New Sync Strike - Available Now!

[fagin]

Never personally tested the scaler with PAL consoles, but will try my PAL MD1 tonight and let you know.

[blizzz]

you can actually see the top 5% still moving, but the rest of the screen is still

I had the same issue (with both NTSC and PAL) and the solution was to change the y offset. But video quality for PAL wasn't great so I never really used it.

[fagin]

It's a PAL timing issue on the sync by the looks of it.

Switch the MD to NSTC 60hz (same PAL MD) and it's 100% stable.

[youtoo]

It's a PAL timing issue on the sync by the looks of it.

Switch the MD to NSTC 60hz (same PAL MD) and it's 100% stable.

By "switch" you mean I mod the MD1 to have it output 60Hz?

[kowski77]

Can I use this for my SNES to connect it with an RGB Cable to the Videon Omega One (Component Input)?

I'm currently on the lookout for a nice solution to connect my Super Nintendo to an LCD and according to Fudoh's Page the Videon seems to be a good choice for the SNES. The only problem is that I'm not quite sure about the best way to connect the Snes to the Video.

PS: I already tried to get my hands on a Vigatex FX2 but can't finde one.


Thanks for your help!

[Keade]

Hi,

I'm looking for a reasonnably cheap solution to use a PAL Gamecube (480i / PAL 50 / PAL 60), a PAL PS2, possibly a PAL Wii (Component) and sometimes older consoles such as PAL Master System (SCART but I don't know if it is actual RGB) to a Dell P1230 CRT monitor (= Mitsu 2070SB).
I would like to use SCART RGB from all my consoles except the Wii.

I know my monitor can handle a very wide range of resolution at 60Hz.
Provided that my monitor can also handle 720x576@50Hz and 704x576@50Hz (576p50) - that I have yet to check - would I be able to play any GC, PS2, Wii game with that DIY kit, even 50Hz games ?

The following quote particularly worries me, as I would like to be able to play 50Hz games, too :

Will the Scaler also accept an RGB Signal from an (umodded) PAL SNES?

through the Sync Strike, yes.

But doesn't the GBS8220 convert the incoming signal to 60Hz (which would cause choppy scrolling) ? Either that or the output would be 576p50 which your VGA input likely won't accept.

May I be confirmed that the GBS8220 can output 50Hz when the input is also 50Hz ?

Last but not least, I have read many posts (here and at others places) complaining about not being able to make it work with many consoles. This is the main reason I have posted all these questions. I wonder where these bad reports come from, bad units maybe ? Bad assembly ? Particular revisions of consoles ? (I know there are specifics for the PAL SNES but there were negative reports for other consoles too)

Thanks for your help !

[Fudoh]

The GBS8220 included in the DIY kit does not support 50Hz output.

[Keade]

Oh I see, so I guess when people were showing captures of PAL Snes, there were PAL but 60Hz modded SNES...
Thanks for the confirmation !
Well, I better simply say bye bye to 50Hz games, it seems ^^ I would have prefered to have the choice, but it shouldn't matter that much as most games are designed for 60Hz.

I am getting worried about the setting on the console side, though. For instance, afaik many PAL 60 games start in 50Hz mode and offer the option to switch to PAL 60 later. That wouldn't work with the DIY kit would it ? (unless the GBS8220 can output choppy but working 60Hz, from a 50Hz input)
I could still use my PC capture card as a last ressort for such switching, but that would be an annoyance (I would have to have a non-SCART spare cable for instance).

[blizzz]

I'm looking for a reasonnably cheap solution to use a PAL Gamecube (480i / PAL 50 / PAL 60), a PAL PS2, possibly a PAL Wii (Component) and sometimes older consoles such as PAL Master System (SCART but I don't know if it is actual RGB) to a Dell P1230 CRT monitor (= Mitsu 2070SB).
I would like to use SCART RGB from all my consoles except the Wii.

You could try to find a Cinemateq Picture Optimizer on eBay. They go for 50-100€. Here's one auction. Won't support 480p for Wii, but it's a cheap solution to convert SCART to VGA or component.

[kowski77]

Thanks for your fast help and the link.
Will try to get it.

[Keade]

Thanks for the link, I will keep an eye on it, but I would prefer not to buy second hand hardware, though, especially from Ebay.

Besides, I think I eventually don't need a full DIY scaler kit.
I think could do with only cga2vga Scaler PCB + Sync Strike, since I don't care the least about scanlines (ie I have no problems with the progressive "plain" rendering I have with emulators like MAME, provided the scaling is decent, using options like "prescale").
That would lower the pack price to about 85 euros, which is even more interesting to me.

The last two points that I would need to be confirmed are that :
- the output quality would be decent even without the scanlines generator. For instance, I am wondering why that page says "Quality is ok once used with a SLG3000". Why should the quality be lower without scanlines ? I thought scanlines were a matter of preference more than anything else (afaik I don't care about pixelation as long as it is accurate, prefer "plain" display and like scanlines only when they are actual scanlines, ie 240p on non-progressive display).
- the Sync Strike + CGA2VGA combo can accept PAL 50Hz input (I don't care that much about the output as long as it's progressive and allows me to switch the game to 60Hz later).
May anyone confirm these points ? (or tell me if they are wrong assumptions)
Thank you.

