Retro AV |OT| RGB, CRTs, Upscalers, and more

Awesome job. I have no skill in doing what you do, but want to learn this year. Two years back I went ahead and got a premade unit for $250 which was a good deal at the time. Looked around online recently and they’re going for a lot more now!

What exactly is the problem you’re having?

Yeah, this is pretty much the route I am taking.

I’ll stick with component only to my TV, and run both a component and a SCART switch. Everything that’s component can go directly to the component switch. Everything that’s SCART goes through the SCART switch, then outputs into a Shinybow converter to component.

It’s a pretty big investment to get it all set up, but usability will be super easy once it’s done.

I don’t want to get a matrix switch. I don’t have the space for it. I have a component switch that feeds into that component to scart adapter.

Rightnow, all the audio and video are passed no matter if its component or rgb through my gsscartsw. Dsub goes to my PVM and the scart out goes to my OSSC. If I want to use my xrgb i have to unplug something. I barely use it so its kind of a non-issue.

The issue is.

Route # 1

I buy the BKM-129x adapter for my PVM to have 2nd RGB/Component input. This 2nd input would be 100% Component devices.

I would feed both of my switches to my PVM and then I can route the signal from my pvm to my scaler. Since the audio goes into my speakers I won’t have audio from component to my scaler if I went this route. I would need to figure out how to split the audio, as the PVM or my speakers won’t passthrough the audio. I was thinking about using rca y-cables to split each channel into two. 1 to my speakers (near my pvm) and the other to the ossc/xrgb. Or I could buy a stereo device that splits the audio from 1 channel in to 2 channels out.

Cost
$200 ish for the adapter
$20-40 for a few better cables
$?? to split the audio. I don’t want to degrade the signal too much but I need a clean way to get 1 stereo channel to output to 2 channels so I don’t have to swap the cables whenever I want to switch displays.

Route # 2

I keep my current set up and buy new cables to keep the visual noise down. In this option, I could mod my PS2 to pass RGsB to have the ability to output 480p via scart. If the NTSC XBOX could output RGsB (480p) I would do that as well. The Wii and the GameCube can be fed through my component switch using that adapter I have and it would just be a matter of changing my pvm and ossc from rgb to component.

Cost:

If NTSC XBOX can output RGsB. The cost of that cable
Cost of PS2 mod.
$20-50 in new cables.

Issues with route # 2.

Could still have video noise in this scenario because I have too many possible things in my chain that can cause the signal to degrade. As I said before, the noise can be coming from my amazon basics component cables, that adapter I bought, either of the scart cables I have in the chain.

TLDR

Should I mod my PS2 for RGsB & Csync so I can just use scart and my switch or buy another card (BKM-129x) for my PVM so I can run the component consoles that way?

What is the best way to split a stereo audio signal into two with minimal audio loss?

Who makes good shielded scart & component cables to replace the shit i am not happy with?

A switch… It will have zero audio loss.

No matter what, you’ll need a switch in the chain. Whether its BNC or otherwise. You might as well do this correctly man. (I’m just saying). A BKM-129x is very expensive for what you’re trying to do and you’ll still need to add more hardware.

Get a super thin/small one and keep it on top of or behind your CRT. Trust me, I understand the pain of adding yet another component to a huge setup, but there’s got to be a way to make it look good.

@Kawika
I don’t understand the need for the BKM-129x. Seems completely unnecessary.

As recommended above, I say make room for a Extron Crosspoint 300 42 matrix switch (4 inputs, 2 outputs) and pony up for a few Scart to BNC cables to connect your gscart switch and component switch. If you wanted to (and have the money to blow on a bunch of breakout cables) you could even ditch the gscart and component switch and go for a 12-input Extron. I have one… only keep a 5-port Bandridge on Input 12 because I used up all the rest and needed a handful more inputs. This setup can do anything.

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That’s another option, especially if know how to make your own SCART to BNC cables - going all BNC and getting rid of the SCART switch entirely could save the space you need. One box could be the hub for every input and output.

If I knew how to make my own cables for cheap, that’s definitely the way I’d do it.

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If component is dim I can recommend a couple things.

  1. Component Level is a setting in the menu (the plain old menu, not the service menu) of most later PVMs. It’s designed to account for different brightness levels of different component specs, and it is the first thing I’d recommend checking.

  2. Good cabling. If brightness is the only issue, I would say the cables aren’t the culprit. I’d try connecting component directly to the PVM to check. The most important thing is to keep runs as short as possible. If you can, use 12-18" patch cables between things like switches. Monoprice has cheap 18" cables on Amazon right now. Radio Shack also has all of their legacy video stuff on 50% off clearance if you have one near you.

