside of the DVDO devices. there's processors by Optoma, Micomsoft, Pixel Magic, Lumagen and Extron. a good number of those "could" be compatible with the OSSC, there's also devices by Atlona, E-More and MonoPrice but I haven't seen anyone test those yet. ZellSF did test the scart scaler with HDMI pass-through. It worked for him. (Might help get a few more details).

Depending on your budget and how attached to your current monitor, it might just be a better idea to save up some money and purchase a newer television/monitor on sale, (and then sell your old display to make up some cost).

Most brands outside of Sony seem to be pretty good when it comes to compatibility with OSSC. However you might be looking at it wrong. If your Sony does a really good job of 480p processing there's really no need to upgrade as the higher line modes for the OSSC primarily benefit displays and processors that do a poor job with 480p.

[Harrumph]

I hear that generic HD Video Converter scaler that no one likes for Scart actually works well for HDMI and greatly improves the odds of displaying 3x, 4x, and 5x.

Did a search for ZellSFs review and found his latest update here: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... b#p1253624

Iirc Retrorgb did a video of this at some point, but I cannot find it right now.

Anyway, bottom line is the scaler is not acceptable for direct playing, as the lag is simply too much. However, it seems to be a good option to get x3 or x4 modes compatible with a capture card. On the other hand, there is now a thread at vgp listing compatible capture cards, so that's another route to go as well.
It should be added that many compatibility issues reported previously should be retested after FW0.77, as changes to the sync logic seems to have improved compatibility across the board.

[austin532]

My tv does an excellent job with 480p and 240p games look great at 2x but because it's not a 1080p signal that means there is more lag. I've tried both HDMI and DVI modes but no luck. I even went as far as to plug it straight into the tv just to make sure the receiver wasn't conflicting with it. No luck.

On the plus side, I discovered when it's plugged directly to the tv in HDMI mode the 240p/480i transition is fast. Really really fast. Usually averaging around 30ms to 1 sec. at max. Blows the Framemeister away when it comes to that.

[Fudoh]

but because it's not a 1080p signal that means there is more lag.

that's unlikely. Most displays have the same lag for any input of 480p and higher.

[Blair]

I feel like there needs to be a chart (maybe a separate one for video processors, another one for televisions/and monitors?)

something like this, but better (made a really quick and dirty chart with all the stats I can remember at the moment,)

Spoiler

[BuckoA51]

There is such a chart on the wiki, but maintaining it is quite an effort.

[Gekiohsan]

If your lucky enough to get your hands on one, The crystalio ii has handled every mode ive thrown at it with the ossc flawlessly with no adjustments needed on sync. Plus if you have one of the older units without digital audio it doubles as an a/v combiner and outputs both on one digital output.

[orange808]

If your lucky enough to get your hands on one, The crystalio ii has handled every mode ive thrown at it with the ossc flawlessly with no adjustments needed on sync. Plus if you have one of the older units without digital audio it doubles as an a/v combiner and outputs both on one digital output.

Does anyone know how much latency the Crystalio II adds?

The features suggest around two frames for progressive inputs, but I can't find specifics.

[fafangus]

Beautiful footage fafangus! What application did you use to make the recording?

I used AmarecTV + https://www.datapath.co.uk/video-captur ... ionrgb-e1s , it's verry stable on 1200p unlike my Xcapture1

Thanks for the charts

For the CII I only got problems with Neo Geo, with lineX5, picture is there, but I've got some kind of parasites (maybe my HDMI cables....), anyway the CII eat all outputs resolution of the OSSC, and I've tested like 20+ consoles / computers and arcades pcbs...

[neorichieb1971]

Can the OSSC mimic the outputs of the consoles you plug into it?

I was thinking it would be so handy if you could just take it to the shop, plug it in and test modes without taking all your consoles as well.


This is for TV testing.

[orange808]

Can the OSSC mimic the outputs of the consoles you plug into it?

I was thinking it would be so handy if you could just take it to the shop, plug it in and test modes without taking all your consoles as well.


This is for TV testing.

There are video processors with fully programmable output timing that can also display a test pattern. Make presets for your consoles and you have all the signals in one box.

[neorichieb1971]

Can the OSSC mimic the outputs of the consoles you plug into it?

I was thinking it would be so handy if you could just take it to the shop, plug it in and test modes without taking all your consoles as well.


This is for TV testing.

There are video processors with fully programmable output timing that can also display a test pattern. Make presets for your consoles and you have all the signals in one box.

Sounds like the best upscaler could get that little bit better.

[orange808]

Can the OSSC mimic the outputs of the consoles you plug into it?

I was thinking it would be so handy if you could just take it to the shop, plug it in and test modes without taking all your consoles as well.


This is for TV testing.

There are video processors with fully programmable output timing that can also display a test pattern. Make presets for your consoles and you have all the signals in one box.

Sounds like the best upscaler could get that little bit better.

I like turtles.

[Blair]

Beautiful footage fafangus! What application did you use to make the recording?

I used AmarecTV + https://www.datapath.co.uk/video-captur ... ionrgb-e1s , it's verry stable on 1200p unlike my Xcapture1

Thanks for the charts

For the CII I only got problems with Neo Geo, with lineX5, picture is there, but I've got some kind of parasites (maybe my HDMI cables....), anyway the CII eat all outputs resolution of the OSSC, and I've tested like 20+ consoles / computers and arcades pcbs...

i'll have to give AmarecTV a look. yeah, line 5x on the ossc seems to need a fairly high quality hdmi cable. I've been using the "amazon basics" cables and that seems to work fine. and the monoprice "redmere" slim cables.

[Zappyraccoon]

Beautiful footage fafangus! What application did you use to make the recording?

