My Analog A/V Setup - 240p Goodness

[rCadeGaming]

(This first post is all new as of 2/19/13.  The original first and second post have been bumped down one spot.)



Here is my home theater and gaming setup as it stands right now.  I finally have everything connected and easily switchable, without ever having to move around or even see any wires.

I mostly play anything up to Gamecube on the Sony Trinitron KV-27FS120 CRT TV in the center.  Every single console outputs RGB video over custom cables.  This runs through my custom switching setup and through an RGB to component transcoder to get the best possible video quality.  This is about as good as it gets for real 240p, and higher-res stuff looks decent in 480i.

For the PS3, I can change between RGB and HDMI output in the video settings menu.  I can set the LG 32LD450 that's sitting up above on that little table in front of the CRT for modern 720p/480p stuff; you can see the power cable and HDMI cable sitting to the left and right of the CRT, ready to be plugged in.  The box above the PS3 is a home theater PC, for movies and music and games and such, which also outputs HDMI in 1080p.  I have a larger LG LED TV that I use sometimes, but it's only for movies, as it has some input lag (the 32" is only about one frame).  What would really be nice would be one large low-lag flat screen on a sliding mount, so that it could slide up to reveal the CRT behind it.




Here is a close-up of the "business end" of the setup.  All of the consoles run through the bank of three chained switch boxes on the top left.  This provides switching for up to ten consoles.  Simply turn the knobs to the positions indicated on the labels, and you have picture and sound from the console selected.  As you can see, there are two slots still available, in case I get around to buying a Wii or Japanese 360, or I pull my Saturn or XBox or N64 out of the closet.

Each console has separate individual adjustments on the front of the switchboxes for red, green, and blue color levels.  There are adjustment pots inside the three holes to the right of every knob position, which can be adjusted with a "tweaker" (small flat head screwdriver).  The switchbox at the end of the chain also has a sync separator circuit.  Basically you can feed the switchboxes any kind of RGB (RGBs, RGB with composite as sync, RGBHV, etc.) and it will output RGBHV (also known as VGA).  You can also feed in composite, s-video, or component, and it will pass it through a seperate output.  (EDIT: This kind of flexibility can be useful when connecting so many different systems with different requirements, but now that I have every single one of my consoles set up for RGB these other outputs aren't used anymore).  See the next post for details on the switch box and the cables used.

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The RGBHV coming out of the 3 switchboxes then runs through other switchbox to the right.  This allows you to select whether to pass the signal through the Extron Super Emotia on the bottom left, or bypass it.  There are certain games which are meant to run in 240p, but are only available out of a console in 480i or 480p, such as Third Strike Online, Mega Man 9/10, certain shmups on 360, and Game Boy games played with the Gamecube Game Boy Player.  An Emotia allows these games to be forced back into 240p (without ANY input lag too) to regain real scanlines and that "classic" look.  The Super Emotia includes horizontal size and position and vertical position controls, and this switchbox adds red, green, and blue color level adjustment for it as well.

More info on Extron Emotia's here:

http://scanlines.hazard-city.de/

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After coming out of that switchbox, the RGBHV signal then runs through the Crescendo Systems TC1600 RGB to component transcoder in the center.  The CRT I'm using doesn't accept RGB, so it needs to be "translated" to component.  These are basically equivalent video formats, so this can be done without any loss in quality.  The TC1600 is a proper transcoder that will transcode colorspace only, with no change to resolution or any added lag.  This is about the best transcoder of this type that you can buy, and it's made by an enthusiast who will give you personal technical support that you couldn't get with anything else.  Many thanks to Kim Beumer, creator of the TC1600.

Anyhow, you can see that I've modified it with a big knob on the front.  This allows for horizontal position adjustment of the picture on screen.  This is useful because different consoles and even different games can be skewed to the left or right a different amount when using RGB with a real CRT, and this can be quickly fixed after starting up a game by turning the knob left or right.  The difference is much more noticeable when you've calibrated your display for proper geometry and minimal overscan.

