XRGB-3

[Craiji]

At this point in beta version of 2.XX firmware, Bank 2 functions are very similar to Bank 0 just that it has preliminary widescreen support.

I noticed some screen distortion in Bank 1 mode after updating firmware, try the factory reset at least once before you ship your unit off.

[jdmishima]

Ok, I have one more quick question about the xrgb-3.

I'm thinking of picking up this CRT for my bedroom:

Sony 970
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Accessor ... ry.do#tabs

I'd love to be able to use the Xrgb3 on it, but it doesn't have a vga input. Could I usa a VGA to Component adapter in base 1 and still not suffer any lag?

The sooner someone could answer this the better because I'm thinking of picking it up this weekend.

Thanks

[Fudoh]

I absolutely don't see any sense in using a XRGB-3 with a TV like this. The Wega has interlaced + progressive enabled YUV inputs, so you use this connection for any source you could image directly.

If you want to use a Dreamcast (VGA) you can use a VGA-YUV transcoder to hook it up. If you want to use old-school videogames (like Mega Drive, PC Engine) you can use a RGBS-YUV transcoder to hook them up.

Fudoh

[sven666]

Works fine with PS2 and Xbox, can't verify wether the nintendo connector
works as I don't own a single nintendo console that outputs RGB.
Maybe now I should consider updating the software.

sorry to hijack the thread but does this apply to xrgb2+ aswell?

i cant get my SFC running (i get inverted coulours and most graphics are missing, screen looks funky as hell) even tho i bought the RGB-scart cable in japan, is it the xrgb or the RGB scart, how can i check which region they are?

[Michaelm]

how can i check which region they are?

Measuring the pins if you know the pinout ?

[Strider77]

you'd want to use an XRGB with a trancoder for that TV if you are playing ANYTHING other than a progressive signal.... I promise you that. not unless you are not picky what so ever about image... but if your buy a HDTV I imagine you would want the best picture from it.

using a transcoder/XRGB combo will make a substantial increase in picture quality. i have a sony model very close to that one. i am speaking from personal experience...

The Wega has interlaced + progressive enabled YUV inputs, so you use this connection for any source you could image directly.

it's scaler is better than most but still NO WHERE near the quality of using and XRGB/transcoder combo for interlaced signals...

[chang1688]

Hi all, I have XRGB3 for sale in a decent price US$275 shipping to USA EMS US$40. Anyone interested in buying it, please email me at stereoin@ms35.hinet.net Thanx

[abc_kid]

Hi,

I'm new to the forums, and am seeking some help with my XRGB3 unit. Been playing the unit for three weeks or so, everything has been working fine. My setup:

VGA CRT monitor
XRGB3
PS2 connected via D4 cables

For some reason, I can no longer get a proper VGA signal out. I also have speakers hooked up so I can hear the gameplay music, but no picture.

I did a reset on the hardware, but still no picture. I hooked it up to another CRT monitor and the monitor's menu said ""Frequency out of range".

I tried a firmware update as well but that didn't do the trick.

Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

-thanks
Will

[eretsua]

sorry to hijack the thread but does this apply to xrgb2+ aswell?

Yes, it applies the xrgb2+ as well. I've made a Japanese RGB-SCART cable for my supergun and hooked it up through my xrgb2+ and it works just fine.

Anway, it could be you used the wrong diagram. i've used this diagram for the pinlayout:

Basically, if you want to hook up an RGB source (e.g. a console) to a device with a Japanese 21-pin RGB input you need to make the following connections:

Code: Select all

Console            RGB-21

R                  15
G                  19
B                  20
Sync               9
Ground             any of 3,4,7,8,13,14,17,18
Audio L            1
Audio R            5
+5V                16 through 100ohm resistor

You may also want to run +5V to pin 11.

Maybe check if the pinlayout you made matches to the one in MKL's post.

If the problem persists and assuming the SFC sends out an RGB-signal you can try buying an european rgb scart for the cube (I'm pretty sure they will work on the n64 & SFC as well). There are some decent (and cheap) 3rd part rgb cables out there with a full 21 pin layout.
The official nintendo rgb cable only has 10pins so that may make modding a bit harder to do. Anyway, it's very easy to mod those 3rd party ones for use with the xrgb2+ (though i think you do need to take the capacitors out for use with SFC otherwise the screen will grow dark after 10seconds).

hope this helps,

eretsua

[sven666]

thanx for the info, forwarded it to a guy thats gonan make a JP to EU adapter for me, that way i dont have to mod all the cables of my old PAL/USA consoles..

