TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

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Dochartaigh
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by Dochartaigh »

Roboplodicus wrote:Do you know if this corio2 or the corio2 2200 interprets 240p input correctly as 240p or incorrectly as 480i? I'm currently feeding my N64 into my corio2 2200 and using it to convert the signal too 240p 120hz to display on a VGA pc monitor and I'm getting a picture but I'm pretty sure judging by the flickering that the 2200 sees the 240p as 480i because I'm getting very obvious flickering where there should be none at all. I'm also not certain that I have the output settings right because I only changed the resolution and the framerate and didn't touch any other variables.
Honestly, as an upscaler, the Corio2's seem to be so bad I stopped testing after a couple minutes the couple times I tried it. I'm sure you could get it better with some better settings, but I've just never wanted to look into that since I have an OSSC and Framemeister for upscaling (use the right tool for the right job and all that...).
Roboplodicus
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by Roboplodicus »

Dochartaigh wrote:Honestly, as an upscaler, the Corio2's seem to be so bad I stopped testing after a couple minutes the couple times I tried it. I'm sure you could get it better with some better settings, but I've just never wanted to look into that since I have an OSSC and Framemeister for upscaling (use the right tool for the right job and all that...).
Ya I was pretty epicly unimpressed with the 240p 120hz results, my results for 480p to 960p were pretty unimpressive too, I was kind of hoping the corio2 2200 would be an alternative to the OSSC or Framemeister but alas...
jwraith
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by jwraith »

Newbie posting to say I bought a C2-2350 and following these instructions got it to work fine. So thank you for the details, and in return I can confirm for others the unit works well. I can post pictures but it's basically the same as what's already out there.
r3ddvil
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by r3ddvil »

jwraith wrote:Newbie posting to say I bought a C2-2350 and following these instructions got it to work fine. So thank you for the details, and in return I can confirm for others the unit works well. I can post pictures but it's basically the same as what's already out there.

Another newbie that came to post the same update - 2350A works to pump out both RGB and component, as it will also work as a DVI/HDMI to Component converter. I am using the device to connect my emulation based PC via passive HDMI to DVI cable, then outputting with passive VGA/15 to Component cable to my 32" CRT via 240p component. (cable normally does not work to connect a PC to TV).

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=2409
Seikenfreak
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by Seikenfreak »

Anyone here with a C2-400 able to give me the specs on their power adapter plug size? Seems to be 12v 1A but not sure about the plug dimensions. 5mm diameter and some length. The end that goes into the scaler.
cyb4
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by cyb4 »

Hi guys!

I'm new to this forum and I've also dedicated myself to 240p gaming. For me it's just the best way of gaming!

I own a Sony PVM 20L4 and, after reading about it in this thread, I managed to get a Corio2-750 with the aim to play Steam games from my PC on my TV. I also downloaded the software suite and the preset for the 750 that I found in this thread. I managed to get a picture on my TV (connected via YUV) and it's crisp and doesn't flicker. So far, so good. However, I have a problem with my colours, but only under certain circumstances like playing with fullscreen.

For example, I would like to play Sonic Mania. This is how it looks like with the 240p Master setting:

Image

When I turn the setting to PAL / 50 Hz, it suddenly looks fine (but only then):

Image

Needless to say, I don't want to play in PAL mode.

Here is another picture that shows the discolourings (FF X via emulator):

Image

Basically, whenever I turn on fullscreen mode, the problem with the colours occurs. When I display the game in window mode, it disappears.
For example, I can switch on "force 4:3 mode" in my PSX2 emulator and problem disappears, but the game won't fill up the entire screen (there is fat black bar on the right then), but when I change it to "fullscreen mode", the problem occurs again. It doesn't matter whether it's a Steam game or an emulated game, fullscreen produces these problems. In the Corio2 suite, I turned off the other windows and tried out different resolutions (under the 240p Master setting), but the problem persists.

I have no idea what else to change or how I can get rid of this annoying problem.
Can anybody help me?

Greetings
Seikenfreak
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by Seikenfreak »

So, just to provide some info in case anyone is in the situation I was with the power jack:

C2-400 uses a non-standard barrel jack size for the power jack. The center pin is slightly thicker.

I purchased this 12v 1A DC power supply off Amazon for $7 and this pack of 5.5mm x 2.1mm 3 pin PCB mount power jacks.

Some quick and simple soldering replaced the jack and viola. No longer some dumb proprietary power adapter required. This C2-400 cost me about $130 all said and done. Now I need to actually plug it in and try to understand all this setup stuff.

Image

Image

Image
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orange808
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by orange808 »

$130?!

:( Why?

The grifters always swoop in. Is there really enough demand to justify the prices?

