Scart Switcher Aliexpress

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Trevor spencer
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Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Trevor spencer »

Hi

Has anyone had any experience with one of these ? i find the vertical and horizontal adjustment interesting

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000259 ... web201603_

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shmupsman
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by shmupsman »

Is that something for you? if you don't need scart.........
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/32910155 ... sstype=600
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Bratwurst
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Bratwurst »

Woah, it looks like the Otaku scart switch on steroids. I could really use the v/h adjustment too. Just might buy this.
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Trevor spencer
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Trevor spencer »

Hi

Another interesting product , Thanks but i have my eye on a Otaku Scart switcher as i have quite a few consoles running RGB scart but just happened to see this and was interested if anyone has used one.

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SCARTicus
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by SCARTicus »

I don't want to want this, but here we are.

It actually looks rather compelling. First, off, the obvious: it is clearly based on the Otaku SCART switcher, which is known to be fine. Still, it only has 6 simultaneous inputs and I would love to have more. I need 9 if I want to use a single switch. I currently use 3 Bandridge 3-way automatic switchers plugged into a fourth to achieve this goal, and it works perfectly.

The one thing that I really like about this switch is the YpBpR output. I can't wait to find out how that looks. I'm probably still going to get the RGB2COMP instead, but it's great that a new option may have just surfaced. And it is super convenient to have that transcoder built in to the switch. One power supply is better than five (my setup). The centering controls are a nice bonus, too. My Duo-R likes to render a black bar on the bottom of the screen, and it makes me a bit nuts. With this I can reduce that effect.

It is also interesting that there is a SCART in/out switch. Since this is a powered device, maybe it can be used as a SCART distribution amplifier. I would love to have more simultaneous outputs.

The product literature claims that this is an automatic switcher, but there i can't see a toggle control for that, and it does have selector buttons for the inputs. I bet it is not automatic. The site also calls it a 6-in, 1-out device, but on the acrylic top is printed "6IN2OUT".

Good find.
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Bratwurst
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Bratwurst »

I ordered one and will post my impressions when it eventually arrives sometime in 2025. I'm being optimistic I am aware.

The '6IN2OUT' inscription is probably suggesting the RGBS RCA jacks on the side could be used in tandem with the scart output.
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FinalBaton
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by FinalBaton »

I think I read that for the Otaku one at least, the 2 outputs can't be usd at the same time.

We'll see about this one.

either way it's still neat to be able to plug component leads and not having to take them out.
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Trevor spencer
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Trevor spencer »

Bratwurst wrote:I ordered one and will post my impressions when it eventually arrives sometime in 2025. I'm being optimistic I am aware.

The '6IN2OUT' inscription is probably suggesting the RGBS RCA jacks on the side could be used in tandem with the scart output.
Nice , I'll hold off on ordering the otaku until I hear your opinion on this , I really like the idea of H/V adjustment as it would stop me messing with my service settings on my TV all the time.
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NoAffinity
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by NoAffinity »

I have an otaku switch, great product. I also have a scart to ypbpr converter. And i'm in need of a true dual scart output, assuming the scart out and rca out can be used simultaneously. This could eliminate 2 additional pieces of hardware for me. Eagerly awaiting a review. :)

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kitty666cats
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by kitty666cats »

I am not sure about this one, but other stuff popping up on Aliexpress seems to be stuff made by/clones of devices made by this TaoBao guy:

https://diy918.world.taobao.com/

Personally, I am more interested in the products made by this other TaoBao seller, they look very sleek:

https://axunwork.world.taobao.com/
strayan
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by strayan »

kitty666cats wrote: Personally, I am more interested in the products made by this other TaoBao seller, they look very sleek:

https://axunwork.world.taobao.com/
https://gd4.alicdn.com/imgextra/i4/9230 ... 018680.jpg :shock:
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muckyfingers
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by muckyfingers »

SCARTicus wrote:I don't want to want this, but here we are.

It actually looks rather compelling. First, off, the obvious: it is clearly based on the Otaku SCART switcher, which is known to be fine. Still, it only has 6 simultaneous inputs and I would love to have more. I need 9 if I want to use a single switch. I currently use 3 Bandridge 3-way automatic switchers plugged into a fourth to achieve this goal, and it works perfectly.

The one thing that I really like about this switch is the YpBpR output. I can't wait to find out how that looks. I'm probably still going to get the RGB2COMP instead, but it's great that a new option may have just surfaced. And it is super convenient to have that transcoder built in to the switch. One power supply is better than five (my setup). The centering controls are a nice bonus, too. My Duo-R likes to render a black bar on the bottom of the screen, and it makes me a bit nuts. With this I can reduce that effect.

It is also interesting that there is a SCART in/out switch. Since this is a powered device, maybe it can be used as a SCART distribution amplifier. I would love to have more simultaneous outputs.

