XRGB-mini Framemeister

[CkRtech]

OT, but I think I have a soft spot for the build-a-console style setups. Although I use a Turbo Duo in my setup, the Lego-style PCE is rather neat. Despite owning a CDX, I still do the whole 1st Generation Genesis/Mega Drive stack-up.

Good luck with your system and new TV, jaxmazon. I have an LED 46" Samsung (6500 series) arriving today for a casual-viewing room, but I'll continue to use the Framemeister with my main, which is a plasma display. I never even thought of hooking up the Framemeister to the LED, but an in-house comparison and note-taking adventure might be fun for the nerd in me.

Whoa. TV just arrived while I was writing this.

[Fudoh]

I have two PCE setups. One's the one pictured above, the other is a Core II + interface + CD-drive. Both work flawlessly on the Mini. The white PCE has some noise issues which can be cured by cutting the power to the RF module. The amps I use on both systems are the classic transistor based amps.

[CkRtech]

I haven't yet modded my Turbo Duo (or TG16), but it looks like the RGB amp options have increased a bit since I first looked into it around 2007. I have an extra THS7314 nearby, but it looks like some of the coupling components are still in question (from what I have seen in various forums). One discussion included viletim and the fact the output on a PCE is 0.8Vpp instead of 0.7Vpp. He suggested altering the output components a bit to still achieve the "75 ohm output" for the external devices but effectively reduce the RGB output from the PCE (internally) so it isn't as overdriven.

In any case, I saw a few topics that included you, Fudoh. When you said you went with the classic transistor based amps, did you mean the non-IC, "naked transistor" mods such as this -
http://www.console5.com/wiki/File:Hu626 ... ematic.png?

[Fudoh]

yes, like this.

[EmperorZelos]

does anyone know a good way to hook a dreamcast VGA up to the framemeister?

beharius is going to take pre orders soon on the "Kenzei", which will be exactly what you want/need.

Kenzei? What is that exacly?

[BuckoA51]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Kenzei+dreamcast

All information is also on the Wiki - http://junkerhq.net/xrgb/index.php/Dreamcast

And has been asked and answered on this thread about a dozen times.

[Lord of Pirates]

does anyone know a good way to hook a dreamcast VGA up to the framemeister?

beharius is going to take pre orders soon on the "Kenzei", which will be exactly what you want/need.

Kenzei? What is that exacly?

\/

KENZEI is a sync combiner add on for Hanzo and other VGA sources(PC, etc), it basically merges H-Sync and V-Sync signals into C-Sync(composite) for making such devices compatible with some displays, upscalers, processors, etc...
More details soon...

[EmperorZelos]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Kenzei+dreamcast

All information is also on the Wiki - http://junkerhq.net/xrgb/index.php/Dreamcast

And has been asked and answered on this thread about a dozen times.

Thanks and sure it is easy going through somewhere between 1600 and 3200 posts to find it

[rmwing]

I don't know how many people are on here looking to purchase a Framemeister but I am looking to sell mine for $300 AUD + shipping (Costs about $440 AUD at the moment with the specials). I've still got the Box/Manual and everything works fine.

Things to note
- It comes with an Australian power unit because I had no concept of international standards and blew the original when I first got it lol but this one has worked flawlessly and will work with any V input, you'll just need an international adapter and stepdown converter depending on where you live.
- I don't have the original Jap Scart lead either as I toasted it trying to mod it for Euro (as you can tell I'm not very tech savy haha) but I do have the Scart Euro adapter from retrogamingcables.com
- I also have the D-terminal to Component and will chuck in the HDMI cable as well.

I've posted photos and more info in this link if you want to have a look.
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/banyo/ac ... 1035092141

Only reason I am getting rid of it is because I prefer CRT's not because this unit is faulty or doesn't do what is supposed to!

Just bumping his for anyone who missed it!

[geekmiki]

Hi,

I'm having a rather unusual problem with my Framemeister lately, the remote works 1 time out of 10.

I've checked so far:
-Batteries
-Battery contact
-IR LED
-broken/dry solder joints
-Damage on the PCB

After going through the solder joints on the PCB it did work ok for a day. After that it was again completely random and as stupid as it may sound, if I bang the remote a couple of times I manage to get it working for some time.

It sounds like mission impossible to get a replacement (as far as I know), so I was wondering if someone has experienced something similar and if they managed to fix it.

Thanks in advance!

[Fudoh]

It sounds like mission impossible to get a replacement (as far as I know)

as far as I know, Micomsoft replaces the remotes. You're not the only one with a failing remote.

[geekmiki]

as far as I know, Micomsoft replaces the remotes. You're not the only one with a failing remote.

But it has to be done from Japan, right?
If you have more info on the procedure, I would be interested.

[Fudoh]

just go through the seller from which you bough the unit.

[geekmiki]

just go through the seller from which you bough the unit.

Not so easy... I bought it in a store in Akiba during a trip to Japan.
Therefore my only two options are either to buy/get a replacement from Micomsoft if they have an international support (which I doubt) or try to repair it myself.

[Xyga]

Maybe ask solaris-japan if they would allow you to buy a spare remote through them.
They seem to be working directly with Micomsoft.

[EmperorZelos]

Maybe ask solaris-japan if they would allow you to buy a spare remote through them.
They seem to be working directly with Micomsoft.