The Corio2 isn't useful for home theater. I wouldn't choose one for a projector setup. It's not good for digital signage. It's not good for a video wall.

Given how plentiful the Corio2 units are and how useless they are to video professionals and home theatre enthusiasts, the prices are bloated.

Deinterlacing is awful. Upscaling is generally unimpressive. The machine is difficult to operate.

A Corio2 is only good for video games. Even as a video game machine, it's a niche machine. Downscaling 480p to 240p and converting 480i (interlaced without flicker filtering) to 240p are the only things the Corio2 does well. That's an extreme edge case niche--inside a (already small) niche video game processor market!

I don't understand the prices you folks are paying. Let these things rot on the shelf until the prices get reasonable again.

Nobody else wants them.
We apologise for the inconvenience
Seikenfreak
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by Seikenfreak »

Is it a bad price? Seemed fine to me since they're listed for $400 new. And compared to a XRGB Mini ($400) it seems reasonable. Already own a XRGB Mini. A good RGB Scart cable is going to run you $40. Prices are all relative. This retro game stuff is expensive if you really get into it, want to experiment, and not just plug some composite crap in to an off-the-shelf TV and call it a day.

I should state that I wasn't really hunting for a deal or anything. Saw the thread, looked around online, got what was available. Looks like they've sold for less but whatever.

Feel like I looked for something to use old PC stuff on a TV before and couldn't find anything. Was amazed when I stumbled on this thread. /shrug
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Xer Xian
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by Xer Xian »

For what it's worth, I spent about as much for my C2-750. It's not dirty cheap, but it's still less than half what an Emotia+PSU goes for, so..

Btw I don't get why people like to bash these machine for their scaling quality. Anything 480p and above is scaled up beautifully by Corio2's. But granted, the UI is ass, I agree with that :)

@cyb4: I stumbled on the same issue with a TvONE C2-1XXX I bought some time ago - except that in my case the output was always (regardless of the aspect ratio) much darker than yours. You could hardly make out anything when set to output 240p. I couldn't sort it out no matter what I tried, and got rid of it in the end :(
DatMonkey
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by DatMonkey »

Where do you guys find these? I've been keeping an eye out for them on Ebay, but they seem rare and when they do show up the prices are insane. I would gladly buy one for 140$, but not 350$ which I can find one for now.
davidwhangchoi
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by davidwhangchoi »

Seikenfreak wrote:So, just to provide some info in case anyone is in the situation I was with the power jack:

C2-400 uses a non-standard barrel jack size for the power jack. The center pin is slightly thicker.
Hey Seikenfreak, sorry for the late reply. the c2-400 has the same 2.5mm size jack size as the c2-750 i own and other corio models. if you still have the original jack you can find one with the specs below.

from the C2-400 manual:
External power supply: 12V DC @1A maximum.
Actual current consumption varies between units.
Internal over-voltage & over-current protection.
Full PSU specification: 12v DC regulated 1Amp PSU with a 2.5mm locking centerpin
positive DC power connector. A non-locking 2.5mm DC power connector will
also fit.

also 130 total is not too bad,
i got mine for about 75 shipped after a best offer
philexile
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by philexile »

Hi, I recently started using my C2-400 and had a question. Currently I'm using this exclusively with my Lynx, which has the McWill LCD/VGA kit installed.

Overall the image looks OK – but the image isn't lining up perfect. Some lines of resolution are thinner, while others are thinner.

Is there a way that I can adjust one of the settings to better apply scanlines to the 240p video output?

Thank you
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orange808
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by orange808 »

philexile wrote:Hi, I recently started using my C2-400 and had a question. Currently I'm using this exclusively with my Lynx, which has the McWill LCD/VGA kit installed.

Overall the image looks OK – but the image isn't lining up perfect. Some lines of resolution are thinner, while others are thinner.

Is there a way that I can adjust one of the settings to better apply scanlines to the 240p video output?

Thank you
You might try adding the OSSC in the chain to dial in the sampling.
We apologise for the inconvenience
philexile
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by philexile »

Hello,

I'm not sure what you mean. I'm using a CRT and this is the connection chain:

Lynx > Extron 203rxi > Monitor (not processed) Output > Corio 2 > NEC XP29

Thanks
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Fudoh
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by Fudoh »

Key question would be how the mod maps the original Lynx resolution to the VGA output in the first place. If there's some uneven scaling during the initial output stage, then the signal isn't really suited to be down converted to 240p. I think to remember that this was an issue on the Game Gear McWill mod (been quite a few years though since I used it).
nmalinoski
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by nmalinoski »

philexile wrote:...this is the connection chain:

Lynx > Extron 203rxi > Monitor (not processed) Output > Corio 2 > NEC XP29
What's the point in using the unprocessed loop-out on the RGB interface? Are you just using it as a switcher?
philexile
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by philexile »

Hi, Fudoh, I believe that was corrected with later firmware. Bob mentioned it in his review:

https://www.retrorgb.com/lynx.html

And yes, I’m only using the 203 as a switch. It is built into my setup and will just serve to auto-switch between the Lynx and the Game Gear. The later I haven’t modded yet though.

