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Any CRT fans on the forum? Monitors, broadcast, tvs

dvdx2

By dvdx2,
in Retro & Arcade Gaming

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dataDave

dataDave

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, mwaawm said:

What connectors should you use to connect old consoles to a PVM? Seen some affordable ones online that seemingly do not appear to have scart or svhs inputs.

 

As above, and if it doesn't have BNC connectors it probably means that particular model isn't RGB compatible. Which is why some are cheaper than others (and why most people avoid them).

 

IMG-20210304-220811.jpg

 

This is what you want to look for instead of SCART (if you didn't already know). Don't worry, SCART-to-BNC cables exist.

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dvdx2

dvdx2

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RGB-pi is now available on pi4 and looks like it’s giving the mister a run for its money. Dead easy to use, and looks and runs amazing on a pvm/bvm. Groovymame is great if your skilled enough to programme a nuclear reactor….

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dvdx2

dvdx2

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6 hours ago, phillv85 said:

@mwaawm Depending on what you're planning to use on your system, RGB isn't the be all and end all if you're on a budget. These production and broadcast monitors output composite pictures that are almost incomparable to what you're used to on a consumer TV.

Would be a shame to have a top quality bvm and use composite on it…

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watusi

watusi

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, dvdx2 said:

RGB-pi is now available on pi4 and looks like it’s giving the mister a run for its money. Dead easy to use, and looks and runs amazing on a pvm/bvm. Groovymame is great if your skilled enough to programme a nuclear reactor….

 

Ooo, this is good news. I've been running recalbox since i switched to PI4 but RGB-PI is really good. I missed it.

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bignige

bignige

Posted
Posted
37 minutes ago, dvdx2 said:

RGB-pi is now available on pi4 and looks like it’s giving the mister a run for its money. Dead easy to use, and looks and runs amazing on a pvm/bvm. Groovymame is great if your skilled enough to programme a nuclear reactor….

What cable would I need to hook this up to a BVM and a Pi3?

Pi3 doesn't do RGB?

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dvdx2

dvdx2

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42 minutes ago, watusi said:

This


https://www.rgb-pi.com

 

and then I guess a scart to BNC cable like this

 

 

https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/audio-video-accessories/bnc-cables-accessories/female-rgb-break-out-scart-to-4-x-bnc--2-x-rca-for-sony-pvm-monitors

 

 

Yep, hook up the custom scart lead to the pi, download the image on the site and bobs your uncle. It’s only in alpha too, and running superbly with auto switching resolution for 15-31khz

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bignige

bignige

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, watusi said:

This


https://www.rgb-pi.com

 

and then I guess a scart to BNC cable like this

 

 

https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/audio-video-accessories/bnc-cables-accessories/female-rgb-break-out-scart-to-4-x-bnc--2-x-rca-for-sony-pvm-monitors

 

 

Other than being out of stock, what is the difference between the cable you’ve linked to and this cable that is also on their site? 
 

Apologies for the questions!

 

https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/sony-pvm-scart-converter-bnc

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watusi

watusi

Posted
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6 hours ago, bignige said:

Other than being out of stock, what is the difference between the cable you’ve linked to and this cable that is also on their site? 
 

Apologies for the questions!

 

https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/sony-pvm-scart-converter-bnc


it depends whether you need a cable with  the sync separator. You’d need to do a little research on that. I can take a look which one I have for my Sony PVM later. 
 

 

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phillv85

phillv85

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, dvdx2 said:

Would be a shame to have a top quality bvm and use composite on it…


Ah no, I’m talking about monitors that don’t have RGB. They’re often a lot cheaper as people don’t want them, but if you’re on a budget they often do a good job of making composite signals look far better than they have any right to look.

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dvdx2

dvdx2

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24 minutes ago, Colonel Panic said:

S-Video looks pretty damn close to RGB in my book!

Better get an appointment booked mate… 😉

 

https://www.specsavers.co.uk/?infinity{IfNative%3Adisplay}=ict2~net~mac~ar~{AdId}~kr~{OrderItemId}~kw~Specsavers~mt~e~cmp~{Campaign}~ag~{AdGroup}&gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjJfrkMKa9gIVGu3tCh35zApfEAAYASAAEgJQDPD_BwE

 

 

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Kevvy Metal

Kevvy Metal

Posted
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43 minutes ago, Colonel Panic said:

PVMs that only support S-Video at best are also a good cheaper option. S-Video looks pretty damn close to RGB in my book!

 

I'm with Colonel Panic here. 

While no one is claiming that RGB isn't better than S-Video the difference between S-Video and RGB is not that huge and that can absolutely be a factor in "designing" your set up. It also varies per system. 

 

Buying RGB cables for systems that support them can be expensive. I have an RGB cable from retrogamingcables for the Saturn that was not cheap, but their molded piece for the connector to the Saturn Video out is SO heavy and stupid that it basically falls out creating a garbled image and I have to fiddle with the connector. 

I bought an s-video cable that is both decent with the connector correct and a fraction of the price and looks 90% the same on a PVM 20L4... and there's no risk that retrogamingcables have wired up the sync wrong or something which they have done on cables they've sent me.

