BuckoA51 wrote:Hard to say from those pictures if it is normal or not. You definitely don't want to run the XRGB3 too bright though. LPF on or off?
Brightness was only turned up for the few minuttes it took to take the pictures.. Don't worry.
I believe it's on now. The setting changes very little though.
Xyga wrote:I think I've experienced something similar more than once, every time it was caused by a bad connection, mainly on the source side (loose pin on the scart side or a bad solder point somewhere...)
I've tried passing the most troublesome consoles through one at a time directly into the scart input at the front (with the adapter ofcause ). At the same time i took the switchboxes and the slg3000 out of the loop. I even changed out the vga and component cable.. Nothing changed.
I'll try with another stepdown in another socket today and see it that changes things. If not maybe getting some more expensive vga cables.
I don't think a new vga cable will make any difference (those are usually very sturdy-built), clearly it's either a bad PSU as Fudoh suggested (the XRGB's or the TC1600's) or some damaged input/output connector somewhere in the chain.
If you try to make a shortlist;
- the PSU's (both)
- the XRGB's VGA output port on the back
- the TC1600's VGA input
- the TC1600's component output
- the TV's component input (but I think you have already tried that one alone)
I did damage a VGA input once on an old TV, one of the DB15's pins was de-soldered on the TV's pcb and it was barely visible. Same already happened with an RCA connector, several scart ones, etc.
This can happen on any connector, personally I would triple check all in the chain before buying new stuff, just saying.
If none of those are damaged then maybe it's something worse inside the XRGB or the TC1600 (hope it's not) but you have a lot of verifications to do before declaring that anyway, so good luck!
Xyga wrote:I don't think a new vga cable will make any difference (those are usually very sturdy-built), clearly it's either a bad PSU as Fudoh suggested (the XRGB's or the TC1600's) or some damaged input/output connector somewhere in the chain.
If you try to make a shortlist;
- the PSU's (both)
- the XRGB's VGA output port on the back
- the TC1600's VGA input
- the TC1600's component output
- the TV's component input (but I think you have already tried that one alone)
I did damage a VGA input once on an old TV, one of the DB15's pins was de-soldered on the TV's pcb and it was barely visible. Same already happened with an RCA connector, several scart ones, etc.
This can happen on any connector, personally I would triple check all in the chain before buying new stuff, just saying.
If none of those are damaged then maybe it's something worse inside the XRGB or the TC1600 (hope it's not) but you have a lot of verifications to do before declaring that anyway, so good luck!
I just tried switching the xrgb and tc1600 psu to another electrical socket and stepdown. No change. I've already tried changing the cables of all those inputs and outputs. So I guess all that's left is a new psu.
Have you tried to apply a gentle pressure/torsion to each connectivity step while watching the screen ?
This is how I chase bad connections, and I use a mirror in situations where I'm behind the screen and can't look at it directly.
I mean; just switching cables won't reveal a connectivity/electrical fault.
EDIT: oh something else, I just remembered I used to experience heavy noise because the horizontal position of my source signal was off, it also affected the colors, Fudoh suggested to move it and it fixed the problem.
The TC1600 has got an horizontal shifting feature (button or pot inside), you could try that.
The XRGB3 lacks a H_position feature in B1 though... the only other thing I can think of that would create noise is a wrong Dot Clock setting...
Last edited by Xyga on Sun Nov 23, 2014 12:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Xyga wrote:Have you tried to apply a gentle pressure/torsion to each connectivity step while watching the screen ?
This is how I chase bad connections, and I use a mirror in situations where I'm behind the screen and can't look at it directly.
I mean; just switching cables won't reveal a connectivity/electrical fault.
I've tried tightning the connections as much as possible but i'll try your suggestion. Thanks.
Alright so i tried pressing and moving the cables around at the connectors behind the rack while looking at the screen and it doesn't seem to do anything.
Im pretty sure none of the settings in XRGB help any. At least not with my component sources (even though those are the ones with the least interference). I can move the picture up/down, Left/right with the extron but it kinda defeats the purpose of having those controls if i need to have the image way out to the side to fix the issues im having.
Okay, regarding the horizontal position, you shouldn't try with the Extron at the moment anyway.
Tried the TC1600's own horizontal positioning ? You really should if you haven't yet, read the instructions from the last paragraphs in the description or download the manual; http://www.curtpalme.com/TC1600.shtm
you were right! Moving the horizontal plane removes the noise completely. Hmm but i'll have to live with the image being about 5% off to the side. Anyway to fix this?
I used the Extron though. Maybe the Crescendo doesn't need the as much of an offset.
Edit: Now the image get's very dark at times and even blacks out depending on were the image is moved. The old noisy spot seem fine though.
Last edited by spaceape on Sun Nov 23, 2014 9:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Don't know, it's different for every setup, sometimes when I use the XRGB-2 + AA 9A60 combo I struggle a couple minutes to adjust the position with the two machines.
Fiddling with both the TC1600's internal potentiometer and the Extron you should be able to fine-tune the position of every source, you'll get used to it with time.