[fagin]

Yes... it takes 50hz input, but will convert to 60hz.

However, you get what you pay for with the GBS. It's not the greatest of devices and imo, needs something like the SLG to make it decent enough to use, as this will "hide" most of the quality / deinterlacing issues.

If you're looking at getting MAME / Emulator type sharpness from the GBS... forget it!

The GBS device really is bargain bucket stuff, when it comes to this kind of device.

If you want decent 240p / 480i / 480p processors..... you really need to either buy 2nd hand goods from eBay (there is nothing wrong with that) and / or dig deep in to your pockets.

It all depends on what quality and facilities you're after..... the better the quality / facilities, the more it can cost you.

The most anal and interested in this stuff, will end up spending $100's of dollars on single units and have many of them (like me lol).

The best one stop shop to look at, to gain a good clear understanding of the options and the associated pro's & con's is Fudoh's website -> http://retrogaming.hazard-city.de/

[blizzz]

- the output quality would be decent even without the scanlines generator. For instance, I am wondering why that page says "Quality is ok once used with a SLG3000". Why should the quality be lower with scanlines ? I thought scanlines were a matter of preference more than anything else (afaik I prefer "plain" display and like scanlines only when they are actual scanlines, ie scanlines on non-progressive display).

- the Sync Strike + CGA2VGA combo can accept PAL 50Hz input (I don't care much about the output as long as it's progressive and allows me to switch the game to 60Hz later).
May anyone confirm it ?

The GBS-8220 has a really bad image (at least on my consoles) and doesn't handle 240p right. With the SLG3000 you can hide that fact a bit, but not completely. Also scanlines clear up the picture a lot and make it sharper. The cga2vga scaler does accept 50 Hz input, but the quality is even worse than with 60 Hz as the image is scaled from 288 lines to 480. If you use a higher output resolution it looks a bit better but still not good. I wouldn't bother with it and get a decent line doubler or scaler.

Your options are either to buy a high quality used scaler from eBay for 50€+ or an XRGB-mini for 400€+.

[ryu]

i got this to hook up my consoles to a multisync monitor with bnc and vga inputs. my n64, ps2, saturn and mega drive all work fine when i hook this up via d-sub 15. my 60hz modded snes however just ends up with a completely scrambled "picture" (on both 50 and 60 hz modes). could it be that the scart cable i'm using with the snes has raw sync instead of composite sync?

[kazuo]

To clarify, if I get a Sync Strike, can I get a 15khz signal which I can output to a capture card (Micomsoft SC500N1) AND a XRGB-2+?

I assume I would need to wire up a DSUB15 to J-RGB adapter cable, but other than that, would this work? Or is there a better solution?

Thanks.

[fagin]

To clarify, if I get a Sync Strike, can I get a 15khz signal which I can output to a capture card (Micomsoft SC500N1) AND a XRGB-2+?

I assume I would need to wire up a DSUB15 to J-RGB adapter cable, but other than that, would this work? Or is there a better solution?

Thanks.

If you want to a clean sync signal from an otherwise "dirty" composite video signal, then yes.

DSUB15 to J-RGB would be fine.

[kazuo]

To clarify, if I get a Sync Strike, can I get a 15khz signal which I can output to a capture card (Micomsoft SC500N1) AND a XRGB-2+?

I assume I would need to wire up a DSUB15 to J-RGB adapter cable, but other than that, would this work? Or is there a better solution?

Thanks.

If you want to a clean sync signal from an otherwise "dirty" composite video signal, then yes.

DSUB15 to J-RGB would be fine.

Awesome, thank you!

My main reason for wanting to do this is because I feel like I can get higher quality by feeding a "clean" 15k signal to the capture card, rather than first using the XRGB-2+ to line double, and then splitting the image to a external monitor & the capture card.

Now I just have to source parts to build a DSUB15 to J-RGB cable... or could I just chop up a SCART cable and use the headers for the 2nd output?

[fagin]

No point re-inventing the wheel.... if you have a SCART cable already, chop it up!

[fogueman]

Hello

I´ve just received the diy scaler kit, and i´m having issues.

First of all, the red light on sync strike won´t power on. If the light is off, then the syncstrike is offline???

I have tried my snes, with no signal result. As i´ve read itt´s a difficult one (my snes is super CIC MOD), i´ve tried the ps2.

On the pstwo i got the following result: if i set the scaler pcb to rgbs, i get picture, but it´s definitely very dark. If i set the resolution to 480 then i get the slg3k scanlines, so I have to assume both the slg and the scaler board are ok.

Any advice?. It surprises me that the light on the sync strike won´t switch to on, as pictured in the arcadeforge tutorial. I´m pretty sure i´ve screwed the wires correctly, and i´m getting the dark image from the ps2 via sync strike, so i bet it´s something related to the sync strike

[bencao74]

First of all, the red light on sync strike won´t power on. If the light is off, then the syncstrike is offline???

