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Retro AV Thread |OT| RGB, CRTs, Upscalers, and More

spydersvenom

spydersvenom

Member
Oct 27, 2017
172
Kansas City
Kvik said:
Yeah, I have this setup. I bought a SATA mod and replaced the IDE board with it. My only gripe with it is if I want to add more games to it, since I need to use WINHIIP on my PC. Do you know of any alternative methods of adding games that doesn't involve taking out the HDD all the time?
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You can use HDL Dump to send items from your PC to your PS2 via router. Only issue is you have to assign the PS2 a specific IP address and change some network settings on your PC. That and it runs SLOW. If you want to do this, the video (not mine) is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKcPMKEvYbo

Personally I still use WinHIIP. It seems to be the fastest and easiest method, despite having to disassemble your PS2 each time.
 
spydersvenom

spydersvenom

Member
Oct 27, 2017
172
Kansas City
Televator said:
Maybe a tracking problem? You should be using Natural image mode to deinterlace video.
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Never tried to do this before, but I'm betting ShinJohnpv is right:

ShinJohnpv said:
Are they home records, or official releases? Could be the copy protection if they're official releases.
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MacroVision was a copyright protection in VHS that did exactly what you are describing since many users were hooking two VCRs up to one another and copying rented tapes. If this is the case, wow, surprised it still worked as intended on a Framemeister. Probably something embedded in the composite video signal. Way to test this is to use a home video or something taped off TV rather than an official VHS release.
 
spydersvenom

spydersvenom

Member
Oct 27, 2017
172
Kansas City
angelgrievous said:
I'm hoping you all can help me out here. I really want to get a good monitor for my retro systems. I've been looking at the Sony PVM/BVM models and while they are attractive, they seem expensive and hard to find. Can anyone recommend something similar? I'd even buy a PVM/BVM if I can find a good price but I'm not really sure what that is. $300? I'd probably be willing to spend that much if it was a real good monitor.

I'm mostly playing PS1 and Saturn games but I think I'm going to pick up a 3DO and a Dreamcast soon so those also. Thanks for any input. Also, I'd be looking at where to buy also. I've been keeping an eye on craigslist but there isn't really anything around me. Well, there is a 19" BVM about an hour south of me but they're asking $500 so I don't know if I can squeeze that into my budget.
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I've run into issues with PVM/BVM dying out due to a bunch of use (these were broadcast/medical monitors after all) and after buying a really nice one for about $350 and having it die on me within a year of use, I gave up. Sadly I can't think of any good replacement, these monitors were big for their time.

If you've got the room, don't mind the visual downgrade, and are ready for heavy lifting, I've had the most luck with Sony Trinitrons. I specifically look for ones that have component video and I check each one before grabbing it to make sure there's no major defects. I'm really impressed with how those look in 240p with either a SCART-to-Component box or Retrovision cables. Still, they don't hold a candle to the amazing quality of a PVM.
 
Laevateinn

Laevateinn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,137
Chicago
angelgrievous said:
I'm hoping you all can help me out here. I really want to get a good monitor for my retro systems. I've been looking at the Sony PVM/BVM models and while they are attractive, they seem expensive and hard to find. Can anyone recommend something similar? I'd even buy a PVM/BVM if I can find a good price but I'm not really sure what that is. $300? I'd probably be willing to spend that much if it was a real good monitor.

I'm mostly playing PS1 and Saturn games but I think I'm going to pick up a 3DO and a Dreamcast soon so those also. Thanks for any input. Also, I'd be looking at where to buy also. I've been keeping an eye on craigslist but there isn't really anything around me. Well, there is a 19" BVM about an hour south of me but they're asking $500 so I don't know if I can squeeze that into my budget.
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If you're willing to spend around 300 than you should just get an OSSC.
 
angelgrievous

angelgrievous

Middle fingers up
Member
Nov 8, 2017
9,133
Ohio
Laevateinn said:
If you're willing to spend around 300 than you should just get an OSSC.
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is this something I can buy online tonight or do I have to sign up on a waiting list? Sorry, I don't really know much about it/them. Any chance you can link some info for me. I googled it and got mostly links to the Ohio State Swim Club. Thanks.

Is this a better option than the framemeister?
 