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The switchboxes also pass audio through the equalizer shown before it reaches the receiver.  This can make a noticeable difference in getting full and balanced sound from some consoles.

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Finally both the audio and video enter the Yamaha receiver on the right.  On the receiver, the input selected just determines whether to use signals from the switchboxes or from the HDMI inputs from the PS3 or PC.  Any HDMI video selected is passed to the HDMI cable for the 1080p TV's, and any analog video is passed to the CRT.  Audio is amplified to a matched Yamaha 5.1 speaker system.  For stereo sources, I just use Dolby Pro Logic II Music decoding, which sends most of the sound to the left and right speakers and subwoofer, just using the center and surrounds lightly to fill out the room.




I've spent a lot of time working with the service menu on the Trinitron to get the geometry, brightness, contrast, color, etc. all dialed in (with the TV off, press Display, 5, Vol +, Power on the remote to enter a Sony service menu).  This is as good as I've gotten the geometry so far.  The size is set so that most 240p games average just about a pixel or less of overscan to just fill out the screen without cutting anything off.  It has the typical problems in the corners, and I'm going to see if anything can be done at the neck about the straightness of the horizontal lines and the blue convergence at the far right.  It's not noticeable in games unless you're looking for it, but it's not perfect.

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Finally, here's some screenshots.  I'm having trouble with my camera trying to get a good representation of the color quality.  In the pictures it always looks a little washed out, whereas it looks much better in person.  I guess you'll have to take my word for it, but here are the best shots I could manage:















The last picture is of Metroid Zero Mission in real 240p on the Gamecube Game Boy Player through the Super Emotia.  It looks really nice with the scanlines, very similar to a Super Nintendo game.

[rCadeGaming]

A discrete RGB signal yields the best possible picture you can get in terms of analog video (component is about equivalent).  Luckily most consoles will put out RGB without modification, but there are a few different forms of it.  The Genesis, SNES, and Saturn can output RGB with composite sync (RGBS), while the Playstation 1/2/3 can only output or RGB with composite video as sync (I'll call this RGBC), or RGB with sync on green (RGsB).  The Dreamcast is great because it can output RGBS, RGBC, or RGB with separate horizontal and vertical sync (RGBHV, also called VGA).  I think the XBox 360 is the same way, I know it can at least do RGBS and RGBHV.  The Wii is a little different in different territories.  I haven't messed with it yet, but I will eventually.

I had to mod my NES, PC Engine, and N64 for RGBS (see next post).  The Gamecube can output RGBHV, but I had to find a console with a digital video port and modify an expensive cable (more below).

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As you can see, the problem with hooking up and switching a lot of consoles is handling all the different types of signals.  What I do is use custom cables for all my consoles.  They are wired a to DB15HD (VGA) connector in the following pinout:

1 Red
2 Green
3 Blue
4 (unused, reserved for future use)
5 Ground
6 Red Difference (Pr)
7 [Luminance (Y)]/Composite Video
8 [Blue Difference (Pb)]/[Chrominance (Cr)]
9 +5 volts
10 Composite Video for Sync
11 Left Audio
12 Right Audio
13 Horizontal Sync
14 Vertical Sync
15 Composite Sync

By connecting only the appropriate pins for the desired signal type, these cables can carry composite video, S-video, component, RGBS, RGBC, or RGBHV, as well as analog audio all in the same cable.

Here's an example for one of my favorite consoles, the Super Nintendo:



I bought an RGB SCART cable for the SNES on eBay, removed the SCART connector at the end, and soldered the appropriate wires to a d-sub connector.  In this case: red, green, blue, c sync, +5v, audio left, right, and ground.  Then I secured the connector in a d-sub hood for protection and strain relief, and snapped it shut.



This is typical for several consoles, and can be wired easily, given these pinouts:

http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/gamescart/gamescart.htm]http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/gamescart/gamescart.htm]http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/gamescart/gamescart.htm

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These cables are then connected to a custom switch box that is wired to my pinout:





This is a 4-way switch I made with color adjustment and sync processing.  Four custom cables coming from the consoles are connected to the four inputs, A, B, C, and D, and one is selected with the switch on the front.