No, normally then it`s a led issue. The LED is not needed for the functionality. Did you hook up the cabling according the pictorial?

http://bencao74.blogspot.de/2011/11/ins ... caler.html


One has to connect the two wire red and black cable from scaler to sync strike.

For the SNES try this cable schematic :


http://wp1114205.wp150.webpack.hosteuro ... ucts_id=42

One could also go with 75ohm instead of 220ohm.

On the pstwo i got the following result: if i set the scaler pcb to rgbs, i get picture, but it´s definitely very dark. If i set the resolution to 480 then i get the slg3k scanlines, so I have to assume both the slg and the scaler board are ok.

The Sync Strike only cleans up the signals and forwards them from SCART connector to the VGA style DSUB connector. Sync Strike does nothing to the RGB lines. The RGB lines will only forwarded one wire by one wire directly to the connectors. So no active parts are modifying the colors. Sync Strike is not the problem here. Check your TV and scaler settings. Additionally check the potentiometer on your scaler pcb. Are the SLG3000 Dips set to 640x480 (one dip on, the other off)?

[ceramiclion]

I recently got my hands on a very cheap DVDo Scan VP20.
I have a sync strike and have been using it satisfactorily with a GBS 8220 and I wanted to know if it was possible to use a cable like this one on it.



I notice its a RGB-HV and the VP-20 only has RGB-S.
Anyways, can i buy this cable and use it on my Vp-20?
Thank you.

[Fudoh]

Yes, that works, but you need some RCA to BNC adapters as well. The RGBs inputs on the VP20 are RCA, not BNC.

[fagin]

Hello

I´ve just received the diy scaler kit, and i´m having issues.

First of all, the red light on sync strike won´t power on. If the light is off, then the syncstrike is offline???

I have tried my snes, with no signal result. As i´ve read itt´s a difficult one (my snes is super CIC MOD), i´ve tried the ps2.

On the pstwo i got the following result: if i set the scaler pcb to rgbs, i get picture, but it´s definitely very dark. If i set the resolution to 480 then i get the slg3k scanlines, so I have to assume both the slg and the scaler board are ok.

Any advice?. It surprises me that the light on the sync strike won´t switch to on, as pictured in the arcadeforge tutorial. I´m pretty sure i´ve screwed the wires correctly, and i´m getting the dark image from the ps2 via sync strike, so i bet it´s something related to the sync strike

Take clear photograph(s) of the physical set-up and post them up.

[fogueman]

fagin, i will. But I think it´s working fine. The problem with the Snes is likely about the cable (which sucks because i have 3 damned rgb cables and dont want to order a 24 eur one).

The wires are correctly screwed. I´m pretty sure about that. The issue with the darknes i think it can get fixed with the tv settings and scaler settings. I´m not satisfied with the quality right now, but I don´t have time for further research until monday. There are also small white random artifacts on the ps2 image.

I will post again

[fagin]

OK.

The "snow" you see on the PS2 has been reported before.

I'm about to do some more testing in the near future, to repeat what I did some time ago. I have nearly every console that is used with these devices, so I'm going to do some comprehensive testing to see if the issues reported over the past year or so are generic with my set-up. I never remember such issues and I did a fair bit or PS2 specific testing at the time.

[bencao74]

Hmmm, I can't confirm this white artefacts either.

because i have 3 damned rgb cables

For the SNES I`ve posted the schematic. You have to desolder the three elkos and solder in 4 resistors.

[ceramiclion]

Yes, that works, but you need some RCA to BNC adapters as well. The RGBs inputs on the VP20 are RCA, not BNC.

oh okay thank you.
so something like this is better;


There wont be any problem because of the extra sync cable right?
thank you.

[fogueman]

Hello guys

I´ve been having time to test the diy scaler kit this afternoon and try to fix my first impression on the scaler.

I´m trying with the PS2 right now.

Cons: the sync strike red light won´t power up . No matter what I do. Anyway i tried taking the power cord out from the scaler when the image from ps2 it´s on the screen and it will go away, so I have to assume that sync strike is working, no matter what the light says.

As I told you before, the image is too dark. I´m playing with the settings on my tv and the scaler. It must be something related to the "clamp sp" and "Clamp st" settings on the scaler.

Could you please tell me what those settings are for, and the "ideal" settings for sharpness, brightness and contrast on the scaler? My LCD is a Samsung 37 inch. If those "ideal" settigs do exist, obvious.

Also, the random white snow I reported before is still there. Any advice on that?

[bencao74]

For the sync strike led issue. The led is working normally. Send the sync strike back and I will replace it.

[fogueman]

I dont have any problem with the led not showing up if the sync strike is working fine. I´m taking some pictures of all my setup and will send them to you by mail, bencao74, to see if somethin is wrong

In fact the only problem right now is that i cannot get the picture to be bright enough.

I´m sending you some pictures to your mail to see if there´s some problem with my setup.