CRT Emudriver + Sony BVM: Several issues and questions.

[Crayfish]

Hi guys.
Recently put together a dedicated emulator PC outputting to a Sony BVM. It basically works fine, but I am having a few issues and would really appreciate some answers and advice from some of the experienced users here. The questions pertain to the crt emudriver / emu software as well as the BVM hardware.

My setup is as follows:
Core2 Duo E7600 @3.06GHz - 4GB Ram
Radeon 4300/4500 512MB With CRT Emudriver (thought I installed 2.0 but listed as WDDM v1.1?)

Windows 7 64bit. I am using Win 7 so I can use the latest emulators for online play (fightcade 2 etc)

Monitor 1: Sony BVM-20F1U 15KHz (+BKM Control unit).
Monitor 2: Generic 4:3 LCD running at 800x600 31KHz (I have this as main monitor for web browsing, settings, emulator menu navigation etc)

ISSUES & QUESTIONS:

1.) A couple of my emulators, including Fightcade 2 (FBA) are asking for D3DX9_43.DLL before they will load. I understand this means the Direct X is out of date. Can I update my Direct X without messing up CRT Emudriver?

2.) From the install process of CRT Emudriver, I still have the 'Test Mode Win7 Build 7601' message in the bottom corner of both screens. Can I get rid of this for fear of screen burn on my CRT'?

3.) I am trying to use 1to1 pixel ratios (no strech) with different arcade boards and console emulators, is it possible to save different settings within the Sony BKM control unit so that I dont have to manually adjust each board/system to correctly fit within the bezel each time I switch? If so, how many can I save and do I need to find one of the memory cards for the BKM?
Or will the BKM simply remember the geometry and other setting based on what res I feed into it like I remember some of my PC 31KHz CRTs doing in the past?

4a.) I am trying to run 1to1 pixel ratios but I have gaps in my supported resolutions. Between 336x224 & 512x448 there is only 384x240. Many boards I emulate have vertical res of 250 or more. I would just run the monitor at 512x448 and adjust the geometry, but it simply wont strech that far.
If I am only running CRT Emudriver 1.1, would updating to 2.0 give me more resolutions or would I need to downgrade to XP to get those extra resolutions?

4b.) The main arcade systems I emulate are Capcom's CPS boards which run at 384x224. Now I would just run the monitor at the available 384x240 and have borders top and bottom that I could strech out using the monitor geometry, but for some reason, my bvm HATES 384x240. Running is this mode gives me these ugly greenish screen width horizontal shadows that are cast by on screen sprites. It is very strange since the resolutions above and below it listed above work fine. This is very strange and frustrating since it is the most practical compromise res available atm. Anyone else have a BVM that doesnt like this res? The other CRT I've tested with (a JVC broadcast monitor) doesnt have a problem with this res, but I would really like to keep using the BVM as my main.

5.) If I leave the brightness at its default level, my BVM flickers quite violently on screens with large areas of block white (title/logo screens etc). Just turning down the brightness solves this, but just wondering if this is natural/common? I do remember having to turn off a brightess settting on my Ikagami monitor for the same reason.

Many thanks in advance for any help.

*I have posted this same thread over at: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php#c7

[h1ghju1ce]

1 - The DX major versions sit side by side, so updating D9, wont affect v8 v10 etc and they dont interact directly with the video drivers, so it shouldnt mes up CRT Emu

3 - You can save various profiles to an SRAM card inserted into the control unit, as I said here: "Any Standard PCMCIA SRAM Card will work though"

You only need the smallest one you can find, since the saves are only 32KB, so even a 512KB card, could store 16 config variations

https://www.reddit.com/r/crtgaming/wiki ... ssories.3A

Not sure about it remembering "like a PC CRT"

4 - Have you tried the "super resolutions" ? , since you can output 2500 x 240 and the monitor should display that fine (Groovymame / switchres does this)
that way you'll probably be able to fill in the gaps that you're missing.

5 - The brightness could be a side effect of too much voltage levels on the inputs ? , you might need some resistors in line in the cable.

[Crayfish]

Thanks allot for your replies highjuce!

1 - The DX major versions sit side by side, so updating D9, wont affect v8 v10 etc and they dont interact directly with the video drivers, so it shouldnt mes up CRT Emu

Cool. Strange thing is, Im trying to find what download I need for this old card which only does 10.1. I tried just updating to newest direct x and it told me Im up to date, I must need to find some stand alone old download for this..

