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[dhonk]

Im looking into upgrading my 2008 era Plasma TV, and well yeah they dont make plasma. Someone in here mentioned pro plasma displays, found this guy.

Wonder if its worth making an offer on, has hdmi. Also has slots for adding features which is neat, I even saw a SCART card at one point. (Sold.)

 

[Peltz]

Im looking into upgrading my 2008 era Plasma TV, and well yeah they dont make plasma. Someone in here mentioned pro plasma displays, found this guy.

Wonder if its worth making an offer on, has hdmi. Also has slots for adding features which is neat, I even saw a SCART card at one point. (Sold.)

1.67ms response time sounds fishy. I don't know of any measuring device that breaks response time down to that decimal, nor any fixed pixel display that is that fast.

I hope it's not 167ms (as in 1 sec and 67ms response time) because that would make gaming basically impossible on that set. Be careful.

 

[Peltz]

double post, my bad.

 

[dhonk]

Yeah thought that was weird too. Im gonna look at Panny's official PDF. Just a bummer that OLED is so expensive, Plasma was top tier.... Now we get to suffer through mediocre 4k displays with gross LCD / LED tech.

Might just run with this TV a while longer till it dies, besides the shitty overscan (solved by XRGB mini underscann setting.) and sub 1080p res its still pretty gorgeous looking.

 

[Peltz]

Yeah thought that was weird too. Im gonna look at Panny's official PDF. Just a bummer that OLED is so expensive, Plasma was top tier.... Now we get to suffer through mediocre 4k displays with gross LCD / LED tech.

Might just run with this TV a while longer till it dies, besides the shitty overscan (solved by XRGB mini underscann setting.) and sub 1080p res its still pretty gorgeous looking.

If it helps, I really enjoy my Sony KDL. I deem it an upgrade in every way over my 2012 Panasonic Plasma (which surprises me to say the very least). I thought I was doomed to shitty picture due to LED tech-prominence after my plasma died, but I genuinely don't miss it and feel much better off with this set. The picture is surprisingly good and the blacks are much deeper than I previously thought LEDs could do.

 

[dhonk]

I'll look into it, thanks! Any specific model?

 

[Khaz]

I would recommend the official French MD2 SCART lead and an official GC SCART lead for your 1chip SNES.

I wouldn't. In addition to the buzzing from video interference, it also has hissing from the voltage converter in the plug. You can mod the hissing out by cutting the +5V traces but then you lose the ability to hotswitch. It's barely better than a cheap chinese knockoff. There are much better solutions for Megadrive cables by third parties nowadays, with properly shielded wires.

 

[dark10x]

If anyone is curious, I put together a look at Game Boy Interface here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maT2M68z3vk

I captured everything through an XRGB using an RGB SCART cable. Game Boy Interface is running at 240p. I think it looks pretty damn good and feels so much better.

 

[NormalFish]

If anyone is curious, I put together a look at Game Boy Interface here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maT2M68z3vk

I captured everything through an XRGB using an RGB SCART cable. Game Boy Interface is running at 240p. I think it looks pretty damn good and feels so much better.

Good video. I really need to find a way to try this out, but I'd need to rebuy a GBP, NGC, and get it modded or something. Perhaps when I have a bit more cash to throw at it.

 

[speedlolita]

I wouldn't. In addition to the buzzing from video interference, it also has hissing from the voltage converter in the plug. You can mod the hissing out by cutting the +5V traces but then you lose the ability to hotswitch. It's barely better than a cheap chinese knockoff. There are much better solutions for Megadrive cables by third parties nowadays, with properly shielded wires.

Okay, my bad - shouldn't just assume official cables are good. That said, people have shit on the official DC and GC cables before due to lack of grounds but they've always had a rock solid image for me. I'm extremely curious about this cable now. My French MD1 SCART has been superb on my MD, though I modded my second one to use with a Master System.

 

[dark10x]

Good video. I really need to find a way to try this out, but I'd need to rebuy a GBP, NGC, and get it modded or something. Perhaps when I have a bit more cash to throw at it.

Well, the nice thing here is that NGC consoles are dirt cheap and you could probably find a GBP without the disc for a very low price. It's the Player disc that's uncommon, not the hardware itself. You could also use SD Media Loader to avoid modding.

Still requires a bit of an investment, though.

I guess my question is - are there any decent GC controller converters? I'd like to use, say, a SNES pad on my GC. I bought a generic adapter but the input lag was severe.

