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Upscalers, CRTs, PVMs & RGB: Retro gaming done right!

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baphomet

Member
Dudes, I need a SCART cable for my US SNES! Which one do I want, any suggested sellers?

I got mine from a guy on the neo-geo board. Works great with my snes and n64. I don't know if he has any in stock right now, but I think I paid like $15 shipped or something around that. If you want to contact him pm me and I'll give you his info.

These are euro scart. As long as that's what you need and not jp21 pin his will work just fine.
 

Chucker

Member
I got a euro SCART off of an eBay seller (Retro Game Cables, I think). Got Euro SCART and works fine with my SCART to BNC breakout for my PVM.
 

baphomet

Member
My Genesis cable came from retro gaming cables and its super high quality. They're a bit more expensive though.
 

dhonk

Member
I got mine from a guy on the neo-geo board. Works great with my snes and n64. I don't know if he has any in stock right now, but I think I paid like $15 shipped or something around that. If you want to contact him pm me and I'll give you his info.

These are euro scart. As long as that's what you need and not jp21 pin his will work just fine.

That sounds brilliant, PM sent
 
Only real thing I'd gain from getting them is higher-quality GB Player, really. I suppose all two of my Japanese imports and Action Replay, too, but eh.

It's just I'm debating whether that'd be a wiser route to go than just keeping my Wii around as a Gamecube, since I already have Wii component cables. Prices like that kind of make it an obvious choice, doesn't it?
 
Been playing a lot of wii vc games and emulators on my 32" Vizio 720p lcd. I'm actually pretty happy with the up scaling, I've heard Vizios from 2008ish had good scalers. I'm thinking about getting some old consoles and hooking them up either over s-video or rgb since my tv has both. Anyone have any experience on these tvs? Would an xrg mini be much of an improvement to an LCD apart from say scan lines?
 

Pappasman

Member
Just got my XRGB-mini (from Gaffer Yakumo in the buy/sell thread) and its really great. The only problem is that my SNES SCART cable doesn't seem to be working. Composite works fine. I'm assuming my SCART cable is fucked up and maybe i just need a new cable... ugh.
 

IrishNinja

Member
well, you might have an EU SCART cable (all of mine from retro_console_accessories are) in which case you'd need an adapter for it that she also sells...be careful here, as plugging in the wrong region/type has blown out at least one guy's RGB port in the saturn thread!
 

Pappasman

Member
well, you might have an EU SCART cable (all of mine from retro_console_accessories are) in which case you'd need an adapter for it that she also sells...be careful here, as plugging in the wrong region/type has blown out at least one guy's RGB port in the saturn thread!

I'm pretty sure its not an EU cable. I got this from retro_console_accessories.
 

IrishNinja

Member
eh, i bought 2 of those (one for SNES, one for N64 i wanna say) and i believe they are EU, as i plug both into the adapter she sells...you can contact her (might take a bit to get back to you) but she does quality work, i'd bet good $ its that
 

Pappasman

Member
eh, i bought 2 of those (one for SNES, one for N64 i wanna say) and i believe they are EU, as i plug both into the adapter she sells...you can contact her (might take a bit to get back to you) but she does quality work, i'd bet good $ its that

Pretty sure that is an EU cable. Most likely, if it doesn't explicitly say its a Japanese cable, it will most likely be a euro cable. Dont worry, adapters are pretty cheap.

Just picked up a EU adapter. Thanks for the help guys.
 

Madao

Member
Only real thing I'd gain from getting them is higher-quality GB Player, really. I suppose all two of my Japanese imports and Action Replay, too, but eh.