The audio from the selected console is outputted to the two RCA jacks at the top, which go to the equalizer and then to the receiver.  If the cable is carrying composite video, S-video, or component, it is outputted to the three RCA jacks at the bottom (composite comes out on the green jack; S-video comes out on the green and black jacks and requires a small adapter; they didn't have blue RCA jacks in stock at Digikey, so I got a black).  These other video connections are there in case the need arises, but I'm mostly concerned with RGB.

The switch box has a simple circuit inside that will convert composite sync or composite video to horizontal and vertical sync.  This means that regardless of whether the selected input cable is carrying RGBS, RGBC, or RGBHV, it will be outputted as RGBHV in the standard VGA pinout to the d-sub connector in the center.  This can then be connected with a standard VGA cable to my transcoder.  The TC1600 can actually work with c sync on the h sync pin, but there are a couple of reasons for me to use separate sync at all times.

Before reaching the switch, the red, green, and blue color lines of each input all run through 100-ohm tweaker potentiometers.  This allows the red, green, and blue color levels to be adjusted individually for each input.  After the switch, the red, green, and blue lines run through 220uf capacitors.



This is what the switch looks like inside.  It looks like an impossible rat's nest at first, but it's not really that bad once you start working on it.  When you buy these, the d-sub's and the switch are already wired.  All of the guts can be unbolted and removed as a single piece to drill all the extra holes for my added parts and put them in.  Then I just needed to reroute a few of the lines going to the output, and the red, green, and blue lines coming from the inputs.  About three quarters of the wiring didn't have to be adjusted.



That blue thing in the center is the heart of the switch.  It's just a simple rotary switch that all the connections run through.



This is the sync circuit.  It uses an EL4583 chip to seperate sync, and two CPC1002N optical relay chips to pass the horizontal and vertical sync created to the appropriate output lines.  The circuit is activated and powered by +5v coming from the selected input (luckily all the consoles that output RGBS or RGBC output +5v).  So when pin 9 is not powered, the optical relays disconnect the circuit from the output, and native RGBHV sources can pass their sync straight through to the output.  This also means that the switchbox requires no external power supply.



EL4583 and CPC1002N's can be bought from Digikey.com.  The datasheets are available here:

http://www.intersil.com/content/dam/Intersil/documents/el45/el4583.pdf

http://www.clare.com/home/pdfs.nsf/www/CPC1002N.pdf/$file/CPC1002N.pdf

The only other thing going on inside electrically is the potentiometers on the input color lines and the capacitors on the output color lines.

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Here are some more examples of cables I use:



Here's one for the Playstation 1/2/3, and one for the Genesis.  The Playstation cable I used had that A/V breakout halfway through.  It's not really in the way of anything, and could be used to pass composite to a Guncon or something.



This one is for Dreamcast is a little different.  It has some DIP switches on it to activate the mode select lines on the console's video out.  These allow for selection between two 15kHz RGB modes, or 31kHz RGB (VGA).  More info here:

http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:dreamcastav



This one is for a Gamecube.  In order to get RGBHV out of one, you have to hack an official component or d-terminal cable, and modify the connections to a chip found inside the cable.  I could only find a component cable and it was pretty expensive.  I removed the original output cable, and wired it up as a small adapter dongle with a female d-sub in my pinout.  I also integrated the standard connector to add audio.  A standard VGA cable can be used to connect between this and my switch box. More info here:

http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:gamecube_rgb



Since I had the other halves of the cables I used for this sitting around, I figured I'd make something out of them.  This can be connected to my Gamecube dongle for component video.  You need to set the DIP switches on the dongle for RGBHV or component.

This cable can also be connected to my Playstation cable with a gender changer for component video.  This works because of the shared pinout.  You just need to switch back to component in the display settings.

