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NEC TG-16/TE/TurboDuo => TG/PCE Repair/Mod Discussion => Topic started by: MrFulci on May 07, 2007, 02:59:34 PM
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It's pretty easy to have a Neo Geo, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, Atari 2600, etc modded with S-Video. I know of at least 2 different sources for each of those systems.
I would really like to have S-Video on my Duo-R, however I'm not about to tackle it myself and foul something up. The Duo isn't as cheap as a genesis!
Anyplace else offer this S-Video mod? I asked Old School Gamer (Canada) about the mod, they said they only install region switches on those systems. D-Lite I've contact about 3 times the past 9-12 months. So far, every 3-4 months I send him an e-mail asking him if he is performing this mod. No response so far, though I did just send out another e-mail today, perhaps that will receive a reply...
Looking for someone to point me in the right direction.
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The information is now out there to do it yourself, but I know most people lack the equipment and skill to do it.
D-lite seems to be MIA for a while now unfortunatly. If there really isnt any place left, I may start offering to build circuits/mod peoples systems.
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My biggest fear in sending my system away to be handled by someone else is not so much that they will screw something up or that it will get damaged in shipping, but that they will not send me my own system back again. I always kind of kept this to myself as an irrational paranoid fear, but recently I read in a forum here it actually happened to someone (nod?)!!
Regardless of whether or not the unit they send back to me is the exact same model, swapping decks on you without your knowledge is just plain immoral. Not to mention there is absolutely no reason whatsoever for someone to do that unless they have ulterior motives. What if the "replacement" deck has a small malfunction your old one didn't? One you might not notice right away? Like the SRAM that won't hold it's memory? Or a laser that's on it's way out?
For this reason I will never send my system away to be modded by anyone.
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That is a pretty shitty business practice.
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Rather than search for it, what exactly happened with nod?
I understand there are chances things can happen, which is why I was looking for reputable places. D-Lite, I've read no complaints about his work, other than one on the this board recently about an ietm being damaged during shipping.
Old School Gamer, I've read no complaints either.
When I was searching around I noticed a poster on neo-geo.com who is doing many, many mods for about 6 different systems, however PC Engine isn't one of them. He also has a lot of good refferals.
Shipping isn't much of an issue for me, as I would ask the person sending the item back to me to reuse my shipping materials (bubble wrap and box). If that person wraps it, the same way I did, and damage happens, not their fault. I would want them to ship it with insurance and delivery confirmation, and I would pay that.
I have other genesis decks aroudn here, sometime I will attempt a mod on one of those, that way if things go awry I'm only out $20.
With The PC Engine Duo-R I'm looking for someone who has done this a few times, and knows what they are doing.
grahf,
Any pictures of your finished system? I'm curious to know what the exterior looks like, where you placed the jacks and such. I've seend pics fo the interior, that's about it.
If D-Lite doesn't get back to me in a week or two, and you're feeling up to it, I may work out somethign with you on the condition that if you melt my Duo-R you provide a replacement, hahaha.
If anyone else is in touch with D-Lite, please let him know I've been waiting a while and I've been really looking forward to an S-Video mod, however I can't wait anotehr year, hah!
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grahf,
Any pictures of your finished system? I'm curious to know what the exterior looks like, where you placed the jacks and such. I've seend pics fo the interior, that's about it.
If D-Lite doesn't get back to me in a week or two, and you're feeling up to it, I may work out somethign with you on the condition that if you melt my Duo-R you provide a replacement, hahaha.
If anyone else is in touch with D-Lite, please let him know I've been waiting a while and I've been really looking forward to an S-Video mod, however I can't wait anotehr year, hah!
I found these really cool flush mount svideo jacks when I was doing mine. They are a little more pricey than the regular nut-mount jacks that you find, but its way cleaner. Plus you never have to worry about the nut coming off the back of your svideo jack. Another option (I probably should have done mine this way), is to remove the original din-5 plug and install a din-8. With the right din-8 you will have backwards compatability with the original A/V plug, plus you can solder up a din-8 cable that has audio and svideo in one cord, instead of two.
(http://files.myopera.com/grahf/albums/136150/svideo%20port.jpg)
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Nice, graah. Are the screws the only thing holding the S-Video jack in place?
So, you are pumping the audio through the din-5, and the video through the S-video? Are there L/R audio jacks on there, somewhere?