 

[InfiniteNine]

If anyone is curious, I put together a look at Game Boy Interface here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maT2M68z3vk

I captured everything through an XRGB using an RGB SCART cable. Game Boy Interface is running at 240p. I think it looks pretty damn good and feels so much better.

Ah is the SCART the same cable as the one I use with my SFC? It'd be nice to give it a dual use.

 

[dark10x]

Ah is the SCART the same cable as the one I use with my SFC? It'd be nice to give it a dual use.

Well, yes and no.

The GameCube is weirdly sensitive to cable quality and I'm not entirely sure why that is. That said, if you find a cable that works well with the GC, it will also work with the SFC/SNES just fine.

 

[PumpkinSpice]

If anyone is curious, I put together a look at Game Boy Interface here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maT2M68z3vk

I captured everything through an XRGB using an RGB SCART cable. Game Boy Interface is running at 240p. I think it looks pretty damn good and feels so much better.

Thanks for this, looks totally perfect. I was really disappointed with GBP software but this fixes every problem I had with it, especially the dumb stutter.

Now I just need to find a JP compatible SD Media Launcher so I can avoid modding my wife's spice orange GC with fancy matching spice orange GBP.

I guess my question is - are there any decent GC controller converters? I'd like to use, say, a SNES pad on my GC. I bought a generic adapter but the input lag was severe.

http://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/snes_to_wii/index.php

 

[dhonk]

I guess my question is - are there any decent GC controller converters? I'd like to use, say, a SNES pad on my GC. I bought a generic adapter but the input lag was severe.

Im working on my video review of the Raphnet adapter right now. Its good!

 

[NormalFish]

worth noting that scart only works on the NGC for pal cubes.

 

[dark10x]

Im working on my video review of the Raphnet adapter right now. Its good!

Well then, looks like that's my ticket. Thanks.

 

[baphomet]

Has it already been mentioned that Tim Worthington made an RGB board for the 2600? Seems to be very similar to his NESRGB. Comes out at the end of the month.

 

[Timu]

Has it already been mentioned that Tim Worthington made an RGB board for the 2600? Seems to be very similar to his NESRGB. Comes out at the end of the month.

RGB for the Atari 2600??? That's unheard of, wow, can't wait to see that.

 

[Khaz]

Has it already been mentioned that Tim Worthington made an RGB board for the 2600? Seems to be very similar to his NESRGB. Comes out at the end of the month.

That's damn good news! My 2600 is coming very soon and I was lamenting that the best it could output with mods was Svideo.

[edit] This is real alright! http://etim.net.au/2600rgb/

 

[metalmonstar]

Any tips for setting up an SD system on two screens? Like say I want the N64 to be hooked up to a small CRT for people playing, but also hooked up to a projector for viewing. Would I just use splitters to make this work?

 

[NormalFish]

Any tips for setting up an SD system on two screens? Like say I want the N64 to be hooked up to a small CRT for people playing, but also hooked up to a projector for viewing. Would I just use splitters to make this work?

Splitter, or some CRTs will relay the video with a set of outputs.

 

[speedlolita]

Two PVMs.

 

[jack....]

1.67ms response time sounds fishy. I don't know of any measuring device that breaks response time down to that decimal, nor any fixed pixel display that is that fast.

I hope it's not 167ms (as in 1 sec and 67ms response time) because that would make gaming basically impossible on that set. Be careful.

167ms would be 0.167 seconds, not 1.67.

 

[catabarez]

Do any US sellers sell the SD media launcher?

 

[Mega]

I wouldn't. In addition to the buzzing from video interference, it also has hissing from the voltage converter in the plug. You can mod the hissing out by cutting the +5V traces but then you lose the ability to hotswitch. It's barely better than a cheap chinese knockoff. There are much better solutions for Megadrive cables by third parties nowadays, with properly shielded wires.

Yeah, I appreciate speed's advice but noticed RetroRGB recommended different cables, third party ones. I went ahead and grabbed the ones linked to a reputable ebay seller.

I also grabbed a Hama 100s scart switch and a male scart to BNC cable. A bit pricey and wish it had a couple more inputs but it seems highly recommended and I had trouble finding anything else that wasn't crap or really expensive.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

Question. What effect does the Wii U going through HDMI have on Wii mode? How does it compared to using an upscaler? What is the effect on 480p software and Virtual Console games? Thanks.

 

[Friend of Sonic]

That's damn good news! My 2600 is coming very soon and I was lamenting that the best it could output with mods was Svideo.

[edit] This is real alright! http://etim.net.au/2600rgb/

This very interesting but honestly I'm not sure if my need is high on it. S-video is so amazing compared to RF that I may be satisfied as is. But I am very curious to see it captured!

