VA4 Model 2 Genesis slight rainbow..

[SuperDerpBro]

I FINALLY found a VA4 genesis 2!! I've honestly been looking off and on for 5 years lol. Came across one and was super stoked!

Fired it up (VIA composite) and it has slight rainbow colors in the white parts of mostly letters... Kinda hard to explain. Example.. I popped in Sonic 2 and after it says "SEGA!!!!!!!" you get a black screen that says.. SONIC AND MILES "TAILS" POWER IN. In the whites of those letters you can see a slight rainbowish effect. Is this normal? I only have one other genesis to compare it to. It's a model 2 but i forget the motherboard version. It is one of the worst you can have both audio wise and video encoder wise, i remember that. It doesn't do it. Same AV cables and power cord.

If it isn't normal can anything be done to fix it?

Edit: I cant capture it in a pic.. but i kinda did with video. Here's a snap. See how the letters are all slightly different colors? It's a bit worse in person.

[marurun]

You have not made the image public.

Also, even the better sounding Genesis models sometimes use ho-hum video encoder chips.

[SuperDerpBro]

I shall fix that. And the va4 only used one encoder.

[marurun]

I've read the same in many places, yet... Well, my VA4 doesn't have the banding, I don't think. Maybe there are some issues with caps.

[SuperDerpBro]

"the banding"? Is that what i have? I'll find out what encoder mine has when i find a magnifying glass heh

[SuperDerpBro]

12:28 .... I guess its normal for the Sony CXA1645.. which i assume i have.

[Ziggy]

You don't need a magnifying glass, you can read the model number off the IC with the naked eye. But, it doesn't matter if it has the CXA1165, 1145, or one of the clone encoders. Composite video is gonna suck. That's why you have rainbow banding. It IS normal. Genesis composite video just sucks period.

Going through the 32x apparently fixes (or at least helps) the issue, so that's an option if you wanna stick with composite.



S-Video completely solves the problem, but the console has to be modified to output S-Video. This is your best bet if you're using a CRT (if you can't use RGB). If the mod is done right, S-Video looks amazing from the Genesis. And after seeing it, I couldn't imagine ever going back to composhit.

If you're using an LCD/LED/Plasma TV, you can adapt RGB to component for not a lot of money. A lot of people seem to like this guy. Some HDTVs don't like the lower resolutions over component, and wont display the image correct or at all. In that case, you could get an RGB to HDMI adapter instead.

[SuperDerpBro]

You don't need a magnifying glass, you can read the model number off the IC with the naked eye. But, it doesn't matter if it has the CXA1165, 1145, or one of the clone encoders. Composite video is gonna suck. That's why you have rainbow banding. It IS normal. Genesis composite video just sucks period.

No, i can't. When I had it open for cleaning I could hardly see any lettering in the chip. Just looked black. It's a SEGA VA4 as opposed to a Majesco VA4 if that makes a diff. The other model 2 i have has absolutely no banding at all. But has jail bars hehe.

I am very aware of all the mods and RGB stuff but I like composite . I like to play they way I did when I was a kid. heh. I run my NES with RF cause it feels right

[Ziggy]

I am very aware of all the mods and RGB stuff but I like composite . I like to play they way I did when I was a kid. heh.

That's why I mentioned the 32x. If you wanna stick with composite, but have a cleaner signal, the 32x is apparently the way to go. The video I linked does a good job showing this.

http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/201 ... osite.html

There's good reason to stick with composite. A lot of Genesis games used it for transparency effects. Using S-Video or RGB breaks these effects.

I run my NES with RF cause it feels right

From my own experience, there isn't a huge difference in video between using composite and RF from a lot of sources. However, the audio is a lot better when using composite. The audio from RF sounds incredibly muffled when you compare them.

[SuperDerpBro]

Cool link, thanks.

NES just feels right that way to me.. I do play a lot on my AV Famicom and it often feels to "crisp" looking and sounding hehe. Especially on a newer flat CRT (non HD).. I prefer NES on a really cheap curved CRT hehe.