Questions that do not deserve a thread

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maxtherabbit
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by maxtherabbit »

FinalBaton wrote:What do people use to connect a Dreamcast to a PVM-20L5 cleanly nowadays?

Is there a single cable (SCART or DE-15 or BNC) that has all the functions of a VGA box in addition to sync combining? (The 20L5 only has one sync jack, so H and V syncs need to be combined to one wire.).
I'm kinda out of the loop on Dreamcast cables advancements. That'd be a very clean, clutter-free way of going about it, I'd love that.

I have Extron interfaces I could use, but that's another box and power cable, and that means I'd need to use the Kuro box I currently own, and that's way too much of a clutter.

In case there's no such cable : Can Extron matrixes be programmed to take in separate H and V sync, but spit out combined sync?
citrus3000psi designed one, the upcoming HDRV dreamcast component cable would also work
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FinalBaton
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by FinalBaton »

maxtherabbit wrote: citrus3000psi designed one, the upcoming HDRV dreamcast component cable would also work
Thanks bud :) I'll check citrus3000psi's cable out.
-FM Synth & Black Metal-
Dochartaigh
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by Dochartaigh »

FinalBaton wrote:What do people use to connect a Dreamcast to a PVM-20L5 cleanly nowadays?
I've been eying the Retro-Access all-in-one cable which has a 480i/480p switch too. That's supposed to even take the top flagging off of the image on BVM's and such (might have needed that with my 20L5's as well). That would eliminate my crappy Beharbros Toro (which I can't even use it's built-in sync combining - which is dirty, and have to use Extron RGB + SERR dipswitch instead).

Problem is Retro-Access totally sucks with availability and email communication. I believe RetroGamingCables has one too, but I was looking for the BNC version which they don't have...
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maxtherabbit
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by maxtherabbit »

Dochartaigh wrote:
Problem is Retro-Access totally sucks with availability and email communication
yes they do, their website/ordering system is the most backward ass shit this side of the gdemu

but their products are really nice, and they are the only vendor of citrus' DC cable AFAIK
ldeveraux
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by ldeveraux »

maxtherabbit wrote:
Dochartaigh wrote:
Problem is Retro-Access totally sucks with availability and email communication
yes they do, their website/ordering system is the most backward ass shit this side of the gdemu

but their products are really nice, and they are the only vendor of citrus' DC cable AFAIK
RA's website, shipping, stock, etc are not desirable. I used to tout their SCART cables as the best, but I've had 3 solder breaks since buying ~14. Luckily I'm handy with an iron, but that really shouldn't happen. Thankfully, before I self-fixed them, they were very nice and offered to exchange them. So it's a pretty mixed bag sometimes. RGC are pretty decent, but in the UK. And they have these silly RAD2X cables that RetroRGB had a hand in.
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vol.2
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by vol.2 »

ldeveraux wrote: I used to tout their SCART cables as the best, but I've had 3 solder breaks since buying ~14
i have the wiidual cable, and I think it's safe to say the issue is the stiffness of the shielding. having a stiff shield reduces the bend radius and puts stress on the assembly. problem with multiconductor cable with soft shielding is it's $$$$$$$ to custom make.
ldeveraux
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by ldeveraux »

vol.2 wrote:
ldeveraux wrote: I used to tout their SCART cables as the best, but I've had 3 solder breaks since buying ~14
i have the wiidual cable, and I think it's safe to say the issue is the stiffness of the shielding. having a stiff shield reduces the bend radius and puts stress on the assembly. problem with multiconductor cable with soft shielding is it's $$$$$$$ to custom make.
And they 3D print the connectors, but I'm not sure the cables are secured in there too well. So as you said, any bend and something's gotta give. In my case, the solder joints.
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vol.2
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by vol.2 »

