NES: OSSC detects SCART signal, no image displays

[mellissa]

Hello,

I am trying to connect my NTSC NES to my OSSC via a SCART cable I bought from retrogamingcables.co.uk (I mention the name to point out the cable has been tested and is good quality).

When I hook the NES to my OSSC, I see a black screen with no audio. I followed the wiki instructions for configuring the OSSC, but that didnt seem to help. The NES works when I go directly through a capture card (via composite cables) so I know the system isn’t the issue.

My setup is:
NTSC NES > SCART cable > OSSC > startech capture card > USB 3.0 cable > PC + Modern screen

Does anyone happen to know what the problem is/how to fix?

Thank you!

[nmalinoski]

How are you using a SCART cable with your NES? Has it been RGB-modded?

[Morpheus_79]

If you use a non RGB-modded NES:

An unmodded NES only outputs composite video. Even if you use a SCART cable: it then simply outputs composite video via SCART. This won’t work with the OSSC, since the OSSC only accepts an RGB or component signal as video input. The SCART pins used for composite video are used for the sync signal of the RGB video input too… that’s why the OSSC may recognize the sync signal but it can’t process the composite video signal, so it won’t output anything:

http://junkerhq.net/xrgb/index.php?title=NES#OSSC_Specific_settings

It is possible to mod the NES to output RGB video:

NES RGB

That way you can use the OSSC directly with your NES.

Or you buy a RetroTINK 2X:

RetroTINK 2X – The Verdict

… and use it instead (or in combination with) the OSSC. The RetroTINK 2X supports composite input – so it’ll work with an unmodified NES. But it will be the lower-quality-solution, since the output of an RGB modded NES is vastly better than the composite output of an unmodded NES).

[mellissa]

Ahh okay. That makes sense. Thank you for the wiki link and your in-depth answer. I will look into modding the system. Will the SCART cable work after adding the RGB mod?

[nmalinoski]

It depends on the SCART cable; it’s still not clear exactly what kind of cables or adapters you’re using or how you’ve connected it to an unmodded NES.

If you were trying to use something like a composite+stereo RCA to SCART adapter, or a combination of a male-to-male SCART cable, a composite+stereo SCART breakout/injector, and RCA cables to connect your NES to the OSSC, then you’re likely not going to use any of that.

Most RGB mods for the NES involve fitting either an 8-pin DIN connector or a Nintendo AV Multi-out port (like what’s on the SNES, N64, and GameCube), in which case you would need to pick up a SCART cable that matches the port that gets fitted to your NES.

If cost matters to you, I’m not sure how expensive RGB modding ends up being, because you have to take into account the cost of the board, installation (which is not simple), and the SCART cable; it might end up being cheaper to pick up a RetroTINK 2X and an HDMI->VGA converter, which will be needed to hook the RT2X into the OSSC.

[mellissa]

I’m not worried about cost and can do the modification myself. However, reading the cable description more closely, this cable will never work with the OSSC because it’s a composite signal, not an RGB signal. I had a pretty fundamental misunderstanding of what SCART cables are (I thought they were all RGB).

Thank you both for taking the time to help me out!

[Author]

Posts