Component PS2 for Cave ports

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:30 pm

I have a LCD (Sony Bravia) and my ps2 looks like crap through composite (bleh). It looked a lot better on my CRT, because the CRT was meant to display it well. I know this much.

Component cables, I hear, are the way to go qith an HDTV, as some games support progressive scan. How will Mushi, Galuda and DDP:DOJ ps2 look? Better? Or exactly the same, as they're oldies?

This must have been discussed somewhere already, but the search funtion fails me.

Thanks!

brokenhalo · Post by **brokenhalo** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:36 pm

regardless of weather or not the game supports progressive scan, 2d games tend to look crap on an hd display due to sprite stretch. ideally, having a hi-def setup for modern gaming and a crt for older stuff is the way to go. there are upscan converters out there that will help stretch the image out for an hd display, but they are expensive.

buying an hdtv for gaming pretty much led to me buying a candy cab. thats pretty much the way to go. ps2 and dreamcast looks fantastic on it.

8 1/2 · Post by **8 1/2** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:39 pm

Yes, Component cables will increase the quality of the display considerably over standard composite cables. There are better ways, as mentioned above, but upgrading your cables is not a waste of time.

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 12:26 am

Good. I plan on getting an XRGB2 later this year, but I wondered if the cable would give any improvement at all. It's so cheap that if it makes it a bit less blurry/washed out it'll be worth it in my opinion, given that I play the thing quite a bit.

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 1:32 am

All of those games will still be a blurry, unplayable mess on an LCD with component cables, because none of them output 480p. Don't waste your money on component vid cables unless you have a converter box to make the games display in 480p (then they will just be ugly but not blurry).

dmauro · Post by **dmauro** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 4:08 am

The jump from composite to component (on a 29" SDTV) blew my mind with Cave games in tate mode. They see more improvement than most games do with the cable upgrade I think. You also might be able to get them to output at 480p with HD Xploder for the PS2 if you're lucky, but it's pretty picky about which games it works with.

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 4:10 am

dmauro wrote:The jump from composite to component (on a 29" SDTV) blew my mind with Cave games in tate mode.

Right, on a SDTV. We're talking about an LCD here. Apples and oranges.

Strider77 · Post by **Strider77** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 6:00 am

you WILL see an improvement with component on a HDTV over those composite cables. it's still nothing to an upscaler but it is most deffinately an improvement.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 6:12 pm

KindGrind wrote:Good. I plan on getting an XRGB2 later this year, but I wondered if the cable would give any improvement at all. It's so cheap that if it makes it a bit less blurry/washed out it'll be worth it in my opinion, given that I play the thing quite a bit.

An XRGB-2 upscan convertor works best with an analog CRT-based PC monitor and a 21-pin Japanese RGB cable setup. The fake scanlines option is selectable as well for overall completeness. Please do keep that in mind.

Some HDTVs have no VGA input but only DVI input, so it's advisable to get an VGA to DVI adapter to hook up such an XRGB-2 to it (if that is the case).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

jonny5 · Post by **jonny5** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 6:17 pm

HDTV(especially LCD)+low res=phail

Strider77 · Post by **Strider77** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:09 pm

not with an XRGB... it's the best you can get next to a sony PVM. of course a shit HDTV will give mixed results. keep in mind those results below are taken with a cam of my TV.... it's even better when in person.

but really:

interlaced cave ports = phail

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:03 pm

yeah yeah phail phail phail.. still doesnt change the fact that component cables = big step up from composite cables.

jonny5 · Post by **jonny5** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:17 pm

true.....but low res type graphics on an HD screen look terrible IMO.....

and for the cost of an XRGB and an HDTV (that is more than likely wide screen 16:9

) why not just buy a nice CRT(4:3) for gaming like a PVM or XM29?

saves the hassle and you get a VERY nice picture.....without fake scanlines and stretching

Post by **Dave_K.** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:14 am

I think the point is for those people who already have an HDTV and don't want to buy another 4:3 tube monitor, would rather buy an XRGB2 (much easier to ship!) and get just as good looking results.

Strider77 · Post by **Strider77** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:46 am

Dave_K said it right.... you all ready have one and it takes up no extra space and looks just as good.

The stretching is a dumb thing to complain about since you can just set the TV to 4:3 and it's not stretched then.

I own a PVM and a Sony HDTV... the results are just as good on both.

An HDTV looks MUCH better than a regular old CRT via s-video/composite with an XRGB....