I don't want to be too hard on them tho. Speaking as someone who designs and sources custom cables (for entirely different purposes), I know it can be difficult to reach the price/quality point that makes sense. If anything, I think they could maybe reduce the gauge of the conductors being used a bit and search for a slightly softer shielding. I imagine that the idea was "thicker is better," which is true up to a point. Also, there are some softer PVA based shieldings that aren't too expensive. (they just don't hold up to heat as well)
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maxtherabbit
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by maxtherabbit »

vol.2 wrote:I don't want to be too hard on them tho. Speaking as someone who designs and sources custom cables (for entirely different purposes), I know it can be difficult to reach the price/quality point that makes sense. If anything, I think they could maybe reduce the gauge of the conductors being used a bit and search for a slightly softer shielding. I imagine that the idea was "thicker is better," which is true up to a point. Also, there are some softer PVA based shieldings that aren't too expensive. (they just don't hold up to heat as well)
I don't think it's the shielding itself that makes them stiff, it's the dielectric material in the coax which is required to maintain impedance control.
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vol.2
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by vol.2 »

maxtherabbit wrote: I don't think it's the shielding itself that makes them stiff, it's the dielectric material in the coax which is required to maintain impedance control.
You must be thinking of a different cable. My RA wiidual cable is multi-conductor, thick-gauge stranded wire. It doesn't have anything but a few thin strands of filler in it and is not coaxial.
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maxtherabbit
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by maxtherabbit »

vol.2 wrote:
maxtherabbit wrote: I don't think it's the shielding itself that makes them stiff, it's the dielectric material in the coax which is required to maintain impedance control.
You must be thinking of a different cable. My RA wiidual cable is multi-conductor, thick-gauge stranded wire. It doesn't have anything but a few thin strands of filler in it and is not coaxial.
they have made different types of cables over the years, AFAIK they do not manufacture that style of cable anymore

their current offerings are multi-core coax, and something they call fortaflex or something that is not coax, but specifically designed to not be stiff at all
ldeveraux
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by ldeveraux »

maxtherabbit wrote:
vol.2 wrote:
maxtherabbit wrote: I don't think it's the shielding itself that makes them stiff, it's the dielectric material in the coax which is required to maintain impedance control.
You must be thinking of a different cable. My RA wiidual cable is multi-conductor, thick-gauge stranded wire. It doesn't have anything but a few thin strands of filler in it and is not coaxial.
they have made different types of cables over the years, AFAIK they do not manufacture that style of cable anymore

their current offerings are multi-core coax, and something they call fortaflex or something that is not coax, but specifically designed to not be stiff at all
I bought my cables 18 months ago. Whatever they are, they are very stiff. That must be before they improved them.
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Gara
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by Gara »

Has their been more than 2 of their coax variety? The old blue one and the new black Italian made one. The old blue version had more lines and was capable of being multi directional. Meaning it didn't matter which end you plugged in Scart to Scart cables. The black Italian made cable was made to specification and despite being better shielded is now thinner than the blue cable. Cables made from the Italian cable are directional. So Scart to Scart has an input and output side.

Both are very stiff. Retro access introduced their "Fortraflex" cable for more flexibility. Fortraflex makes awesome adapters and cables if your length is kept short.
https://retro-access.com/blogs/news

Blue:
SCART compliant mini coax multicore in our cables now for 4 years. It is dark blue in colour, 9mm in diameter and because it is designed for two way SCART, contains some redundant lines for one way console SCART cable.

Black:
All video and audio lines are 75 ohm coax with PE insulation (white centre dielectrics) sourced from Italy. Only the control line for +5Vdc SCART use is not shielded, as shielding this line isn't necessary. An additional overall shield is present around the 6 coax cores.

Fortraflex:
7mm diameter to be precise: we were inspired by official Nintendo and Microsoft cabling, hence we used the same amount of shielding and roughly the same outer diameter of those cables. Therefore the ESD and internal coupling protection should be better
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Nogame
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by Nogame »

I cannot fix the image geometry of Ikegami tm14-17r model. I think I need pin amp adjustment to fix the bowed sides of the image. Side pin phase and side pin level have the same effect - just changing the bottom and top width of the image. I cannot find the proper adjustment trimpots anywhere inside, so is this monitor no good? There is no manual and no on-screen menu.
Maybe someone knows of the problem...
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vol.2
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by vol.2 »