It's just I'm debating whether that'd be a wiser route to go than just keeping my Wii around as a Gamecube, since I already have Wii component cables. Prices like that kind of make it an obvious choice, doesn't it?

you can make the Wii region free with homebrew and you can even downgrade the Wii's BC to accept Action Replay like it did before Nintendo blocked it.

the only reason to use a GC these days is the Game Boy Player. GC component cables are way too expensive now and are only worth it if you have super eyesight and can tell the difference between the the image quality of GC and Wii component cables. i have them and i think it isn't really worth it for the price they have now (they were definitely worth it when they were $40 back in the day and the Wii didn't exist yet)
 

Ramune

Member
Question! I have an official SNES RGB cable. Would this work with an RGB modded N64 and Gamecube out the box like my Monster S-Video cables? And if it did work with the Gamecube, how would it's picture improve compared to the GC Component cables since they are a step down technically from RGB?
 
Hey guys quick question, here in Canada I don't think I we have TVs with SCART but I hear SCART cables give the best possible quality over the other cables for the model 1 snes.

I don't have the funds to get an upscalar so for now I've decided to deal with a CRT, my question though is if quality will be lost if I convert the SCART into a suitable output? I guess if I convert it to composite or s-video (I'd say component but I don't know if my CRT has component).

Oh yeah, another note is that the SCART cable I bought is this from retro console accessories.
 

Ramune

Member
Hey guys quick question, here in Canada I don't think I we have TVs with SCART but I hear SCART cables give the best possible quality over the other cables for the model 1 snes.

I don't have the funds to get an upscalar so for now I've decided to deal with a CRT, my question though is if quality will be lost if I convert the SCART into a suitable output? I guess if I convert it to composite or s-video (I'd say component but I don't know if my CRT has component).

Oh yeah, another note is that the SCART cable I bought is this from retro console accessories.

Sounds like your in the same boat I am. American dealing with the wonderful input we never got too. Well I do see people use this SCART to Component Convertor and haven't heard much about any degradation in quality. And as for Component inputs themselves, they look like this:

compjack250.jpg

Green, Blue and Red inputs marked "Y/Pb/and Pr" respectively (dont confuse the red input for the white and red audio inputs). If not, then you may not have Component inputs on your TV.

Another thing to keep in mind regarding Scart connections are that you make sure devices that interface with them are used with the correct region. In your case, the cables you got are PAL Scart cables. The convertor I linked works with those cables, so you should be all set. However, Japan had it's own SCART standard (21-pin) that may look similar, but is not compatible with PAL interfaces. Could lead to unintended damage. Just something to keep in mind in the future.

Also check out the CRT for retro systems thread, since fellow CRT owners probably congregate there too! Let us know how things work out. I'd love to see your end results! :D
 
Sounds like your in the same boat I am. American dealing with the wonderful input we never got too. Well I do see people use this SCART to Component Convertor and haven't heard much about any degradation in quality. And as for Component inputs themselves, they look like this:

compjack250.jpg

Green, Blue and Red inputs marked "Y/Pb/and Pr" respectively (dont confuse the red input for the white and red audio inputs). If not, then you may not have Component inputs on your TV.

Another thing to keep in mind regarding Scart connections are that you make sure devices that interface with them are used with the correct region. In your case, the cables you got are PAL Scart cables. The convertor I linked works with those cables, so you should be all set. However, Japan had it's own SCART standard (21-pin) that may look similar, but is not compatible with PAL interfaces. Could lead to unintended damage. Just something to keep in mind in the future.

Also check out the CRT for retro systems thread, since fellow CRT owners probably congregate there too! Let us know how things work out. I'd love to see your end results! :D

Ah...! It does have a component output. It's a Sony KV-27FS120. I think I might grab that converter then. I'll S-Video my N64, composite my NES and SCART-Component my Snes I suppose? Can't wait to try it out.

Another question actually, the Y/Pb/and Pr are all video right? What would I do about audio if all I could do is convert the scart to y/pb/pr?
 

Ramune

Member
Ah...! It does have a component output. It's a Sony KV-27FS120. I think I might grab that converter then. I'll S-Video my N64, composite my NES and SCART-Component my Snes I suppose? Can't wait to try it out.

Another question actually, the Y/Pb/and Pr are all video right? What would I do about audio if all I could do is convert the scart to y/pb/pr?