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The screws go about 1.5cm into the jack, so its 100% sturdy. Also, you cant see from the picture but the plug part protrudes out a few mm, so it sits into the hole I made in the case. The jack is made by Calrad, and can be bought from www.minute-man.com (http://www.minute-man.com/) among other places. I was going to add two rca audio jacks so I didnt have to waste the original a/v cable just for audio. Instead, I just used a din-5 solder plug and made up an audio-only cable.
(http://www.minute-man.com/acatalog/CALRAD30-506.jpg)
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grahf,
Your Duo-R functions with the S-video, no problems with it catching fire or anything, right?
I have 2 possibilities at the moment in getting this mod done. One is researching, the other has yet to get back to me.
grahf, if neither person is wiling to mod my Duo-R, would you be interested in making some $$$?
A request I would have is that it has it's own L/R audio jacks. If possible a composite video to go along with the S-Video would be nice. Is this something you could do?
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Haha, of course it hasnt caught fire yet :lol:.
At the moment I have enough components on hand to make 1, maybe 2 encoder circuits EXCEPT for the actual cxa1645. Im waiting to hear back from a place about buying a small lot of them. Adding the jacks and installing the circuit is the easy part. Adding standard colored rca jacks is trivial.
Tell you what, Im going to get supplies together and build some more circuits. I'll let you know when that time comes. Hopefully sometime over the next few weeks, time permitting.
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Hey Grahf, I would be more than happy to pay you for a S-video circuit board ready to go any day when get up and running some time. I would like to maybe try it myself first since I have 3 dead Playstation model 1 systems for CXA chips and can buy the rest at the local electronics store.
Also, I got a question on capacitors for the Turbo Duo US I own. I replaced most of the capacitors for the sound fix and now it works 100% perfect. How do the capacitors with the weird different values go with uf and volts? For example: 40 16s 20B, 22 6A 22M, or 100 6A 2NA. I assume the first 2 values will always be uf then volts but not so sure as the values will seem right on the second and third numbers at times.
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You guys will have to be patient with me, but i'm in the process of designing and having some professional style PCBs produced. I think this is the best way. I'm also looking into using the CXA2075 encoder instead of the CXA1645. Its a drop in replacement with fewer external components required, and is generally considered a better chip in all areas except minutely higher power consumption.
SNKNostalgia, yes the first two values are usually uf(pf, etc), and volts. On a lot of caps thats all that is marked. Anything after that is usually a tolerance rating (either electrical tolerance, or sometimes thermal tolerance). It really depends on the manufacturer though. Just check the datasheets if you can.
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Wow, sounds nice grahf!
So, I take it you are serious about doing at least a few S-Video mods?
No one has replied to my requests (so far) about the PCE Duo-R S-video mod, so there is a good chacne I will be going to you.
I'll go over more details as to what I'd like in a later e-mail with you, when you're ready to mod my machine. Though, what's most important to me:
- S-Video jack
- L/R audio jacks
External jacks would be good. A Composite video jack would be nice to have, though not absolutely needed.
grahf, are you handy with region switches also??????????? Not as important as S-Video to me, though if the price is right I'd ask you to rig that as well :mrgreen:
Keep us updated with your progress!
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Yeah, i'm certainly going to be doing them. I've ordered enough parts to built at least 10 encoder circuits. Region mods are no problem to do. I'd have to order a few switches if people wanted it done.
I dont know exactly what I will charge for this work, but I think what D-Lite charged when he was still around was pretty fair. I have to go over all the part costs and such still.
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Any idea when you will be ready to accept machines?
Next week? The following week?
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Yeah, i'm certainly going to be doing them. I've ordered enough parts to built at least 10 encoder circuits. Region mods are no problem to do. I'd have to order a few switches if people wanted it done.
I dont know exactly what I will charge for this work, but I think what D-Lite charged when he was still around was pretty fair. I have to go over all the part costs and such still.
Our savior! :clap:
Seriously, as many people there are who say modding is no problem, we really need someone willing to mod PCE systems for $$$.
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Like I said I am down. I actually would much just rather send my system off to get the mod done now that I look at that board you made. I would probably have a little troubleshooting issues with that. I havn't built a circuit board since Electronics 1 and 2 Votech in highschool 1998-1999. Although I have a good enough understanding of electronics, I still am not a pro or anything at it.
Also what suggestions do you have for a fan mod install? What kind of model? One thing, the smaller the better.
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I've been looking around for sometime for a person to mod these systems. It's been pretty difficult. It's pretty easy to find a Genesis modder, I've had no difficulty finding various sources for that... None.
Nice to see you taking up the slack, grahf!