Laevateinn

Laevateinn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,137
Chicago
angelgrievous said:
is this something I can buy online tonight or do I have to sign up on a waiting list? Sorry, I don't really know much about it/them. Any chance you can link some info for me. I googled it and got mostly links to the Ohio State Swim Club. Thanks.

Is this a better option than the framemeister?
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An OSSC, or open source scan converter, is a lot like a framemeister. It is basically just a line multiplier with a few extra features but it's better in that it's cheaper and has less input lag.

You can buy one here: https://www.videogameperfection.com/products/open-source-converter/

I'm using it for my Dreamcast and X68000 and love it but I imagine a lot of people here are using them for other consoles. I use a PVM for everything else and think that's the best option but OSSC is excellent and a lot more future proof.
 
Kvik

Kvik

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
889
Downunder.
spydersvenom said:
You can use HDL Dump to send items from your PC to your PS2 via router. Only issue is you have to assign the PS2 a specific IP address and change some network settings on your PC. That and it runs SLOW. If you want to do this, the video (not mine) is here:
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A cursory look on hdl_dump seems to indicate that you can change the default ip: http://web.archive.org/web/20120720230755/http://openps2loader.info/hdldump/howto.html

I might give it a go, regardless. Average transfer rate of 1MB/sec seems to be par the course for PSN downloads anyway :-P

Thanks for your insight!
 
angelgrievous

angelgrievous

Middle fingers up
Member
Nov 8, 2017
9,133
Ohio
Laevateinn said:
An OSSC, or open source scan converter, is a lot like a framemeister. It is basically just a line multiplier with a few extra features but it's better in that it's cheaper and has less input lag.

You can buy one here: https://www.videogameperfection.com/products/open-source-converter/

I'm using it for my Dreamcast and X68000 and love it but I imagine a lot of people here are using them for other consoles. I use a PVM for everything else and think that's the best option but OSSC is excellent and a lot more future proof.
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thanks for this. I'll dig into some research tonight.
 
Tiktaalik

Tiktaalik

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,426
ShinJohnpv said:
Are they home records, or official releases? Could be the copy protection if they're official releases.
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They're all blank home videos. They're all unlabelled so that's why I'm going through all of them. So far nothing much interesting found, just a bunch of old cartoons I recorded when I was a kid and some movies clearly recorded from TV.
 
Hideo Kojima Jr

Hideo Kojima Jr

Member
Oct 26, 2017
48
jsnepo said:
I managed to obtain the Xbox HD AV pack without the cables. I bought two sets of cables and made comparisons. The left part uses a generic cable while the right one is a Philips shielded one.

https://youtu.be/ltwNwUvHSvc
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Someone should properly do this test, but my dude... I appreciate where your heart is at and the work you did but pointing your phone in the general direction of a CRT at a different shutter speed than its refresh rate, so it's flickering all over the place and the auto-exposure is freaking out, on top of it being over all a grainy video... It just isn't necessarily as productive as I think you may have hoped. We should find somebody here with a really good capture card to make the comparison footage directly, a bit more scientifically. :P Again, it is a good idea though!
 
jsnepo

jsnepo

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,648
Hideo Kojima Jr said:
Someone should properly do this test, but my dude... I appreciate where your heart is at and the work you did but pointing your phone in the general direction of a CRT at a different shutter speed than its refresh rate, so it's flickering all over the place and the auto-exposure is freaking out, on top of it being over all a grainy video... It just isn't necessarily as productive as I think you may have hoped. We should find somebody here with a really good capture card to make the comparison footage directly, a bit more scientifically. :P Again, it is a good idea though!
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Haha! Yeah I know. I just did this to show a friend the difference since he plans on getting a 3rd party one online. Since I already have the video uploaded, I might as well share it here. :D
 
spydersvenom

spydersvenom

Member
Oct 27, 2017
172
Kansas City
Hideo Kojima Jr said:
Someone should properly do this test, but my dude... I appreciate where your heart is at and the work you did but pointing your phone in the general direction of a CRT at a different shutter speed than its refresh rate, so it's flickering all over the place and the auto-exposure is freaking out, on top of it being over all a grainy video... It just isn't necessarily as productive as I think you may have hoped. We should find somebody here with a really good capture card to make the comparison footage directly, a bit more scientifically. :P Again, it is a good idea though!
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I have a couple solid capture cards and an original Xbox with the HD AV pack, but I'm not sure what we're testing here. Do you want a comparison of cables? I have the ones that officially came with the pack and I've definitely got plenty of different component cables around, am I correct you want to see how the quality varies? Also what resolution? 480i or 480p? I can capture in either and even put in some games with higher resolution like Syberia or Hulk: Ultimate Destruction that go up to 720p. Just need to know what you'd like to see captured.
 