You got the Extron between the XRGB and the transcoder, right ? Can't you find a combination of positions using both the Extron and the Crescendo that centers your image and doesn't exhibit the noise ?
Fudoh wrote:You got the Extron between the XRGB and the transcoder, right ? Can't you find a combination of positions using both the Extron and the Crescendo that centers your image and doesn't exhibit the noise ?
Yes i do.
I haven't tried the Crescendo yet but with the Extron only i can't. If i get a noise free picture in the Everdrive menu the gameplay part of Super Mario Bros 3 get's very dark or distorted (usually 5-10% off center as well).
Im a complete newbie messing with internal pots but i'll give it a try (hopefully i wont fry anything. ).
Nah you won't, use a non-conductive screwdriver or something similar that fits if you're not confident.
Of course you can adjust after unplugging the PSU, but that means you will have to do this many times before you find the sweet spot.
Nope, no idea, I think it's a timing thing.
I just thought of it because Fudoh suggested doing this when I was experiencing a similar problem, and what's showing on your pictures kind of looks the same.
After seeing the pics (sorry, missed them before), I can at least assure you that it's not the XRGB.
It's some interference caused by chaining the devices you're using. When I still used the VGA input on my large Sony TV I had the exact same thing with the Extron in the "wrong" position, but I always assumed this happened due to chaining two Extrons (3:1 switch and 1:2 distributor, both with ADSP and both with centering controls). I could usually "cure" it by just moving the picture a cm or two to either side. The noise tended to be back after powering down the whole setup, so I couldn't just leave the knob on the Extron in one position.
On my Extron I had three sources. 1) was the XRGB-3, 2) was a transcoded output for 480p sources and 3) was my Faroudja line doubler and the same thing happened on all sources.
I'm pretty sure that you can ultimately cure it by finding a proper match between the Crescendo's control pottie and the Extron's horizontal shift.
No, but you should be able to shift the picture the one way using the Extron and the other using the Crescendo, finding a good middleground without any noise issues.
Fudoh wrote:No, but you should be able to shift the picture the one way using the Extron and the other using the Crescendo, finding a good middleground without any noise issues.
Alright cool. I'll try and get my lazy butt working on it then.
I'm sure as well it's a matter of finding the right positions with the potentiometers, this is how it works for me as it does for most people who use transcoders or other devices with horizontal shifting capabilities.
There's no way around it when you work with a lot of analogue video devices anyway, even more so when in combination with digital devices and displays, you always have to move you ass from the sofa and 'dirty' your hands at some point, almost every time you switch sources actually.
The thing is to arrange your stuff to have easy access to all the switches, buttons and pots.
The best i can do it seems is to set the width adjustments of the Crescendo clockwise all the way to compensate as much as i can for bad sync timings and then use the Extron for shifting the image until the noise disappears. It's not perfect though and i normally will get around a 1-10cm gap on the right side of the screen depending on the console or game. I hope i find a way to tweak it further because it sucks sometimes having so much of the game cut off.
A bonus i found however with the Extron is that i with the peak control can make the image more in focus.
Which input on the Sony are you using ? I assume component. And it really locks you into a 16:9 AR ? I've never experienced this on any of the Sonys I had or have. Which output res are you using ? 480p60 or 576p50 ?
Fudoh wrote:Which input on the Sony are you using ? I assume component. And it really locks you into a 16:9 AR ? I've never experienced this on any of the Sonys I had or have. Which output res are you using ? 480p60 or 576p50 ?
Yes it's component. All my consoles are NTSC. 640x480 through the XRGB (tv say 480p), into the Extron 203 and then to the Crescendo TC1600 which passes component to the Sony W7 TV.
The screen format options seem locked in the menu. So can't change to normal (4:3) aspect from full (16:9) or some of the other options.
Some times if try i changing the format options in both the general and the quick format menu i manage to get it normal (4:3) but then the general menu forces wide zoom and im unable to change anything. So seems it want's me staying at 16:9.
I tried many combinations with the XRGB and the tv's aspect ratio setting and really don't know why this happens.
Sorry got it working. I just needed to change some of the general tv aspect settings while in the main menu. I think the XRGB conflicted/locked some of the functionality while showing it's signal. But im really not sure because now all the settings are working fine.
I guess it just took a bit of tinkering.
What's the best aspect ratio setting in XRGB? Auto? Embarrassingly enough all my consoles have been displayed at 16:9 all the time i've had them. but for all but the later consoles 16:9 stretches it all a bit to much (at least for the original look )
Explained by brownvim. I'll just be using the Auto setting then. I was busy tweaking my settings. Dear god it takes a lot of time getting everything just right but at least im learning a lot.
I feel a bit slow being the only one asking questions for the last couple of pages but i guess most people got into all the basics of the XRGB-3 many years ago when it was a new device.
). At the same time i took the switchboxes and the slg3000 out of the loop. I even changed out the vga and component cable.. Nothing changed.
Anyway to fix this?
). 
but for all but the later consoles 16:9 stretches it all a bit to much (at least for the original look 
I'll just be using the Auto setting then. I was busy tweaking my settings. Dear god it takes a lot of time getting everything just right but at least im learning a lot. 