More XRGB-2 weirdness...fixed

[rolins]

Has anyone experienced this before? I have my Saturn connected to a XRGB-2 using scart, and while I was playing Batsugun in tate mode I always got black lines tearing up the screen. I thought my original copy of Batsugun was severely scratched but it wasn't because I tested it on a TV through S-Video. I doubled checked my cables if they were loose and experimented with the XRGB's menu options, but there was no change at all. The one thing that solved the problem was when I switched from "STD" to "RGB PCB". Once I did that Batsugun was picture perfect. I'm happy that Batsugun looks amazing but I'm still very confused. Why is it I have to switched to "RGB PCB" when I want to play Batsugun in tate mode? It's not even jamma pcb.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Has anyone experienced this before? I have my Saturn connected to a XRGB-2 using scart, and while I was playing Batsugun in tate mode I always got black lines tearing up the screen. I thought my original copy of Batsugun was severely scratched but it wasn't because I tested it on a TV through S-Video. I doubled checked my cables if they were loose and experimented with the XRGB's menu options, but there was no change at all. The one thing that solved the problem was when I switched from "STD" to "RGB PCB". Once I did that Batsugun was picture perfect. I'm happy that Batsugun looks amazing but I'm still very confused. Why is it I have to switched to "RGB PCB" when I want to play Batsugun in tate mode? It's not even jamma pcb.

It could the overly bright RGB signal levels that your SS is putting out, sometimes playing such console games look better in either RGB PCB mode or STD mode on the XRGB-2 (and vice versa for arcade PCBs). ^_~

The Cave PCBs of DDP-DOJ, Ketsui and ESPgaluda are notorious for outputting such strong RGB levels from the get-go. Some low-res RGB monitor have a hard time properly syncing with them, even if the RGB signal have been trimmed down to the mininum setting.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[rolins]

It could the overly bright RGB signal levels that your SS is putting out, sometimes playing such console games look better in either RGB PCB mode or STD mode on the XRGB-2 (and vice versa for arcade PCBs). ^_~

You're right the RGB signal is too strong. I popped the hood on the scart cable and it has straight wires connected to pins. Unlike the scart cables I have for my PS2 and MSX. They have 220uf caps on pins 7, 11, and 15 and a 15ohm resistor connected between pins 16 and 8. You think I should apply this to my saturn's scart cable?

[Strider77]

that's really odd, I play batsugan on mine all the time and my saturn has no kind off caps ect in the scart cable.

[rolins]

that's really odd, I play batsugan on mine all the time and my saturn has no kind off caps ect in the scart cable.

Is your XRGB modified for euro-scart too?

[neorichieb1971]

Sega consoles had the best RGB outputs, but it did make them slightly incompatible with certain things. Luckily the XRGB has settings for such things.

Its probably the 75ohm resistors that are missing from the SCART lead. Expect the same from the Genesis.

[rolins]

Sega consoles had the best RGB outputs, but it did make them slightly incompatible with certain things. Luckily the XRGB has settings for such things.

Its probably the 75ohm resistors that are missing from the SCART lead. Expect the same from the Genesis.

75 ohm resistors? I don't see these in the other scart cables I have. What the point of having them there?

[Strider77]

Is your XRGB modified for euro-scart too?

no, I rewired the cable. if you have a XRGB2 and not a plus, I thought there was a switch on the front that adds 75 ohm resistors into the line when needed?

still it weird that only batsugan does this. wait are you playing it tate or yoko? that can fuck with the scanline effect in ways.

I'll take a look with that game again to see.

[neorichieb1971]

Sega consoles had the best RGB outputs, but it did make them slightly incompatible with certain things. Luckily the XRGB has settings for such things.

Its probably the 75ohm resistors that are missing from the SCART lead. Expect the same from the Genesis.

75 ohm resistors? I don't see these in the other scart cables I have. What the point of having them there?

The RGB amps in Sega consoles are set as high as arcade PCB's. If you plug a Genesis 2 cable into the XRGB2 without the resistors you will get a glary picture, its like blooming everywhere and no amount of twiddling will make it perfect. The resistors bring the levels down to acceptable normal levels.

Your assuming every consoles RGB is the same, which it isn't.