tiesto

tiesto

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,865
Long Island, NY
So, I need some help... I recently purchased an LG OLED, and it's amazing, but it's sorely lacking in ports. Only 4 HDMI and 1 Composite. The HDMI is fine for PS3/4/WiiU/Switch... but there are a few 'in between' systems that I need to hook up via Component or VGA. (I have a CRT that I keep my Composite-based systems hooked up to...)

So some questions:
-One of the systems I need to hook up is Wii. How are those WiiHDMI things available?
-Any good VGA -> HDMI solutions? Ditto for Component -> HDMI?
-Any good deals on HDMI-enabled 360's? Do they still make 360's? I have one of the older ones and it's only Component :(
-Anybody see this? J Tech Digital - looks like it has exactly what I need - 2 Components, 1 HDMI, and 1 VGA.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01880ROSE/?tag=era0f0-20
-So, I keep hearing about OSSC, but it doesn't have audio jacks for the components? And it only has one component and one VGA port?
 

Deleted member 5582

User requested account closure
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Oct 25, 2017
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OSSC has a 3.5mm audio input jack for component and another for VGA; for component you can get a simple RCA to headphone adapter. If you want more than one port, buy a switch.

For analog to digital conversion, it really doesn't get any better than an OSSC.Especially for 480p sources, the conversion to 960p with double horizontal sampling looks really slick.Plus if you want to hook up a Dreamcast via VGA you can put the OSSC into a mode where it correctly handles the DTV-style 640x480 signal, which almost nothing else does properly. Oh and also being really awesome for 240p makes it hard to recommend anything else.
 
spydersvenom

spydersvenom

Member
Oct 27, 2017
172
Kansas City
tiesto said:
So, I need some help... I recently purchased an LG OLED, and it's amazing, but it's sorely lacking in ports. Only 4 HDMI and 1 Composite. The HDMI is fine for PS3/4/WiiU/Switch... but there are a few 'in between' systems that I need to hook up via Component or VGA. (I have a CRT that I keep my Composite-based systems hooked up to...)

