Sega Saturn with Pound Cable giving me random black screens

[Jonpachi]

I know, I know, Pound Cables suck.

But that's where I'm at.

- I have the Saturn running via a Pound HDMI adaptor.
- The console boots, and goes to the title screen for some games, but not all.
- I have Soukyugurentai running and the game loads to the main menu, plays the attract demo, and even lets me play the Battle Garegga demo.
- However, when I try to play the actual game I get a black screen.
- I also have Virtua Fighter 2 and that one goes straight to a black screen (no main menu).

I'm guessing this a resolution problem? Like the core game of Souky is running at some resolution that's different from the title menu?

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I know, I know, Pound Cables suck.

But that's where I'm at.

- I have the Saturn running via a Pound HDMI adaptor.
- The console boots, and goes to the title screen for some games, but not all.
- I have Soukyugurentai running and the game loads to the main menu, plays the attract demo, and even lets me play the Battle Garegga demo.
- However, when I try to play the actual game I get a black screen.
- I also have Virtua Fighter 2 and that one goes straight to a black screen (no main menu).

I'm guessing this a resolution problem? Like the core game of Souky is running at some resolution that's different from the title menu?

For Jonpachi,

I use this XYAB branded SS HDMI upscaler sold by Stone Age Gamer and it works 100% on my Japanese Skeleton "This is Cool!" variant SS console: https://stoneagegamer.com/rgb-hd-link-c ... -xyab.html

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Jonpachi]

I know, I know, Pound Cables suck.

But that's where I'm at.

- I have the Saturn running via a Pound HDMI adaptor.
- The console boots, and goes to the title screen for some games, but not all.
- I have Soukyugurentai running and the game loads to the main menu, plays the attract demo, and even lets me play the Battle Garegga demo.
- However, when I try to play the actual game I get a black screen.
- I also have Virtua Fighter 2 and that one goes straight to a black screen (no main menu).

I'm guessing this a resolution problem? Like the core game of Souky is running at some resolution that's different from the title menu?

For Jonpachi,

I use this XYAB branded SS HDMI upscaler sold by Stone Age Gamer and it works 100% on my Japanese Skeleton "This is Cool!" variant SS console: https://stoneagegamer.com/rgb-hd-link-c ... -xyab.html

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Thanks! I suspect I have a cheap monitor (I'm setting this up at work at my desk using office junk equipment) but if it still doesn't work with another monitor I will grab one of these!

[BuckoA51]

Pound aren't known for greatness but I'd avoid XYLab at all costs - https://retrorgb.com/the-worst-console- ... ested.html

Is a Rad2X not an option?

[Steven]

It's been a while and I am too lazy to check, but I'm 90% sure that Soukyuugurentai runs at some interlaced resolution in the title screen. If the attract mode works but the real game doesn't, I have no idea what's up with that, but in-game resolution should be 352x240. It could actually be a refresh rate problem, but I don't know what the game's refresh rate is and am too lazy to check that too.

In any case, I'd try OSSC/Retrotink/RAD2x/etc. and see what happens.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

In using a Retrotink 5X-Pro upscaler with a proper SS Scart cable setup, there's no "black screen" issue to contend with (but it's north of $300.00 to $350.00 for one used depending on it's overall condition). You get what you pay for in the end indeed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Jonpachi]

I ended up buying a cheaper retrotink knock-off on Amazon and it worked perfectly. Some noise, but at least the game/console is not the problem.