New Sony BVM and my NOOB Questions

[Greerdom]

Hello all, I am new to the forum and after countless hours of reading I recently took the plunge on a SONY BVM-20F1U!! Many thanks to everyone for sharing their knowledge and insight, particularly Fudoh. Fair warning 99.9% of most of this is still over my head, and your patience and guidance are greatly appreciated




The NES and GameCube work well, except for a couple of picture issues with the NES listed below. I suspect, but I am unsure, if this is from manually adjusting the screen size to fill the screen and perhaps "stretching" it too far? I keep adjusting settings until it looks the best I can get it, but I'm certain it's my lack of knowledge that's hindering me from tuning the picture correctly. The manual didn't really help there either... The monitor has 78K hours, but I do not think that is the issue, since gameplay seems fine and the tube is free of burn in.

1. Faint "black bars/striping" are present through the left side of the display during black loading/demo screens ONLY, but not during gameplay. I couldn't get it to show in photos. Any suggestions? What is the best way to adjust picture size?
2. Some areas of the screen do not line up vertically. See photo below, specifically the green pipe areas which are misaligned. It isn't much "bend/bowing", but it's there, and it's annoying.



Lastly, I assume I am having sync issues when connecting my Saturn.



I purchased the cables below, as I remembered Fudoh mentioning the need for a sync stripper or a cable that uses the sync output pin (not even sure what that is ) for connecting the Saturn. It would seem the LM1881 was the wrong choice for a sync stripper...

http://www.retrogamingcables.com/female ... ipper.html
http://www.ebay.com/itm/190895962690?ss ... 1497.l2649

After seeing rtw's troubles with the same cable, is it better to return the cable for the one below?
http://www.retrogamingcables.com/sony-p ... r-bnc.html

I'm not sure if avoiding the LM1881 altogether is best? Can I salvage this cable? What sync stripper or cable that utilizes the sync output pin would I need instead? Is a Frame Meister necessary? I'm a bit lost now, and just want to try and get everything working. What is the most cost effective solution to get the damn Saturn up and running with what I already have?

[Greerdom]

After some help from Fudoh I have nearly all my previous problems solved except the faint "bars/striping" that are present during black load screens on the lhs. I do not think it is geometry related bc I have tweaked nearly every setting in the "Alignment" menu with no success. Thoughts?

[Greerdom]

The Saturn is ALIVE!!!!

[Fudoh]

Worst case scenario: you'll get a RGB board for your NES and forget about composite.

Other idea: terminate the loop output associated with the input you're using for your composite source. You got a 21D board for composite ? The upper BNC port of each color channel is the input and the lower one is the loop out. Put a 75Hz termination plug onto it.

[Greerdom]

I never thought to connect the NES through RBG, and it certainly should improve the video quality! Anyone know of someone who does this mod regularly? Or sells the NES modded for RGB?

I need another RGB SCART to BNC cable then yeah? If I use the Female RGB SCART to BNC adapter breakout cable do I connect the yellow sync cable? If so, where would I connect it since there is only one sync in and it's in use from the Saturn on the board that comes w/ every BVM? (Neither the 24N or 21D have a sync in that I could find) Then I'd need a NES AV Scart Cable TV Lead right?

I remember you mentioning in several posts how important those terminator plugs were for the loop outs, and made sure to cap them all. I really appreciate your insight and suggestions!!

[Fudoh]

New RGB mods for the NES just became available: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=47617

For a 2nd Scart source you'd be better off using a Scart switch box instead of a 2nd breakout cable.

[Greerdom]

New RGB mods for the NES just became available: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=47617

For a 2nd Scart source you'd be better off using a Scart switch box instead of a 2nd breakout cable.

You're certainly worth your weight in gold around this place. I need to spend more time exploring here. Indebted to you once again good sir.

[Fudoh]

btw: did you enable the comb filter for the composite inputs ? Not that the integrated CF is any great, but the composite quality on the NES snapshot is certainly worth than I would have expected.

[Greerdom]

btw: did you enable the comb filter for the composite inputs ?

Yes sir! It seems to clean up some of the pixelation and color blocking.

Side-note: emailed Tim about the NESRGB, & can't wait for the next batch. He's sitting on a wining lotto ticket

[Sarethums]

Why not just use a normal tv? Or a hdtv? I love how it makes retro games look

[HDgaming42]

giant picture of BVM graveyard

No story to go a long with this tease?

After some help from Fudoh I have nearly all my previous problems solved except the faint "bars/striping" that are present during black load screens on the lhs. I do not think it is geometry related bc I have tweaked nearly every setting in the "Alignment" menu with no success. Thoughts?

Care to share with the rest of us? What is this talk of the LM1881 not being the right choice for Saturn? (I have yet to attempt my custom cables for my systems as my LM1881s are in transit)

Why not just use a normal tv? Or a hdtv? I love how it makes retro games look

You troll'n?

[Fudoh]

On a BVM you don't need a LM1881. You can just as well use composite video for sync. The issues shown above (the wobbly Saturn menu screen) was caused by a ground issue.

[Greerdom]

No story to go a long with this tease?

I found a seller in LA/Hollywood who goes around to all of the studios buying up their older equipment, as most are converting/converted to HD now. He actually mentioned a recent increase in "gamers" buying old CRTs (PVMs &BVMs) and that he read an article online about how the BVM is the best for retro gaming, scan lines, etc. I had a great chuckle to myself, and let Fudoh know he's a celebrity I picked one up for $200 with a 21D and 24N,BKM controller, all cables, 10 BNC to RCA connectors & a giant bag of 75ohm terminators. It was literally a GIANT warehouse full of old electronics, speakers, and tons of broadcast and studio equipment. I wandered around for at least 30 minutes before deciding I was going to have to go back and buy a few more from him. I'll post more pics when I do.

Care to share with the rest of us? What is this talk of the LM1881 not being the right choice for Saturn? (I have yet to attempt my custom cables for my systems as my LM1881s are in transit)

This.

On a BVM you don't need a LM1881. You can just as well use composite video for sync. The issues shown above (the wobbly Saturn menu screen) was caused by a ground issue.

Thanks to Fudoh, I ended up bypassing the LM1881 by removing the input and output cables from the IC and drilled them together. Voila! Problem solved.

Why not just use a normal tv? Or a hdtv? I love how it makes retro games look

I suppose it's a matter of preference