Game Switch

[Krejlooc]

Could always buy a good comb filter to get really decent results from composite to svideo.

I guess I'm just sitting here wondering why you invested in all those s-video transcoders when you could've just invested in a bigger RGB monitor instead.

A good filter isn't going to turn composite into S-video in a way that'll trump turning RGB into S-video.

I've looked into buying a larger RGB monitor, actually. I've been interested in importing a TV from PAL-land for this specific reason. The shipping always kills a prospect - I was going to import a 32" RGB-compatible TV from France a while back, and the shipping came out to over $400. Killed the transaction.

I require a CRT, so any modern solution is out of the question. I have a 52" HDTV in the living room that I can use all this crap with, but I want to play on a CRT. I do have a slightly larger (17") RGB monitor inside one of my arcade cabinets, but you can't really kick back in a recliner and play a game on the arcade machine.

There's also the issue of what happens when these TVs die. Eventually they're going to go out... if I buy another RGB TV, well all the shipping and importing goes down the drain when it dies. With a bunch of external hardware, I can make ANY TV RIB-compatible. Just pick up a new cheap TV from craigslist, hook all this stuff up to it, and I'm good to go. It also lets me bring stuff over to friend's places without needing to lug a TV around as well. I was showing my friend my Mortal Kombat 2 challenger edition PCB, for example, and used the RGB-converter to get the board running on his TV rather than hauling a monitor or my full supergun over to his place.

Further, investing in all this stuff is still way cheaper than investing in an RGB monitor, period. That RGB->SVideo converter was only like 60 GBP. I can't find any 32" RGB monitor for that price.

[CRTGAMER]

I require a CRT, so any modern solution is out of the question. I have a 52" HDTV in the living room that I can use all this crap with, but I want to play on a CRT. I do have a slightly larger (17") RGB monitor inside one of my arcade cabinets, but you can't really kick back in a recliner and play a game on the arcade machine.

Maybe a HDCRT?
That is what I use, own HD WEGA CRTs. All the retro consoles display beautiful and even gain 480p and up for the newer systems. The only downside is no retro lightgun support, but the trade off in improved picture well worth it.

[Krejlooc]

I require a CRT, so any modern solution is out of the question. I have a 52" HDTV in the living room that I can use all this crap with, but I want to play on a CRT. I do have a slightly larger (17") RGB monitor inside one of my arcade cabinets, but you can't really kick back in a recliner and play a game on the arcade machine.

Maybe a HDCRT?
That is what I use, own HD WEGA CRTs. All the retro consoles display beautiful and even gain 480p and up for the newer systems. The only downside is no retro lightgun support, but the trade off in improved picture well worth it.

That is quite literally the reason why I stick to CRTs, so no go for me.

[AppleQueso]

Could always buy a good comb filter to get really decent results from composite to svideo.

I guess I'm just sitting here wondering why you invested in all those s-video transcoders when you could've just invested in a bigger RGB monitor instead.

A good filter isn't going to turn composite into S-video in a way that'll trump turning RGB into S-video.

Of course not, I only mention it for whatever composite-only devices you might have. It could be a step up for them.

I've looked into buying a larger RGB monitor, actually. I've been interested in importing a TV from PAL-land for this specific reason. The shipping always kills a prospect - I was going to import a 32" RGB-compatible TV from France a while back, and the shipping came out to over $400. Killed the transaction.

I require a CRT, so any modern solution is out of the question. I have a 52" HDTV in the living room that I can use all this crap with, but I want to play on a CRT. I do have a slightly larger (17") RGB monitor inside one of my arcade cabinets, but you can't really kick back in a recliner and play a game on the arcade machine.

There's also the issue of what happens when these TVs die. Eventually they're going to go out... if I buy another RGB TV, well all the shipping and importing goes down the drain when it dies. With a bunch of external hardware, I can make ANY TV RIB-compatible. Just pick up a new cheap TV from craigslist, hook all this stuff up to it, and I'm good to go. It also lets me bring stuff over to friend's places without needing to lug a TV around as well. I was showing my friend my Mortal Kombat 2 challenger edition PCB, for example, and used the RGB-converter to get the board running on his TV rather than hauling a monitor or my full supergun over to his place.

