Questions that do not deserve a thread

[kitty666cats]

https://www.tdb.com.tw/RGB,VGA,DVI,HDMI_CABLE



Has anyone ever heard of/tried cables from this company in Taiwan? 'Thunderbolt' is the name, thanks to Apple it's very hard to dig up any information on them lol.

The cables look T H I C C and insane! I e-mailed them about the SCART+5RCA/5BNC cables to see if they are for separating sync or combining it, I'll report back if I ever hear from them. Definitely worth peeking around other sections of the site, they have some absolutely beastly looking component cables. Quite the random find on Google, I was looking up the old Gefen "DVI to RGBS Scaler" and the Sony "DVI to RGBS Converter" (which look exactly the same) to try & find out if there's any difference whatsoever between them. Couldn't find much info on the Sony unit, seems it was primarily used in medical applications. But yeah, I came across T.D.B. / Thunderbolt in some related image and got very curious!

[Fudoh]

In regard to a PS2's AV output: Is the any difference (in quality or otherwise) between pin 5 (s-video luma) and pin 12 (component luma as long as the PS2 is set to YUV) as long as the system is staying at 15khz ?

[vol.2]

In regard to a PS2's AV output: Is the any difference (in quality or otherwise) between pin 5 (s-video luma) and pin 12 (component luma as long as the PS2 is set to YUV) as long as the system is staying at 15khz ?

The Y pin has a *much* nicer looking cap in front of it.



If you can't find a more definitive answer here: these guys are pretty good to ask those sorts of questions.


Also, I'll try to scare up the schematic. I'll let you know if I figure anything out if someone doesn't beat me to it.


Edit: Found the schematic, but it's not definitive. https://gamesx.com/wiki/lib/exe/fetch.p ... al_2nd.pdf

IC206, cxa3525r-t4, is the analog output IC. The green output switches between G and Y depending on whether or not you select RGB or component, so there _is_ a difference in the pin output. If you go back further, IC205, which is generating the digital video signal, is routing Y to IC206. If I had to guess, IC206 is probably just generating the same Y for both the s-video and the component output from it's Y input via IC205.

What happens after it leaves IC206 is that the G/Y goes through the bigger capacitor. The rest is the same; they both run through the same value resistor network and the same value EMI fliter.

What I can't tell you for 100% is how IC206 handles the Y. There's no datasheet for that around. It would take hooking a scope up and looking at it to see if there was a difference in the signals. How important to you is this?

[Fudoh]

I was about to connect a s-video cable, quickly wondered about the effects of a RGB vs YUV setting on that and then realized that there are actually two luma pins that are suppsed to be identical.

[vol.2]

I was about to connect a s-video cable, quickly wondered about the effects of a RGB vs YUV setting on that and then realized that there are actually two luma pins that are suppsed to be identical.

Yes, well, S video is always going to be the same, regardless of the RGB setting. Whether the G-Y pin Luma is any different I don't know for sure, but seriously doubt it is. I would guess it's just spitting out the same Y from the digital chip to both. But I like the big cap on the GY line, it fills me with more confidence.

[kitty666cats]

https://www.tdb.com.tw/RGB,VGA,DVI,HDMI_CABLE



Has anyone ever heard of/tried cables from this company in Taiwan? 'Thunderbolt' is the name, thanks to Apple it's very hard to dig up any information on them lol.

The cables look T H I C C and insane! I e-mailed them about the SCART+5RCA/5BNC cables to see if they are for separating sync or combining it, I'll report back if I ever hear from them.

They e-mailed me back and said they don't make these cables anymore... not that I was even that interested in getting one, but the e-mail didn't clarify my question to them about whether they were for separating RGB SCART sync to RGBHV or combining RGBHV for SCART

The other cables on the site look real nice & come in a plethora of colors, but the site also sketches me out a bit. If I ever wanted to go H.A.M. like this I'd just hit up https://www.bluejeanscable.com/ anyway

[Einzelherz]

The downside to the FS120 series is that they use an all in one micom/jungle, so they can't be RGB modded the standard "Easy" way.

Good news is it has component so you don't need to worry about all that headache.

[Fudoh]

which way do you want to convert ? HDMI to SDI is most often combined with a 4:4:4 to 4:2:2 color resolution reduction.

[Fudoh]

or 4:2:2 YCbCr over HDMI from the GameCube/Wii to my SD-SDI-enabled PVM

Does the CGVideo have an 4:2:2 output option? otherwise you're going from 4:2:2 (internal) to 4:4:4 (output of the CGVideo) back to 4:2:2 (in the converterconverter) and eventually back to 4:4:4 (display final stage).