When does it look like you'll be ready to start taking on systems?? Now that I can see a solution is near, I'm getting impatient, haha.
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I'm wire transferring the cash tomorrow for a shipment of ICs. I also need to quadruple check my pcb design before I have those made, since I dont want any expensive mistakes. I'm estimating a few weeks before i'm ready, but it may be less. I dont want to make any promises before I have things in-hand, built and tested. Im more than happy to help anyone construct their own, but like Black_Tiger says I know not everything is capable of doing it themselves.
SNKNostalgia, I havn't even considered a fan mod. I dont feel that my DuoR gets hot enough to warrant it. It has two power regulators and they are both adequatly heat sinked. Unfortunatly I cant offer any suggestions since I havnt done any real research on fans of this type.
MrFulci, If your REALLY as impatient as you say i'd be willing to pull the circuit out of my personal Duo for you. Send me a PM and we can work out the details.
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I'm not THAT impatient, grahf!
Though if the PCB's have a delay of 3 months or so, I will take you up on your offer!
Impatient maybe not the best word I chose for that last post, a better word would be "anticipating".
Keep this thread updated, I like to hear how the progress is going.
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Well I received most of my parts in the mail and started construction of my first board. The only thing i'm waiting for is the CXA2075s. Hopefully it wont take more than a few more days for them to arrive, but there is always the chance that customs will do their magic :(
Here is a pic of a partially assembled board. Please note that my hand isnt that pink in real life :lol:
(http://files.myopera.com/grahf/albums/136150/partial%20chroma%20board.jpg)
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ooooooooooooooo, do those work?
Keep this thread updated. When the other parts arrive, and you confirm everything works together, I am ready to ship my item to you! I have a big packing box, bubble wrap, all that stuff here waiting for me to place the Duo-R in and ship to YOU!
Let me know when you are ready to accept units for modding.
What type of turn-around time will there be, from the time the Duo-R arrives with you, 'til you ship it back?
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Rather than search for it, what exactly happened with nod?
Ironically, this was a problem with D-Lite. He had sold me a briefcase setup. The connector between the CDROM and the base unit had become damaged in shipping because I guess he forgot to lock it in. I sent the unit back to him for repair. When I got it back, the machine wouldn't power on at all. After trying a bunch of things to get it to work to no avail, I just packed the thing away for a long time.
Recently, I dragged it back out again to see if it'd work...hey, you never know, these things happen. Someone suggested to try turning on the power of the unit and then plug in the adapter, but as I figured, it didn't work. But then I noticed something important...this was NOT the same unit D-Lite had sent me originally...the original unit had screwdriver marks on one side where I had attempted to pry the thing open, they were not there. This one had only three security screws on the entire thing, plus scratches on the bottom that weren't there on the unit he had originally sold me. Needless to say, I was a bit pissed. So, I decided to see if I could fix it myself.
I was successful.
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MrFulci, turn around time will probably be a few days at most. Most of the work is building and testing the circuit. Installing it in the system can be done quickly in comparison.
Nod, thats a tough break. I guess the only good thing to come out of that deal, was that now you learned a little bit more about your PCE.
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Lord Grahf,
Do you plan to post schematics of your circuit there for people who wish to Mod their own system? Will this Mod work on the TG-CD deck?
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kspiff already made up a decent schematic. I checked it over, and it seems to be all correct. Its not really complex, but it can be hard to understand whats going on for someone who isnt familiar with electronics. Check this thread for info: http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=2788
And yes, this will work on any PCE. I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you have about making your own circuit. Im not trying to get rich off of this, I'm just going to be offering a service for those who dont have the skill or time to do it themselves.
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That's an extremely nice looking circuit, can't wait to snag one. Any idea on how much you're charging yet?
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grahf,
I'm also curious what the prices will be.
Also, can you also perform region mods, by adding a switch onto a Duo-R?
I'd like to have S-Video and a switch done all at once, if possible. That way I do not have to ship it to someone else for a region switch.
Please let us know when you are ready to accept machines.
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I dont want to give any final prices until I have all my costs totaled up. I should be able to charge a little less than what D-Lite was charging while he was still around. (I think his prices were fair). Having the PCBs made and sourcing these ICs is really pricey, but hopefully i'll be able to give you guys a decent value for your money. Those that just want the circuits to install yourselves, i'll be able to do that as well. Just give me a little time so I know where I stand on this stuff.