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Anyway, this is what can be done with d-sub connectors and switch boxes and such.  The connectors are a lot smaller and easier to work with than SCART connectors, and the switch boxes are also very cheap ($12-15 USD) and versatile.  They're small (about 6x2x4 inches), non-directional, and don't require a power supply.

The main limitation of the switcher is of course the limited number of inputs, but you can chain them together.  Three 4-ways chained will give you ten inputs.  They don't add any more resistance in the lines than a short length of wire, and I can't see any reduction in brightness when compared to a straight connection.  Of course, only the one at the end of the line needs a sync circuit, filter capacitors, audio breakout, etc.

It doesn't have to be as complicated as mine either.  The color adjustment pots are not totally necessary, and depending on your sources and your monitor/transcoder/scaler/video processor/whatever, you may not need a sync circuit.  You could easily use a d-sub switch without any modification this way, and you might be able to use a DB-9 instead of a DB-15.  An audio breakout, SCART connection, etc., can be provided with a custom cable connected to the output.

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My multi-console arcade cabinet will have various systems connected this same way, but I'm working on a circuit that will do the switching with relay chips instead of a physical switch.  This will allow for some fancy tricks.

[rCadeGaming]

After a long wait, I'm finally getting RGB out of my NES. I wasn't interested in the Playchoice 10 PPU RGB mod because of the palette issues, not to mention not wanting to kill a PC10. Fortunately, Tim Worthington ("viletim") recently came out with an ingenious little circuit board called the NESRGB that solves all of these problems. It is installed in between the stock PPU and the NES main board, and can output high quality RGB with a selection of color palletes (one of them being the normal color palette we're accustomed to from the composite output).

More info here:

http://etim.net.au/nesrgb/index.htm

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=47617

Here's the NESRGB installed in my front-loader.



I removed the RF output and channel select switch (won't be missing those), and installed a DB-15HD connector to output RGBS + audio using my pinout. This way it can be connected to my switch boxes using a standard VGA cable.



Here it is all back together.



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After watching eBay for at least 6 months, I finally got myself a PC Engine Duo R around Christmas of 2012. I'd been looking for a while since I'd already had a mint copy of Rondo of Blood for about a year

Anyhow, as soon as I got it, I kind of halfway region modded it so I could play my US copy of Blazing Lazers.  When I say halfway, I mean I just cut some of the pins on the HuCard connector and quickly rewired them so I could play US cards, but then Japanese cards were unplayable.  Eventually I got around to installing a proper switch to change between regions easily, and I also did an RGB mod while I was at it.

For the region mod I referenced this site:

http://www.multimods.com/SlotMod1.html

and for the RGB mod I referenced this site:

http://www.gamesx.com/rgbadd/rgbturbo.htm

I decided to put everything for both mods on one small board that's about 2 x 2 inches.  This turned out to be a pretty tight fit, but it worked out.  Here's what I came up with; the "bottom" of the board:



On the far left of the board are the four transistors for amplifying the RGB signal, one each for red, green, blue, and composite sync.  On the right are four CD4066 chips.  I'm basically using each one as a 4PST switch.  There are 8 pins on the card connector which must be switched one of two ways, so I combined the four 4066's to make an 8PDT switch.  I could have done it with fewer chips, but 4066's are dirt cheap, and I had a ton of them lying around.

On the top are some little "L" brackets and nuts and bolts for d-subs that were convenient for mounting the board to a piece of shielding that sticks up at the back of the system.  This also provides the whole circuit with a connection to shield ground.

Here is the board mounted in the system; you can see the "top" of it, where all the connection points are:



On the left are all the connections among the various pins of the 4066's, and on the right are all the resistors for the RGB amp circuit.  I basically used the exact circuit from the page I linked to, but I skipped the 220uF capacitors on the outputs because they're included in my switchbox.

The stray red and black wires to the right of the board are for the +5v and ground that will run the whole thing, tapped from the original video output.  The bunches of wires at the bottom left are coming from the card connector.