The product literature claims that this is an automatic switcher, but there i can't see a toggle control for that, and it does have selector buttons for the inputs. I bet it is not automatic. The site also calls it a 6-in, 1-out device, but on the acrylic top is printed "6IN2OUT".

Good find.
This one will be out soon, it's pricey, but has 10 inputs and a few neat features.

https://www.arcade-projects.com/forums/ ... post209933
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Paranoid_Andy
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Paranoid_Andy »

About the Otaku scart switch. I actually put in an order for one of those several months ago and it never even was shipped out. When I asked them about it, I received a reply from a rep named Candy that told me they are waiting for more but it's slow and could have long delays.

I was polite the entire time and asked if I could cancel my order then since it was unknown when it would be shipped and I was concerned about my purchase coverage expiring since I made the purchase so long ago. They never replied to me after that. I messaged them 3 more times over 2 weeks and they wouldn't work with me. I ended up having to dispute the transaction. Who knows, maybe something happened. But that's my story and I thought I would share it. Just as a PSA I guess.


Here's the last message:

otaku-games.com <contact@otaku-games.com>

Sun, Mar 29, 6:41 AM

to me
Hello,

First of all I'm very sorry for the delay. The current situation with the Corona Virus has put a lot of strain on our supply chain and the time usually needed from manufacturing to shipping to our warehouse has been hit very hard. We are still getting stuff manufactured but at a much slower pace then usual. We received our latest shipment a few weeks ago and a lot of orders were processed and shipped. The next shipment we do expect in mid to end of April, but with the situation currently very hard to predict there can be delays. We hope for your understanding and try our best to get the order to you as soon as possible.

Kind regards,

Candy
Ingy
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Ingy »

Yeah, I ordered one around the 26th of February and got the same e-mail when I asked about it a month later. I'm probably just going to hang on for now though, since I already have a 3D-printed enclosure for it that arrived a while back.
Listai
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Listai »

Ingy wrote:Yeah, I ordered one around the 26th of February and got the same e-mail when I asked about it a month later. I'm probably just going to hang on for now though, since I already have a 3D-printed enclosure for it that arrived a while back.
I already have the SCART switch and I received that within two weeks (pre covid19 obviously) I was going to pick up the component version but I think I'll wait a little longer to give them time to get their supply chain back in order since a few people here are having trouble.

This new one looks really interesting - I love the idea of the HPOS and VPOS adjustment!
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Guspaz
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Guspaz »

It's pretty clearly a knockoff of the Otaku unit, with some tweaks for added features. Even the PCB and acrylic text is the same font/position, it's virtually identical. I'm not sure people should be supporting this sort of design stealing.

Here's the closest matching Otaku switch that I can find:

Image

And here's this Ali Express ripoff y'all are talking about:

Image

That's not just similar, that's "copy exactly and modify".

Though, to be fair, another possibility is that the Otaku switches are not designed by them and they're just purchasing switches from the same designer in China.

EDIT: The AliExpress store has some other hardware (like some JAMMA stuff) that uses the same design style that Otaku doesn't have, so I'm actually thinking that maybe it's Otaku that's buying the switches from them (or the same source) and not somebody stealing Otaku's design.
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Trevor spencer
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Trevor spencer »

Bratwurst wrote:I ordered one and will post my impressions when it eventually arrives sometime in 2025. I'm being optimistic I am aware.

The '6IN2OUT' inscription is probably suggesting the RGBS RCA jacks on the side could be used in tandem with the scart output.

Hi Mate

Did it ever turn up ?

Ta
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Bratwurst
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Bratwurst »

Trevor spencer wrote: Hi Mate

Did it ever turn up ?

Ta
It's not 2025 yet.
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Trevor spencer »

Yeah good point
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Bratwurst
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Bratwurst »

It is finally 2025. (The scart switch arrived.)

It works but there are issues. In the unpowered state, which you switch to whether you're giving it voltage or not, it behaves exactly like a passive device, between it and the Otaku I could not discern any signal quality difference. All of my scart cables have individually shielded lines and use either sync on luma or composite video in the case of the Genesis.

Toggling to the powered state introduces some very faint interference/shimmer in bright objects like white clouds, I had to look up close to my 32" Toshiba to notice this however. I tried different power supplies including a benchtop with controllable voltage/amperage. Only consumes 110 milliamps at 9 volt btw. In this powered state you can adjust vertical/horizontal but with some games if you shift too far to the left the image darkens to black and changes hue.

Occasionally in this powered state the display will jostle up and down, maybe once every 3-5 minutes. Seemed to happen more often at the title screen for Super Mario 3 and gameplay in general, but I noticed it periodically for Megaman 4 and in Sonic 1 on the Sega Genesis too. This is the deal killer for me and I'm reaching out to the seller to see what they have to say about this. I'm wondering if the vertical adjust pot's just flaky because that's what it looks like- the image jiggling as if the pot is being adjusted, only it isn't getting touched.