[eretsua]

no problem

[Michaelm]

thanx for the info, forwarded it to a guy thats gonan make a JP to EU adapter for me, that way i dont have to mod all the cables of my old PAL/USA consoles..

That's what I did. As an added bonus I can still use my setup of scart switches.
I want to make something likely for my console to jamma adapter.

[omega_supreme]

I just received an XRGB-3 and already I have a mysterious problem I cannot solve. I hope this forum is still being used since some posts back I already read someone had a problem that sounds just like the one I have. I think it basically comes to the fact the XRGB unit is outputting a signal no monitor could ever handle, all the monitors I connect to it (analog CRT) turn themselves on and of and somtimes say 'out of sync'.

I wanted to use the XRGB to play with my PAL GameCube on CRT monitors. When the unit arrived I connected it with the standard composit cable and metroid was displaying something (thoug only grey and very distorted). This shoulfd be normal (only NTSC works that way) but I didnt know that back then. So I was looking for an option to display PAL. I think I changed some critical option in the one-but least submenu because when I selected it I had no image anymore.

I tried to reset the unit but that didnt work. I even did the firmware upgrade but still the problem remains. This seems very strange to me beacuse basically a reset should change everything back to the way it arrived. OK, maybe bacause information is stored in an FPGA some information might be preserved while resetting but updating the firmware and still no image is absurd!

I also tried to reconstruct the changed setting by blindly pressing the buttons on the XRGB and I tried to connect the PC to it aswell. Still nothing. I dont think the unit is broken, sometimes I can actually see some images for a couple of miliseconds and ony of my better monitors repost some crazy number of 17000Hz.

Can anybody here help me solve this problem? Or does anybody know how the unit stores settings? I thought about opening the unit and remove a battery but since FPGA is non-volatile that would be useless. Any help would be really appreciated

[eretsua]

tried to reset the unit but that didnt work. I even did the firmware upgrade but still the problem remains. This seems very strange to me beacuse basically a reset should change everything back to the way it arrived. OK, maybe bacause information is stored in an FPGA some information might be preserved while resetting but updating the firmware and still no image is absurd!

didi you do a reset after the firmware update?


according to the FAQ you should do a reset after the firmware update. i only have x-rgb-2+ units so i can't help you much further than recommending you run the faq through babelfish if you don't read japanese.

hope it helps in anyway,

eretsua

[omega_supreme]

I think I have 'reset' the unit more than 50 times now. It's hard to tell if the reset actually worked since there is no image. Maybe someone can confirm this is a reset? :

1) unit in standby
2) I push OK + MENU
3) then I push POWER
4) I hold these buttons until POWER LED and STANDBY LED light up
simultaneously
5) I hold them until the unit is back in standby or I release them and the unit
stays on

I looks like the unit resets because when I leave it in, say 1600x1200, it will be back at 1024x768 afterwards. So it really confuses me that the unit does not reset the setting that causes the problem. I really did not do anything more then select it in the menu.

I did indeed run the Q&A through bablefish, however it still difficult to read and actually understand what is meant. There is a section about the synclock that could be interesting. However they write is must be solved after a reset.

Are there still people around here that can read/write Japanese? Maybe its possible to contact MicromSoft and ask for a real reset. I read in this same topic they will not answer in english so the question has to be in Japanese.

[dekka]

I'm curious as to whether this will do all of the functions through the vga output as well or will only work with the line doubler mode through vga?

Also, does the xrgb2+'s upscale up to 720p? and how's the resulting image compared to xrgb3?

Thanks ahead of time!

[Craiji]

All functions work with vga, DVI can only operate using banks 0 and 2

xrgb-2 plus has a super mode (1024×768) that upscans the image further but in my experience it does not look as good as the normal mode.

With the xrgb-3 using the line doubler and transcoder the visual match the quality of the xrgb-2 plus has the added benefit of ED and HD. while using the default frame buffer system in banks 0 and 2 the visual quality is very good, definitely better than the xrgb-2 plus, but like most modern TVs it has lag with 480i/p

Oh and the xrgb-3 indeed can produce fake scanlines

[Strider77]

does the xrgb3 have the fake scan line option?