Funny how it's me answering your questions because I'm fairly new to this stuff myself. Nice TV btw, I think that will work nicely for you!

As for audio, someone asked a similar question to yours on that Amazon product page and one of the replies was to get a breakout adaptor like this one so you can pull the audio from the SCART to whatever you need. Not sure if it degrades quality though. Maybe others can offer better insights though.
 

Teknoman

Member
So when I finally decide to look for one for my SNES with RCA audio output...none are on Ebay. Even retro console accessories...which kinda sucks since thats where I got my Saturn cable with RCA audio.
 

baphomet

Member
Question! I have an official SNES RGB cable. Would this work with an RGB modded N64 and Gamecube out the box like my Monster S-Video cables? And if it did work with the Gamecube, how would it's picture improve compared to the GC Component cables since they are a step down technically from RGB?

I you're talking about NTSC consoles it will work on an RGB modded N64, but NTSC gamecubes don't output RGB at all. PAL gamecubes on the other hand do output RGB, and I would think the cable would work fine.

I've noticed something somewhat shitty. As I mentioned I picked up a 32x today, and I noticed that if I play genesis games through it in RGB I get very faint vertical lines. Doesn't happen if I run the game in the genesis with the same cable. Thankfully they're faint enough you can only notice them if you're looking for them. Just curious if anyone else has hear of this happening? I was under the impression that it was just acting as a passthrough and wasn't actually doing anything.
 

IrishNinja

Member
well, i havent tried my 32x since going RGB (it had video trouble i was working on) but if i get the same result, ill let you know...hopefully not!
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
So if I wanted to pick up some JP RGB cables (not SCART) for my US Genesis (model 1) & Saturn, where should I look? EDIT: I'll go ahead and message that one eBay seller everyone seems to link.
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Excuse the double post, but I was wondering if any of the RGB aficionados here had any input on the XCAPTURE-1 capture card. If so, could you give this post a look.

Just got an Xcapture-1 in the mail today, this thing is amazing. First, I'm shocked that it worked the first time for me, I thought I'd be fiddling with this device all evening. Installed the drivers, plugged in some cables, and it just worked... I'm happily surprised, so time to get to business! Been recording some Progear runs on it and it actually correctly shows the speed of the game. I'm still waiting for some cables to hook it up properly to my setup, but so far I'm impressed.
Hey.

Hey you.
 
Any advice on purchasing from Solaris Japan? I was all ready to order the XRGB-mini and a component input for it, but stopped when I noticed that Paypal's price was higher than SJ's quote; apparently Paypal is operating at ~96 yen to the dollar, which is noticeably lower than the 99.3 Google says it should be going for.
 

STG!

Member
Excuse the double post, but I was wondering if any of the RGB aficionados here had any input on the XCAPTURE-1 capture card. If so, could you give this post a look.


Hey.

Hey you.

Hiiiiiii!

Gimme a bit, I'll respond to your other post in a little more detail. I'm not using it's pass through feature myself as I was having some trouble getting it to work with my setup, but I use a splitter. And all I'm using it for is 240p (mostly arcade PCB's) content so far.
 

Beckx

Member
Well, I'm taking the plunge into the world of upscaling. My Framemeister should be here this week.

Starting off just with my Genesis via RGB (maybe I'll actually be able to beat Target Earth again), the others will be composite for now. May try my hand at modding a SNES Mini for RGB output soon.
 
Any advice on purchasing from Solaris Japan? I was all ready to order the XRGB-mini and a component input for it, but stopped when I noticed that Paypal's price was higher than SJ's quote; apparently Paypal is operating at ~96 yen to the dollar, which is noticeably lower than the 99.3 Google says it should be going for.
Update on this: I instead tried to check out the first option ("Bank Deposit" or something), and instead of prompting me if I'm sure, it immediately declares the order placed, with no obvious means of cancelling it. So then I'm on hold with my bank, trying to do a wire transfer (for the first time in my life) to a bank in Germany, which I'm not even sure my bank can DO. The answer: nope, they can't do it. I've left a message with Solaris asking the order be cancelled, because there's no other way I could possibly do it.

