Here's a big mess I'd like to figure out. I'm aiming to have myself a solid retro setup, and it just so happens that after some time I have located a Sony PVM. It takes composite, S-Video and RGB, and I'd like to be able to use the latter for quality. Here's the mess- should I buy this TV, how will I go about hooking up my SFC to it? I know there's the RGB SCART cable, but this TV does not have SCART inputs- only the 3 pin RGB connectors (Like component). How about other consoles, like the GC (with the HD cables) or a Dreamcast? Is Component compatible with RGB? Thanks in advance.
Does it have bnc connectors,if so your going to need a custom cable built or if your handy you can one make one yourself.
OK, so that takes care of RGB. What about component? Would a simple component to BNC work just fine, or do I need some resistors in place?
Component is different from RGB. Takes an active encoder to change video either direction. Keep in mind component is also designed to provide 15khz or 31khz from the same cable. There's little real distinction like SCART vs VGA.
Should be a case of plugging it in and selecting the correct switch. It should support 480i and 480p component but it may not do anything higher. Oh and it should be at least 5 BNC connectors, one for Red, Green and Blue and two for HSync/Csync and one for VSync (will be marked as Ext Sync). As some SCART cables may not have C-Sync but Composite Video (as most TVs can strip the C-Sync info from the video signal) you will need a sync splitter but that is quite easy to do.
Yeah, it's quite the monitor. While it isn't the 2950Q (which is REALLY good) it's still a professional 800 TV line resolution CRT with RGB and a multitude of image adjusters. For $50 bucks I might just grab two. I'm looking into a Component to RGB encoder and they look pretty darn expensive. Darn. Luckily, I think it may have the ability to take both Component and RGB signals- I'm still reading up on it to make sure. Thanks for the help everyone!
North America and RGB is pretty hard to do! I use a couple of monitors I brought from Europe, they have SCART-inputs. BNC->SCART isn't too hard to make though, or so I've heard It's worth the effort. Composite looks like shit and S-Video.. well, still half crap.
That's what I'm aiming for. I've never had the chance to have my own GOOD retro setup and with me moving out of the house, I have no excuse not to. On another note, does anyone here know PVMs really well? The rear input panel has both Component and RGB labeled with an external sync. I'm assuming that this would mean both video signals are accepted so long as I use an external sync. However, the info PDF says it accepts SoG. Am I getting misleading information somewhere or assuming too much?
I have the PVM-2950QM (The 220-250V version of yours). Here's a rundown: This monitor has three input lines. Line 1 and Line 2 can accept composite or S-Video. You select which one using the buttons on the front (So, for instance, you could have a NES/Famicom and a PAL N64 sharing Line 1, since one uses composite and one uses S-Video). Line 3 accepts RGB and Component Y/Pb/Pr. It can't auto-detect between RGB and Y/Pb/Pr, however toggling between the two is as simple as hitting the RGB button on the front, while Line 3 is active. Line 3 requires an external sync. Thankfully the monitor will automatically detect your sync setup when using RGB. It will accept separate H and V sync, composite sync (sometimes called Csync), and sync-on-green. Component Y/Pb/Pr puts the sync signal on the Y signal, I believe, and that's handled normally. Where you may hit difficulty is that SCART cables only bring out composite video from the console, not composite sync. Furthermore, not all consoles make composite sync available at their AV port. The 2950Q(M) will NOT accept composite video as an external sync source, so you'll need a sync stripper in your SCART->BNC converter. The LM1881 is the chip to do the job, and the datasheet implementation is more than sufficient for the task. I built mine in to my switchbox. Easy. Hope this helps. Edit: Another thing that trips up the 2950Q is "PAL60" composite video (PAL signal, but at 60Hz instead of 50Hz), you have to flip an option in one of the menus to make it work, or the colours are all messed up.