Come on.... that pic I posted is great looking.

gray117 · Post by **gray117** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 2:32 pm

Personal preference always come into play

A decent xrgb may well be the way to go.

Component is indeed an improvement

AND I might add another suggestion which would be to try a non hd lcd 4:3 thats great to pick up, if you find them cheap...

... it might seem a bit silly but I like playing to the actual edge of a screen ... its a satifaction thing ... and whilst resizing widecreen to 4:3 and even rotating your widescreen is perfectly valid, in my humble opinion you can always use a ***light***, rotateable, 4:3 screen to play old games on...

..Apologies if its deviating from topic slightly or if you simply dont have the room but i was easily pleased when I plugged my dc into one recently... very hassle free

Matsunaga · Post by **Matsunaga** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 1:02 pm

EOJ wrote:All of those games will still be a blurry, unplayable mess on an LCD with component cables, because none of them output 480p. Don't waste your money on component vid cables unless you have a converter box to make the games display in 480p (then they will just be ugly but not blurry).

Are you just saying that, or do you actually know? I use a 20" lcd for tate on my ps2, with component cables, and no, it's not a "blurry unplayable mess" as you say. It actually looks damn good.

bostongeorge · Post by **bostongeorge** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 10:31 pm

Matsunaga wrote:
EOJ wrote:All of those games will still be a blurry, unplayable mess on an LCD with component cables, because none of them output 480p. Don't waste your money on component vid cables unless you have a converter box to make the games display in 480p (then they will just be ugly but not blurry).
Are you just saying that, or do you actually know? I use a 20" lcd for tate on my ps2, with component cables, and no, it's not a "blurry unplayable mess" as you say. It actually looks damn good.

Yeah same here. This picture doesn't really show the picture quality, but trust me, it's good, and I've spent many hours playing ESPgaluda PCB on a cab. It may not look as good as that, but this is what I had and it looks great. Easy to tate and it displays the image in the correct aspect ratio with black bars at the top and bottom which don't bother me personally.

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Sat Aug 16, 2008 11:32 pm

I know the ps2 games look better on a CRT. I have recently sold a perfectly working Sony 27" CRT TV because the thing was -f*cking- enormous and quite terrible to manoeuver. It had to be inside a kind of cupboard, so the plugging/unplugging of stuff was quite painful. It also wasn't HD, so I couldn't hookup the Wii/X360 & DC (through) VGA as best as I could.

So I changed it for an HDTV (quite pleased with it). Thanks for the input, guys. I'll be getting some kind of upgrader to play MD/PS2 and other consoles properly. Not that I don't like playing Eliminate Down with my glorious RF switch on my LCD...

PS. XRGB2 newbie question. Can I plug say a DC (VGA input) and a MD (composite) at the same time in the thing, hooking it up to the TV through VGA?

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 5:22 am

bostongeorge wrote:

What model is that? Thanks.

Fudoh · Post by **Fudoh** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 12:06 pm

and a MD (composite) at the same time in the thing,

what on earth makes you want to hook up a MD via composite when the machine has perfectly fine RGB output ?

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 1:39 pm

Being a westerner, I'm afraid composite is the only way to plug it right now without having to mod the console (for s-video). Or maybe I'm wrong?!

EDIT: So the Genesis 2 can do SCART into a XRBG2 unit, giving the best picture? Didn't know such a cable existed... (just saw one on Ebay)

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 2:25 pm

KindGrind wrote:I know the ps2 games look better on a CRT. I have recently sold a perfectly working Sony 27" CRT TV because the thing was -f*cking- enormous and quite terrible to manoeuver. It had to be inside a kind of cupboard, so the plugging/unplugging of stuff was quite painful. It also wasn't HD, so I couldn't hookup the Wii/X360 & DC (through) VGA as best as I could.

So I changed it for an HDTV (quite pleased with it). Thanks for the input, guys. I'll be getting some kind of upgrader to play MD/PS2 and other consoles properly. Not that I don't like playing Eliminate Down with my glorious RF switch on my LCD...

PS. XRGB2 newbie question. Can I plug say a DC (VGA input) and a MD (composite) at the same time in the thing, hooking it up to the TV through VGA?

On an XRGB-2 setup, there are inputs for Composite Video, S-Video and Japanese RGB. Naturally, you'd get the best picture quality if you were to with a Japanese RGB cable setup for your Mega Drive console. As for your DC using a DC VGA Box adapter setup, it would be better to hook up directly to your Sony Bravia's VGA input port as there isn't a VGA pass-through built anywhere on the XRGB-2 itself.