3 - You can save various profiles to an SRAM card inserted into the control unit, as I said here: "Any Standard PCMCIA SRAM Card will work though"
You only need the smallest one you can find, since the saves are only 32KB, so even a 512KB card, could store 16 config variations
https://www.reddit.com/r/crtgaming/wiki ... ssories.3A

That is great news, the actual cards are quite expensive and have to come from China, but I found these converters which will hopefully do the job:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sandisk-PCMC ... SwIipZygg0
If I am reading this thread correctly, I think I am limited to 16 settings anyway. 4 geometry settings per input. 4 each for 16/9 & 4/3 under and over scan..
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=56919

4 - Have you tried the "super resolutions" ? , since you can output 2500 x 240 and the monitor should display that fine (Groovymame / switchres does this) that way you'll probably be able to fill in the gaps that you're missing.

Well the thing is, this isnt a pure Groovymamae machine. This is for all emus, including fightcade for me to play online, so I think for these I am tied to the resolutions available from the desktop. The emudriver I have installed does give me allot of new low res options, but it still seems like a small amount. How is it that Groovymame can force extra resolutions that the card doesnt recognize? How many different res in the range I talked about can you select from the desktop?

5 - The brightness could be a side effect of too much voltage levels on the inputs ? , you might need some resistors in line in the cable.

I am looking to get myself a Extron 203RXI, would that do the trick also?

Huge thanks again highjuice!

[h1ghju1ce]

1 - DirectX - right, so the "runtime" version of DirectX files on your computer are not linked to your GPU Version or the video drivers.
So 10.1 GPU , just means it cant/wont use the more advanced functions that DX 11.0 runtime can offer, but that doesnt meant you then can only install DX 10.0 runtime.

So Windows 7 you can install DX 11.0 , and then the latest DX 9.0 runtime "next to" each other, and the EXE will just use the version of the DLLs that it was complied for, in your case its looking for a DX 9 DLL

This is the latest installer for DX 9.0
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/downloa ... px?id=8109




3 - SRAM - Ah you have confused "form factor" with "device type" , yes that link would technically fit in the BKM remote, you couldnt do anything with it, because its wrong device type inside, so the BKM would just ignore it.

If you want to save the configs , you'll have to pay the ££ for an SRAM card, yes they are expensive these days.....

Imagine you had a USB socket, and you needed a Scanner , you couldnt plugin a USB Mouse into and expect it to work , just because it fits the hole


4 - Groovymame sets the horizontal resolution to a really large number 2500 for example, then "maps" the lower horizontal resolutions onto that wide space, the monitor doesnt see an mode/resolution change, but the amount/width of visible pixels does.
This allows greater flexibility of modes for "free" , and higher compatibility.


5 - The Extrons output 5v TTL sync, so if the monitor is flickering because the a voltage is too high, then this would either make it the same or worse. I was talking about getting the voltages down to 0.7v (RGBS signalling levels)

[Crayfish]

Huge thanks again highjuice.
Just going back to the resolutions, when u have CRT Emudriver installed, how many resolutions around the ones I meantioned do you have selectable from the desktop (not within groovymame)?

[Crayfish]

I found that yes it is easy to add in resolutions just via the txt file and then use VMMaker to install them.
I tried creating some other resolutions to fit all needs like a 384x256 and 400x300 and it didn't acknowledge them but it did allowed me to create a proper Capcom CPS 384x224 but it suffers the same problem as the 384x240.
Here is a picture of what I am getting:
https://gyazo.com/035d452f5b4d2bfbce47085502640cd4
There are horizontal bars that run the full width of the screen and stain the image green. They seem to be cast like shadows by on screen sprites and move up and down with them, but they also appear static on a light colored screen, like when i move a desktop window onto the crt.

I have tried editing in some lower refresh rates onto the ini file, but they all just seem to go to 60HZs when i put them into VMMaker anyway, and I can't see how to edit the refresh rate in ArcadeOSD.

I cannot use Super resolutions from my desktop with 2 screen setup right? Only on a single 15hz setup? Or could i set a super resolution to just my crt alongside my 31khz desktop monitor?

I also want to mention that I am using a T-joint BNC connector to combine my H & V sync from my VGA to RGBHV lead. I mentioned this to another crtemudriver to bvm user and he said he heard that this wans't a good setup to use to combine your sync. Could this be the problem? pls remember that the other lower resolutions work beautifully, here is a pic of it running at 320x224:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z45BkP ... Sfs56/view
and when i fed the 512interlaced res into it, that worked fine too.
*I am trying to track down an Extron RGB203RXI to combine my sync instead of relying on the T-joint.