Thanks
davidwhangchoi
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by davidwhangchoi »

got two more of these:
a pair of c2-2355

i like these gadgets. they help take out some of the weird distortions of my ultra sensitive JVC 1710cg vs. using a snes and nes RGB directly. feeding it through the corio, stabilizes the picture for me.

my Sony's are built like a tank and can take anything. but these JVC's are so sensitive with signals.
cloudstrifer
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by cloudstrifer »

Hi!

I have a PVM20MDU, it will work with a 720x240 resolution (240p MASTER)?

Where can i find the usb > serial cable pinout?

Thank you.
guillesick
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by guillesick »

Hello! I´m new to the forum. I recently acquired a tvone c2- 400 and hook it up to a ikegami monitor from my PC. As the picture shows below, the image is off center by 1 cm. Does de corio have any function to center the image? If not,I willhave to open my monitor and try with the potentiometers inside. Help! <a href="https://imgur.com/zRXn4VY"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/zRXn4VY.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
davidwhangchoi
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by davidwhangchoi »

cloudstrifer wrote:Hi!

I have a PVM20MDU, it will work with a 720x240 resolution (240p MASTER)?

Where can i find the usb > serial cable pinout?

Thank you.
i believe all the info you need is on the first page but amazon is where i got mine. i just looked up a random one and read the reviews carefully.
guillesick wrote:Hello! I´m new to the forum. I recently acquired a tvone c2- 400 and hook it up to a ikegami monitor from my PC. As the picture shows below, the image is off center by 1 cm. Does de corio have any function to center the image? If not,I willhave to open my monitor and try with the potentiometers inside. Help! <a href="https://imgur.com/zRXn4VY"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/zRXn4VY.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
for some reason i can't see the pics but yes, i believe the c2-400 is the same as the one i own c2-750 which allows you to shift to center the image.
DatMonkey
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by DatMonkey »

I followed the guide and think I have bricked my unit. This sucks =( I would highly advise you to insert a warning about upgrading units.

I am not sure all hope is lost though. I can still start the upgrade procedure but it always stops at 13% with a Error 9001 alert. It says "Error 9001 Scaler Upload problem.
Ensure no other applications are running during the programming cycle"

I've tried using different computers, but they all give the same error. I am frustrated at myself because I had the unit working fine with the Corio Tools program. But then again, I do like I always do and "follow the instructions here", and the update seems to be highly encouraged.

So yeah...sorry about the rant. Any tips?
Dochartaigh
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by Dochartaigh »

DatMonkey wrote:I followed the guide and think I have bricked my unit. This sucks =( I would highly advise you to insert a warning about upgrading units.

I am not sure all hope is lost though. I can still start the upgrade procedure but it always stops at 13% with a Error 9001 alert. It says "Error 9001 Scaler Upload problem.
Ensure no other applications are running during the programming cycle"

I've tried using different computers, but they all give the same error. I am frustrated at myself because I had the unit working fine with the Corio Tools program. But then again, I do like I always do and "follow the instructions here", and the update seems to be highly encouraged.

So yeah...sorry about the rant. Any tips?
I would contact TVOne with your error code and see what they say. It could also be anything from a broken unit, to a bad programmer cable, incompatibilities with using this old software on more modern computers, etc.
DatMonkey
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by DatMonkey »

Dochartaigh wrote: I would contact TVOne with your error code and see what they say. It could also be anything from a broken unit, to a bad programmer cable, incompatibilities with using this old software on more modern computers, etc.
Thanks for your reply, and GOOD NEWS! I bought a new USB-RS232-cable and also contacted TVOne for extra help regarding settings of the RS232-port. I then managed to successfully flash new firmware so now the unit is working! I would still advise you to insert a disclaimer on the tutorial about firmware upgrade though.