Further, investing in all this stuff is still way cheaper than investing in an RGB monitor, period. That RGB->SVideo converter was only like 60 GBP. I can't find any 32" RGB monitor for that price.

I was just thinking more along the lines of old professional monitors. Sony PVMs and stuff like that. They pop up locally from time to time, and are generally quite cheap, but naturally it depends on where you live. I'm honestly not sure what sorts of equipment like that pops up in the UK or where it ends up when it's no longer used, but yeah.

HDCRTs are incredibly heavy and unless you have something like an XBR that actually switches resolutions, they don't even look as good as a non HD CRT for standard definition inputs.

[Krejlooc]

Could always buy a good comb filter to get really decent results from composite to svideo.

I guess I'm just sitting here wondering why you invested in all those s-video transcoders when you could've just invested in a bigger RGB monitor instead.

A good filter isn't going to turn composite into S-video in a way that'll trump turning RGB into S-video.

Of course not, I only mention it for whatever composite-only devices you might have. It could be a step up for them.

I've looked into buying a larger RGB monitor, actually. I've been interested in importing a TV from PAL-land for this specific reason. The shipping always kills a prospect - I was going to import a 32" RGB-compatible TV from France a while back, and the shipping came out to over $400. Killed the transaction.

I require a CRT, so any modern solution is out of the question. I have a 52" HDTV in the living room that I can use all this crap with, but I want to play on a CRT. I do have a slightly larger (17") RGB monitor inside one of my arcade cabinets, but you can't really kick back in a recliner and play a game on the arcade machine.

There's also the issue of what happens when these TVs die. Eventually they're going to go out... if I buy another RGB TV, well all the shipping and importing goes down the drain when it dies. With a bunch of external hardware, I can make ANY TV RIB-compatible. Just pick up a new cheap TV from craigslist, hook all this stuff up to it, and I'm good to go. It also lets me bring stuff over to friend's places without needing to lug a TV around as well. I was showing my friend my Mortal Kombat 2 challenger edition PCB, for example, and used the RGB-converter to get the board running on his TV rather than hauling a monitor or my full supergun over to his place.

Further, investing in all this stuff is still way cheaper than investing in an RGB monitor, period. That RGB->SVideo converter was only like 60 GBP. I can't find any 32" RGB monitor for that price.

I was just thinking more along the lines of old professional monitors. Sony PVMs and stuff like that. They pop up locally from time to time, and are generally quite cheap, but naturally it depends on where you live. I'm honestly not sure what sorts of equipment like that pops up in the UK or where it ends up when it's no longer used, but yeah.

HDCRTs are incredibly heavy and unless you have something like an XBR that actually switches resolutions, they don't even look as good as a non HD CRT for standard definition inputs.

Well, from what I've seen, the cheapest professional solution is to buy an Arcade RGB monitor. I can pick them up wholesale here in houston. but they're still really expensive, and never come in sizes I'm looking for. The biggest I can get is about a 22", which is still kinda small for me. I explained above why I avoid HDCRTs, I have to have my Snatcher properly.

I'm happy with what I got, basically. I have a few RGB monitors if I REALLY need the clarity, but I'm one of those heretics who doesn't believe that clarity = better. Genesis games abuse the shit out of that NTSC color bleed, for example. I'd prefer my games to be slightly blurry if I'm using a large monitor.

[CRTGAMER]

HDCRTs are incredibly heavy and unless you have something like an XBR that actually switches resolutions, they don't even look as good as a non HD CRT for standard definition inputs.

Wrong. I own two HD CRTs. Take a look at my system list in my signature. Everything from Atari RF to Wii Component all display just fine, no converter needed.

This is all detailed extensively in my CRT vs LCD HD Guide linked in my signature.

