CRT Emudriver 2.0 support

[cyberluke]

Hi, is there anyone who could help with CRT Emudriver? I did not find any contact information on "official" page.

My problem is not working VGA BNC sync.

1) GPU: R9 280X (GCN 1.0), it has HDMI and DVI-I (analog)

2) I have connected DVI-I to VGA adapter  and then VGA->BNC cable (5 BNC).

3) I'm using Sony PVM 20M2 and according to CRT Emudriver page, I only need to connect the H sync (white cable).

4) Enabling EDID does nothing, the screen will start working after disabling EDID on DVI-I. That is in a contradiction with the documentation.

5) Sony PVM has sync over luma (green - G cable) or external sync (H sync probably). None of them works properly. With luma sync, the screen is displayed twice. With external sync button pushed on Sony PVM, the tv reports NO SYNC and displays garbled output.

6) I read on CRT EMudriver that you need to manually change H sync and V sync to positive values 1,1. I did not do that, I will try it. Composite sync is disabled.

I think for EDID I would need to send EXT SYNC OUT of TV back to GPU using BNC, right?

[cyberluke]

Update: Enabling EDID works only for VGA_0

Connecting to LCD screen shows that it sends 15.7Khz correctly (I think it shows vertical 15hz or khz and horizontal 60hz or something like that).

But the screen is still flickering with external sync no matter what I do. Switching on composite sync, generating modes and installing them again will cause a different type of flickering, so I'm not using it.

So it seems that it will sync using external sync on BNC (H cable - white color), but something else is wrong. Some mode is wrong. I tried switching from Arcade_15 to Generic_15 profile. Tried changing resolutions like 320x240 or 640x480. But that does not solve the issue either.

Very very very difficult.

[Calamity]

cyberluke,

You seem to have read mixed up information.

You need both H-sync and V-sync cables connected to get correct sync. Since the PVM only has a c-sync input, you need to combine both by means of a T connector. Sync polarities must be NEGATIVE (default). This will work. They will tell you it's not correct to mix H & V sync: they're right, but it will get you on business.

Then, there is the possibility to use c-sync too, and this is when you only connect the H-sync cable. But this is a tricky configuration and I don't recommend it specially if you're still trying to figure out things. Setting polarities to 1 is only needed for c-sync on legacy cards by the way, HD 5000+ don't need it.

[cyberluke]

Hi, I'm software developer. I can edit the ini file to change the polarity. I was just very tired.

There is only this information: "If you're using an VGA to BNC cable, remind that composite sync is ouput through the h-sync cable, so if you're using a T connector, unplug the v-sync cable." - okay now I read it slowly, so it means I should enable composite output ok. And then only change 0,0 to 1,1 for polarity in ini file, correct?

It was too much information and I don't have experience, so I was not unsure why EDID should be on VGA_0 and not DVI-I. But now I got it. I also watch 5 different youtube videos and everyone says something else or recommend to check some other checkbox :-D

There is a lot of information spread like breadcrumbs, for example: "Again, HD 5000+ cards are easier to setup for composite sync than legacy ones. Just enable composite sync for the selected output, create the modes and you're done." ...but this is not enough, of course. At first it looks like simple, but it isn't.

[cyberluke]

GOT IT!

EDIT: You said: " Setting polarities to 1 is only needed for c-sync on legacy cards by the way, HD 5000+ don't need it." --> that is not right! I had to do it, that was the cause! R9 280X and I had to do it for DVI-I (that's the only one I tested).

1) Changed polarity in monitor.ini
2) enabled composite sync
3) generated and installed profiles
4) nothing changed
5) opened properties and composite sync was not still enabled somehow -> enabled again -> works

Current issues:
A) resolution 320x240: have 1cm black border on the left -> perhaps need to recalibrate some stuff on Sony PVM TV
B) resolution 640x480: the picture is not stable, it is a little jumpy

Small rant:
Website says: "but first you need to go to the monitor tab to edit your selected monitor preset and modify it with the proper polarities". But correct should be: "Edit Settings -> Monitor Settings -> Edit monitor presets". Or just say: "click on Edit Monitor Presets button on Monitor tab". I was thinking the text is outdated and could not find this in UI.
Also the installation instructions have all screenshots missing: https://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1052#p1052

[buttersoft]

Also the installation instructions have all screenshots missing: https://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1052#p1052

All there for me...

