RGB>VGA upscaling converter

I got this little Upscaler last week and after messing around with it for the last couple days i decided to write my impressions here to those who would be interested in something in that vein. Im no expert, just got in the video improving and upscaling scene.

I got mine from jammaboards, but you can get from places like arcadespareparts, ebay and other arcade related sites. Its takes [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]CGA/EGA/VGA signal [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif](15KHz, 24KHz, 31KHz), And YUV (Component) [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif](480i, 576i, 720i, 1080i, 480p, 576p, 720p, 1080p). But i didnt got improvement using Component, more of the oppositive, but can be the cable im using or some setting[/FONT].

http://www.jammaboards.com/store/cga/ega/yuv-to-vga-converter-pcb-gbs-8220/prod_291.html

After adjusting some settings im satisfied with the picture i got for its price. (Its no XRGB3 )

I only tested in my saturn so far, as i have to figure out the pinouts for snes,n64,ngc etc. as their are diferent for PAL and NTSC systems, and i have different systems from different regions per say

It really make diference in more colorfull and detailed games, in darker and lower resolution games like wakenroder the improvement was subtle.

Heres some comparision images, sorry for the angle, was the only steady place in my room i could mount the camera without moving stuff. Images taken from a Samsung LCD 40' TV

Sega Saturn:

COMPOSITE VIDEO - RGB VGA










SNES:













The pictures dont do the image justice, but some games the improvement is amazing

Im only having some light noise in the picture, noticeble really close, Could be a shileding issue. And a small distorcion on the moving images, that maybe be already there in composite but you cant notice due the signal degradation, but them again only noticeble on a closer look.

Here some vids of it, i hope you can make out in a youtube vid. Please watch in 480p.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrTJ3CDyKB8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWDdSNndR6w

Any question youd have, someone on the foruns probably can answer better than me, but I'll try to answer them the best as i can

Im going to upload more comparison pics later, from some Saturn 3D games, and maybe other systems too.

 

Nice review!

I had a little noise in mine too but with a little shield tape the image cleaned up really well. Also, I would like to know if you ever experience any ?screen blanking? with certain games? On some games, especially with the SNES, the screen would blank for a minute after a white flash or certain boss fights. I remember this happening in Samurai Showdown while doing certain special moves and on Starfox in certain boss battles. I also had a problem with Yoshi's Island, only with the SNES jr. I would get distortion and wavy lines near the top of the screen but it would not happen all the time and only during certain levels. It didn't happen on the SNES model 1. Still, it is definitely worth it as an inexpensive converter.

 

Thank you

From the games i tested, the only one i experienced screen blanking/jumping was Dead or Alive, the screens jumps when shows the next opponent in the loading screen. Maybe its the resolution changing in that point, as i think its the only high-res game i tested so far on the saturn.

Later tonigh i will try hookup the snes and test some games

 

Composite video?

 

did i misspelled?

 

Nah. Surprised at the results though, composite is awful normally.

 

Yeah, newer lcd/led screens here dont even come with a s-vid input anymore, so all i had to compare was composite.

 

It looks like it gives a clean image but without the scan lines everything looks too blocky. Still, nice option for those who can't use RGB.

 

you can decrease the sharpness level in the converter to, which in the pictures in set to the max, i like more that way. Reducing the sharpness make the picture seens a little blurry like youre without glasses.

Im building a DIY scanline generador as soon the parts arrive

 

Interesting results, it makes me wonder if the converter is doing gamma correction like it should. It's that or it/the monitor is boosting the brightness too high. Your TV's color looks a bit oversaturated too, maybe turn down the color setting.

When something loses sync at white screen flashes it can be due to insufficient AC coupling between the stages so that when a high amplitude white screen is followed by a normal/dark screen it causes undershoot into the sync level. Or if there's an amplitude problem already (and no automatic gain correction) and the screen flashes have 50 or 60 Hz frequency components, they're interpreted as vertical sync. Whatever is the true problem, you can avoid it by not using composite video as a sync source. Using straight composite sync instead should give better results because it's digital, doesn't have anything to do with colors on screen, and the amplitude is much lower.

 

I suppose there no input lag at all?

 

Hey everyone, sorry for the long time with no updates, i just did the snes wiring and it looks amazing!

Im sure there to some degree, but not noticiable as far my test got.

I did a quick test in some games like Star Fox, Donkey Kong and Yoshi Island.
The first two seens to run fine, but with Yoshi i had some image skipping from time to time, probably some sync issue related to the fx2 chip.

I will post some pics and vids soon, and this week i will try to assemble my DIY Scanline Generator.

Next will be N64 and Game cube

 

Not bad. I might need to get around to having my JPN saturn modded to fully accept Euro RGB cables.

 

I don't believe the saturn itself needs modification, should be able to just use the regular pinout since you can get SCART rgb via cable

 

x

 

Really? I use a euro scart cable on my NTSC Saturn and it works fine.

 

x

 

Where did you place the shield tape?

 

First I cut a piece of static bag to fit and wrapped it around the scalar, holding it at the ends together with masking tape. Then I just placed stripes of copper shield tape around that. It worked pretty well and I could remove it as needed.

 

Updated with some comparision images from Snes games