Hate to shoot down that advice, but there's a few things you missed- -I don't have the 2950Q- I mentioned above that I wanted it but could only grab a PVM-14 (actual model number is coming soon). Sorry for being confusing! -If I don't have to use SCART I won't, which means I won't have to worry about that sync issue with SCART to BNC- I'll just strip off the composite video cable end and solder on a BNC connector. No SCART in between at all, just seems redundant. -For that matter, I'm using all measures possible to avoid using composite, which is sort of the theme of this question. So, I'll use RGB and an RGB switchbox for every possible console. Should I have to use composite, I'll deal with the issue of separated sync. But god forbid I use composite when a better alternative exists. But thanks for the info on the monitors- I'm going to assume again and go as far as to say that the 2950Q and the PVM-14 can't be too different, and so would have similar/the same features regarding video switching.
Ah, I thought maybe you had it since you were talking about the connectors on the back. Anyway, all of the above applied to my PVM-1442QM as well, I can only imagine it applies to most PVMs. I wasn't suggesting using composite video for anything. What I said was that factory RGB cables for consoles bring out composite video as a sync source, because that's how SCART does it. TVs that have SCART connectors still show the RGB signal, but they use the composite video signal as a source for the H and V sync pulses. It's got nothing to do with showing the composite video. Trust me. That being the case, you will need the sync stripper, to produce a Csync-only signal that the PVM will accept. If you want to make your OWN RGB cables, that's another solution, as long as the console has a Csync pin on its AV port. Many, if not most of them do, but some of them do not, necessitating the sync stripper. Capisce? Edit: Here, check this out: http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/gamescart/gamescart.htm See how, in all cases, the composite video pin is connected? It doesn't mean it's showing the composite picture, it's purely there for sync. They are RGB cables. If you buy RGB cables and cut off the SCART connector, you still need a sync stripper, because the RGB cables don't bring out a pure sync signal from the consoles.
No probs. I was helping out MangledLed with his AV switchbox project, and he had the exact same moment of panic over dragging composite into the glorious realm of RGB. Unfortunately, it's a necessary evil. It has those vital pulses we need to make the electron beam go in the right direction at the right time. When it comes to PVM monitors, the LM1881 is your friend.
Composite video for sync is also so it can fall back to composite. Not all scart sockets on a TV accept RGB, so it needs composite video to fall back on.
Some consoles output C-sync over SCART. C-sync and composite video both use the same pin on SCART, but some consoles have different pins for each (on the console side), and so their SCART cables can be wired for either one. If you look for SCART cables on eBay, sometimes the seller will say whether it's wired for C-sync or composite video. As others have said, not all consoles output C-sync, so you'll probably need a sync stripper. No matter what, you're going to need a SCART to BNC adapter. Virtually all console RGB leads are SCART, so unless you intend on building your own, you need to be able to interface with SCART. For component, you'll need at least 3 BNC to RCA adapters to connect a standard component cable to your monitor. These are cheap and easy to find - even Radioshack carries them. Most PVMs don't support higher than 480i (i.e. not 480p), but there are a few that do, so that's something to check into.
I got a Sony PVM awhile back. I also am in North America and here is what I did. My Sony PVM accepts two Composite Video lines, no S-Video, and also RGB through BNC connectors and through a 25 pin port. Now I didn't want a custom cable for each system I had. I wanted to buy Euro RGB SCART cables. So what I did was bought a passive RGB switch box that had 2 fully wired RGB SCART sockets, and a SCART cable coming out of it. Next, I removed the cover to the SCART plug and noted all the important pins. I bought a cheap project box from Radioshack, a VGA style 15pin HD Dsub connector, and two RCA phono jacks for audio. I installed the VGA and Audio jacks into the project box, wired up the audio and then wired up the video to the VGA port as you would expect for RGB and Ground. I wired the C-Sync (actually composite video) to either the H-Sync or V-Sync pin on the VGA port. I forget which. Then I bought a VGA to BNC breakout cable online. It had one end that connects to my VGA port on the box, and on the other there are 5 BNC connectors for Red, Green, Blue, H-Sync, V-Sync. Obviously, I only need one of those sync wires. And well that's pretty much it. When I want to play a system that uses RGB, I just plug in that SCART cable to the switch box, which runs to that project box to the VGA port to the BNC breakout cable which plugs into the BNC sockets on the monitor. My JAMMA Supergun actually skips the SCART cable and has a VGA port on the back. But I highly recommend that you make some sort of adapter to use the existing RGB SCART cables.