 

[D.Lo]

Atari VCS RGB - razor sharp single colour sprites coming soon!

I think I'll skip that one, I can live with composite on my VCS!

 

[dark10x]

Question. What effect does the Wii U going through HDMI have on Wii mode? How does it compared to using an upscaler? What is the effect on 480p software and Virtual Console games? Thanks.

It produces a rather blurry image in my opinion. It's clearly being filtered by the system.

When I play Wii software I prefer to stick with an original Wii + XRGB which can provide a much much sharper picture.

 

[D.Lo]

It produces a rather blurry image in my opinion. It's clearly being filtered by the system.

When I play Wii software I prefer to stick with an original Wii + XRGB which can provide a much much sharper picture.

The blurriness is likely just your TV's scaling from 480p to 1080p. TVs think you want blurriness to smooth over DVDs. Might be something else though.

Yeah it's not as good because it doesn't do 240p basically.

 

[dark10x]

The blurriness is likely just your TV's scaling from 480p to 1080p. TVs think you want blurriness to smooth over DVDs. Might be something else though.

Yeah it's not as good because it doesn't do 240p basically.

Nah, it's not the TV scaling - it's the Wii U scaling. The TV has nothing to do with it. The Wii U scales everything to the configured output resolution.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

A Wii U at 480p is basically the same or slightly, borderline-imperceptibly better than a Wii at 480p.

If you set the Wii U to higher resolutions, it upscales the image to that resolution but does not actually render the game's assets at that resolution. It's similar in principle to what your TV's internal scaler or an external scaler like the XRGB does. The quality is neither amazing nor terrible. You might want to try the Wii U at 480p and compare it to 1080p and see which one looks better on your TV, as it's possible for your TV's scaler to be either better or worse than the Wii U's.

 

[dark10x]

A Wii U at 480p is basically the same or slightly, borderline-imperceptibly better than a Wii at 480p.

If you set the Wii U to higher resolutions, it upscales the image to that resolution but does not actually render the game's assets at that resolution. It's similar in principle to what your TV's internal scaler or an external scaler like the XRGB does. The quality is neither amazing nor terrible. You might want to try the Wii U at 480p and compare it to 1080p and see which one looks better on your TV, as it's possible for your TV's scaler to be either better or worse than the Wii U's.

The XRGB can perform much better scaling than the Wii U for 480p content. You can actually get a pretty sharp image from an original Wii.

 

[D.Lo]

The XRGB can perform much better scaling than the Wii U for 480p content. You can actually get a pretty sharp image from an original Wii.

480p seems about the same to me? 480p can do with a bit of blurriness on a 1080p screen otherwise you get too much aliasing showing.

The key issue here for VC is that the Wii does 240p, and the Wii U does not.

 

[Peltz]

167ms would be 0.167 seconds, not 1.67.

True... 10 milliseconds (a hundredth of a second) are called a centisecond, and are commonly seen on most stopwatches but often mistakenly referred to as milliseconds. But you know what I meant.

Basically: The listing on ebay seems too fast to be true.

 

[InfiniteNine]

Anyone have any good PS2 settings for the Framemeister? Star Ocean 3 still looking pretty blurry even when running in it's 480p mode.

 

[dark10x]

Anyone have any good PS2 settings for the Framemeister? Star Ocean 3 still looking pretty blurry even when running in it's 480p mode.

Main thing

X2 mode
H_scaler - 10
V_scaler - 7
Picture mode (for progressive sources)

That should give you a very sharp image.

You can also use zoom settings

Zoom_size 97
Overscan - 86

Then try zoom_width for either 4:3 or 16:9. I like 40 or so for 4:3 games and 0 for 16:9.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Anyone have any good PS2 settings for the Framemeister? Star Ocean 3 still looking pretty blurry even when running in it's 480p mode.

This video might help you out. Fast forward to the PS2 stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWeIca10B1w

 

[HTupolev]

Im looking into upgrading my 2008 era Plasma TV, and well yeah they dont make plasma. Someone in here mentioned pro plasma displays, found this guy.

Wonder if its worth making an offer on, has hdmi. Also has slots for adding features which is neat, I even saw a SCART card at one point. (Sold.)

They're probably just referring to something with the refresh timing?

"Response time" usually doesn't refer to panel input lag; for instance, with LCDs it typically refers to the time it takes for a color element to switch. Manufacturers almost never advertise input lag.