[rolins]

Is your XRGB modified for euro-scart too?

no, I rewired the cable. if you have a XRGB2 and not a plus, I thought there was a switch on the front that adds 75 ohm resistors into the line when needed?

I think the 75 ohm resister are there when you enable "RGB PCB" but the problem with that it makes the picture dark. I don't know if it's problem for arcade PCBs but for the saturn it's very depressing to watch. I can bring the colors back the way they are if I fiddle with the XRGB-2 gamma and monitor brightness/contrast, although not always perfect.

still it weird that only batsugan does this. wait are you playing it tate or yoko? that can fuck with the scanline effect in ways.

I'll take a look with that game again to see.

I tried both ways in Batsugun: tate and yoko. I still get black lines tearing the screen. Actually it's pretty much every game I own now like Die Hard Arcade and Soukyugerentai that are having similar problems, mostly I get dark shadows that appear and disappear around the screen. It's very irritating and ruins the gameplay. Again, the RGB PCB switch does the trick.

The RGB amps in Sega consoles are set as high as arcade PCB's. If you plug a Genesis 2 cable into the XRGB2 without the resistors you will get a glary picture, its like blooming everywhere and no amount of twiddling will make it perfect. The resistors bring the levels down to acceptable normal levels.

Your assuming every consoles RGB is the same, which it isn't.

Thanks for the help, I think that's the answer to my problem. I'll go solder some 75 ohm resistors and add them to the RGB llines inside the scart cable. That should do the it, right?

[rolins]

Today, I soldered 75ohm resisters to the pins 7,11,and 15 of my satrun scart cable. I was hoping this would bring down the RGB signals to normal levels but it didn't solve the problem. I'm still seeing flickering horizontal shadows in most of my games. I don't know...I guess I'll have to live with it but damn it the colors are kinda washed out with RGB PCB.

[Strider77]

what are you using this xrgb2 on? what kind of display?

[rolins]

what are you using this xrgb2 on? what kind of display?

I'm using a 17" CRT (HP D5259A) and 19" LCD (Samsung Syncmaster 953BW). I get the flickering shadows on both montiors. Got any bright ideas?

[Specineff]

Um, post pics so the problem can be more correctly diagnosed?

[rolins]

Update. I got my Sega Saturn working perfectly with the XRGB-2 this time for real. No more horizontal shadows and tearings, just pure awesomeness. I spent the whole day figuring out what the problem was and I traced it to the scart cable. It didn't make sense why under composite video and s-video the picture was normal, so I thought maybe the scart cable was the culprit. The scart cable I bought was from ZTNET store which I paid very cheaply about $5 I think. I was definitely right on the money, this scart cable had composite video soldered to pin 20 so I removed that I soldered the sync wire in its place. Truely relieved to find out that replacing pin 20 with the sync wire cleared up the flickering shadows in Die Hard Arcade. For a moment everything seemed okay...until I started to see some kind of green horizontal glare where the shadows occured. Damn I couldn't believe it, I was so close to nailing this problem shut. I think I spent the next several hours scratching my head no this. I took apart my Saturn and checked around it's PCB...nothing damaged afaik. Took another stab at the scart cable and resolder more wires to the GND...no change. Took apart the XRGB-2...nothing either. After that I gave up and I reconnected the Saturn and XRGB-2 hoping for a miracle. There I was slumped in my chair watching the demo of Die Hard Arcade on the monitor, when I noticed all the glares that used to show are no longer there. I said to my self "holy shit" there really is a God. I played a bit to make sure and tried out Batsugun too, no tearings at all. Feeling relieved again, I decided to cleanup and hookup everything again in perfect order. Sat down to play a well deserved run at Batsugun, finally. As soon as I begin playing the glares came back again WTF! One hour later I realized what I changed that made the picture normal. I have a multi-scart box with 4 ports and that's connected to the scart connecter on my XRGB-2. I have my PS2, Saturn and MSX scart cable plugged in and during sometime in the day I removed all the scart cables when I took apart the XRGB-2. One by one I unplugged/plugged the PS2 and MSX scart cable to find which was interfering with my Saturn and discovered it was the MSX. I don't know what's up with the scart cable for the MSX but at least I solve the problem for good. If I want to play my Saturn I just need to unplug the MSX scart from the multi-scart box. Whew...okay, time for some Batsugun, finally.