Newb question about resolution Nintendo Switch -> 4/3 LCD screen

[guigui]

Hello all,

Complete hardware newbie here, not even sure what I'm trying to do but I thought you people might help me.

I'm plugging my Nintendo Switch to a 4/3 LCD screen ; the screen is in a custom cab, that has tatable screen by the way. The main purpose is to play the many shmups, or more arcade games of all kinds available on the Switch, on the cab.

Of course the Switch only outputs 16/6 format, so the display is all stretched down on the 4/3 screen.

Now some Nintendo Switch games allow to set X and Y axis stretch independantly, e.g. DDP DFK, Mushihimesama. With this I can get the format back to normal and have, for instance, a DDP screen filled with the game area in a 4/3 format (or is it 3/4 when tated ?), very nice.

But some games do not allow for independant X and Y stretch, e.g. Radiant Silvergun and Ikraruga. They only allow to stretch the whole display, so I get the deformation : 4/3 game that do not fit in my 4/3 screen thanks to the 16/9 output of the Switch, ugly.

Hopefully I'm explaining my issue clearly, and you guys could suggest some hardware stuff that would allow me to handle this ?

Thanks for any help.

[it290]

You could likely feed the signal into an OSSC Pro, apply cropping, and output at 4:3. What's the native res of the monitor?

[guigui]

You could likely feed the signal into an OSSC Pro, apply cropping, and output at 4:3. What's the native res of the monitor?

Native res of the monitor : I actually have no idea. The cab is the Arcade1Up regular Streetfighter 2 cabinet ; they just say it is a " 17' 4/3 monitor "
I have no idea what OSSC Pro is, what would the cropping thing would do with my issue ?

[it290]

You'd feed the 16:9 signal into the OSSC Pro, use the OSSC Pro to crop the image down to 4:3 and then feed the output from the OSSC Pro into your monitor, resulting in an unstretched 4:3 image.

[guigui]

Sounds nice indeed. Would I loose some pixel from the original 16/9 display, or get black border on the 4/3 screen ?

Also, OSSC Pro sounds nice, but costs an arm !

[it290]

I mean, obviously you'll lose whichever pixels you crop out, but if you crop to 4:3 it should display at 4:3 with no border.

[guigui]

Almost one year later I'm still stuck here, and have that cab in my living room that has no use. I'd like to invest some time and decent money to have it run my Nintendo Swich.

Let me repeat what I'd like to do :
* take 16/9 HDMI output of the NSW and crop it so that only the 4/3 center part is displayed properly on my 4/3 screen.
* OR take 16/9 HDMI output of the NSW and add black horizontal borders so that the whole output is displayed at correct ratio on my 4/3 screen.
* the best would be able to do both obviously.

I understand that the OSSC pro can do both, but it costs $300 which is not the kind of money I can invest now.

Any other cheapest solution ? I found chinese stuff while searching for OSSC pro but unsure it does what I want, and if one should trust them :
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/10050092 ... pt=glo2fra

Or anyone selling OSSC pro at decent price ?

[orange808]

It sounds like a recent Extron video processor might do what you want at a low price. Expect a frame of lag.

IIRC, the Extron DSC 300 HD has both framelock and a full 4:4:4 processing path. I assume you need HDMI output.

I see one for ~$45 and free shipping in the US right now on ebay. That's very reasonably priced.

Full disclosure: I wouldn't use it, because I don't want to add that much lag. With that said, you could do worse than one frame (of lag) and it can handle 720p or 1080p inputs without damaging the signal with chroma subsampling or poor processing/scaling. The actual video output from recent Extrons is quite nice.

Given your budget, I'd look into that one.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The Switch port of Crimson Clover World Explosion EX stg title does allow the end user to adjust the screen parameters to display properly on a 4:3 based gaming monitor setup with tate option implemented -- it looks quite impressive indeed if properly configured.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[guigui]

It sounds like a recent Extron video processor might do what you want at a low price. Expect a frame of lag.

IIRC, the Extron DSC 300 HD has both framelock and a full 4:4:4 processing path. I assume you need HDMI output.

I see one for ~$45 and free shipping in the US right now on ebay. That's very reasonably priced.

Full disclosure: I wouldn't use it, because I don't want to add that much lag. With that said, you could do worse than one frame (of lag) and it can handle 720p or 1080p inputs without damaging the signal with chroma subsampling or poor processing/scaling. The actual video output from recent Extrons is quite nice.

Given your budget, I'd look into that one.

Thank you for the input orange808. Though I can not find an Extron DSC300HD decently priced myself. I'm in Europe so maybe ebay does not show me the same items as you.
By the way I dont really need HDMI output. The monitor I'm using looks like a PC monitor, and I use a small convertor card to feed it an HDMI input. The card also accepts VGA and DVI input. I'm also wondering what is the actual name of the connector that goes in the screen. Picture :

The Switch port of Crimson Clover World Explosion EX stg title does allow the end user to adjust the screen parameters to display properly on a 4:3 based gaming monitor setup with tate option implemented -- it looks quite impressive indeed if properly configured.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

I have tried this, and it works wonder on my 4/3 monitor, no need for fancy upscaler machine. This works in all games that allow independent X and Y scaling. For instance all the Cave games that I have like Mushi, DDP DOJ and DDP DFK. The issue comes from the vast majority of other games that only allow global scaling, or no scaling at all.