[Fudoh]

Question about 8bitdo's 2.4Ghz controller:

Do any of their 2.4GHz controllers that come with a USB RF dongle work on a Windows machine (using the dongle, not via USB)?

[atohmdiy]

Hello,
I have a question about my crt. I bought a sony bvm 20f1e. Very good state, 30k hour. I receive it a month ago, the image is amazing ! It took some time to calibrate (geometry / linearity etc) but i have a problem. The image is ok but there is less brightness in the top right corner of the image. When i receive it i thought i could adjust it in the options, but i never find it anywhere.

Any idea ?

Thank you !

[vol.2]

The image is ok but there is less brightness in the top right corner of the image.

This sounds like a purity issue. It can be caused by a number of things, and so there isn't any one solution. From my experience it's going to be one of three problems.

1) It's magnetized unevenly. If you are lucky it can be fixed by manually degaussing the set. You have to buy a hand-held degaussing coil and watch some videos on how to do it. It's a little tricky to get the hang of, but gets easier once you "get it."

If the degaussing coil doesn't help, it could be a more severe magnetism issue that can possibly be solved by opening the set and placing a magnet near the yolk in a specific spot. This should only be done by someone with experience as it can completely destroy your set if you do it wrong.

2) It's possible that the purity rings (on the yolk of the tube) got jostled during transit and it needs a full manual setup.

3) Purity issues can sometimes be caused by a bad capacitor. This is somewhat less common, but it happens. A professional repair person could probably identify the likely culprit and check it based on the schematic.

[Dr. Claw]

With the PS2 and the RetroTink RGB2COMP, 480p works for me without issue on the games that support it.

The RGB2COMP should not be able to accept RGsB. How do you manage to get that working?

I just ran the component cables from RGB2COMP to my TV. In a game like Tekken 5, I just used the in-game option to use 480P. The only thing between the PS2 and the RGB2COMP is a Shinybow 4x2 SCART switcher.

[BuckoA51]

How do you play the Wii game Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth in 480p or 240p? No matter what your Wii is set to it always sets to 480i. I tried the virtual console button combo for 240p but no dice.

[Ikaruga11]

What do I lose by playing Master System games on a Genesis instead of a Master System?

[Fudoh]

How do you play the Wii game Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth in 480p or 240p? No matter what your Wii is set to it always sets to 480i. I tried the virtual console button combo for 240p but no dice.

Rebirth technically isn't a virtual console title, but a regular Wii download title. No 240p there. I recall that only the NTSC version does run in 480p. I tried the same back then with the PAL version, no dice. Had to switch to the NTSC version instead. This is from far memory though - - -

[vol.2]

What do I lose by playing Master System games on a Genesis instead of a Master System?

nothing. it would be different if you were playing the japanese counterpart because the sound chip expansion for Mark III is very specific and sounds way better than the crappy MS sound.

the sound for the Mark III is so good that I would never play any of the games that use the expansion without it. to me, it would be like playing Sierra Adventure games without mt-32 sound, only half the experience.

[ASDR]

I noticed today that you can get cheap Master EverDrive knockoffs on AliExpress for ~30EUR shipped:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000530258278.html



Are those any good? Will my console explode?

[BuckoA51]

Rebirth technically isn't a virtual console title, but a regular Wii download title. No 240p there. I recall that only the NTSC version does run in 480p. I tried the same back then with the PAL version, no dice. Had to switch to the NTSC version instead. This is from far memory though - - -

I tried them both, they both go into 480i regardless of how the Wii is set.

[Ikaruga11]

What do I lose by playing Master System games on a Genesis instead of a Master System?

nothing. it would be different if you were playing the japanese counterpart because the sound chip expansion for Mark III is very specific and sounds way better than the crappy MS sound.

the sound for the Mark III is so good that I would never play any of the games that use the expansion without it. to me, it would be like playing Sierra Adventure games without mt-32 sound, only half the experience.

So the sound chip expansion is exclusive to the Mark III (Japanese Master System) and not the US Master System, Genesis or Mega Drive? Can the sound chip be modded into the Genesis? What about flashcarts?

[ApolloBoy]

So the sound chip expansion is exclusive to the Mark III (Japanese Master System) and not the US Master System, Genesis or Mega Drive? Can the sound chip be modded into the Genesis? What about flashcarts?

