Eon MK 2 (GCvideo) Brightness/contrast settings in analogue?

[andykara2003]

For a long time on my NTSC Gamecube I've been using a Japanese D-terminal cable modded to RGBHV. I then use eTim's VGA To SCART adapter to convert the signal to RGBs for my consumer Sony Trinitron in 480i, my preferred GC resolution and display.

The only thing that bugs me about this setup is that the whites aren't quite as clean/white as my Wii's RGB output - I assume the contrast of the GC's image using this cable is just a bit lower, which can't quite be rectified authentically in the TV's contrast settings.

So I did a bit of searching & found that in My Life In Gaming's Gamecube video, it looks like the contrast, brightness and saturation of the output can be adjusted in the settings menu of the EON GCHD MK2 unit, the only GCvideo solution that outputs the RGBs I need. This sounds ideal & that it should fix the issue, so I'm thinking about picking one up & will use an official Wii scart cable with it (or a better cable if there is one).

My question is: with this EON unit, do these contrast & brightness settings apply to the analogue output as well as the HDMI out? I just wanted to be 100% sure as I don't want to spend the £120 on the unit and find out that these settings only apply to HDMI.

Cheers.

[Guspaz]

For a long time on my NTSC Gamecube I've been using a Japanese D-terminal cable modded to RGBHV. I then use eTim's VGA To SCART adapter to convert the signal to RGBs for my consumer Sony Trinitron in 480i, my preferred GC resolution and display.

The only thing that bugs me about this setup is that the whites aren't quite as clean/white as my Wii's RGB output - I assume the contrast of the GC's image using this cable is just a bit lower, which can't quite be rectified authentically in the TV's contrast settings.

So I did a bit of searching & found that in My Life In Gaming's Gamecube video, it looks like the contrast, brightness and saturation of the output can be adjusted in the settings menu of the EON GCHD MK2 unit, the only GCvideo solution that outputs the RGBs I need. This sounds ideal & that it should fix the issue, so I'm thinking about picking one up & will use an official Wii scart cable with it (or a better cable if there is one).

My question is: with this EON unit, do these contrast & brightness settings apply to the analogue output as well as the HDMI out? I just wanted to be 100% sure as I don't want to spend the £120 on the unit and find out that these settings only apply to HDMI.

Cheers.

The GCHD Mk2 has noisy analog output (high frequency noise), and so requires an LPF, which can soften the image, though this may not matter for a 480i CRT. The official cables are usually considered the gold standard, I'm not sure that I'd replace them with a third-party solution.

[andykara2003]

Oh thanks very much Guspaz - It looks like you’ve helped me dodge a bullet there! Definitely don’t want an additional low pass filter in the chain so that one’s out.

I think in that case that my current cable should be the ideal solution in terms of getting RGB from an NTSC Cube in highest clarity.

[Guspaz]

The CRT itself might act like a low pass filter and thus not show the noise, not sure. You've already got what's considered the best analog solution for the GameCube in the official cables, so maybe you could get a bit brighter out of the GCHD, but it wouldn't be as good in some other ways.

[andykara2003]

Nice one for that, I'll keep using the cable I think & adjust the contrast up on the TV a touch. Saved me a few quid there, thanks!

[SavagePencil]

Is there a better 3rd party analog solution?

[andykara2003]

Is there a better 3rd party analog solution?

I was wondering that - I'm assuming you mean RGB from an NTSC Cube? I'll be interested to hear if anyone who knows a better solution than an RGB modded official component or D-terminal cable. The only other one I know of that'll do analogue RGB is the GCDual, the internal mod. I wonder if the analogue out is different from the EON..

[SavagePencil]

I’m using an Eon Mk II for YPbPr, but RGB would be fine too (as long as it did 480p out).

[KPackratt2k]

Is there a better 3rd party analog solution?

I was thinking about getting a Carby, an HDMI to VGA converter, and (if a passive sync combiner doesn't work) an Extron RGB 190/192 to get 15KHz RGBS out of an NTSC GameCube without risking the potential issues of the GCHD Mk II. My modded CRT TVs have RCA jacks for RGB, so I can just use regular RCA cables (with BNC adapters) on the Extron along with a 470 ohm attenuation resistor for CSync. On a SCART set, the Rondo HD15-2-SCART converter would probably work in place of the Extron. Alternatively, you could substitute the HDMI to VGA and Extron for a Porta HDMI to YPbPr converter if you're using a set with Component. Since you'll be using an extra power outlet for your converter, it won't be as simple as the official Component cables, but it should theoretically provide similar results for a much cheaper price.

When I have money to spend on this equipment, I'll let you know my thoughts on this idea. Though if someone else has experience with such a setup, let me know your experience.

[Unseen]

with this EON unit, do these contrast & brightness settings apply to the analogue output as well as the HDMI out?

It should, at least when outputting RGB. However, neither brightness nor contrast will make maximum white any brighter than it is already.

[andykara2003]

with this EON unit, do these contrast & brightness settings apply to the analogue output as well as the HDMI out?

It should, at least when outputting RGB. However, neither brightness nor contrast will make maximum white any brighter than it is already.

Thanks unseen, good to know. I’m sticking with the modded D-terminal cable then.