Help an American understand RGB.

[BaudAttitude]

OK, well, I'm not entirely clueless, but since TVs in the US don't come with RGB inputs and British TVs do... I figure you all are considerably more clued in that I am about these things

I have a NTSC TV with composite and component inputs. I'm running a NTSC/J slimline PS2 and NTSC U/C Gamecube in on the component inputs.

I've got a NTSC U/C Playstation that's from the first year of release, an NTSC U/C Launch Saturn and an NTSC U/C Dreamcast (later model, doesn't boot CD-ROM media) running in through the composite inputs.

I have had a Sony PVM-1910 lying around for some while that I was using when I thought I'd have the time and energy to spare to collect arcade PCBs.

It's got four BNC inputs for R, G, B, and Composite Sync.

It's also got a composite video input.

It's also got a 25 pin "CMPTR" input which has RGB in on it.

I am of the belief that, if I were to go crazy with cables and adapters and perhaps some soldering, I might be able to run all these consoles via RGB and get a better picture.

That's about the point where I stop really knowing what's what.

At this point any advice would be handy towards the ultimate goal of having everything hooked up via RGB and having a switchbox to toggle between systems.

I assume SCART leads out from all the systems into some sort of a SCART switchbox and then from there something to convert the signal to BNC leads with seperate audio? Am I on the right track here? Can I even get RGB out via SCART on NTSC consoles?

Thanks in advance

[Lyris]

You're pretty much right. It all depends on whether or not your projector (that's what the Sony PVM- is, right?) accepts Interlaced RGB. The kind of RGB you get over SCART is interlaced RGB with Composite sync, so it's quite likely you can just get a SCART to 4-BNC cable which will let you plug into the R/G/B/Csync inputs on the projector.

www.gamesx.com I believe has lots of info on getting RGB video into such devices.

Can I even get RGB out via SCART on NTSC consoles?

Usually yes. Some NTSC Dreamcast games (a lot of Capcom ones) refuse to boot with the RGB SCART cable (an attempt to lock Europeans out of playing them) and Nintendo's NTSC region consoles don't like RGB SCART either.

The Saturn will work just fine with RGB SCART.

If all else fails, you could buy an RGB SCART to Component transcoder. They're a little pricey though.

[BaudAttitude]

Thanks for the heads up on the potential Dreamcast and Nintendo issues - that site you linked looks like something that will keep me busy for quite some while

The PVM is a CRT monitor and definitely accepts interlaced signals, so it sounds like it's just a matter of throwing money at cable vendors until everything looks pretty.

[tom-nook]

I'm 99.9% certain that ntsc Gamecube & N64 consoles have their rgb output disabled. From memory the Japanese SFC (& I'm guessing US SNES too) supports rgb though*

(* the newer style SNES Jr's don't though)


If your projector/ tv has a vga (pc) input then you could hook always up your Dreamcast using a dedicated official/ 3rd party DC vga box for a much better picture.

I haven't tried this particular box I'd guess it'd work nicely:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DC-Dreamcast-Sega-VGA-TV-Box-Switch-NEW-AV-Cable-Box_W0QQitemZ300153926561QQihZ020QQcategoryZ41053QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItem

[chaoticjelly]

I think that you would be just fine with that monitor.

What you need to be aware of; consoles which do not support RGB, the fact that many European RGB Scart Cables do not have Composite Sync connected, but in fact they have Composite Video connected.

You would need to feed in the R, G and B signals via the BNC connectors. If the Composite Sync BNC connector is located near to these, then that will be required to be connected too.

A European television with a SCART socket, has a sync seperator circuit built in, and so many SCART cables have Composite Video applied to pin 20. Either can be used.

So it sounds like possibly the best solution would be some sort of custom made adaptor, or a hacked SCART switch box. An LM1881 can be used as the Sync Seperator, you just feed in the Composite Video, and it will output Composite Sync (which is what you need) and Vertical Sync.

You also need to think about the sound. Hack a cable or SCART switcher to have phono outputs, some SCART switchers come with these already and then you can connect to external speakers / external amplifier etc (I presume the SONY PVM has no speakers).

You should be fine with SEGA consoles etc, they all output RGB as far as I know. Like tom-nook has said, Nintendo ones you need to be careful with. Early American N64s can be hacked quite easily to output RGB, its present, but you have to tap it using wires and then solder these wires to the AV connector in the right place so that you can then use an RGB Scart Cable. American NTSC SNES has RGB, this is the original larger model. American Gamecube doesn't have RGB and can't get it.. hence me sending a beat up PAL Gamecube to a friend in Brazil for him to use with his Arcade Monitor

Is the 25 pin "CMPTR" some sort of VGA connector? Possibly good for Dreamcast VGA.

I know a couple of guys in the States that use RGB with their consoles, they have hacked a transcoder, which converts into Component. They put connections on for audio.

This link may help, there is actually two pages;

http://www.sega-16.com/Seeing%20is%20Believing-%20Video%20Connections.php

Also if you're interested in the transcoder route, I'm sure that David J. (yes, including that full stop) over at the Sega-16.com forums will be more than happy to give you advice about it.