I desoldered the original DIN-5 A/V output connector, and replaced it with a DIN-8:



You can see that four of the pins are soldered into the original mounting points; these will carry the +5v, ground, and left and right audio that was always there.  The other four pins are bent up so I can solder my RGB and sync outputs to them.

You can also see a better view of how the board is mounted to that shielding to the left.

Here's the new DIN-8 from the outside; looks pretty original:



Here's what connects to the new output.  It's a little dongle I can plug a standard VGA cable into to carry RGBS video and audio to my switchbox:



Here's everything wired up:



You can see the appropriate connections from the card connector running through the 4066's to be switched, with a toggle switch ready to be routed to the outside of the system; and the RGB and sync signals, tapped from the graphics chip, running through the amplification circuit and out the DIN-8 connector.  The toggle switch just provides 5v on one wire or the other to activate a set of 4066's and select a region.

Finally, here's the switch mounted under the card door.  Drilling the hole for this switch was really the only irreversible modification to the system:



You just put in a card and set the switch one way or the other to pick a region.  For disc games it doesn't matter which way you set it.

Well, everything's working pretty well so far.  HuCard games from either region load right up, and Rondo of Blood never looked so good with the RGB output!

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Also, here's a picture of the N64 after RGB modding.

[Junai]

Supremely slick.

[Jack Burton]

Very nice, very professional. 

Is there any particular reason you are using the KV27-FS120?  Clearly, you have the time and means to get a true RGB enabled monitor like a NEC XM29. 

I know the Sony one is a flat screen aperture grill, so it should have a very nice and bright image.  Probably brighter than the NEC's.  The NEC should have better geometry.  But, I'm guessing you have dialed that in via service menu to be much better than the factory settings? 

Do you prefer the 27"  size?  There are certainly some larger component enabled CRTs, even aperture grill ones.  I have a Toshiba 36A60 and I've always wondered how it would do with a RGB>component transcoder. 

[rCadeGaming]

Thanks Jack.

The thing about the TV is that it seems have the best combination of picture quality and availability.  I'm planning to make two arcade cabinets (one vertical, one horizontal) using these, because I want something in them that will last a lifetime.  Trinitron's are known to last at least twenty years.  I don't think a quality PVM or arcade monitor's lifespan would necessarily be less, but they are a lot more expensive and harder to find.  With these TV's it's easy to stockpile a lot of good matching sets.  One for each cabinet, one just for a gaming tv, and several more as backups.

Yes, after fixing things in the service menu, the geometry is much better, in fact it's almost perfect.  The main problem with these TV's is that a few of the lines start to bow down very slightly in the center about two thirds of the way down the screen.  There doesn't seem to be much you can do about it as it's caused by the nature of the electron beam trying to sweep a straight line across a flat screen; the center is a lot closer to the electron guns than the edges.  I'm going to try some adjustments at the neck as well, but it's really not very noticeable in gameplay unless you know what to look for and you're trying to see it instead of trying to play.  Of course, there are also the typical slight distortions in maybe the top and bottom quarter inch of picture, but these are really hard to spot without a test pattern.

Aside from that geometry is really good.  There are dozens of settings for both geometry and color/brightness/contrast in the service menu.

As for the size, my "game room" is fairly small right now, and my head is about 5 or 6 feet from the screen, so I wouldn't want it any bigger.  I do have plans to move to a bigger room though, and I have a KV32-somethingsomething (can't rememeber off the top of my head) waiting in storage.  The cabinets will be sit-down candy-style, and I think 27" is about the limit you can sit in front of.  The control panel is going to be spaced so you sit pretty far back.

[rCadeGaming]

Added my PC Engine mod above in the third post.

[Gray_Area]

Crazy amount of fine work. Um, no screenshots of your display.......

[rCadeGaming]

I posted some pictures of here of MAME running native res through this setup.  They predate the switch box, but are running through the same TV and transcoder:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=120798.0

My setup is kind of torn up right now as I've been working on some other stuff as well.  Once I get everything back together and calibrated really nicely I'll take some more pics from consoles.