[omega_supreme]

I fixed my unit so I can answer the question now aswell. The XRGB-3 indeed has a fake scanline option, but only after an update of the FPGA. At first I thought my image was a little blurry compared to a TV but after switching to B1 mode (with scanlines) looks exactly like it would on a normal TV.

[subcons]

I recently got my XRGB-3. I finally got some time this weekend to sit down and throw some games at it. I'm mostly only interested in using it to play vertical shooters on something that will flip more easily than my television.

I'm using a Dell 2001FP. It's a 20" 4:3 LCD display with a native resolution of 1600x1200. It's a few years old, but I got a damn good deal on it and it's in excellent shape. For those unfamiliar with this display, it's worth noting that it only turns clockwise out of the box. I went ahead and modified it this weekend and now it turns freely in all directions. All this required was a wrench, screwdriver, drill and about ten minutes of my time. Pretty simple.

I've got this hooked up via DVI. I've switched between that and VGA; DVI is just brighter and in some cases games look far sharper (namely PS2 Arika ports). I personally don't notice any lag even though I'm aware that it is indeed there when using the DVI. Also, I have yet to update the firmware on my unit (I use a Mac), but I am anxious to do so and check out the fake scanlines that I was used to my 2+ unit doing.

Now onto the games I tried out...

Saturn
Hooked up via 21PIN RGB (official cable) running @ 15KHz. As far as I can tell, everything on Saturn looks fantastic. Looks so good, I may just have to play all my SS games on my monitor from now on.

Battle Garegga - Pure secks. Only issue is I can't get the screen to fit correctly horizontally no matter what I adjust on the XRGB. No big deal as it's only clips off the last digit of the second player score on the right hand side of the screen.

Gunbird - Beautiful. Sharp and colorful. Nothing but blocky goodness throughout.

Strikers 1945 - Awesome. Very sharp and has no issues at all.

Dreamcast
Hooked up via 21PIN RGB (custom cable) running @ 15KHz. Overall, everything on this looks decent or better. Saturn stuff is head and shoulders above everything though. DC just isn't done justice unless it's 640x480.

Gigawing - Couldn't get this to working with my current setup. I'd imagine it'd look as good or better than Gunbird 2 though.

Gunbird 2 - Very good. Same as Gunbird on Saturn with the exception one thing: some backgrounds and menus have a slight sort of morray pattern to them. Not overly distracting, but worth noting.

Ikaruga - Good. For some reason, this game looks slightly better in 1280 as opposed to 1600. Mostly it's just a more correct looking screen ratio but it also makes it look a little sharper which doesn't make much sense.

Shiki 2 - Good. Not quite as good as Ikaruga and UD, but definitely not bad at all. Text is a bit fuzzy and some of characters' shots have some weird black lines/dots in them.

Under Defeat - Good. Same as Ikaruga for the most part... maybe a little better overall.

Playsation 2
Hooked up via D-terminal (official cable), 525i.

ddp DAI-OU-JOU - Beautiful. Sharp as can be and bright as hell. To get this result you have to use TATE Monitor Mode--makes a world of difference.

Espgaluda - Same as ddp. Hot! Arika knew what they were doing.

Ibara - Horrible. WTF happened here? This game is by far the worst looking of the bunch across all systems. Shame too as I just got it recently and I'm really digging the game itself.

Mushi - Decent. It's actually better than I thought it would be, but it just doesn't touch the Arika ports. Still highly playable though.

Psyvariar (Complete Edition) - Menus look like shit, game looks decent. Why do I own this game? I see this in one of my future selling threads.

Shinryu (Simple 2000 release) - Great! I'd imagine this is what it looks like on Saturn, but I've never played that port.

Xbox
Hooked up via Component > D-Terminal. I also tried 21PIN RGB (custom cable) but it isn't nearly as bright and just doesn't look as good overall. As a side note, movies look pretty good via XBMC.

Psyvariar 2 - Very good. Sharp and bright. Fills the screen completely BTW.

Emulators - Tried this more out of curiosity than anything. I played some older stuff like Truxton II and the like via MAMEdOX as well as the few CPS verts there are via FBA-XXX. MAMEdOX spit out a better image than FBA-XXX, but there's really no reason to play ROMs like this if you have a decent computer. They just run and look better straight from my iBook via MacMAME.