Otherwise, if you have only one RGB/Component input, I think you’re doing it right. I’d say component switch>converter>GSCART is the way to go. That way you’re not buying anything extra or modding. As long as the cables, switches, and converter are decent, you shouldn’t notice any loss.

If you want to streamline things (and have less gear in each chain), I say grab the additional input card if you can afford it.

I’d just forget about the frameister. I can’t see it being of any use anymore!

I only use it for GBA on GameCube. Everything else is plugged into the ossc.

Why not use the ossc for that?
:thinking:

Zoom feature. I can nearly fill my screen or i can have 1/4 of the screen filled.

@mega @Peltz I thought those extrons needed c sync to work. I have tons of different sync in my chain. I was actually thinking about getting an old stereo pa mixing board to solve some of my issues as they are mainly related to audio.

It looks like I could use that cross point to do exactly what I was doing with my component switch. This is really an interesting idea because it will actually give me one more output option. As in, I could directly feed 1 signal back to my GSSCARTSW which feeds into the OSSC but the 2nd output could directly go to a HDTV for component or the XRGB (which i really don’t use for much but being a hub these days). Actually, I could daisy chain my HDTV to output of my PVM for that thing and still be able to use my XRGB for certain usecases. What are the adapters needed to bring the stereo channel to those blue inputs called?

My other thought was, just buy an audio mixer and better cables and I probably would have the same effect. But seeing those cross points being ~ 30-60 Its making me reconsider it.

Thanks everyone. This is why I put it out here for you guys to talk to me about it.

Edit: @sockfelloff also you can use the XRGB to condition the OSSC output to fix compatibility for your HDTV. I have used it to get some resolutions to become compatible with my tv. I figured out the timing issues I had so that isn’t useful with this tv but it can be in future tvs.

That is indeed the case, so you’d need at least one of these cables with sync stripper:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Male-RGB-Euro-SCART-to-4-BNC-Audio-Cable-BUILT-IN-SYNC-STRIPPER-XM29-PVM-BVM/192465642766

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Female-RGB-Euro-SCART-to-4-BNC-Audio-Cable-BUILT-IN-SYNC-STRIPPER-XM29-PVM-BVM/192443851245

This is really an interesting idea because it will actually give me one more output option. As in, I could directly feed 1 signal back to my GSSCARTSW which feeds into the OSSC but the 2nd output could directly go to a HDTV for component or the XRGB

Unless I’m reading this wrong, this setup comes off as backwards to me. I would want the “lesser” switches to feed into the matrix switch, which then outputs to all scalers and display devices.

Yep. I agree.

Phoenix block adapters if I’m not mistaken.

I don’t necessarily agree. This is how it currently works.

GSSCARTSW

Output 1 D Sub > PVM
Output 2 Scart > OSSC

Component Switch has one output which i feed to the scart switch so it would feed to the two desired sources.

If I got the extron 300 I would get rid of my component switch.

One output would feed to my GSSCARTSW so it would feed to my OSSC & PVM. The 2nd output could feed into my HDTV’s component.

If I got a huge switch that took in all my devices, I agree that the gsscartsw would feed into that. I probably would just get rid of gsscartsw all together. But since I would only be using that smaller extron switch to route my component devices to my pvm & ossc I don’t see the benefit of doing it your way.

You can do scaling within GBI itself which will allow you to skip the frameister

I didn’t ever get it working to my liking. I usually play rpgs on the thing so its not a big deal for the framemeister. I forgot to say I also use it for my psp go too.

OK this is how I currently have my setup.

See, not sure you need the component switch with the way you have your current setup unless you’re all out of inputs on the gscartsw and actually needed the extra inputs that the component switch provides. You have exactly 8 inputs to feed direct into the gscartsw. Would just need to pick up a few Component-to-Scart adapters.

The reason I suggest the matrix switch be last in the chain is because it can output any combination of inputs to any combination of outputs at once. You’re pretty much handicapping it and negating its purpose by feeding it into a regular one-console-at-a-time switch with no ability to mix and match (I don’t own the gscartsw so this is assuming it only allows one active system at a time and it sends that one system to both outputs).

On the other hand: if you had RGB systems on the gscartsw on input 1, Component systems on the Component switch on input 2 (here it makes sense to have the Comp switch), etc., followed by PVM on output 1 and OSSC/HDTV on output 2… your options expand. You could play SNES on the OSSC/HDTV, while a friend or family member plays Gamecube on the PVM.