Glad to hear you got it working though.

[cyberluke]

Yes, the main point was to enable composite sync and set positive polarity (H channel was already connected from VGA to BNC).

Anyway, I read 480i is flickering and in the past there was some flicker filter in CRT Emudriver. Is that correct? Is there any solution for this? I spent more than hour changing V total and all other values in the end in Arcade OSD. It does not help. Sony PVM has also some additional V retrace settings. I kept adjusting all of them using my human machine learning random heuristic feedback loop approach :-D. I have made perhaps 20% better result, but it is still flickering quite a lot. I don't have that much experience in this case, but these kind of issues happen when you round up some float pixel values instead of integer scaling in digital domain. In analog domain, it would be probably some incorrect V pulse length.

[Zebidee]

GOT IT!

EDIT: You said: " Setting polarities to 1 is only needed for c-sync on legacy cards by the way, HD 5000+ don't need it." --> that is not right! I had to do it, that was the cause! R9 280X and I had to do it for DVI-I (that's the only one I tested).

1) Changed polarity in monitor.ini
2) enabled composite sync
3) generated and installed profiles
4) nothing changed
5) opened properties and composite sync was not still enabled somehow -> enabled again -> works

Current issues:
A) resolution 320x240: have 1cm black border on the left -> perhaps need to recalibrate some stuff on Sony PVM TV
B) resolution 640x480: the picture is not stable, it is a little jumpy

Small rant:
Website says: "but first you need to go to the monitor tab to edit your selected monitor preset and modify it with the proper polarities". But correct should be: "Edit Settings -> Monitor Settings -> Edit monitor presets". Or just say: "click on Edit Monitor Presets button on Monitor tab". I was thinking the text is outdated and could not find this in UI.
Also the installation instructions have all screenshots missing: https://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=1052#p1052

If it works for you then great.

I think Calamity (who replied above) has done a great job with the documentation and installation instructions. He's a software developer but he can write too! English is a second language to him so I have to admire him a little more.

Might be your composite sync isn't working quite right. Often TVs and PVMs can still sync a picture even when the sync is completely missing. 320x240p is relatively easy to sync onto. The "jumpy" 640x480i suggests something is wonky there, but... maybe all is actually fine and you are just noticing the interlacing, because it is more obvious when you have a lot of horizontal lines in the image (like you get in a windows desktop at 640x480i).

One hot tip I can give you that might not be in the documentation AFAIK is: when you are done with VMMaker, always close the GUI first by clicking "OK". This makes sure that any settings made in the GUI are saved and processed. You'll see it saying "processing config" and "exporting settings to mame.ini" in the console window. These steps are important, don't just close it by clicking the X at top right.

Yes, the main point was to enable composite sync and set positive polarity (H channel was already connected from VGA to BNC).

Anyway, I read 480i is flickering and in the past there was some flicker filter in CRT Emudriver. Is that correct? Is there any solution for this? I spent more than hour changing V total and all other values in the end in Arcade OSD. It does not help. Sony PVM has also some additional V retrace settings. I kept adjusting all of them using my human machine learning random heuristic feedback loop approach :-D. I have made perhaps 20% better result, but it is still flickering quite a lot. I don't have that much experience in this case, but these kind of issues happen when you round up some float pixel values instead of integer scaling in digital domain. In analog domain, it would be probably some incorrect V pulse length.

Composite sync will still work, whether you set polarity to positive or not. But whatevers works for you.

Flickering is normal in interlaced modes. Especially noticeable in windows/desktop. Try to avoid it for gaming modes.

[cyberluke]

Hi, yes it was flickering interlacing for 480i mode and there is nothing to do about it. Although I read some previous versions of this driver or supporting software had flicker filter built-in and it was removed few years back.

Believe me or not, my configuration did not work until I changed the polarity. Everything is working now. I had to adjust some Sony PVM stuff like V Hold, H Hold, H frequency, etc. in the Sony PVM menu itself for some particular resolutions.