About region mods... I never really liked those long multi-contact switches. Maybe i'm paranoid, but It just doesnt seem like something that will last for 10 years under heavy use. I have been considering making up some PCBs for an IC based solution, similar to what is described here: http://mbrandel.vizionaires.net/?page_id=48 (except with production PCBs like my encoder boards).
D-Lite was charging $40 for region mods. I think I can do the same thing with ICs for the same price. However in order for me to do that, I need to make quite a few PCBs at once. I dont know how much interest people have for region mods. If only a few people want it done, I would be better off using those 8PDT switches.
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I'm looking for a region switch so I can free up space on my inputs. Currently the setup is fine, though after I have S-Video added to my Duo-R and also to the Genesis, the TG-16 will be pretty much the only item I have hooked up through compisite video. I'd rather just be able to remove it by having a region switch added to the Duo-R, than leave it hooked up.
I can always ship to you later for a region switch if you don't have the region switch stuff setup by the time you are accepting units for S-Video.
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I haven't looked much for the CXA2075, but if you're looking for the CXA1645 is can be found here, in stock:
http://www.dalbani.co.uk/index.php
They're in the UK, so for many of us S&H will be considerable. Please note they have both the DIP *and* Surface Mount models in stock, but the DIP costs more. Also, I just noticed this...it says to allow 2 weeks for delivery on the Surface mount...hmmmm...
I picked up the DIP model (CXA1645P) for about $21, plus about $8.00 shipping. Not great, admittedly, but I would rather not solder the surface mount model if I can avoid it!
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Nice find! Those DIPs are impossible to find. $29 shipped for the US isnt that cheap, but when I made my first circuit I paid $20 for a surface mount chip. I would have gladly paid an extra $9 for a DIP if I could have found it.
I would recommend anyone interested in doing their own mod to snatch one up. And if anyone knows of a cheaper place that carries the DIP package CXA1645s (that dont require bulk order), please share the info.
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Ok, the ICs came in today so I assembled a circuit. Works beautifully. These CXA2075s are maybe even a tiny bit crisper than my cxa1645 based circuit in my personal duo. Overall i'm very pleased with the results, and I think the video quality improvement will speak for itself. I would have posted more pictures but I dropped my camera right on the lens boom, ruining it :cry:.
BTW sorry for the big pictures, but it helps to see the difference.
(http://files.myopera.com/grahf/albums/136150/finished%20board.jpg)
The difference is really apparent when you look at the kanji. Composite is nearly unreadable, but svideo is nice and crisp.
Colors are also much more vibrant, but don't bleed like the composite. I really wish I had the means to make videos, because thats where you notice the real improvement. Dot crawl is gone. No blurry mess of pixels when scrolling.
(http://files.myopera.com/grahf/albums/136150/composite.jpg)
(http://files.myopera.com/grahf/albums/136150/svideo.jpg)
The real question everyone wants to know is pricing. I can do these mods for $85 including return shipping w/ insurance. Thats $10 cheaper than what D-lite was charging, and I feel your getting a better product. Between sourcing parts, ICs, shipping, and having these PCBs made i'm really not making much. You're mainly paying for my labor. I think this is fair, and I hope you guys feel the same.
-Ben
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Looks nice, grahf, just what I'm looking for!
Do you accept money orders, or are you paypal only?
Also, any word on the length of time for a region switch? If it's going to be anymore than a week 'til you get setup for that, I'll send the unit to you now for the s-video stuff, and later ship the Duo-R back to you for the region switch.
I'll send you a PM with my details, and what I want done on the Duo-R. Get back to me, and I can probably get this machine and funds out to you later this week.
Thank you!
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I received my Duo-R from grahf yesterday.
Though, Federal Express decided to throw the box somewhere, stomp on it, something. That box was once square, now...
(http://pic.photobucket.com/bwe.png)
That concerned me, however upon opening the box the system appeared in one piece.
(http://pic.photobucket.com/bwe.png)
I assumed the white jack closest tho the S-Video was the composite video, I was right
It plays Jap and American Hu-Cards, everything is good there.
HOWEVER! When I tried a CD, it would not load!
I kept cool, figured it must have happened when Federal Express Drop-Kicked the box. I checked out the lens on the Duo-R, and saw it was in the center of the track. I figure, if it's broke, pushing it back towards the hub won't hurt, so I gently push the lens towards the hub.
After that, all is well! Cd's load.
I reccomend grahf's services, it's a professional job.
The only reccomendation I would make, is that if you decide to send your system to him, ship the sytem in a box within a box. That seems to be rather difficult to crush. Shipping game systems is often a gamble, which is why I often pack my items expecting the box is going to be thrown full force somewhere.