Hope this info helps you out, Kind Grind.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Sun Aug 17, 2008 7:05 pm

Matsunaga wrote:
EOJ wrote:All of those games will still be a blurry, unplayable mess on an LCD with component cables, because none of them output 480p. Don't waste your money on component vid cables unless you have a converter box to make the games display in 480p (then they will just be ugly but not blurry).
Are you just saying that, or do you actually know? I use a 20" lcd for tate on my ps2, with component cables, and no, it's not a "blurry unplayable mess" as you say. It actually looks damn good.

Yeah, I'm saying that because I know. I've tried the CAVE ports on my LCD TV via component input. The bullets are way too blurry to be playable. The composite inputs are blurrier though. I have a newer LCD as well, BTW. If you have a smaller LCD PC monitor, then you likely will have better results. The topic poster asked about LCD TVs though (he said he uses a Sony Bravia).

I'm used to playing my shooters on my 25" RGB monitor. Trying to go from that to an LCD via component is pure pain.

KindGrind · Post by **KindGrind** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 2:49 pm

The Sony Bravia I have is the very last model (as of August 2008). Some more questions that weren't answered in what I browsed through.

1. If I don't plan on playing PCBs at all, is the XRGB2+ a better deal than the XRGB2, seeing it has lots of adapters that come with it? I know the + can't create fake scanlines... Is this taht big a deal?

2. Doesn't the XRGB2 have VGA inputs? Meaning, can I hook up my DC to it, then hook the XRGB2 to my TV? Pretty sure I saw someone do this, yet PCEngineFanX says it's not possible?

3. Is the XRGB2 the best one to get overall? Before shelling out 200$ on the thing, and having no possibility of testing it, I just want to make sure it's worth it

Thanks!

Strider77 · Post by **Strider77** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:21 pm

the 2+ CAN do fake scanlines... it's 3 that doesn't

you CAN hook your DC up to the xrgb with a VGA box and have it pass through the signal. you CAN'T hook up your DC via a RGB cable and have it pas through 480p... DC via RGB/scart is for low res only

XRGB2 vs XRGB2+

the only big difference is the 2+ lacks support for the older raiden PCBs, just the SPI stuff ect. not much... but it's worth thinking about.

Matsunaga · Post by **Matsunaga** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:51 pm

EOJ wrote:
Matsunaga wrote:
EOJ wrote:All of those games will still be a blurry, unplayable mess on an LCD with component cables, because none of them output 480p. Don't waste your money on component vid cables unless you have a converter box to make the games display in 480p (then they will just be ugly but not blurry).
Are you just saying that, or do you actually know? I use a 20" lcd for tate on my ps2, with component cables, and no, it's not a "blurry unplayable mess" as you say. It actually looks damn good.
Yeah, I'm saying that because I know. I've tried the CAVE ports on my LCD TV via component input. The bullets are way too blurry to be playable. The composite inputs are blurrier though. I have a newer LCD as well, BTW. If you have a smaller LCD PC monitor, then you likely will have better results. The topic poster asked about LCD TVs though (he said he uses a Sony Bravia).

I'm used to playing my shooters on my 25" RGB monitor. Trying to go from that to an LCD via component is pure pain.

I think it's just your TV then, on both my 20" and 50" lcds I've never had a blurry picture, in any game. Component cables are pretty damn cheap these days, so there's no reason to not buy them and see what happens, chances are you'll get a much better picture.

clp · Post by **clp** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 1:29 am

Matsunaga wrote:
EOJ wrote:
Matsunaga wrote: Are you just saying that, or do you actually know? I use a 20" lcd for tate on my ps2, with component cables, and no, it's not a "blurry unplayable mess" as you say. It actually looks damn good.
Yeah, I'm saying that because I know. I've tried the CAVE ports on my LCD TV via component input. The bullets are way too blurry to be playable. The composite inputs are blurrier though. I have a newer LCD as well, BTW. If you have a smaller LCD PC monitor, then you likely will have better results. The topic poster asked about LCD TVs though (he said he uses a Sony Bravia).

I'm used to playing my shooters on my 25" RGB monitor. Trying to go from that to an LCD via component is pure pain.
I think it's just your TV then, on both my 20" and 50" lcds I've never had a blurry picture, in any game. Component cables are pretty damn cheap these days, so there's no reason to not buy them and see what happens, chances are you'll get a much better picture.

i agree ive played mushi and ibara via rgb cable on my lcd and it looks shit blurry as ass but switched to component and the improvement is huge no blurriness .