So some questions:
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With many of your questions it's important to remember that outside of the OSSC, all of the devices you are looking at adapt ports/signal but often don't adapt resolution. This can be crucial when interpreting what your OLED is going to do with the signal you feed it. With that in mind, here are some answers to build upon what CrystalXbox said:
  • One of the systems I need to hook up is Wii. How are those WiiHDMI things available? This does exactly what it suggests: adapts your Wii to have an HDMI port. It does not improve picture quality, so 480p is all you get, but it sounds like that's all you need. Be careful with buying knock-offs, quality heavily degrades. Avoid anything that claims to upscale the image beyond 480p.
  • Any good VGA -> HDMI solutions? Ditto for Component -> HDMI? Believe it or not, this worked great for me: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006JW6L7O/?tag=era0f0-20 I bought the old version but it's perfect for Dreamcast. Don't pay attention to the "upscale" thing, it's not what you want and reviews are confirming that it doesn't actually upscale. What you put in is what you get out. For Dreamcast you'll get 480p and the lag is small enough that I can correctly play Ikaruga. Same thing with the Component to HDMI: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VJ9RP6/?tag=era0f0-20 This one will convert, but not adapt. This will be a big problem with most retro "component" consoles like PS2, which outputs PS1 games (and Ico) at 240p and most likely your TV will not recognize the signal and even if it does it'll deinterlace weird and look like garbage. Also the case with PS2 and Gamecube unless the games are in 480p, your TV will deinterlace the native 480i signal and it can look rough. For those signals, OSSC has a great "bob deinterlace" option, see below.
  • Any good deals on HDMI-enabled 360's? Do they still make 360's? I have one of the older ones and it's only Component :( I "upgraded" to a 360 with HDMI and I'm glad I did. It's much more compatible, but again, outside of moving from analog (component) to digital (HDMI) there's no visual change, perhaps a mild cleaner look, but very mild. They usually go for about $60-$80 depending on where you look, but GameStop recently purged many of the early cheap consoles in a black friday promotion. You can find them pretty cheap on eBay/CraigsList but you never know how much suffering those have gone through, so use your best judgement when picking a console. I think they're still $150-$200 new, your call. GameStop or stores like it can have some value because you can buy used, get covered by a decent return/exchange policy, and can add those extended warranties. One of the only benefits of Gamestop. Prepare for a lot of headaches, though, the consoles turned into GameStop are in ROUGH shape most of the time, so you'll be swapping consoles all over your area to find a decent one.
  • Anybody see this? J Tech Digital - looks like it has exactly what I need - 2 Components, 1 HDMI, and 1 VGA.
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01880ROSE/?tag=era0f0-20 This is like a crazy catch-all switch box that takes some component, VGA, HDMI, and even composite and optical, and routes it all to a single HDMI out. You can get the Wii2HDMI, VGA converter, and component converter for well under this price, but this is a much more versatile solution if you want lots of options and room to expand to more consoles/electronics. Same as all of them: what you put in is what you get out. This is usually good because it means little to no processing of video signal to minimize lag.
  • So, I keep hearing about OSSC, but it doesn't have audio jacks for the components? And it only has one component and one VGA port? The OSSC pretty much multiplies lines of resolution to make a larger crisp signal with almost no input lag (a frame or two). It turns 240p into 480p and 720p (double or triple - 240p x 2 = 480p, 240p x 3 = 720p). It can also do the same for 480p (480p x 2 = 960p). It has a deinterlace that's sharper than most TVs do so your 480i signals become 480p with ease (and can also be multiplied). It also has "bob deinterlace" that does a rock solid job at emulating the sharpness and motion of an interlaced signal, so it basically makes 480p look like 480i if it gets a 480i signal, which can be great for PS2 games. The latest version, 1.6, does have inputs for RGB SCART, Component video, and VGA as well as a 3.5mm audio jack to feed it stereo audio (may need an adapter for some items like a PS2 component video, but those are only a couple bucks). It's one big flaw: resolutions. Not all TVs properly accept 960p, if at all. 720p is widely accepted but TVs handle it in different variety, so check rtings.com to see how your TV handles 720p (any of the LG OLEDs will be on there). Your big one is 960p, because without it the OSCC is just gonna pass through 480p and offer bob deinterlace, which are cool but not the $220 asking price of the OSSC. You'll want to Google or check the Video Game Perfection (they sell the OSSC) forums at https://www.videogameperfection.com/forums to see how your TV handles the OSSC. It can vary. If your TV likes 960p, though, it's a great product. CrystalXbox is right, nothing, not even the Framemesiter (XRGB Mini) handles 480i/480p as well as the OSSC provided you can accept a 960p signal.

Hope this helps.
 
Fuzzy

Fuzzy

Completely non-threatening
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
18,127
Toronto


SNES "Mini" and 1CHIP consoles can now be modded for even better video quality than what we showed in RGB 204. Learn about all of the options available, and whether it's also worth bypassing a 1CHIP's native RGB for more "proper" video levels.
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modoversus

modoversus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,674
México
I actually like the Snes Jr better than the american Snes or japanese Super Famicom design, but I cannot justify to myself the cost of getting one and modding it when I already have a functional SNES. Still, it's a good thing the community continues to improve the mods.
 
Fuzzy

Fuzzy

Completely non-threatening
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
18,127
Toronto
Did anyone know Adam Zey started selling HD Retrovision cables and Voultar's boards through his own site in Canada so we don't have to worry about high shipping or customs fees? I haven't looked into the price differences to see if it really saves us any money though.

https://retrostuff.ca/
 
Hexadron

Hexadron

Member
Oct 25, 2017
750
Fuzzy said:
Did anyone know Adam Zey started selling HD Retrovision cables and Voultar's boards through his own site in Canada so we don't have to worry about high shipping or customs fees? I haven't looked into the price differences to see if it really saves us any money though.

https://retrostuff.ca/
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Thanks Fuzzy any recommendations for modding services in Canada? I was actually comtemplating sending some stuff to our Lord Voultar but was worried about the shipping costs..
 