Nogame wrote:I cannot fix the image geometry of Ikegami tm14-17r model. I think I need pin amp adjustment to fix the bowed sides of the image. Side pin phase and side pin level have the same effect - just changing the bottom and top width of the image. I cannot find the proper adjustment trimpots anywhere inside, so is this monitor no good? There is no manual and no on-screen menu.
Maybe someone knows of the problem...
I think you absolutely have to find a service manual. Any professional Ikegami from the 90's will have many internal geometry adjustments. Failing that, look up some generic descriptions of geometry adjustments for a crt, and a similar year model Ikegami manual. You should be able to find at least one. Your complaint, albeit somewhat vague, sounds like it could be PIC BOW, or possibly PIN AMP type adjustments, but different sets can handle things differently.
ZTylerDurden
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by ZTylerDurden »

In terms of retro home consoles in the US, why didn't we care about tapping into RGB back then and now we do?
nmalinoski
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by nmalinoski »

ZTylerDurden wrote:In terms of retro home consoles in the US, why didn't we care about tapping into RGB back then and now we do?
Probably a combination of things, like Internet culture still being in its infancy, and RGB and/or SCART not being made available. The way I understand it, no one here really knew about RGB in a consumer/gaming context, so I imagine there wasn't much demand for it.
fernan1234
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by fernan1234 »

nmalinoski wrote:Probably a combination of things, like Internet culture still being in its infancy, and RGB and/or SCART not being made available. The way I understand it, no one here really knew about RGB in a consumer/gaming context, so I imagine there wasn't much demand for it.
I think it was mainly lack of awareness. That was definitely the case for me, even though as a kid I was into maximizing picture quality. Somehow I already knew of the advantages of S-video, which I used for PS1 and N64. When PS2, Wii, etc. rolled out, I knew about component and saw it as the ultimate way to get the best picture. For older systems I simply thought S-video was as good as it got. I only learned about RGB when I wanted to get back into those older systems in 2016. Searching for consoles to buy led me to discover RGB modded systems, and that was the beginning.
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Nogame
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by Nogame »

vol.2 wrote:
Nogame wrote:I cannot fix the image geometry of Ikegami tm14-17r model. I think I need pin amp adjustment to fix the bowed sides of the image. Side pin phase and side pin level have the same effect - just changing the bottom and top width of the image. I cannot find the proper adjustment trimpots anywhere inside, so is this monitor no good? There is no manual and no on-screen menu.
Maybe someone knows of the problem...
I think you absolutely have to find a service manual. Any professional Ikegami from the 90's will have many internal geometry adjustments. Failing that, look up some generic descriptions of geometry adjustments for a crt, and a similar year model Ikegami manual. You should be able to find at least one. Your complaint, albeit somewhat vague, sounds like it could be PIC BOW, or possibly PIN AMP type adjustments, but different sets can handle things differently.
No more adjustments can be made, and I cannot get a manual. It looks like this monitor just lacks the proper adjustment trimpots, and it may be defective. No menu as mentioned earlier. I am hoping someone else has experience with the basic Ikegami CRT monitors
ahaddow
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by ahaddow »

I'm in the market for a PC CRT while they are still (relatively) cheap, but I have two questions.
1) I have a modern Alienware gaming laptop with Mini DP, HDMI, and Thunderbolt 3. What would be required to convert this to VGA in order to achieve high resolutions and refresh rates, like 1600x1200 at 75Hz?
2) As far as 480p consoles, I currently have a Wii set up with an HDD, and may get a Dreamcast in the future. I know DC does native VGA, but what are my options for converting my Wii's YPbPr signal to VGA (Assuming it will need to be RGBHV)? I see Mayflash made a combo VGA cable for Wii and PS3. I can find one of these for relatively cheap in my area but I wonder if it will impact IQ at all.
Thanks!
strayan
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by strayan »

ahaddow wrote:I'm in the market for a PC CRT while they are still (relatively) cheap, but I have two questions.
1) I have a modern Alienware gaming laptop with Mini DP, HDMI, and Thunderbolt 3. What would be required to convert this to VGA in order to achieve high resolutions and refresh rates, like 1600x1200 at 75Hz?
2) As far as 480p consoles, I currently have a Wii set up with an HDD, and may get a Dreamcast in the future. I know DC does native VGA, but what are my options for converting my Wii's YPbPr signal to VGA (Assuming it will need to be RGBHV)? I see Mayflash made a combo VGA cable for Wii and PS3. I can find one of these for relatively cheap in my area but I wonder if it will impact IQ at all.
Thanks!
1) If the mdp is dp++ certified (likely) all you need is a cable like this https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/Cab ... gKlgvD_BwE