That's it for now. I do have a issues with the stability of the XRGB I haven't seen anyone mention. When I reset systems (with the exception of the SS), my screen seems to want to go black. Turning it off and then back on again seems to remedy the issue. Not quite sure why. Also, sometimes my screen will start flashing in a slow cycle between a black screen and the game image. Shutting the XRGB down and bringing it back up works, but only temporarily sometimes. I'm hoping the firmware update will make this go away.

Overall, I'm fairly happy with the XRGB-3 for what it does. I'm pretty disappointed about Ibara, but am quite happy with the Arika ports looking so fantastic as well as the Saturn stuff. Can't wait to get some scanline action going. I also have yet to fiddle with the WINinP viewer. Curious to see if I can get the DC stuff looking any better with this.

[Fudoh]

Using a VGA on your DC and playing on your Dell directly should look way better. There no deinterlacing involded and though the monitor's scaling to UXGA is probably worse than the XRGB3s scaling.

[subcons]

Using a VGA on your DC and playing on your Dell directly should look way better. There no deinterlacing involded and though the monitor's scaling to UXGA is probably worse than the XRGB3s scaling.

You mean VGA directly? Only way to do that is a VGA box, no? Wish I had one. Are any of the ones out there worth using other than the official one?

EDIT: Did some looking around. Apparently there's no difference in the third party VGA boxes compared to the official one. It's just a connection, simple as that. Even the third party ones go for like $50-$80 on eBay. Official ones are generally $100+. Ouch. I'd imagine it would look better though, no doubt.

[Inkvisitor]

I do have a issues with the stability of the XRGB I haven't seen anyone mention. When I reset systems (with the exception of the SS), my screen seems to want to go black. Turning it off and then back on again seems to remedy the issue. Not quite sure why. Also, sometimes my screen will start flashing in a slow cycle between a black screen and the game image. Shutting the XRGB down and bringing it back up works, but only temporarily sometimes. I'm hoping the firmware update will make this go away.

We have mentioned stability problems with DVI before. There is a problem when you switch resolutions which has kind of been fixed in the new firmware. I have firmware 1.07 but still have the same problem where I have to restart my unit before I get picture, I think it happens when the monitor goes into powersave (DPMS). When this happens the red button to power down the unit seems less responsive, however the PC/AV button is always responsive and if I switch mode I can use the red button again.

[subcons]

We have mentioned stability problems with DVI before. There is a problem when you switch resolutions which has kind of been fixed in the new firmware. I have firmware 1.07 but still have the same problem where I have to restart my unit before I get picture, I think it happens when the monitor goes into powersave (DPMS). When this happens the red button to power down the unit seems less responsive, however the PC/AV button is always responsive and if I switch mode I can use the red button again.

Interesting. I don't seem to have a problem switching resolutions. And my monitor definitely isn't going into powersave. It's a small annoyance at most any ways. As long as I'm just playing one game and not testing a whole bunch like yesterday, all seems good.

[fubarduck]

Hey guys, I'm finally getting rid of my XRGB-3 on eBay, so please check it out if you're still looking. Starting at a penny with no reserve. Should be the only one there, don't want to spam the thread so just do a search.

[Razumen]

I have the opportunity to buy a used XRGB-2+ for about 280CAD, however I have a few questions; all of my consoles are using component cables at the moment, is there a adapter I can use to hook up my component inputs to the XRGB2? Or will I have to buy new cables for each system? Also, for clarification, there is no difference between japanese vga (HD-15) inputs and ones in US/Canada, right? That's what I'll be using to hook it up to my monitor.

[hermosaguy]

I had upgraded my firmware to version 2_01 and my picture seems worse! Are there any new options I need to be aware of, or should I revert back to the better settings? I am hooking up a ps2, with component cables to to the D1 input in the back and on a dell lcd monitor

[Inkvisitor]

The OSD translation previously stored on filelodge have gone missing so I'm providing this alternative link as requested:

http://brn.ath.cx/pub/upload/XRGB-3.tra ... system.pdf

[hermosaguy]

The OSD translation previously stored on filelodge have gone missing so I'm providing this alternative link as requested:

http://brn.ath.cx/pub/upload/XRGB-3.tra ... system.pdf

Thank you Inkvisitor! Looks like I'll be up all night trying to get this done, Im hoping this will help.

[hermosaguy]

Anyone that can help it would be most appreciated...I guess one thing I am looking to do now is roll back the firmware to 1.0 Right now I've got thermal vision colors and so far this thing is a superb headache...