JEKKI

JEKKI

Member
Oct 27, 2017
214
happy old year!!! it's like a happy new year, except it's old becoz I'm all about that retro shit.

this week I learned when you use lyft that you can specifically request an SUV, which helped me bring this new table home from Ikea!!

Y1uew2jl.jpg


becoz earlier when I bought it, I had to immediately return it due to not fitting in my car lol. anywayz, this is good becoz now I can finally make myself a new gaming setup!

nqlydBNl.jpg


I'm still gonna play around and figure out the best way to situate all the monitors, but I'm definitely looking forward to bringing in the old year this weekend with some sweet old skool gamingz!
 
Arulan

Arulan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,571
I just received my OSSC. Are there any best practices for using scanlines? Specifically for ~240p content, and attempting to achieve a look similar to PVM/BVM monitors.
 
spydersvenom

spydersvenom

Member
Oct 27, 2017
172
Kansas City
Arulan said:
I just received my OSSC. Are there any best practices for using scanlines? Specifically for ~240p content, and attempting to achieve a look similar to PVM/BVM monitors.
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I've played around with the OSSC, but I'll cop to not owning one. Your best bet on most 240p signals is the line tripler (Lx3) because it basically creates a signal that is 720p. Granted it's a modified 720p (I think 1440x720 but cropped, but it may be 1280x720) so compatibility with certain TVs will vary. Apparently 1080p Sonys and Samsungs have shown great results whereas it varies widely with 4K TVs. Keep in mind that SNES can be a problem since it actually outputs 256x240 so Lx3 actually gives you 1024x720, which is even more off spec for 720p. I've also heard TG-16/PC-Engine has similar problems (it's also 256x240) but at the time I played with an OSSC (late last year) I didn't have an RGB modded console.

You may also have to fiddle with "normal" viewing mode (ie: overscan cropped/zoomed) and "full pixel" or "screen fit" (ie: no overscan crop/zoom) on your TV as well. This is a setting necessary with most scalers and PC sources on HDTVs, but not an issue with most PC monitors. You can also add scanlines, which many like, and the OSSC does a rock solid job at Lx3. There is also a Line 4x and Line 5x mode for higher resolutions that have been added in the recent firmware, but I can't speak to how well those will work since the resolutions are even more modified and compatibility varies.

If you want to get a feel for compatibility, the OSSC forums have some helpful folks that have created compatibility charts (keep in mind you may have to convert model numbers for EU or NA) but it's a good starting point: https://www.videogameperfection.com/forums/topic/tv-compatibility/ You could also, obviously, just play with the settings and see what works and what doesn't. You shouldn't worry about harming your display, it'll either show the picture or give you a "no signal" or "incompatible signal" message. Keep in mind with most sources there will be horizontal and even vertical bars/black areas on your screen, so it's a good idea to give your TV a rest every 2 hours or so with some full screen content. Usually I just switch to a TV show that's full screen and play about 10 minutes to get the pixels moving. I also then take at least 30 mins with the screen off, but honestly it probably has no affect on the lifetime of the display and it has no effect on prevention of burn-in or dead pixels.
 
Arulan

Arulan

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,571
spydersvenom said:
I've played around with the OSSC, but I'll cop to not owning one. Your best bet on most 240p signals is the line tripler (Lx3) because it basically creates a signal that is 720p. Granted it's a modified 720p (I think 1440x720 but cropped, but it may be 1280x720) so compatibility with certain TVs will vary. Apparently 1080p Sonys and Samsungs have shown great results whereas it varies widely with 4K TVs. Keep in mind that SNES can be a problem since it actually outputs 256x240 so Lx3 actually gives you 1024x720, which is even more off spec for 720p. I've also heard TG-16/PC-Engine has similar problems (it's also 256x240) but at the time I played with an OSSC (late last year) I didn't have an RGB modded console.

You may also have to fiddle with "normal" viewing mode (ie: overscan cropped/zoomed) and "full pixel" or "screen fit" (ie: no overscan crop/zoom) on your TV as well. This is a setting necessary with most scalers and PC sources on HDTVs, but not an issue with most PC monitors. You can also add scanlines, which many like, and the OSSC does a rock solid job at Lx3. There is also a Line 4x and Line 5x mode for higher resolutions that have been added in the recent firmware, but I can't speak to how well those will work since the resolutions are even more modified and compatibility varies.