2) Something like this https://www.beharbros.com/garolite or https://www.aliexpress.com/item/650312848.html More options here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=59613
Last edited by strayan on Thu Dec 12, 2019 1:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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vol.2
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by vol.2 »

Nogame wrote:
No more adjustments can be made, and I cannot get a manual.
It's probably a wound inductor with an adjustable coil. Look for another 14" Ikegami manual. Good chance they used a similar design and you'd be able to decipher your setup procedure.
fernan1234
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by fernan1234 »

strayan wrote:2) Something like this https://www.beharbros.com/garolite or https://www.aliexpress.com/item/650312848.html More options here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=59613
That aliexpress converter looks interesting. Since it takes RGBS through the DE-15 connector I assume it also takes 480i through there. I wonder what the quality of the deinterlacing is like. I also wonder how badly it may or may not butcher 240p signals.
strayan
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by strayan »

fernan1234 wrote:
strayan wrote:2) Something like this https://www.beharbros.com/garolite or https://www.aliexpress.com/item/650312848.html More options here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=59613
That aliexpress converter looks interesting. Since it takes RGBS through the DE-15 connector I assume it also takes 480i through there. I wonder what the quality of the deinterlacing is like. I also wonder how badly it may or may not butcher 240p signals.
This is the place to ask my friend! viewtopic.php?f=6&t=52172
BenoitRen
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by BenoitRen »

Hi everyone

I'd like to connect my HD capable consoles to a CRT monitor. Currently I have two converters to achieve this, but they both have a defect: the HDFury Gamer that I was given stops working somewhere within the first hour of use, and the König HDMI to VGA Converter stops working for about five seconds every once in a while.

What are my options? I'm thinking either a HDFury Gamer 2, or a HDFury X3. The former seems to be cheaper, but less widely available, as it's discontinued, while the latter is more expensive, but its design is an improvement over the former. I've read that another option would be the (also discontinued) HDFury Nano, but I don't know how good the quality is. One product review said that the best was merely okay.

It's important to mention that I'm located in Europe, so buying from a local retailer would be preferred. I've found that HDFury has .eu and .nl domains, but I doubt their legitimacy.

Thanks in advance for your advice!
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vol.2
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by vol.2 »

are there any extron devices that allow vertical resizing which output in 240p?

asking because I don't like opening up my monitor to adjust the vsize when I use sources with different vertical resolutions.
Dochartaigh
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by Dochartaigh »

vol.2 wrote:are there any extron devices that allow vertical resizing which output in 240p?

asking because I don't like opening up my monitor to adjust the vsize when I use sources with different vertical resolutions.
I don't believe there's any which don't do mandatory scaling as well. Centering with something like an Extron RGB 203 Rxi is all I've been able to do.
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vol.2
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by vol.2 »

Dochartaigh wrote: I don't believe there's any which don't do mandatory scaling as well. Centering with something like an Extron RGB 203 Rxi is all I've been able to do.
Thanks. Makes sense. I wish there was some kind of foolproof way to do 320x200 to 320x240 scaling in a device.
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Nogame
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by Nogame »

vol.2 wrote:
Nogame wrote:
No more adjustments can be made, and I cannot get a manual.
It's probably a wound inductor with an adjustable coil. Look for another 14" Ikegami manual. Good chance they used a similar design and you'd be able to decipher your setup procedure.
I cannot find a manual for a similar monitor, as expected. I see no way to adjust the curved sides of the image. The monitor is either poorly designed, defective, or requiring a unusual manual adjustment procedure.
SamIAm
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Re: Questions that do not deserve a thread

Post by SamIAm »

Nogame wrote:I cannot find a manual for a similar monitor, as expected. I see no way to adjust the curved sides of the image. The monitor is either poorly designed, defective, or requiring a unusual manual adjustment procedure.
Distortion in the image like this is a classic symptom of bad electrolytic capacitors in the deflection circuitry. It's an extremely common problem. I wouldn't get rid of the monitor until you've tried changing out those capacitors.
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