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Shit, it looks like someone drop-kicked that box! :x It must have been a decent jolt to jam the cd assembly. I played a good 2 hours of Gradius II before shipping. Check everything over to make sure there isnt any permanent damage. It doesnt sound like it, but just triple check everything if you can.
Im sorry about the white composite plug, I didnt think you would mind. Ive got red/white/red/green/blue jacks, I didnt think to order yellow. If it bothers you, i'll take care of it. You're within driving distance of friends I occasionally visit, so maybe we can avoid the whole shipping process.
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Looks really good! Excellent job there, grahf!
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grahf,
I'll keep that offer in mind!
The white jack doesn't bother me, I had a feeling you may not have had a yellow jack around. The 2 white jacks just presented a bit of confusion at first, for a moment I thought, "ok.... 2 white jacks....". I figured they would be grouped together, and I was right when guessing that the 2 audio would be together, and the 2 video together. Yesterday I only hooked up the Duo-R to see if it worked, that was about it. I didn't put any real gameplay on it 'til today.
The corner of the box in that picture doesn't give the damage justice, haha. That corner was squishly, like an acordion.
So far, early this morning and a bit this afternoon I played through 2 bosses on Fray, and got lost for a moment in the game (about 60min total), not too long ago I played 20min of Puyo Puyo SCD, 10min Buster Bros, 30min or so (I guess) playing through one map in Populous: Promised Lands.
I'm pretty sure I put 2 hours of play on the Duo-R, with 40min this morning, and 80min this afternoon. All with CD and SCD games. Nothing appears broke. Later this week, or the weekend, I will probably compelte Fray, I'm guessing that's another hour or 2 of gameplay there.
grahf, I'll let you know if anythign negative happens. So far, all appears well.
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When shipping a CD based console, take time to write in black marker on white tape, "Delicate Glass" on it. This will improve your shipping quality most likely. Of course, you can always insure packages through the post office for $300 at a $3.00 charge.
Quick question: Is the composite video a little better also when using the CXA 2075 mod? Also I have a regular US Duo, so I assume the results will be the same right?
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MrFulci,
I thought I had ordered yellow jacks when i got all the others but unfortunately I didn't. I AM ordering them today for others who want a/v jacks, so keep it in mind. Luckily it sounds like your system is ok. I'm not sure how long FedEx gives you to put a claim in, but save that box in the mean time.
SNKNostalgia,
yes these mods work the same on US and Japanese systems. As far as composite video, the a/v jacks are just "piggy backing" off of the original output. The cxa2075 can be made to output composite video, but the factory composite out is already fairly decent. Because of this, I only designed the circuit for s-video. (RGB output is on the board if you want to add 3 resistors and caps).
Thanks for the comment thumpin_termis.
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SNKNostalgia,
yes these mods work the same on US and Japanese systems. As far as composite video, the a/v jacks are just "piggy backing" off of the original output. The cxa2075 can be made to output composite video, but the factory composite out is already fairly decent. Because of this, I only designed the circuit for s-video. (RGB output is on the board if you want to add 3 resistors and caps).
Thanks for the comment thumpin_termis.
And you can get an s-video to composite adaptor for cheap at Radio Shack that'll provide a super composite signal from the s-video mod.
Grahf, can you do the s-video mod on a SuperGrafx?
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Sure can. It will work on just about any console with tapable RGB signals, including the supergrafx. The cxa series chips are very versatile.
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got my duo-R back today
had an region mod and an S-video mod done. very clean and everything worked wonderfully. i've had alot of systems modded but this one looks the best. very well done, i can now play US and JP cards on one system and all in a very nice looking vibrant S-video. good and friendly communication as well. I can confidently reccomend Grahf for anyone looking to get this done.
only problem was like MrFulci my cdrom drive wouldn't read. did a bit of research and figured out the disc wasn't spinning. figured out that the plastic around the spindel was slightly raised. pressed down lightly and it poped into place. works perfect now.
excellent work all around!
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Glad your happy with it. Its really frustrating about the cd drives. Both of these systems were packaged well enough, but still show up with the lens assemblies jolted. I wonder if it would make any sense trying to put some kind of packing material inside the drive to keep things stable, or if that would do more harm than good. I've been return shipping via FedEx, but maybe i'll switch to the US post office. General opinion is usually that Fedex is better, but maybe not so much these days.