The component encoder produces a dimmer image than the RGB output. It cannot be adjusted with vertical/horizontal knobs. Clarity is good but colors are dull. I don't have a lot of experience with RGB to component devices so this is just my impression for this one.

Before I dared to connect the thing to my television, I made sure to measure the output with my oscilloscope and video signals were all still .7Vpp

As a final note, most of the chips had their faces sanded to obscure what they are.

Here's a closeup of the guts: https://i.imgur.com/jgZUit9.jpg The smaller chip on the green board is at least identifiable as a LM1881.
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by ldeveraux »

Bratwurst wrote: As a final note, most of the chips had their faces sanded to obscure what they are.
Oh god, is that a common thing to do?? Yikes never heard of that, sounds sketchy!
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by kitty666cats »

ldeveraux wrote:
Bratwurst wrote: As a final note, most of the chips had their faces sanded to obscure what they are.
Oh god, is that a common thing to do?? Yikes never heard of that, sounds sketchy!
Super common, Extron did/does this a lot... tons of companies do it. Preventative measure from gettin' their shit cloned! :P
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Trevor spencer
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Trevor spencer »

Hi

Thanks for the in depth review , that is a real shame about the picture jiggle :(

Probably best to give this a skip then , I take it the otaku scart dosnt have this issue as it has no V/H adjustment.

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shmupsman
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by shmupsman »

this "picture jiggle" can also be seen on this jamma adapter.
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/32910155435.html

there is probably a circuit fault, maybe someone can fix that?
ldeveraux
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by ldeveraux »

kitty666cats wrote:
ldeveraux wrote:
Bratwurst wrote: As a final note, most of the chips had their faces sanded to obscure what they are.
Oh god, is that a common thing to do?? Yikes never heard of that, sounds sketchy!
Super common, Extron did/does this a lot... tons of companies do it. Preventative measure from gettin' their shit cloned! :P
Ugh, Extron sucks for many reasons including refusing to allow end users access to firmware updates/tools unless they request it. For each individual update. And it's hosted on some bucket somewhere.
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by viletim »

shmupsman wrote:this "picture jiggle" can also be seen on this jamma adapter.
https://de.aliexpress.com/item/32910155435.html

there is probably a circuit fault, maybe someone can fix that?
The circuit works by using cascaded one-shots (monostable multivibrators) to delay the horizontal and vertical pulses by one line and one frame, respectively. This works very well for separated horizontal and vertical sync signals - some old computer monitors even use a similar circuit for centering the picture. What doesn't work well is making the result back into composite sync again. There's some rules about when a vertical pulse can start relative to a horizontal one, as well as a special way of mixing the two together which such a simple circuit doesn't do according to standard.

I don't know if this is what causes the problem described though.
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Fatass »

I wish I saw this thread before buying a near identical item last week. I'm getting mine from otaku-games and it looks exactly like this aliexpress switcher....no, I'm not talking about their 6 port switcher that's been around for a while but a newer model that got put up for sale recently - that comes with the exact same horizontal/vertical positioning knobs and RGB to component function.

Looking at both the aliexpress and the otaku games new scart switch side by side, I suspect they are one and the same. Not absolutely sure but given the fact that both dealers are situated so close, it wouldn't surprise me.

I'll report back when it arrives and I've had the chance to give it a go. Here's hoping the picture jiggle isnt there but I'm not holding my breath.

On another note I've been in touch with otaku-games on faceballs to enquire about the power supply and they said any 9-12 v dc should do and to just use a mega drive 1 psu. This sounds a little strange as most power supplies use a positive center but the mega drive 1 uses negative. I tried to follow up after that but they haven't responded.

Bratwurst, did you use a positive centre power supply when you were testing your aliexpress switch?
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Trevor spencer
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Trevor spencer »

I'm still on the fence with what switcher to get. I don't want to spend a fortune but I'd like something the compliments a PVM quite well.

I'll probably go for the 6 port standard otaku switch.
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Listai
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Listai »

Trevor spencer wrote:I'm still on the fence with what switcher to get. I don't want to spend a fortune but I'd like something the compliments a PVM quite well.

I'll probably go for the 6 port standard otaku switch.
I've got two of them and they work quite well with my 20L2. They're great for PVMs because they have RGBS out over RCA. I just paired mine with some good quality RCA to BNC cables and its quite a neat and tidy setup.

It's worth noting that the 6 port will actually function as a 7 port if you toggle the SCART output to an input. That being said there is a power bleed between input 0 and input 1. My AV Fami would turn on if I had my SFC switched on.
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Trevor spencer
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Re: Scart Switcher Aliexpress

Post by Trevor spencer »

Sounds good . I also have a 20L2 so think I'll pick one up

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