Questions that do not deserve a thread

[gundamalpha]

Is the XBox DVD playback kit region free? I have a PAL XBox and thinking of getting a US kit. And the DVD region setting would be based on the XBox and not the kit right?

[beatsgo]

Is the XBox DVD playback kit region free? I have a PAL XBox and thinking of getting a US kit. And the DVD region setting would be based on the XBox and not the kit right?

Unfortunately no. According to Microsoft:

After you purchase the Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit and put the DVD infrared receiver into your Xbox, the Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit permanently codes the Xbox based on the region that your kit is from. From that point forward, you can only play DVDs from the region that the Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit is from or DVDs without regional coding. You cannot play DVDs from other regions.

Either you get a XBOX USA model or modchip it.

[gundamalpha]

Thanks guys for the responds

[cyborc]

I have a mame pc running on a sony PVM using crt_emudriver and groovymame. on most games I have problems with the picture shifted to the far right side of the screen.

I was thinking instead of mucking around in the software to fix this I could just pick up one of those extron RGB units that have a horizontal and vertical shift knob and use that to adjust the picture position on a game by game basis. Would the correct way of hooking it up be to use a vga cable from my video card to the input of the extron and then run the bnc outputs straight to the pvm? I read somewhere that the extron RGB can only accept composite sync, and I know you can set ati cards to output composite sync on pin 13 I think, so if I were to do that would everything work like it should?

[Fudoh]

The Extron interfaces work with composite and seperated sync signals, no problem with that.

Still I'm wondering why you have this problem in the first place. If you're unlucky the Extron will allow you to shift the image around in a certain window shited to the right, but might eventually not solve the problem.

[cyborc]

yeah I'm not sure what is causing the issue, perhaps it has something to do with the vga> scart cable. I should get a vga to bnc cable and see if that helps at all. I could always go into the service menu of the pvm and adjust the picture but I figured the extron would be a much more convenient way of doing it plus they are pretty cheap on ebay.

[Zapf]

Would these be ok for fixing the dreamcast controller resistor fuse - ifixit reccomends 1 5 ohm 1/2 fuse resistor, or 2 10 ohm 1/4 watt metalized resistors, and this is what I found at radioshack: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2062338

[beatsgo]

Would these be ok for fixing the dreamcast controller resistor fuse - ifixit reccomends 1 5 ohm 1/2 fuse resistor, or 2 10 ohm 1/4 watt metalized resistors, and this is what I found at radioshack: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2062338

I recommend a fuse resistor, not a carbon resistor. The reason being is to avoid high voltages on the controller port if the resistor goes kaput.

EditeD: Correction!

[Zapf]

Alright. Is "metal film" the same as "metalized"

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2062305#

[beatsgo]

Alright. Is "metal film" the same as "metalized"

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2062305#

Yup. I still advocate fuse resistors, but for now I think you'll be okay with a parallel carbon/metal resistor set since 5 ohm 1/2 watt fuse resistors are hard to come by.

[Endymion]

Is the XBox DVD playback kit region free? I have a PAL XBox and thinking of getting a US kit. And the DVD region setting would be based on the XBox and not the kit right?

Unfortunately no. According to Microsoft:

After you purchase the Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit and put the DVD infrared receiver into your Xbox, the Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit permanently codes the Xbox based on the region that your kit is from. From that point forward, you can only play DVDs from the region that the Xbox DVD Movie Playback Kit is from or DVDs without regional coding. You cannot play DVDs from other regions.

Either you get a XBOX USA model or modchip it.

Or, softmod it. There is no pressing need for a mod chip in order to mod an XBox.

[ryu]

can boot disc screw up disc drives or lasers? just wondering since i'm having issues with two of my disc based consoles, both of them i've used boot discs on.

i've got other disc based consoles that have been used much more and never had any problems.

[matrigs]

did the naomi version of giga wing 2 have analog controls ? where the cabs stock fitted with analog sticks ? if yes which one ?

[ryu]

could it be that the sony pvm and pgm crt monitors are no proper 4:3 and go slightly more into height (like how 720p hd tvs are actually 1200x768)?

i've got a few ps2 games that i'm [strike]absolutely[/strike] pretty sure they don't display properly on any of my sony monitors. that is unless the pictures of these i see online and inside of their manuals have been stretched and don't show reflect the games proper resolutions.

take bujingai for example. on the screenshots here the radar is pretty much all round. http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/918839-buji ... ity/images
and that is what it also looks like in the game's manual. however no matter what i hook the game up to (tested using a slim pal ps2 and a fat jp ps2 having tested component and rgb outputs) i get a picture with the radar looking almost like an egg. that also includes my 720p tv on 4:3 mode.