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Glad your happy with it. Its really frustrating about the cd drives. Both of these systems were packaged well enough, but still show up with the lens assemblies jolted. I wonder if it would make any sense trying to put some kind of packing material inside the drive to keep things stable, or if that would do more harm than good. I've been return shipping via FedEx, but maybe i'll switch to the US post office. General opinion is usually that Fedex is better, but maybe not so much these days.
i generally like fedEx cause they tend to be faster. though i don't know if they handle goods any diffrent. maybe its just been a fluke. though i did recive a modded segacd through FedEx once that had a switch that was busted during shipping.
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Looks like you do some great work on duos grahf.
Maybe when.. i have the money again i wouldn't mind having you mod my duo-r.
Plus the price, you offer seems like a better deal to me then what D-Lite has.
It's been.. bugging me this past year or so that i can't 'play my u.s hucards still ](*,)
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This is a very interesting topic, however I have to ask the obvious question; can you do a component mod?
S-Video was great 15 years ago, but since it doesn't look that much better than the PCE's already above-average composite (when compared with RGB) , I would think that in this day in age component would be a vastly superior route, and possibly a more practical one as well. A TV I bought recently actually had no s-video in on it, just composite and component.
Is there a better solution to doing an RGB hack, with amplification, and buying a jroc? Something less piecemeal seems in order.
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This is a very interesting topic, however I have to ask the obvious question; can you do a component mod?
S-Video was great 15 years ago, but since it doesn't look that much better than the PCE's already above-average composite (when compared with RGB) , I would think that in this day in age component would be a vastly superior route, and possibly a more practical one as well. A TV I bought recently actually had no s-video in on it, just composite and component.
Is there a better solution to doing an RGP hack, with amplification, and buying a jroc? Something less piecemeal seems in order.
i've acually wondered the same for awhile. i dunno bout the tv thing though. most tv's i see have 1 or 2 S-video's. i don't know if component just takes up to much space or if its just harder to get a component signal out of RGB. i mean you can get a neo-geo fairly easily modded for component but why can't you get it for any other systems?
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Grahf, I am sorry i did not notice this thread before. The stuff your doing here looks awesome! Def keep it up. The price your charging is very fair as your encoder looks very streamlined and your doing all the work. I have a friend with a Duo-rx. He was looking into doing this mod. Could you build him the encoder and make a basic install instruction sheet for him. If so,for how much? I mean,if he needed my help,I would,but I think he wants to try a solo project. I have done prior projects for him before and I think he wants to try something on his own for once. He has the bits to take the system apart. If you would be interested maybe we can set up a email between the 2 of you.
As for the cd-drive,try folding a wad of bubble wrap to where it will fit between the door and the drive area,so tight it wont actually slide into the laser eye. Basically just holds the base in place via force. Tape the drive door shut so it wont pop open in transit.
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Oops, I didn't realize there were replies to this topic until just now :shock:
It is 100% possible to get component out of a PCE, same as most systems which have tapable RGB. The jrok kit reportedly works well; I believe GUTS has used one with his Duo with good results. I *almost* purchased one of those myself when I first got my Duo, but I had my doubts as to whether it would work since the jrok rgb-svideo board was reported not to work. Apparently the component board does, so the jrok is an available solution for someone who wants component right now. http://www.jrok.com/hardware/RGBv4/index.html It would be easy to mount this inside a Duo, do away with the existing jacks on the jrok board and use panel mounted jacks. I will more than likely design my own minimal component board in the future, but I cant say when. May be far down the road as its not a priority right now for me.
SignOfZeta, I disagree on the s-video quality issue. It certainly isn't native RGB, but I feel that its vastly superior to the existing composite signal. I didnt think I would be satisfied with it myself since im a bit of a video freak, but at this point I dont even plan on looking into component for my personal Duo. Of course svideo is still a combined signal so it depends a lot on the quality of the comb filter in your TV (for those non-video nerds, a comb filter seperates composite/svideo/rf signals back into native RGB inside the TV). That said, I think most people are happy with svideo quality for classic systems. I am.
Michael, I sent you a PM.
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This is a very interesting topic, however I have to ask the obvious question; can you do a component mod?
S-Video was great 15 years ago, but since it doesn't look that much better than the PCE's already above-average composite (when compared with RGB) , I would think that in this day in age component would be a vastly superior route, and possibly a more practical one as well. A TV I bought recently actually had no s-video in on it, just composite and component.