If you want to get a feel for compatibility, the OSSC forums have some helpful folks that have created compatibility charts (keep in mind you may have to convert model numbers for EU or NA) but it's a good starting point: https://www.videogameperfection.com/forums/topic/tv-compatibility/ You could also, obviously, just play with the settings and see what works and what doesn't. You shouldn't worry about harming your display, it'll either show the picture or give you a "no signal" or "incompatible signal" message. Keep in mind with most sources there will be horizontal and even vertical bars/black areas on your screen, so it's a good idea to give your TV a rest every 2 hours or so with some full screen content. Usually I just switch to a TV show that's full screen and play about 10 minutes to get the pixels moving. I also then take at least 30 mins with the screen off, but honestly it probably has no affect on the lifetime of the display and it has no effect on prevention of burn-in or dead pixels.
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Thanks for the information.

I've been using Line 3x with the Sega Saturn and Genesis so far and it looks phenomenal. It outputs 1280x720, though only 960x720 is active. My PC monitor hasn't given me any issues so far, and the 1440p native resolution makes for nice 720p scaling.
 

Deleted member 7130

User requested account closure
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I would attempt 5x on a 1080p display. If it works, it results in a 1:1 pixel map with some overscan.
 
Jimnymebob

Jimnymebob

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,578
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but I'm looking on retrogamecables uk at an RgB scart for my TV (a Daewoo from around 2000 I think. No clue on the model, but it's one of those with a VHS slot on the front), and they only have RGB CSYNC.
This means nothing to me, but it says it will work on monitors that require CSYNC to function, as well as most modern sets. However, my TV doesn't require CSYNC as far as I know, and at almost two decades old I'd hardly class it as modern, so would you think it would still work?
 
spydersvenom

spydersvenom

Member
Oct 27, 2017
172
Kansas City
Jimnymebob said:
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but I'm looking on retrogamecables uk at an RgB scart for my TV (a Daewoo from around 2000 I think. No clue on the model, but it's one of those with a VHS slot on the front), and they only have RGB CSYNC.
This means nothing to me, but it says it will work on monitors that require CSYNC to function, as well as most modern sets. However, my TV doesn't require CSYNC as far as I know, and at almost two decades old I'd hardly class it as modern, so would you think it would still work?
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Am I correct that you have an RGB SCART port on your TV? I'm pretty sure European TVs with a SCART accept csync, but don't require it.

Sync is part of the picture information sent via video cables and on the SCART standard it can be found in several locations. CSYNC stands for clear sync/raw sync/composite sync (which is different than sync on composite) and it means the sync signal is on its own pin. SCART cables that have RGB can also have sync on Composite, which I guess was common in Europe back in the day, but that has a lot of noise in the video signal. There's also sync on luma, which uses the s-video pin to send the sync signal and is usually regarded as about as clear as CSYNC. The reason it's listed on Retro Game Cables is because Americans using an RGB SCART to Component Video converter, certain monitors, and some scalers require CSYNC. We never got the SCART standard in the US so we almost always have to convert the port and that often requires CSYNC.
 
Jimnymebob

Jimnymebob

Member
Oct 26, 2017
19,578
spydersvenom said:
Am I correct that you have an RGB SCART port on your TV? I'm pretty sure European TVs with a SCART accept csync, but don't require it.

Sync is part of the picture information sent via video cables and on the SCART standard it can be found in several locations. CSYNC stands for clear sync/raw sync/composite sync (which is different than sync on composite) and it means the sync signal is on its own pin. SCART cables that have RGB can also have sync on Composite, which I guess was common in Europe back in the day, but that has a lot of noise in the video signal. There's also sync on luma, which uses the s-video pin to send the sync signal and is usually regarded as about as clear as CSYNC. The reason it's listed on Retro Game Cables is because Americans using an RGB SCART to Component Video converter, certain monitors, and some scalers require CSYNC. We never got the SCART standard in the US so we almost always have to convert the port and that often requires CSYNC.
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Yep, I have an RGB SCART, which I have a HAMA AV Selector connected to, and I have an RGB Luma lead from them for my PS2.

That's an informative reply though. Thank you.
All this stuff is beyond me though lol. I just wanna get the best out of my old systems, after having played them with normal SCART and aerial when I was younger.

