Video capture of Seibu PCBs?

[drunkninja24]

So I recently picked up a Raiden DX PCB, and wanted to get a setup going so I could do video capture straight from the PCB. Only issue is, when I plug the video signal to my encoder and send that to my capture device (Dazzle DVC100 in my case), the video signal shows only in black and white. I assume this has something to do with the odd refresh rate that Seibu boards tend to have, especially since other games I tried (CPS2 Gigawing for example) worked just fine. So is there any way to get a proper video capture off of these boards with standard capture equipment?

[Ghegs]

I had/have a similar problem with other PCBs that also have quirky refresh rates. Check out Fudoh's responses.

[drunkninja24]

Okay, so if I'm understanding that thread correctly, with the equipment I have, I can go:

RGB from board -> RGB-VGA converter -> Emotia -> SVid/Composite output to video capture device

And it should work properly then?

[Fudoh]

yes, this will work perfectly. You should try if you get better results by setting the Emotia to 240p or to 480i (flicker filter switch). Depends on the capture encoder you use....

[drunkninja24]

Okay, cool, ordered one of those converters. Hope it works out well

[drunkninja24]

Okay, guess I'll keep this in this thread since it's related to my current project.

Got video going now, now what about audio? I thought I would be able to just split off the audio connection, but anytime I do that, and plug the split end into the line in of my PC, the audio in the cab dies and I get no incoming sound on the PC either. I can send the audio to a separate amplifier I have just fine, but it seems there's something about the PC that is just eliminating all the sound altogether. Grounding issue perhaps? I'm not exactly sure.

[Fudoh]

I have really no idea about non-line amplified audio, but if you split the signal you mess up the impedance. It's like using a giant speaker which simply can't be driven by the boards mini-amp. If you used a line converter ($5 on ebay) and split the audio AFTER the line converter, it should work fine. Just theory though - as said, no real experience.

[drunkninja24]

Okay, I may look into that. I just wired a lapel mic up next to one of the speakers, seems to work okay for now lol

[Stefan_L]

but it seems there's something about the PC that is just eliminating all the sound altogether. Grounding issue perhaps? I'm not exactly sure.

Yes i am sure it is a grounding problem... try and connect only speaker + to your PC and be sure to touch the amplifier on the PCB just to make sure it don't get hot.

[drunkninja24]

Hmmmmm....well, I don't think the RGB-VGA converter I bought works with these boards either, I just get a static screenshot of the game when the board starts up, both through the Emotia and just straight through VGA to any of my monitors.....

[drunkninja24]

Well, thanks to dbstallman on klov for these settings that got my Seibu boards working just fine and dandy, figured I'd repost here for anyone else having issues:

I have one that looks almost exactly like yours (I have two VGA outputs). Here are the settings that work for my Seibu boards :

Press the menu button and chose option "2. Geometry"

Raiden :
H Position........37
V Position.........24
H Size...............66
V Size...............23
clamp st............90
clamp sp............95

Raiden II
H Position........45
V Position.........32
H Size...............59
V Size...............48
clamp st............90
clamp sp............95

Viper Phase 1/Raiden Fighters/Raiden Fighters 2/Raiden Fighters Jet (I only have the cartridge versions of all these games, not the single board)
H Position........45
V Position.........26
H Size...............57
V Size...............47
clamp st............90
clamp sp............95

When I have a game that isn't displaying anything, I have found that adjusting the "V Postion" all the way through it's range will usually yield a workable picture at some point. From there it is a simple matter of adjusting the rest of the others for a perfect display.

I have also found that the "clamp st" and "clamp sp" adjustments have little effect as far as getting a good sized picture and have never needed to change them from the defaults.

Good luck!