I used AmarecTV + https://www.datapath.co.uk/video-captur ... ionrgb-e1s , it's verry stable on 1200p unlike my Xcapture1

Thanks for the charts

For the CII I only got problems with Neo Geo, with lineX5, picture is there, but I've got some kind of parasites (maybe my HDMI cables....), anyway the CII eat all outputs resolution of the OSSC, and I've tested like 20+ consoles / computers and arcades pcbs...

i'll have to give AmarecTV a look. yeah, line 5x on the ossc seems to need a fairly high quality hdmi cable. I've been using the "amazon basics" cables and that seems to work fine. and the monoprice "redmere" slim cables.

I've been solely using these cables for years no issues. With the OSSC or Crystalio II and what have you.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product. ... -_-Product

[xga]

Thanks for an awesome product, marqs!

I'm curious to know if the simple OSD (listed on the OSSC roadmap) is a slim possibility on the current hardware with a future firmware release or highly unlikely until you move to a more powerful FPGA?

[Wolf_]

Just curious but has anyone measured the exact amount of delay the ossc causes? I know it is near instant so I'm betting <5ms? Wanted to know if anyone had an actual number for it.

[Fudoh]

The OSSC doesn't use a frame buffer, so there is no lag to speak of. If you want numbers, it's MICROseconds, not MILLIseconds.

[citrus3000psi]

Just curious but has anyone measured the exact amount of delay the ossc causes? I know it is near instant so I'm betting <5ms? Wanted to know if anyone had an actual number for it.

It should be in the microsecond range, so I don't think anybody has bothered to measured.

[paulb_nl]

The delay has been discussed in the first few posts in this thread. Marqs said 0.13ms with 240p.

[marqs]

Can the OSSC mimic the outputs of the consoles you plug into it?

I was thinking it would be so handy if you could just take it to the shop, plug it in and test modes without taking all your consoles as well.


This is for TV testing.

It'd be possible with a dedicated timing generator firmware.

I'm curious to know if the simple OSD (listed on the OSSC roadmap) is a slim possibility on the current hardware with a future firmware release or highly unlikely until you move to a more powerful FPGA?

I'll be implementing OSD for cps2_digiav project, but on ossc FPGA block RAM is pretty much exhausted now so I don't see it happening anytime soon.

Just curious but has anyone measured the exact amount of delay the ossc causes? I know it is near instant so I'm betting <5ms? Wanted to know if anyone had an actual number for it.

If you look at the IC datasheets and add the buffering delay caused by FPGA, total latency is practically always less than 2 input scanlines.

[Wolf_]

Wow that's freaking amazing. Under 17ms of lag is less than a full frame so correct me if I'm wrong but that means if your display has less than that you should be running with no frames of delay?

[Bahn Yuki]

That's why the new TCL TVs are getting so much praise. 13ms even with HDR on! Couple that with the OSSC and have solution that plays great without hitting your wallet hard.

[FinalBaton]

That's why the new TCL TVs are getting so much praise. 13ms even with HDR on! Couple that with the OSSC and have solution that plays great without hitting your wallet hard.

Go answer my question in the TCL thread

[austin532]

So I hate to ask this but is there a user friendly guide out there as to what each option means? I am aware of the OSSC wiki but is there a guide that dumbs it down to layman's terms? For example is H. and V. Backporch the same as horizontal and vertical position?

[Eretro86]

I'm thinking of getting the Dell U2515h to pair with the OSSC particularly for 5x mode does anybody know if this monitor is fully compatible with the OSSC?

[TillDawn]

I'm thinking of getting the Dell U2515h to pair with the OSSC particularly for 5x mode does anybody know if this monitor is fully compatible with the OSSC?

Hi Eretro. I have the U2515H and just re-confirmed, that it works with the OSSC's 5x mode. It looks great, but one has to keep in mind that the OSSC cannot output the monitor's native 2560x1440 resolution, so there is a bit of scaling going on, even if you adjust the output resolution of the OSSC in 5x to 1920x1080.

[Harrumph]

So I hate to ask this but is there a user friendly guide out there as to what each option means? I am aware of the OSSC wiki but is there a guide that dumbs it down to layman's terms? For example is H. and V. Backporch the same as horizontal and vertical position?

In very simplified terms, yes. They affect position, but not in an x/y coordinate type way. The porches plus sync make up the blanking areas (parts outside the active video area), and the blanking length is always constant. So if you increase backporch, frontporch will decrease (and vice versa), and the relative position of the active area will thus change. If you google video back porch etc, you'll find a bunch of pages explaining it (incl. Wikipedia).

Edit: I was about to say the wiki could perhaps be amended/expanded, but I looked at it just now and tbh to me it seems to explain it already. Maybe just an external link to some analog video basic info resouce is needed.

[Eretro86]

I'm thinking of getting the Dell U2515h to pair with the OSSC particularly for 5x mode does anybody know if this monitor is fully compatible with the OSSC?

Hi Eretro. I have the U2515H and just re-confirmed, that it works with the OSSC's 5x mode. It looks great, but one has to keep in mind that the OSSC cannot output the monitor's native 2560x1440 resolution, so there is a bit of scaling going on, even if you adjust the output resolution of the OSSC in 5x to 1920x1080.

Hi TillDawn thanks for testing this for me much appreciated. I thought this may be the case shame the monitor can't do 1:1 pixel mapping with the 5x resolution. From what I understand 1200p is the max vertical output of the OSSC.

How does 5x with scanlines look on your monitor are they uneven?

I guess cave shmups from a 360 and scanline overlay at 480p or 720p would look nice with monitor scaling by intergers.