[AppleQueso]

HDCRTs are incredibly heavy and unless you have something like an XBR that actually switches resolutions, they don't even look as good as a non HD CRT for standard definition inputs.

Wrong. I own two HD CRTs. Take a look at my system list in my signature. Everything from Atari RF to Wii Component all display just fine, no converter needed.

Who said anything about converters?

Most HD CRTs have a fixed resolution they just scale everything to. Sure it looks better than what you'll see on say, an LCD, but that's for the same reason that HD content looks better.

Tell me, are there visible scanlines when you play 240p consoles on your HDTV? (NES, SNES, Genesis, etc)

[AppleQueso]

Well, from what I've seen, the cheapest professional solution is to buy an Arcade RGB monitor. I can pick them up wholesale here in houston. but they're still really expensive, and never come in sizes I'm looking for. The biggest I can get is about a 22", which is still kinda small for me. I explained above why I avoid HDCRTs, I have to have my Snatcher properly.

I'm happy with what I got, basically. I have a few RGB monitors if I REALLY need the clarity, but I'm one of those heretics who doesn't believe that clarity = better. Genesis games abuse the shit out of that NTSC color bleed, for example. I'd prefer my games to be slightly blurry if I'm using a large monitor.

You're in Houston? I thought you were in the UK for some reason....

I'd still say just keep an eye for pro monitors on craigslist, you might run into one of those 30"+ Mitsubishi or NEC behemoths sometime if you're lucky.

[Krejlooc]

Well, from what I've seen, the cheapest professional solution is to buy an Arcade RGB monitor. I can pick them up wholesale here in houston. but they're still really expensive, and never come in sizes I'm looking for. The biggest I can get is about a 22", which is still kinda small for me. I explained above why I avoid HDCRTs, I have to have my Snatcher properly.

I'm happy with what I got, basically. I have a few RGB monitors if I REALLY need the clarity, but I'm one of those heretics who doesn't believe that clarity = better. Genesis games abuse the shit out of that NTSC color bleed, for example. I'd prefer my games to be slightly blurry if I'm using a large monitor.

You're in Houston? I thought you were in the UK for some reason....

I'd still say just keep an eye for pro monitors on craigslist, you might run into one of those 30"+ Mitsubishi or NEC behemoths sometime if you're lucky.

Ha, no, Houston born and raised. I actually wish I had been from the UK - PAL60 tvs would make this all trivial and I would have grown up in SMS country. Alas...

I always scan Craigslist and similar places for electronics equipment. If it wasn't evident enough by my collecting, I'm an electronics pack rat and I can always use some stuff. My Commodore 1084, for example, I picked up for free back in 1999 from a place that was throwing it away. Held onto it for years until I realized it was an RGB monitor and new life was born into it.

Sadly never run across any of the RGB monitors you're talking about. Like I said, though, until my dream 32" RGB monitor gifts its way into my lap, what I have in the meanwhile isn't a bad alternative. I have an easy to use 13" RGB monitor, a more difficult to utilize arcade RGB monitor, and an NTSC CRT TV that can take virtually any video format. Plus, even though this stuff is consumer grade, these are pretty much the highest quality consumer-grade products you can find until you step up to the several-thousand-dollars price range. JS Tech makes great encoders, and my Atlona CDM-660 PAL-NTSC converter gets great reviews. The JS Tech in particular is excellent - the s-video quality is terrific from the thing and noticeably superior to composite.

Total, all the hardware I've bought probably totals up to about $500-$600 worth of stuff if you buy it all new and through retail. I got it for substantially less, though.

[Anapan]

@ TheSonicRetard:
Very impressive! The girth of your cables must be massive! I considered going that way and after doing 2 half-assed, but time consuming test builds of my entertainment center the sheer weight of my cables kept causing disconnects while adding systems. I commend your tenacity, and have no doubt your setup is working perfectly. Do you have any glamour shots in the Game Rooms & Home Theater?