[Gray_Area]

I posted some pictures of here of MAME running native res through this setup.  They predate the switch box, but are running through the same TV and transcoder:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=120798.0

I remember now. Yeah, DAMN good looking. I'd like to see it in person, but by the pictures I might prefer that to my multi-sync in that the detail is represented, but also enhanced by the inherent light blurring of the phosphor elements. You know, like in painting where a lot is inferred by the technique.

[rCadeGaming]

That's a great analogy.  Yeah, I think I prefer this to an arcade monitor, because of both the picture quality and the service menu adjustments.  For 15kHz progressive content at least.

Of course with 25kHz and 31kHz, I have to make compromises and scale to 480i.  So I'm still torn on whether I should spring for some tri-sync's.  If I did, everything would be same, I would just remove the transcoder and run the switchbox's VGA output straight to the monitor.

Anyhow, if you want to see this in person, just get one of these TV's on craigslist, they're super cheap right now.  Hook up a Super Nintendo with a cheap RGB SCART to component adapter and that's basically the kind of video you'll get.  The color and geometry probably won't be super great until you fix it in the service menu, but you get the idea.

[rCadeGaming]

Major update: the first post is now all new as of 2/19/2013. Includes pictures and a more complete description of the whole setup and some screenshots.

[adder]

good stuff man
i have to say your scanlines are brutal, ive never seen scanlines so strong

i notice u have quite a few consoles, have u gone down the storages device/everdrives road yet? im really liking how a lot of consoles now have the whole hard drive/flash card possibilities.. ps. there's a pc engine one... (Turbo Everdrive)

http://krikzz.com/

[rCadeGaming]

i have to say your scanlines are brutal, ive never seen scanlines so strong

Seriously?  I wouldn't want them any weaker.  Keep in mind that I don't play with my face 3 inches from the screen like some of the pictures, they're just close-ups to show detail.  The scanline levels look great sitting back at a normal distance.  Look at the full frame shots, like Hagane in the picture at the very top, or the Blazing Lazers title screen shot near the middle.

im really liking how a lot of consoles now have the whole hard drive/flash card possibilities.. ps. there's a pc engine one... (Turbo Everdrive)

IDK those things are expensive.  Technically if I didn't buy any real copies of games I would save money overall, but when you factor in that you're losing the collection aspect it's not worth it to me. 

Also, if there's something that's just impossible to find/hundreds of dollars/homebrew/hack/whatever, I prefer to build a repro cart.  It's a cheap, fun little project to make one, now that I already have a ROM burner.  You have something that you're proud of, because you made it, and you have it on a dedicated cart, rather than having to reflash or switch out SD cards or navigate a menu or something that leaves you with that emulation feeling.

I've done a retranslation/patch of Final Fantasy IV J so far.  I'm playing through it right now, working great; and I have tons more planned.

[rCadeGaming]

Jadder, I was thinking about the Turbo Everdrive.  That one's interesting, as Hucard repros aren't really doable...

[adder]

i think if i had a pc engine id def get a flash cart/everdrive for it, as i imagine it would be a nightmare/expensive trying to get all those rare games. same with the vectrex, thats another one where i think something like the sean kelly multicart or similar is a must, anyway good luck if u decide to go for one
ps. i wonder why my scanlines are weaker (less visible) looking than yours, mind you i do have that problem of my tv not being able to do blacks very deep so thats probably all it is (ie. my scanlines are more grey than black)...also as u say its prob just because you had the camera very close to the tv.. anyway no big deal of course, its all good

[rCadeGaming]

Just RGB modded the N64.  I hadn't planned on playing it, but I picked up some cheap games at the thrift store.  I put up a picture at the end of my third post.

[libra66]

I really like the link... I have found here so many information, I'll share this to my friends...

[rCadeGaming]

Finally RGB modded my NES.  I used a new method that fixes the color palette problem.  More info and pictures in the third post.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,129501.msg1324619.html#msg1324619

[rCadeGaming]

Someone requested a wiring diagram of the sync circuit in my main switchbox, so I added it in.  See the second post here.