So my options are "Bank Deposit", which doesn't work, "Paypal", which is at the wrong exchange rate, or "Paypal" again, which is actually credit card, but is missing the three-digit security code, and as such I can't do jackshit with.

I'm really starting to hate this site. I should just get an XRGB off of eBay; much less hassle than putting up with this.
 

Yes Boss!

Member
Paypal is not the wrong exchange rate. That is the rate they give for having you use their service. All banks and bank cards and going to charge you a small percentage. Paypal just charges something like a point more.
 

Beckx

Member
What Boss said.

And Solaris is great - my Framemeister just arrived (and I placed the order over the weekend!).
 
Paypal is not the wrong exchange rate. That is the rate they give for having you use their service. All banks and bank cards and going to charge you a small percentage. Paypal just charges something like a point more.
It's not just a point, though, it's a good three points different.

Right now I just want the failed bank transfer one cancelled; I can fret about what to do from there.
 

Yes Boss!

Member
It's not just a point, though, it's a good three points different.

Right now I just want the failed bank transfer one cancelled; I can fret about what to do from there.

Well, you bank card, debit card, checking account are all going to charge something like 2 or 2+ points (or whatever the going exchange rate most banks charge). Paypal is like 3 or 3+.

In other words about $6 more on a $400 purchase.
 

Beckx

Member
My god. The Framemeister is some goddamn wizardry. I'm amazed (and this is still using composite hookups).

updating firmware and switching to English was dead simple. Currently using Natural mode. 720p. Never thought I'd see my old systems look good on my projector, this is already beyond what I'd hoped for. Genesis SCART cable can't get here fast enough.

Bad cell phone pic of Sonic 1 hooked up via composite on 120" screen, Sony LCD projector:

BTSUEQIIQAA0m-z.jpg


On the bad side, Target Earth is no longer working. Hopefully it just needs cleaning. This Genesis is a bit beat up (and was a cheap craigslist find, need to get a nice early model 1,soon), so it may be the problem. I'd rather that than lose TE.
 

IrishNinja

Member
Any advice on purchasing from Solaris Japan? I was all ready to order the XRGB-mini and a component input for it, but stopped when I noticed that Paypal's price was higher than SJ's quote; apparently Paypal is operating at ~96 yen to the dollar, which is noticeably lower than the 99.3 Google says it should be going for.

ah, having read your follow-ups, i guess you've exhausted your options...i can tell you this, their customer service is slow to respond but good about it when they do, might wanna hit them up about the canceled order #! if nothing else, i think that guy in B/S/T might still be selling for a similar price?
 

IrishNinja

Member
^this is the guy i was talkin 'bout, he's totally legit and has one of the best reviews of the unit itself on youtube. for posterity, Yakumo: feel free man, no rules i'm aware of against posting prices!
 

Giever

Member
So this isn't totally about upscalers or anything, but does anyone know where I could get a Japanese Scart to European Scart converter? I believe that's what I need.

Here's the deal: I have a Sony PVM-2530, which has a wonky input that necessitated (as far as I could tell), the purchase of this: http://www.retrogamingcables.com/sony-pvm-scart-converter.html

However, I didn't do terribly much research, and it turns out to plug into that converter, I need a European Scart. However! My US SNES isn't happy with a European Scart.

So, ultimately, I think what I'll end up needing is either an all in one cord that properly comes out of the US SNES while remaining Euro Scart on the other end (as seen here, I believe, but they are always out of stock: http://www.retrogamingcables.com/super-nintendo-ntsc-rgb-av-scart-cable-av-lead-cord-for-sale.html ), or I would need a typical Japanese Scart or whatever, for the US SNES, and a Jap-to-Euro Scart converter, so that I can get it into the D-Sub thing for my Sony PVM-2530.
 
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