The S-Video mod outputted through composite may be similar to the S-Video image, but its a huge improvement over the standard Duo composite-
http://superpcenginegrafx.com/video666.html
Its of course most noticible in motion in person. But it produces a vibrant image that looks like emulation.
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My Turbo is hooked up via component, but I do that outside the system, I don't have component jacks on the unit itself. The result is absolutely awesome. But s-video is also a large improvement. I think Black Tiger and I discussed this before and I wasn't listening very well since I don't remember all of the details, but I think s-video gets rid of the shimmering that you see in composite (like Feena's hair in the Ys title screen) and the such. If that's the case, then s-video would be a HUGE jump over the TG-16's already above-average composite.
(http://pixelcraze.film-tech.net/crap/ys.gif)
This is a slowed down version of the Ys title screen in composite.
No shimmering at all in RGB/component and I assume s-video as well.
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My Turbo is hooked up via component, but I do that outside the system, I don't have component jacks on the unit itself. The result is absolutely awesome. But s-video is also a large improvement. I think Black Tiger and I discussed this before and I wasn't listening very well since I don't remember all of the details, but I think s-video gets rid of the shimmering that you see in composite (like Feena's hair in the Ys title screen) and the such. If that's the case, then s-video would be a HUGE jump over the TG-16's already above-average composite.
(http://pixelcraze.film-tech.net/crap/ys.gif)
This is a slowed down version of the Ys title screen in composite.
No shimmering at all in RGB/component and I assume s-video as well.
are you useing a RGB to componant transcoder? and if so which one since i hear most are crap.
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Yes I am. It's the box found on this page:
http://www.howtoconvert.co.uk/howrgb2component.htm
Works with all 480i and under resolutions unlike the Jrock.
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My Turbo is hooked up via component, but I do that outside the system, I don't have component jacks on the unit itself. The result is absolutely awesome. But s-video is also a large improvement. I think Black Tiger and I discussed this before and I wasn't listening very well since I don't remember all of the details, but I think s-video gets rid of the shimmering that you see in composite (like Feena's hair in the Ys title screen) and the such. If that's the case, then s-video would be a HUGE jump over the TG-16's already above-average composite.
(http://pixelcraze.film-tech.net/crap/ys.gif)
This is a slowed down version of the Ys title screen in composite.
No shimmering at all in RGB/component and I assume s-video as well.
Yeah, it gets rid of all shimmering and you can make out every pixel of dithering on an average TV.
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Yes I am. It's the box found on this page:
http://www.howtoconvert.co.uk/howrgb2component.htm
Works with all 480i and under resolutions unlike the Jrock.
What do you mean by that? You can use a component Jrok on any old game system pretty much that outputs RGB or can be hacked for it,some things may need some extra work,but otherwise no issues...the res has nothing to do with it as long as the hardware isn't outputting vga signals. Do you even own a Jrok ver4 component encoder?
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I've read that the Jrok won't work with the Turbo, and nobody is quite sure why. I've also read that it was design for "arcade resolutions", whatever that is supposed to mean (arcades can have many different resolutions). I have no reason to own a Jrok or a Neobitz since I already have what I need and it works phuggin' great on ALL systems that I need it to!
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Your thinking of the standard Jrok ver3 s-video one maybe. It has been confirmed the component one,Ver4, works fine I was thinking,by Gutts. I was thinking Gutts was using one in his system. I could be wrong on that then. Either way it has nothing to do with res. if it doesn't work its because of a sync issue more likely then not.
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You're right, I mistyped based on what I heard. I may also be remembering incorrectly, since now that you mention it I do believe it was the board that combined composite, s-video and component that didn't work, and that the component-only one was fine. Also I think maybe the component on the other board may have worked, but not the s-video. Hazy memory.
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Ver 3 is just composite and s-video. Ver 4 has those plus component out.
He does offer a stripped down Ver 4 with nothing but component,or at least he used to. I don't know if he still offers it now.
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He does if you request it.
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grahf,
Today I'm discarding the squished box, the Duo-R returned to me in.
The Duo-R has not presented me with any problems. I finished Fray on Thursday or Friday. There wasn't too much left to the game. The ending was interesting, in that it was partially interactive (town party).
I figure, if it can deal with 2-3 hours of continuous play after a week of no play, the system is alright.
I have a spare laser sitting around, I purchased that about 2 weeks ago. Just in case the HOP-M3 laser supply dries up, and the one in my Duo-R fails, I'll have a spare.
grahf, you metnioned you sometimes visit folks near this area. Let me know if you have free time when you do so, maybe I'll also have some free time and I can meet you at someplace. There is always Crab Towne in Glen Burnie, 70+ cabs in one place... if they still have the arcade, I need to visit sometime in the next week or so to confirm. It would be interesting to meet the person who modded my system, haha. I'll buy you a beer!