 

The Dreamcast! S-video looks 90% the same as RGB, but all games actually work! I have a MODE in mine and a large library, and having it connected via S-video looks great and all games actually work! unlike RGB, and obviously can't use VGA on a PVM. 

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dvdx2

dvdx2

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2 hours ago, Kevvy Metal said:

 

I'm with Colonel Panic here. 

While no one is claiming that RGB isn't better than S-Video the difference between S-Video and RGB is not that huge and that can absolutely be a factor in "designing" your set up. It also varies per system. 

 

Buying RGB cables for systems that support them can be expensive. I have an RGB cable from retrogamingcables for the Saturn that was not cheap, but their molded piece for the connector to the Saturn Video out is SO heavy and stupid that it basically falls out creating a garbled image and I have to fiddle with the connector. 

I bought an s-video cable that is both decent with the connector correct and a fraction of the price and looks 90% the same on a PVM 20L4... and there's no risk that retrogamingcables have wired up the sync wrong or something which they have done on cables they've sent me.

 

The Dreamcast! S-video looks 90% the same as RGB, but all games actually work! I have a MODE in mine and a large library, and having it connected via S-video looks great and all games actually work! unlike RGB, and obviously can't use VGA on a PVM. 

No I get where you are coming from and I think it depends on the crt. The L4 will look great via svideo. Pro monitors do manage the signal so much better and the L4 is an amazing monitor.  I have seen a barco pro monitor running svideo and it did look fantastic. Skip to a consumer set for svideo though and the colours will be over saturated, the image softer and less detailed and at worst, there will be dot crawl ghosting to contend with. 

 

From my own experience,  I used svideo for the dreamcast when it was launched in Japan (because it was so hard to get RGB leads at the time) to a consumer KV Trinitron and it did look nice , but when I eventually got the RGB lead, I couldn’t believe how tidied up the image was - Night and day basically, so i really don’t get comments about how svideo looks 80–90% as good as RGB on a consumer set; it really doesn’t! (Facebook and crt gaming is littered with comments like this). Move to vga for the dc and it’s another great upgrade. My other experience of svideo is when I used it on a wondermega for years to JVC consumer crt and thought it was the bees knees, until I picked up an MD with an RGB cable…  I am really not a fan and haven’t used it since 2002.

 

Most people who pick up pro monitors usually want the very best image quality (that’s why they buy a pvm etc in the 1st place). It’s an expensive hobby (especially nowadays) so I do find it abit strange when people opt for poorer quality hookups, especially when they have spent so much to begin with, but whatever works I suppose.

 

I am not a fan of RGC; I have had 2 bad RGB breakout to bnc cables ; one was wired wrongly and he other fell apart after a while (I used it as a testing cable), but the last stuff I bought from them was much better and I think the quality has improved.

 

 

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JamesC

JamesC

Posted
Posted

I have to say, after going down the CRT / RGB rabbit-hole somewhat, I find on balance that I'm actually very happy with simple composite (or non-RGB scart).

While RGB does indeed look better, it brings its own headaches, the most notable being RGB shift. RGB shift is a pain in the arse and won't shift the same amount for each console or even, in some cases, for each game. Then there's the expense of sourcing decent RGB cables for each console of course.

I do use RGB on the systems I've already set up but I won't be bothering with any retro systems I aqcuire in future. I use a decent Phillips consumer CRT and a console connected via composite still looks as good or better than the set up I had back in the 90s. I'm happy to live with it.

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bignige

bignige

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Colonel Panic said:

Issue with vertical sync. You mentioned a VGA to BNC connector earlier. How many BNC plugs are there?

Thanks Colonel, I really appreciate your help.
 

I have one VGA to BNC 4 and one VGA to BNC 5. Both give the same result. 
 

The BVM only has 4 inputs though. 
 

What would be the best way to connect both black and white? 

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bignige

bignige

Posted
Posted
21 minutes ago, Colonel Panic said:

Have a look into how to tell CRT EmuDriver to output csync instead of hsync and vsync. 

I did press the button that says enable csync, but it still rolls. 
I’ll give it another go to see if I missed something. 
 

Should I be using the 4 BNC or 5, or does it not matter? 

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bignige

bignige

Posted
Posted
20 minutes ago, Colonel Panic said:

Is there anything on the TV that says to enable external sync?

Yeah, I’ve been swapping between INT and EXT sync. 
 

I’ve just swapped from Generic 15.7khz to NTSC in crt emudriver and now have a solid stable picture if a little blurry. 
 

Thanks dude, I’m so happy!
much appreciated. 

Now to go mess up some TV settings!!

 

96B37F2C-27A5-499E-A901-623F3FEADCF7.thumb.jpeg.35262fb59fd9fc03f6c6d422b96b8265.jpeg


 

 

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jamesy

jamesy

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, bignige said:

Yeah, I’ve been swapping between INT and EXT sync. 
 

I’ve just swapped from Generic 15.7khz to NTSC in crt emudriver and now have a solid stable picture if a little blurry. 
 

Thanks dude, I’m so happy!
much appreciated. 

Now to go mess up some TV settings!!

This is great. We're gonna need some nice pics whenever you get it set up fully. 😍 Would be a cracking way to play the Super Mario 64 pc port at 60fps and Ocarina whenever it appears at 60fps.

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