Now to another question; I have a 1250 unit but unfortunately the "menu pin" is broken so I can't scroll right in the menus. The other directions work but it seems I need to be able to scroll right in order to apply a new resolution. I've found some remotes on Ebay, RC03 and RC04 remotes, does anyone have experience with those? I also have an old phone with IR, and I've tried using several IR apps but there is no TVOne listed amongst brands, I guess these are really niche and rare. I tried using an app's codefinder and have gone through about 300 codes, only having small luck where some of the front buttons light up on the unit. But sadly no one seems to translate into the "right" IR command. Does anyone have any suggestions to solve this?
Dochartaigh
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by Dochartaigh »

DatMonkey wrote:Now to another question; I have a 1250 unit but unfortunately the "menu pin" is broken so I can't scroll right in the menus. The other directions work but it seems I need to be able to scroll right in order to apply a new resolution. I've found some remotes on Ebay, RC03 and RC04 remotes, does anyone have experience with those?
Sorry for my late reply, thought I posted: I have the official TVOne remote (forget the model number - whatever model is listed in the manual I picked up that exact remote from eBay), and it will let you do ALL the adjustments via the remote so I would definitely pick one up since your joystick on the unit is broke. My only problem is I have 3x Corio2's in my rack so it likes to control them all at the same time lol (nothing a piece of electrical tape over the other IR sensors doesn't solve though ;)
Last edited by Dochartaigh on Fri Apr 26, 2019 1:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
Dochartaigh
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by Dochartaigh »

So I had a person contact me about purchasing one of these from my buddy who has a few left, and came into a question I didn't have the answer to: can you output widescreen 720p (which is running a game/rom/MAME/etc. in 4:3 with pillarboxing on the left and right sides), then scale that 4:3 image (inside of a 720p widescreen frame) so it fits on a Standard Definition 15khz 4:3 standard type CRT in 240p...

So I loaded my Xbox 360 (over VGA) into 1280x720 720p widescreen mode. The only arcade-type game I could think of for the 360 which was in 4:3 (and NOT TATE for ease of testing) was Akai Katana which I used the 4:3 Origin Mode for (again, the 360 was set to 720p widescreen):

Image

Image


You can see the game is indeed in 720p widescreen, with the 4:3 image pillarboxed on the left and right sides (shown on a widescreen multiformat PVM-type HD CRT in native 720p):

Image


By adjusting the settings on the Corio2 I was able to properly scale and center the image on a 4:3 SD CRT in 240p (warning, this is a bad blurry shot but it's just to show proof of concept):

Image


Definitely proper 240p with scanlines (not the greatest shot either, but looks great in real life):

Image


I honestly forget exactly what settings I changed (was just messing around seeing if this would work), but I think (not positive) I was using a combo of a little bit of of the TL Pos. adj. and BR size adj. menus I mentioned in the "Scaling and Centering" section of this tutorial, but think I moreso was using the "Adjust Windows > Zoom H/V" setting (can double check this and actually write down the settings the next time I test - or just try it out on your own!).

I took a crappy iPhone video of this adjustment. Started with the 720p game menu, then loaded the 4:3 game. Once the 4:3 game was up I adjusted (quickly/roughly) the image to fit the screen. No tearing to my eyes either which is pretty amazing (I think you normally want to keep it at 100/100%, right? - like we do for regular 4:3 480p to 4:3 240p content since that conversion is pretty much proportionally a 1:1 conversion, right? --this is how most people use these Corio2's, so 720p to 240p is bound to be a little different in how you adjust it). Ignore the slight darkening (then lightening) at the 35 second mark - redid this test and I had to adjust "CLP P DLY" from 225 to 215 on my 20L5 to fix that from happening - something about clamping the 15khz signal - other 3x monitors are perfect).

Image
Yardley
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by Yardley »

Hi all, anyone know how I can set the Corio2 up to output 480i?
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Xer Xian
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by Xer Xian »

Hi all, anyone know how I can set the Corio2 up to output 480i?
There should be an "NTSC" profile on your Corio2 - that's 480i (yes, technically it's not NTSC when outputted over RGB or Component).
Dochartaigh
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Re: TUTORIAL for TVOne Corio2 240p Downscalers

Post by Dochartaigh »

Xer Xian wrote:
Hi all, anyone know how I can set the Corio2 up to output 480i?
There should be an "NTSC" profile on your Corio2 - that's 480i (yes, technically it's not NTSC when outputted over RGB or Component).
When you program it with the Windows software you'll see that #1 resolution is NTSC, and #2 is PAL. Weird thing is that I can never get to those two resolutions on the unit itself - it starts with #3 (which I program as my "240P MASTER" resolution) and won't let you get to those. I could totally be missing something as I hate 480i and don't use it, but there has to be an easy way to get to that NTSC resolution....

Maybe you might have to write down those values (in the software as you're programming it) for the NTSC #1 resolution, then simply put those numbers into any resolution above #3 and it'll work (or maybe you just can't run 480i over RGB? ...that wouldn't make sense to me since 240p is kinda the same as 480i from a bandwidth perspective...).

Oh, and I know your C2-400 doesn't have these, but on my other units whenever you plug into the Composite or S-Video plugs on those, it seems to always be 480i even when it's on the 240p preset. I have a little C2-100? 150? which works this way and seems to output 480i (picked that model up by accident for cheap forgetting it wasn't 240p compatible).
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