 

[BONKERS]

A Wii U at 480p is basically the same or slightly, borderline-imperceptibly better than a Wii at 480p.

If you set the Wii U to higher resolutions, it upscales the image to that resolution but does not actually render the game's assets at that resolution. It's similar in principle to what your TV's internal scaler or an external scaler like the XRGB does. The quality is neither amazing nor terrible. You might want to try the Wii U at 480p and compare it to 1080p and see which one looks better on your TV, as it's possible for your TV's scaler to be either better or worse than the Wii U's.

This.

The only thing wrong with the Wii U upscaling of Wii games is that, they are Wii games and are approximately 506% less pixels than 1080p

For what it is, I have no qualms with it.

Sorry if this has been answered a few times already, but how much better is RGB on the N64 specifically compared to S-Video? Saw a couple of YouTube videos and they seem comparable, though that may be because of YouTube compression.

I'd assume the color will be a lot better. Though i've never used S-Video on an N64
S-video tends to be very washed out in my experiences.

 

[KC-Slater]

They're probably just referring to something with the refresh timing?

"Response time" usually doesn't refer to panel input lag; for instance, with LCDs it typically refers to the time it takes for a color element to switch. Manufacturers almost never advertise input lag.

It's almost certainly the refresh timing that's referring to, but I would go for it.

I have posted about my Panasonic Professional Plasma before. They have about twice the half-life of a consumer plasma, and are designed to be used for long-durations (often left on, indefinitely.)

If you're coming from owning a plasma (you know the drill), you'll be very pleased with this.

The professional models are often used as computer displays (among other things), so if they can handle the ghosting that would be abundant with a twitchy mouse cursor, gaming isn't an issue.

 

[dark10x]

This video might help you out. Fast forward to the PS2 stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWeIca10B1w

Well produced but out of date and their advice won't give the sharpest picture.

 

[Madao]

i can also confirm that original Wii through XRGB gives sharper image than Wii U scaling. mostly because you can do 1:1 scaling with the XRGB and that makes a pretty big difference.

there's one thing where the Wii U might have an edge and that is lower overall input lag. with Wii U, you just have the console and the TV as possible sources of lag but with original Wii + XRGB, you've got the XRGB's internal lag on top of the rest.

has anyone measured the same software through both setups?

 

[InfiniteNine]

Main thing

X2 mode
H_scaler - 10
V_scaler - 7
Picture mode (for progressive sources)

That should give you a very sharp image.

You can also use zoom settings

Zoom_size 97
Overscan - 86

Then try zoom_width for either 4:3 or 16:9. I like 40 or so for 4:3 games and 0 for 16:9.

Thanks you! Those zoom settings seem to be the best for me since it shows up really tiny on my 1080p monitor otherwise. (It also doesn't recognize it's in widescreen there either and keeps it in the 4:3 box.)

 

[BocoDragon]

i can also confirm that original Wii through XRGB gives sharper image than Wii U scaling. mostly because you can do 1:1 scaling with the XRGB and that makes a pretty big difference.

there's one thing where the Wii U might have an edge and that is lower overall input lag. with Wii U, you just have the console and the TV as possible sources of lag but with original Wii + XRGB, you've got the XRGB's internal lag on top of the rest.

has anyone measured the same software through both setups?

I found that Wii through the XRGB mini gave me an overly pixelated picture. Maybe too sharp. I just found the Wii U image more pleasing somehow.

 

[NormalFish]

I found that Wii through the XRGB mini gave me an overly pixelated picture. Maybe too sharp. I just found the Wii U image more pleasing somehow.

if you mess with scaler settings you can change this. pixel perfect scaling on many PS2/NGC games looks pretty rough, so scaling that's less sharp helps. This is particularly obvious in text.

 

[Peltz]

I found that Wii through the XRGB mini gave me an overly pixelated picture. Maybe too sharp. I just found the Wii U image more pleasing somehow.

Same here. I'd also venture to guess that the Wii U's process of upscaling is virtually lagless.

 

[Madao]

there's some settings that aren't pixelated but look better than the Wii U.

i'll need to write down what i set on my own profile.

also, i think the TV plays a big factor. my TV is pretty cheap and hides some things from a distance.

 

[speedlolita]

I find the statement "too sharp" puzzling.

People claim the 1chip SNES is too sharp but to me it looks pixel perfect. I don't know... I'm thinking of buying the initial hardware revision of the Super Famicom that apparently doesn't have the vertical line issue and seeing exactly how different the image is on my PVM. Maybe I'll share that opinion, or maybe I'll barely even notice a difference.