[604_degrees]

I'm just looking at it and really don't know, does it worth trying?

[Fudoh]

HD-Ready TVs have 1366x768 resolution, so that's proper 16:9.

The PVM and PGM are proper 4:3. The Screenshots on gamefaqs are wrong. The shots there are shown in 720x480 with a square pixel ratio. The PS2 outputs at NTSC video specs which means 4:3 in 720x480 with RECTANGULAR pixels.

If the programmers on this particular game were not able to pay attention to this detail, it's their fault...

[Fudoh]

What's that last converter before the iMac ? I didn't know that the iMac does have video inputs to utilize the screen for other sources - - you're sure about that ?

[ryu]

The Screenshots on gamefaqs are wrong.

now i feel dumb. i was thinking of checking the aspect ratio of these screens, but then refrained from even going there again because i just thought those were photographies. D:

anyways, i've never heard of anything outputting or displaying pixels in anything but 1:1 format. are there any other notable consoles that output non-square pixels?

[Fudoh]

Almost everything pre-HD. PS1 is probably the only exception (as it outputs 320x240 which is real 4:3) coming to mind.

Take SNES for example at 256x224, still 4:3 though. Or take Capcom's CPS2 system with 384x224, nevertheless supposed to be displayed in 4:3.

XBox1, GameCube, Wii - all 720x480 - at 4:3. DVDs are output at this resolution as well.

EDIT: Dreamcast is a weird exception as well, since the signal is 720x480, but only 640x480 are active. This causes the DC to display narrower than real 4:3 on most displays.

[604_degrees]

What's that last converter before the iMac ? I didn't know that the iMac does have video inputs to utilize the screen for other sources - - you're sure about that ?

iMac 27" (late 2009) is the only model I know which can use MDP for input instead of output.

Kanex XD is common HDMI-to-MDP converter used for hooking seventh generation consoles up to iMacs. (But I haven't seen it in action and don't know much about it's issues if they are.)

[Fudoh]

I see, ok. Imo not worth the whole effort. With the whole chain you might be running into timing problems along the way (in the sense of 59.8 or 60.1Hz are not accepted because the iMac expects 59.9 or 60.0Hz straight) and the VGA to HDMI converter in the middle might cause extra problems...

(Interesting experiment nevertheless, if you were to try it).

[604_degrees]

I see, ok. Imo not worth the whole effort. With the whole chain you might be running into timing problems along the way (in the sense of 59.8 or 60.1Hz are not accepted because the iMac expects 59.9 or 60.0Hz straight) and the VGA to HDMI converter in the middle might cause extra problems...

(Interesting experiment nevertheless, if you were to try it).

Well I don't think I'll be able to make it soon, but I`ll definitely try to.

Maybe you could suggest me some nice VGA to HDMI module for that case?

[blackoak]

anyone know where to find DIN to mini-din converters, particularly for a TG16 to PC-Engine controller? I got some padhacks done for PCE, but the guy mistakenly used TG16 controllers. They have the larger 8pin DIN connector, while the PCE (which I own) uses mini-din. I can't seem to locate this online...

[Fudoh]

Maybe you could suggest me some nice VGA to HDMI module for that case?

for basic VGA + Audio to HDMI this one works quite alright:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PC-DVD-VGA-Vide ... 51a0c9bbbb

(haven't checked shipping, but you should be able to find plenty offers for this model online)

[dunpeal2064]

Is the Trinitron HMD-A400 a good monitor for gaming? I've tried looking up manuals to see if it has any input lag, but I've had no success so far.

[Fudoh]

PC monitor CRTs don't have lag.

[Thamiel]

Need a remote for my iScan HD, there's a few DVDO remotes on eBay at the moment. Would this one work with the my unit?

http://global.ebay.com/DVDO-R7-REMOTE-C ... 28788/item

[Fudoh]

As far as I can remember they should all work. There might be a few buttons which were not on the original iscan HD remote, but the general IR codes should be the same.

[gundamalpha]

Another question

Do all the RGB scart input found on those RGB CRT TVs come in different colour? I realised some do have different colour to mark the difference but I have also seen all the same, black colour (not sure if it's RGB on any of them or not). Say something like this (a Grundig TV)

[Fudoh]

Most TV sets with scart inputs only had one RGB-enabled one. The second one was composite and s-video only. That's true for most Sony sets for example. Sony used blue for the 2nd input on some set, but not on all.