sega saturn vga box problem

Hi,first of all i want to say that am new on Assembler,but not new at video games
I am a big fun of sega Saturn and I have a great collection on it.Recently I manage to do (I have a European Saturn) the 50/60 hz switch and the country switch.everything works fine on my TV,but I want to connect my Saturn on my computer’s monitor and the problems begin..i used a vga box to connect my Saturn on the pc monitor,and when my Saturn is in 60hz mode I get black and white,no color at all.after that I bought another vga box and when in 60 hz I get strange colors but nothing compared to the real ones(it’s more like it uses 3 colors: purple,pink,green),I must say that in 50hz everything is fine in both vga boxes,but I need 60HZ as you all know that is much faster with no borders..strange thing is that my vga boxes both support pal/ntsc signals and resolutions at 50-60 hz.same happens with my monitor it supports 60-75 hz.i even used an ntsc to pal converter and when connected at both vga boxes I get black and white colors..anyone with a solution?

p.s:I can only connect the rca (red,yellow,white) cable on my vga boxes,there is no RGB input if that makes different..

any help will be appreciated,thanks

 

your VGA box is apparently PAL only, thus no colors or wrong colors in NTSC...

 

thanks for the reply.i also tested a friend's psx and same thing happened with ntsc games..seems like the problem is the vga box..but in the manual claims that it supports ntsc.guess i cheated..anyway,can you recommend me a good vga box that will do the job and work with all my systems (saturn,psx,dreamcast,xbox,xbox 360) in 50hz or 60 hz,pal/ntsc?

 

where can i purchase that VGA box? seems interesting..

 

Yes... I want this VGA box too!

 

you can find vga boxes all over the net but thing is,which is the best for the job?and most importand which can realy handle ntsc,60HZ display???also very cheap ones are showing blur colors.(not a big problem if you don't want the best possible picture from your satun).i bought both of my vga boxes on ebay..

 

sounds like nothing more than the cheap line doubler to me.
these thing takes the composite and make them to be acceptable by the VGA monitor.
Yes the PQ is rather shonky but than when the input is pretty crap no one will mind, no? ^ ^

 

Can you show me a link? I haven't found any on eBay... though maybe it's eBay uk... :banghead:

 

Why not use an RGB Scart to VGA box? Surely that has to be the best solution for the Saturn :shrug:

 

now that's something worth owning. Does anyone know a good RGB scart to VGA box?

Yakumo

 

XRGB - don't you have one? :lol:

 

As Retro says, the XRGB line is supposed to be the best. I think the latest model is the XRGB3, but the XRGB2 and XRGB2+ are supposed to be very good aswell. Dont forget though that its RGB socket is wired for 'Japanese RGB21' not 'European RGB Scart' although the connectors look identical. You can either rewire the socket, of build an adaptor, or if you can get hold of an original Japanese RGB21 cables for the Saturn then your sorted!

Alternatively, I have seen this product which is supposed to be quite good:-
http://www.js-technology.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=33

There are probably loads more that I havent even heard about aswell.

I hope that helps :icon_bigg

 

Anything cheaper than that?

 

i didn't know that rgb to vga existed.i found one on ebay,and if i am right it supports 60Hz and beleive me that's what you really need,after the best possible display.if you buy a vga box which don't support 60hz it's useless.the best Dreamcast games look smoother and are faster in 60hz display,same goes for saturn and psx.and what if you have an xbox 360?(i know you will use it with an HD TV)but maybe you want to test something fast,near your pc or even use it for games if you are on vacation and don't have an HD TV.If the vga box does not support 60HZ you wont be able to use it with an xbox 360.something you may not know guys(for those who showed interest in a vga box)you can use it with a pc monitor CRT or LCD with no need to have it connected to a PC,ONLY the vga box and the monitor!
someone confirm if it supports ntsc-60 hz..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=260307314010

 

That's no good for TFT monitors only CRT or HD TVs.

Yakumo

 

today i bought the MEGA-COOL vga box which works perfect at 1080p display with my xbox 360.i couldn't beleive it.but thing is..it doesn't work with the saturn..that vga box is designed for ypbpr,like xbox and ps3 use.so am wondering if there's a way to mod the saturn's scart and convert it to ypbpr.i found a diagram for the saturn's scart pins..if anyone can help let me know

 

firstly RGB is different from the component/YUV.
Also it's not the same as RGBVH which is what the computer uses to connect to the VGA monitor.

Basically there are several RGB->YUV transcoders but they cost fair a bit - and remember you get what you pay for when it comes to these types of devices.

What you have is expecting the component and your Saturn is outputting RGB so the thing won't know what to do with this unknown(?) signal.
Again why mod your Saturn when off-the-shelf units can transcode the RGB signal into the component - at the price.

If you really want to go down this route bite the bullet and get the decent quality transcoders that may cost you fair a bit~

 

I'm almost positive that all XRGB's output a standard VGA signal (VGA usually means an RGB signal at 31kHz/480p/progressive scan) which should be compatible with any monitor or TV that has a VGA input, regardless or the display technology - be that TFT, CRT, LCD or HDTV etc.

You start to have a problem when you are trying to connect a 15kHz RGB signal (15kHz/480i/interlaced) to a TV/monitor, as very few displays (outside or Europe) will accept a 15kHz RGB signal, as the only standard connector for 15kHz RGB is European Scart or Japanese RGB21.

An XRGB takes the 15kHz RGB signal that most 'retro' consoles output, and then deinterlaces/line doubles the picture to give a 31kHz RGB signal, in other words a standard VGA signal. An XRGB can also usually scale the picture to higher resolutions aswell - usually even better than most current TV's can.

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If anybody is going to really get into this I suggest reading this page:-
http://retrogaming.hazard-city.de/
It has many different solutions depending on what you are trying to do.

Also as dj898 said, RGB and Component/YPbPr are totally different signals. Many people think that just because Component cables use Red, Green and Blue RCA/Phono plugs that it must carry an RGB signal - this is not correct! This should help explain what a Component/YPrPr signal actually is:-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YPbPr#technical_details

Apologies if everyone already knew all of that, but I thought it may be helpful to some ;-)

 

They will do both 31kHz and 47kHz but you can not run a 15kHz signal through it to a TFT. Something about the timing on the monitors. the makers of XRGB units even mention this on their site giving a list of manufactures that will work with the XRGB units and those that don't. My Mitsubishi Dimoncrysta TFT comes under the category of "dodgy" Basically the monitor will sometimes display an image then cut off (probably due to sync issues) or just not bother displaying anything apart from the XRGB's menu screens. I take it this is because they are natively displayed at 31kHz and not a 15kHz up-scaled signal. What is odd though is that these menus won't display if you have a 15kHz signal going through the system on my TFT, only when there's no signal going through it.

Yakumo

 

Apologies Yakumo - I wasnt aware of any problems like that :-(