Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

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Ji-L87
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Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

Post by Ji-L87 »

Thought I'd start a new thread instead of clogging up the "questions that does not deserve a thread"-thread since it seems to be more complicated than I originally thought.

THE SETUP:
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PS1 --> Scart switch --> Sync Strike --> Vigatec FX2+ --> iScan VP30 --> HDMI to TV.

THE PROBLEM:
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Certain games on PS1 (an NTSC-J PS One in this case) gets all jumpy and weird during very specific parts of the game. As in, the screen jumps up and down. Two games, in particular, where I've been able to easily reproduce this happening is Raystorm & Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere. In the case of Raystorm, the screen starts to jump right after the Taito logo and proceeds to do so, main menu & game throughout. Sometimes this doesn't happen and the game works normally, though.
As for Ace Combat 3, the main menu, opening movie, story scenes & briefing all work fine. However, once the game starts and you're actually flying the screen starts to jump. As opposed to Raystorm where it sometimes would work, this seems to happen every time without fail.

So for this problem, I consider Ace Combat 3 the ultimate benchmark :P
I'm thinking it might have something to do with my Vigatec FX2+, since the game works whilst directly connected to the TV and the VP30. I thought it was some kind of sync problem so I replaced my ghetto RGB/S solution from my scart switch to the Vigatec with a Sync Strike and yet the problem persists.

Not sure what's happening, is there a resolution change or something that causes this?. Outputting from the Vigatec to the VP30 (or TV) through component (sync on green) or through RGB/HV yields the same results.

I'm at a bit of a loss here :?
Last edited by Ji-L87 on Wed Mar 20, 2013 7:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Fudoh
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Re: Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

Post by Fudoh »

I would have to grab my PSOne to give this a try. Do you have access to a PS2 ? If yes, what about the same game running on a PS2 through component into the FX2 ?
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Re: Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

Post by Ji-L87 »

Fudoh wrote:I would have to grab my PSOne to give this a try. Do you have access to a PS2 ? If yes, what about the same game running on a PS2 through component into the FX2 ?
Haven't got a JP PS2 tho :( On my list of things to get....sometime.
I can try that with the PAL version of Ace Combat 3 however. Will do that when I get off work.
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Re: Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

Post by Ji-L87 »

Testing report!

Somehow had trouble with the FX2 & VP30 not getting along (and thus generating "unsupported video format" or something similar on my TV end) so I connected the Vigatec directly to the TV through component.

NTSC-J Ace Combat 3 on:

JP PSOne: Jumpy picture.

PAL Ace combat 3 on:
* PAL PS2 through component: Seems fine.
Edit: * PAL PS2 through RGB: Seems fine.
* PAL PS1 through RGB: jumpy picture.
* PAL PS1 through s-video: jumpy picture.

So it certainly seems to be something with the PS1 & the Vigatec, though this was a normal grey unit, not the PS One. Interesting however that the problem persisted both in the PAL copy and through the use of s-video. :?

Edit: The VP30 is back in the game. I must've messed with the output settings. As a bonus of this setup, for testing purposes, the Vigatec's component ouput goes straight into the TV while the RGB/HV goes the VP30 -> HDMI route. :mrgreen:
Last edited by Ji-L87 on Thu Mar 21, 2013 5:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

Post by Fudoh »

I'll try to test this as soon as possible. All units and games on hand....
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Re: Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

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Fudoh wrote:I'll try to test this as soon as possible. All units and games on hand....
Thanks, much appreciated :)
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Re: Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

Post by Fudoh »

Just a quick confirmation (which doesn't help you though): JP PS2 + Raystorm PS1 + FX2 = everything fine.

Will try to grab my PSone over the next days. Just a NTSC-J PSOne though, not an old grey one.
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Re: Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

Post by Fudoh »

Hooked up my spare FX2 today, along with a japanese PSOne. Raystorm NTSC-J on hand.

Image

When I booted the PSOne into it's menu and then booted up the Taito game, the screen got scrambled at first, and then no picture at all. Neither during the Raystorm title screen nor inside the game. I then powered off the FX2 and switched it on with RGB input preselected and with the game already running. This way it synced fine, even after returning to the game's title screen. This was reproducable.
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Re: Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

Post by Ji-L87 »

Big thanks for taking the time! :D
You'd think I would already have tried something as simple as turning it off and on again but this in a quick test, this seemed to work with both Raystorm and AC3.

Any idea why this happens, though? And how one maybe could prevent it....
Still, I'm happy that I wasn't the only one having problems... ( :mrgreen: )
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Re: Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

Post by Fudoh »

Officially 240p is not supported in the Faroudja. It's luck that it works this fine and I can imagine that the 240p > 480i > 240p switching simply throws off the processor....
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Re: Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

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Fudoh wrote:Officially 240p is not supported in the Faroudja. It's luck that it works this fine...
Ahh, too bad it's probably too old for a firmware update :P
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Re: Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

Post by Fudoh »

about a decade late, yes.
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Re: Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

Post by Ji-L87 »

Fudoh wrote:...I can imagine that the 240p > 480i > 240p switching simply throws off the processor....
Thinking quickly about this again, before I try and restore my setup from "testbed mode" to ordinary again, is there anything that I can put in front of the Vigatec, in the chain, to help things along? If the game switches to 480i, can I use one of those downscaling solutions to bring it back to 240p or something similar? Or have I misunderstood what's causing it... :?
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Re: Vigatec FX2 + PS1 issues

Post by Fudoh »

nothing I could think of.
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