Yes, it was only released as an add-on for the Mark III and was built into the Japanese SMS. Tim Worthington has an FM expansion board for the SMS which can theoretically be added to a Genesis/Mega Drive, but the better choice is just to play SMS games on a Mega Everdrive X7 or Pro, or a Mega SD (all of which emulate the YM2413). The Mega Sg also simulates the YM2413 but it's not totally accurate.

[SavagePencil]

A handful of games won’t work, like F-16 Fighting Falcon, but nothing major. If you are using the Power Base Convertor, you can still use 3D glasses.

[Fudoh]

Something like applocale under Win10 ?

When I run japanese games on a fresh Windows 10 install, the launchers' text are most of the times scrambled, while the games themselves are running fine. When I set the language for non-unicode programs to japanese, they run fine, but I don't really want to toogle the setting all the time. Many many years I was using Microsoft's applocale to launch such programs. Worked like a charm and enabled support for non-unicode japanese on a per-program basis.

So, how do I get this working on Windows 10? Something like the japanese launcher for Crimzon Clover?

[maxtherabbit]

So the sound chip expansion is exclusive to the Mark III (Japanese Master System) and not the US Master System, Genesis or Mega Drive? Can the sound chip be modded into the Genesis? What about flashcarts?

Yes, it was only released as an add-on for the Mark III and was built into the Japanese SMS. Tim Worthington has an FM expansion board for the SMS which can theoretically be added to a Genesis/Mega Drive, but the better choice is just to play SMS games on a Mega Everdrive X7 or Pro, or a Mega SD (all of which emulate the YM2413). The Mega Sg also simulates the YM2413 but it's not totally accurate.

rene (db electronics) also designed a power base converter that includes a real YM2413 to play real carts on a genesis

[SavagePencil]

So the sound chip expansion is exclusive to the Mark III (Japanese Master System) and not the US Master System, Genesis or Mega Drive? Can the sound chip be modded into the Genesis? What about flashcarts?

Yes, it was only released as an add-on for the Mark III and was built into the Japanese SMS. Tim Worthington has an FM expansion board for the SMS which can theoretically be added to a Genesis/Mega Drive, but the better choice is just to play SMS games on a Mega Everdrive X7 or Pro, or a Mega SD (all of which emulate the YM2413). The Mega Sg also simulates the YM2413 but it's not totally accurate.

rene (db electronics) also designed a power base converter that includes a real YM2413 to play real carts on a genesis

...but now you’re SOL for card games and 3-D glasses.

[maxtherabbit]

Afaik none of the card games used the FM synth. 3d glasses is a dumb gimmick imo

[Mantis128]

The SNES scart cables from Insurrection Industries, do they work on PAL GameCubes?

[Kez]

The SNES scart cables from Insurrection Industries, do they work on PAL GameCubes?

No, csync cables do not work on PAL GameCube.. in fact it can be dangerous for your equipment as the csync pin is wired to 12V. You need either a dedicated PAL GC (ideally) or PAL SNES RGB cable, wired for composite video as sync.

[Remistewart]

A year or so ago, my BVM would occasionally make an electric 'clicking' sound, accompanied by a 'blinking' of the picture briefly dropping out and in again for a micro-second. Just one or two clicks every few weeks - so it was nigh impossible to locate the exact source with all of the lights off staring stubbornly into the back of the monitor. The advice I got at the time was that the flyback was probably arcing and on it's way out - but I wanted to explore other less dramatic potentials. When I opened it up, everything inside was filthy. Absolutely caked in dust. I cleaned as much dust and grime as I could and haven't heard a click since.

However, I've never actually questioned why exactly cleaning the dust removed the clicking/blinking issue and would love some insight into what was transpiring under the hood. I'm also curious as to whether it's worth diagnosing if any components in the back were damaged by the build up of dust. Is there anything in particular I should look for? Burn marks or soot in the wrong places?

Cheers!

[Ikaruga11]

So the sound chip expansion is exclusive to the Mark III (Japanese Master System) and not the US Master System, Genesis or Mega Drive? Can the sound chip be modded into the Genesis? What about flashcarts?

Yes, it was only released as an add-on for the Mark III and was built into the Japanese SMS. Tim Worthington has an FM expansion board for the SMS which can theoretically be added to a Genesis/Mega Drive, but the better choice is just to play SMS games on a Mega Everdrive X7 or Pro, or a Mega SD (all of which emulate the YM2413). The Mega Sg also simulates the YM2413 but it's not totally accurate.

Thank you, along with everyone else who commented. I think I'll just stick with the Genesis for now.

Does Retro Access ever have any sales on their cables, such as Black Friday? I've been thinking about holding off purchasing until then if they do.