Solaris kicks ass, when I had issue they helped me alot until it was solved and cared deeply about exausting all optoins

[geekmiki]

Thanks for the suggestion!
I got in touch with Solaris and Jacob will try to help me out.

From what I've understood, Framemeister remotes tend to fail quite often and they get replacements from Micomsoft on a regular basis. So let's hope this works out.

[mickcris]

My remote has never seemed to work very well. I have a logitech harmony remote that I use for most all my stuff, so I just programed all the buttons to it. The only one that I couldn't get to work was "power off" as the remote won't let you program a long button press.

[Scunthog]

Has anyone here experienced motion sickness with the XRGB mini?

Currently I only have a PAL SNES plugged in via Scart and when I turn up the brightness the infamous vertical line waves side to side a hell of a lot, which im guessing is the reason for the motion sickness.

This is the best picture I managed to take. Any white item like text or vertical line gets set off to the side as below.

http://i.imgur.com/X1bOCJP.jpg

Is this meant to happen? Or is there a setting I have missed somewhere?

Or should I just turn down the brightness and man up?

[Konsolkongen]

Since the last update the XRGB-mini can do pixel perfect scaling of the PSP's component AV out, if you set it to GAME_LB2. The only downside to this is that you'll loose two lines in the PSP's vertical resolution. You can choose if you want to cut off the top or bottom of the screen wiht the V_POS setting (28 or 29). Unfortunately you can't set it so it cuts of one line at the top and one at the bottom.

Anyway it looks really good 1080p out of course, Sharpness =1, H&V Scaler =6




Thicker scanlines would have looked really nice here:


And the downscaling completely butchers the images
Slightly larger ones here:
https://imageshack.com/i/5h2pvpJ
https://imageshack.com/i/g9wf4hj
https://imageshack.com/i/jjgpwjj

[Fudoh]

Since the last update the XRGB-mini can do pixel perfect scaling of the PSP's component AV out, if you set it to GAME_LB2

what's the difference to before ? I don't get it.

[Keade]

Question about V-Sync: should I expect my Blackmagic Intensity Pro capture card to be able to capture video from any old console (including PAL consoles and modes such as 480i/50), provided I use a Framemeister as a deinterlacer / scaler ?
Please note that the BMIP doesn't support 480p over component but is supposed to support it over HDMI (will check this as soon as I can using my PS3).

Bonus question All needed to plug a PAL console to the Frameister is a PAL scart ->JPN scart adapter, right ?

[eightbitminiboss]

Question about V-Sync: should I expect a Blackmagic Intensity Pro capture card to be able to capture video from any console (including PAL consoles and modes such as 480i/50), provided I use a Framemeister as a deinterlacer / scaler ?
Please note that the BMIP doesn't support 480p over component but is supposed to support it over HDMI (will check this as soon as I can using my PS3).

Bonus question All needed to plug a PAL console to the Frameister is a PAL scart ->JPN scart adapter, right ?

It should as the XRGB-mini outputs at either 50 or 60fps depending on your setup. Take note that the BMI Pro won't accept a 1080p signal at either of those framerates. Stick with 720p for it work properly.

[Holograph]

Question about V-Sync: should I expect a Blackmagic Intensity Pro capture card to be able to capture video from any console (including PAL consoles and modes such as 480i/50), provided I use a Framemeister as a deinterlacer / scaler ?
Please note that the BMIP doesn't support 480p over component but is supposed to support it over HDMI (will check this as soon as I can using my PS3).

Yes, but personally I say get the Startech PEXHDCAP, which I myself intend to buy in the next couple months.

I guess if you only intend to use it with the XRGB then that's fine, though in my case I intend to compare the video quality in different configurations and with different hardware (e.g. Edge vs XRGB-FM, perhaps different RGB amps, the effect of putting bypass caps on some of the ICs in certain consoles, etc.) and the Startech card (and the same?/similar Micomsoft-branded cards) support RGB and Blackmagic does not.

Also I don't like that Blackmagic design keeps telling customers, essentially, "We hear that a bunch of you would like Linux support, and we're probably not going to do that." As a Linux geek (though I do dual-boot Windows/Linux), I won't touch a company whose products are locked to a proprietary OS like Windows when I can avoid it.

[Konsolkongen]

Since the last update the XRGB-mini can do pixel perfect scaling of the PSP's component AV out, if you set it to GAME_LB2

what's the difference to before ? I don't get it.

It wasn't pixel perfect before. Some horizontal lines were scaled fewer times than other, and there was some very slight underscan, now there's a tiny bit of overscan (the two horizontal lines I mentioned).

[Fudoh]

ah, ok, I see what you're getting at. 272 minus 2 = 270 and that times 4 = 1080. Still, it was pretty good before, but I'll certainly have to check it again some time.

[Konsolkongen]

Yes it was fine before. And it's really just a matter of taste. If you don't like the missing lines you can use GAME_LB1 instead, which I think is the same as always, with slight underscan.

Here is hoping that Micomsoft eventually gives us the option to add thicker scanlines in 1080p, that could look really good on some PSP games

[Keade]

Yes, but ...

Oops, sorry for not being more specific, I already have the Blackmagic (have just edited my post so that it is clear).
Anyway thanks for the answer

[Fudoh]

Here is hoping that Micomsoft eventually gives us the option to add thicker scanlines in 1080p, that could look really good on some PSP games

or you just put a SLG in between the PSP and the Mini.

[Konsolkongen]

You're right. Completely forgot about the SLGHD

I will consider buying one of those