My XRGB-2 sometimes kills me :(

[rolins]

I play all my arcade pcbs through a Dell 17" CRT monitor and XRGB-2, and tbh it works amazing. However, I've noticed that some of my games have trouble displaying a full picture. Take for instance Outzone. Nearly 1/2 inch of the vertical picture is missing. Check out the left side of the screen in the 2nd photo, you can't see how many lives Player1 has or the 2 extras bombs in stock because they're hidden. Completely ruins the whole experience.

I'm wondering if there's a fix for this, or some way to enable overscan? Btw my monitor and XRGB-2 doesn't have any overscan/underscan features. Wish I had Sony PVM.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Yeah, that's pretty typical of an XRGB-2 to cut off a portion of the actual screen imagery with some PCBs. If you can pick up a cheap Commodore 1080 or 1084/1084S RGB monitor, they certainly do the trick when displaying in RGB mode (and no need to resort to using an XRGB-2 with an SVGA monitor either). The 1084 and 1084S variant monitors do have all the necessary adjustments to resize the viewing image to your liking is another cool thing to have. Not bad despite their 14" screen size.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[neorichieb1971]

On my CRT VGA monitor I just used the geometry twiddlers on the monitor to stretch it out vertically and horizontally.

[thamasha69]

On my CRT VGA monitor I just used the geometry twiddlers on the monitor to stretch it out vertically and horizontally.

I do the same thing with my XRGB2+ and 17" NEC Mulitsync.

[rolins]

Yeah, that's pretty typical of an XRGB-2 to cut off a portion of the actual screen imagery with some PCBs. If you can pick up a cheap Commodore 1080 or 1084/1084S RGB monitor, they certainly do the trick when displaying in RGB mode (and no need to resort to using an XRGB-2 with an SVGA monitor either). The 1084 and 1084S variant monitors do have all the necessary adjustments to resize the viewing image to your liking is another cool thing to have. Not bad despite their 14" screen size.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Yeah but those Commodore monitors are harder to find and they're too expensive these days. I think I have better chance trying to find a 13" arcade monitor.

I whipped out Sky Shark last night which I hadn't played in ages. But damn, the cut off screen makes this game even more difficult to play. Especially when those tanks fire at you while being in that hidden portion of the screen.

On my CRT VGA monitor I just used the geometry twiddlers on the monitor to stretch it out vertically and horizontally.

My Dell monitor is capable of that too but it doesn't do anything to show the cut off screen.

What about other upscan converters? I keep hearing about the gbs-8220 being cheap and a good alternative, but does it also cut a portion of the screen like the XRGB-2?

[neorichieb1971]

The problem is your monitor not your XRGB2. I have an XRGB2 and have played 20+ PCB's on it without a problem.

Using the stetch, vertical and horizontal adjustments I can always make it fit the screen perfectly just like a real arcade monitor. Not only that, but I can stretch far bigger than the screen itself. So the amount of leverage is more than you need.

[rolins]

The problem is your monitor not your XRGB2. I have an XRGB2 and have played 20+ PCB's on it without a problem.

Using the stetch, vertical and horizontal adjustments I can always make it fit the screen perfectly just like a real arcade monitor. Not only that, but I can stretch far bigger than the screen itself. So the amount of leverage is more than you need.

What kind of vga monitor are you using?

[neorichieb1971]

Various, last time I played on my XRGB2 it was at work. Any HP monitor there worked fine with it.

So your telling me you have a VGA monitor with no controls to adjust the screen size and ratio? I've never seen a monitor like that before. I assume you have adjustments but they do not reach the sizes you need!!!

[rolins]

It has controls to change the size, center, geometry, convergence, color, etc, but none of that allows me to show that missing portion of the game screen. These are the monitors I've tested. The first two are CRTs: Dell P793, HP D5259A, Samsung Syncmaster 953BW LCD. All 3 monitors display Outzone and Sky Shark the same with a portion of the screen missing. Does it have to do with a monitor's vsync range? All my monitors can sync down to 50hz so it shouldn't be problem when Sky Shark does 54hz. :sigh: I just don't get it.

[neorichieb1971]

Looking at the screenshots you have to move the screen to the right. There should be some knob on the CRT that moves the image rightwards.

The XRGB2 has some tweaks of its own that move the image around a little.

[rolins]

I've double check all the monitor settings. I can stretch and re-center the picture all I want, but the hidden area of the game screen won't show up.
It's alright though. I just ordered a 1084S-D monitor so hopefully that will solve everything and get back to gaming.