[orange808]

Maybe the Gefen Hi Def Scaler? They do some general aspect ratio scaling, but it's not going to arbitrarily crop the image or anything. It can scale to a few preset aspect ratio and resolution options.

Those Gefens should be plentiful in Europe and very cheap. I wouldn't spend more than 17 euro for one.

Might be "good enough", given your limited budget. Look up the manual and see if it will do the job

[guigui]

Maybe the Gefen Hi Def Scaler? They do some general aspect ratio scaling, but it's not going to arbitrarily crop the image or anything. It can scale to a few preset aspect ratio and resolution options.

Those Gefens should be plentiful in Europe and very cheap. I wouldn't spend more than 17 euro for one.

Might be "good enough", given your limited budget. Look up the manual and see if it will do the job

I find some references at decent prices for Gefen scalers indeed :

Gefen TV Hi Def scaler :
https://www.ebay.fr/itm/225301627112?_s ... R4T4xqaKZw
Does not seem to handle any kind of HDMI on/out


Gefen ToolBox Hi Def 1080p scaler
https://www.ebay.fr/itm/165516732457?_s ... R4T4xqaKZw
More in and out option, including HDMI. I'd say this is the one I'd better look after, can you confirm ?

[orange808]

Gefen ToolBox Hi Def 1080p scaler

I'm not familiar with the unit you linked.

I'm thinking of the one pictured in this listing:
https://www.newegg.com/gefen-gtv-hidefs ... 6815804006

*Be careful! You need the remote control. Make sure the remote control is being sold/shipped with the machine--if you try one. I don't think the Gefens have any physical buttons, so it's useless without the remote.

[guigui]

Gefen ToolBox Hi Def 1080p scaler

I'm not familiar with the unit you linked.

I'm thinking of the one pictured in this listing:
https://www.newegg.com/gefen-gtv-hidefs ... 6815804006

*Be careful! You need the remote control. Make sure the remote control is being sold/shipped with the machine--if you try one. I don't think the Gefens have any physical buttons, so it's useless without the remote.

Ok thanks, I found them GTV Hi Def scalers too. Though it does not have any kind of HDMI input and output.
So I guess I'll need converters cables :
* How can I plug my Switch in ?
* How can I plug the output to my screen pictured below ?

Complete newb here as I mentionned, sorry...

[orange808]

Ok thanks, I found them GTV Hi Def scalers too. Though it does not have any kind of HDMI input and output.
So I guess I'll need converters cables...

Yes. That may require some extra thought. Use an HDMI/DVI passive adapter to feed the Switch video signal into the Gefen. Just get an inexpensive one wherever you can.

Audio will probably be more tricky. I don't think the Gefen can output proper HDMI with audio, so you will have to route sound separately. It's unfortunate that the Switch dock doesn't have an s/pdif port. (At least mine does not.)

Does the headphone port on the Switch unit still function when the machine is docked? I have honestly never tried it. If that works, you can pull analog audio from there.

If the headphone port is not an option, there are very inexpensive Chinese HDMI switches and splitters that have audio output. Drop one of those between the Switch and the Gefen to pull audio.

I can't think of a convenient 4:4:4 alternative that would remain inexpensive, so the additional work is unavoidable.

[guigui]

Oh well, sounds like a mess indeed with more converters and audio issue.

I'll look further into the Gefen ToolBox Hi Def 1080p scaler, looks like it has nice HMDI in and out and would do the required job too ?

[guigui]

Below is a part of the instruction manual of the Gefen ToolBox Hi Def 1080p scaler.
The full manual is available here : https://www.modesdemploi.fr/gefen/gtb-h ... mploi?p=16

Will one of these options do what I want : take the 16/9 output signal from my Nintendo Switch and have it displayed at the correct ratio on 4/3 monitor by adding black bars at top and bottom ?

I'd say either the options named "Maintain Aspect", "Panscan U,S." or "PanScan Full" would do that, but asking nonetheless to make sure. Those Gefen things are a bit pricey...

Scale
Sets the scaling adjustment. Options are: Full, Overscan, Underscan, Letterbox U.S. (Underscan), PanScan U.S. (Underscan), Letterbox Full, and PanScan Full.

Full
Stretches the image to all the screen

Maintain Aspect
Maintains the aspect ratio of the output signal

Overscan
Stretches the image to fullscreen and just beyond the border of the display

Underscan
Stretches the image to fullscreen and just within the border of the screen

Letterbox U.S. (Underscan)
Stretches the image to 16:9 aspect ratio with underscan

PanScan U.S. (Underscan)
Stretches the image to 4:3 aspect ratio with underscan

Letterbox Full
Stretches the image to 16:9 aspect ratio without underscan

PanScan Full
Stretches the image to 4:3 aspect ratio without underscan