I'm looking forward to getting one for my Mega Drive 2, but I need to get it, and some of my carts, a clean first. I've only ever played it with the aerial connection that it came with.
 

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most likely sync on luma will work on your set but if you want to wait for them to restock Csync you can do that as well. i get my cables from them. i think sync on luma is considered a safe bet.
be sure to get the one with the lightgun port for 1 dollar more.
 
spydersvenom

spydersvenom

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Oct 27, 2017
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davidwhangchoi said:
most likely sync on luma will work on your set but if you want to wait for them to restock Csync you can do that as well. i get my cables from them. i think sync on luma is considered a safe bet.
be sure to get the one with the lightgun port for 1 dollar more.
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Oh right, forgot that. Yes always get the light gun port since it's like a nominal fee and you never know when you may want to use it. These are in reference to PS1/PS2 SCART cables, not sure if you mentioned which console you're buying for. FWIW I use sync on luma for my PS1 SCART and it looks perfect, so buy without fear on that front.

Also side note, davidwangchoi, awesome setup you have there. I'm drooling. I think I need to seriously consider a PVM/BVM for 2018.
 
Jimnymebob

Jimnymebob

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Oct 26, 2017
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I already have the PS2 Luma, but I didn't opt for the light gun port, because I don't have any (Well I have End Game, but I played that with Dualshock and probably won't play it again), and I'm not a huge fan of the genre on console. They're purely arcade experiences for me. The fun comes from the big cabinets with their attract modes blaring out.
 

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spydersvenom said:
Oh right, forgot that. Yes always get the light gun port since it's like a nominal fee and you never know when you may want to use it. These are in reference to PS1/PS2 SCART cables, not sure if you mentioned which console you're buying for. FWIW I use sync on luma for my PS1 SCART and it looks perfect, so buy without fear on that front.

Also side note, davidwangchoi, awesome setup you have there. I'm drooling. I think I need to seriously consider a PVM/BVM for 2018.
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thanks man, it's hands down better than anything. only problem is getting hands on one can be difficult depending on geographical location and availability =/ but if you can find one at a decent price, jump on it as you will be blown away.
 

Wachenroder

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Thanks for the recommendations, think i'll grab the monoprice one. Did not know the person that made that gscartsw also had a component equivalent. One other thing, i never bought just regular component cables, im looking around and it seems all of them are in the $10 range. Safe to assume most of them should be of decent quality? Thinking of just getting the amazon brand, really the only brand i recognize apart from monoprice which also has some.
 
modoversus

modoversus

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Speaking of component cables, is there a recommended, affordable, component powered splitter/amplifier? To be able split the signal between a TV and a capture card.
 
zenosparadox

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modoversus said:
Speaking of component cables, is there a recommended, affordable, component powered splitter/amplifier? To be able split the signal between a TV and a capture card.
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I have two of these component switchers:

https://www.cablestogo.com/product/...-toslink-digital-audio-matrix-selector-switch

I think the same switcher used to be made by Impact Acoustics (the My Life in Gaming guys mentioned this in one of their game room tour videos, I think). It has 6 inputs and 2 outputs. I have not done any analysis of the quality, but I believe it to be good. Also, it is on sale for $80 right now which is definitely a bit cheaper than when I bought mine.
 

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Wachenroder said:
I like the monoprice powered switch.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p...Sw5HltDYCNbTyno9WM761kWfCmHH6ZkAaAijDEALw_wcB

I also use a GE component switch

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FI5MFA/?tag=era0f0-20

Both are inexpensive. I do like the powered one a little better but its also nice to have an easy to use manual switch that doesnt need an outlet.
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monoprice makes some good stuff.

wookiewin basically takes their cables and splits them in half.
 
Auberji

Auberji

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Producer said:
Thanks for the recommendations, think i'll grab the monoprice one. Did not know the person that made that gscartsw also had a component equivalent. One other thing, i never bought just regular component cables, im looking around and it seems all of them are in the $10 range. Safe to assume most of them should be of decent quality? Thinking of just getting the amazon brand, really the only brand i recognize apart from monoprice which also has some.
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Can also suggest amazon brand since that is what I have hah, got them hooked up to my ossc, no death grip!
 
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