Once again, grahf's modification services are top knotch. I've had no issues with my Duo-R system, all works well! Reccomended!
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I received my US Duo back from Grahf yesterday. I got the S-video using the CXA 2075 and region mod done to it. Great craftsmanship on the internal and external work. I just have the S-video jack (I use my Duo cable for Stereo sound) and switch for the region mod on it. I did have the S-video cut out on me after playing some last night. It was an easy fix, just soldered the Y/C wires to the S-video jack for better connection. This must have been due to the shipping even though it was really snugly packed in the box with no damage. The bubble wrap we both did in the disc drive seems to be a good idea.
After playing many games with S-video last night and today... I have came to a conclusion that this system is really meant to be played at least in this video format. It makes a huge difference that the washed out colors, dot-crawl and shimmering are non existent. Games that it makes a really nice improvement on are Blood Gear, Final Lap Twin (overhead map), Dracula X, Exile 2, Cosmic Fantasy 2 (seriously) and of course Ys 1+2. I can't imagine how nobody would want this done to their Duo. RGB or Component would be nice to get rid of some of the pixely effect you get with scrolling graphics in S-video. Really, for a system like this, it is good enough for me. Still, it has a full RGB signal coming out from the CXA2075 that I could tap into easily.
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Pixely effect when scrolling? What are you referring to?
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It is really hard to explain this completely. Here it goes.... when the graphics are still, say there is a solid color Blue for example. When the screen scrolls, you will see that it doesn't have a complete solid look like it would in Component or RGB. It almost looks as if each little pixel in the TV itself is moving instead of the solid color remaining exactly the same. It isn't anything major really, but noticeable if you have a newer TV that has very sharp S-video quality. Older TVs you don't notice it with the S-video because they usually aren't as sharp. One trick is to turn down the sharpness a bout half but you loose some crispness. I guess you could call it minor dot-crawling that isn't too noticeable. It does this on my newer Sony Wega Trinitron 27" and my parents new Toshiba 27". It isn't noticeable with my RCA Colortrack Plus 21" or our Panisonic 27". Of course the screen on the later 2 older sets isn't as sharp as the other two new TVs listed earlier. This goes for all systems I have S-video on. Eagle eyes is a blessing and a curse I guess. One thing to add to the list I guess for S-video and Component/RGB comparison.
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I received my US Duo back from Grahf yesterday. I got the S-video using the CXA 2075 and region mod done to it. Great craftsmanship on the internal and external work. I just have the S-video jack (I use my Duo cable for Stereo sound) and switch for the region mod on it. I did have the S-video cut out on me after playing some last night. It was an easy fix, just soldered the Y/C wires to the S-video jack for better connection. This must have been due to the shipping even though it was really snugly packed in the box with no damage. The bubble wrap we both did in the disc drive seems to be a good idea.
After playing many games with S-video last night and today... I have came to a conclusion that this system is really meant to be played at least in this video format. It makes a huge difference that the washed out colors, dot-crawl and shimmering are non existent. Games that it makes a really nice improvement on are Blood Gear, Final Lap Twin (overhead map), Dracula X, Exile 2, Cosmic Fantasy 2 (seriously) and of course Ys 1+2. I can't imagine how nobody would want this done to their Duo. RGB or Component would be nice to get rid of some of the pixely effect you get with scrolling graphics in S-video. Really, for a system like this, it is good enough for me. Still, it has a full RGB signal coming out from the CXA2075 that I could tap into easily.
Congrats man hmm looks like i will have to ask grahf about modding my, Duo-R some time.
I know i like to have s-video added to it.. composite just doesn't do it for me these days.
Given how washout it is all far as picture qaulity go's.
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Question for everyone - does the component video in the Jrok Svideo + Component video work differently than Jrok component only board? So S-video does not work on the 4.0+ versions, but component no problems when using with a duo (besides the reds being strong)?
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Joe,
I got the same box as you. Are you using a Scart cable to hookup to your Duo? Some details on your setup please. Also, does this box take composite vid as the sync line, or did u pull sync from the Hu6260?
Yes I am. It's the box found on this page:
http://www.howtoconvert.co.uk/howrgb2component.htm
Works with all 480i and under resolutions unlike the Jrock.