New owner, bunch of questions

[SirRockALot]

Hi all,

New OSSC owner (posted my TV + console results here: https://videogameperfection.com/forums/topic/tv-compatibility/page/14/#post-17279) with a bunch of hopefully not too obvious questions. I thought it’s probably best if I just post them all at once in a single thread.

– My TV has perfect native 240p support and very fast 240p/480i switching, so I was a bit surprised when through the OSSC video mode switches caused several seconds of blackout. Worse, even when the video mode doesn’t change and there’s just a momentary dropout it takes several seconds to re-sync. For instance, when going from a game to the console’s BIOS menu (opening CD tray, reset button), when launching a game from an EverDrive menu, etc. Also, on the Mega EverDrive X7, bringing up the in-game menu causes the signal to drop for a split second. When the console is hooked up directly to the TV this is just a brief flicker, through the OSSC it takes a few seconds. Is there anything I can tweak to fix this or is this simply an unlucky case of my TV being intrinsically slow with this over HDMI vs SCART/Component?

– On some video modes with some consoles the picture is shifted horizontally. The advanced timing options from the OSSC seem to crop the picture on the left / right, but none of them shift the image. Is there any way to shift the image with the OSSC?

– Rec. 601 or Rec. 709 – Is there a definitive list of all consoles and their video modes and which color system is the correct one? I assume it’s not just SD vs HD, otherwise there would just be an ‘Auto’ choice, right?

– What does the ‘Select OSSC Mode’ button on the remote do? Doesn’t seem to do anything from what I can tell :/

– While the normal and Low-Latency version of the Game Cube Game Boy Interface software work fine, the Ultra Low Latency version seems to have sync problems. For instance, when playing Metroid Zero Mission it’s very visible in the background where the individual pixel rows just seem to twitch around when moving left & right. Is this a display incompatibility with the odd refresh rate or a bug/limitation of the OSSC?

– Why does the ‘Auto’ choice for the 480p input sampler default to ‘VESA’ mode for AV3? I’d assume 99% of OSSC users only ever use AV3 for the Dreamcast, and that’s DTV, right?

Thanks for any advice!

[Morpheus_79]

What does the ‘Select OSSC Mode’ button on the remote do? Doesn’t seem to do anything from what I can tell :/

The Chunghop L336 learning remote control (used for the OSSC) simply offers the programming of 3 different profiles (so it can be used for 3 different devices). You can choose a profile by pressing one of the top left 3 Buttons (labeled ‘TV’, ‘DVB’ and ‘HiFi’). Since the OSSC preset was programmed under the profile reachable via ‘TV’ button, the button simply makes the remote usable for the OSSC (therefore: puts it into ‘OSSC Mode’).

[BuckoA51]

The KDL-55X4500 if it’s like Sony’s of that vintage I’ve encountered has good 240p handling but I’d hardly call it perfect, still plenty of issues with motion, drop shadows etc. Unfortunately no there’s nothing you can do on the OSSC, the blackout is caused by the change in refresh rate. It’s possible that things connected via SCART are all processed/frame converted to 59.94, thereby eliminating this dropout but introducing a little stutter during motion.

For horizontal shift, try changing the H.Backporch in the advanced timing menu.

You’re basically correct, in almost all cases its Rec. 601 for SD and Rec. 709 for HD.

GB Interface – Yes you will find that happens on most TVs due to the odd refresh.

Auto on the 480p sampler tries to detect what kind of signal it is, Dreamcast always reports this wrong.

[SirRockALot]

And here I was hoping the OSSC Mode button did some magical thing I was missing, too bad 😉

The KDL-55X4500 does not have any of the usual problems with 240p content. No treating it like 480i, none of artefacts with the 30Hz flickering transparency, everything in the 240p testsuite looks correct and identical to how it’s through the OSSC. One of the reasons why I kept this TV around for so long is that it has all the right inputs and handles most non-standard resolutions and refresh rates well. I remember being very puzzled when bringing over an older console to a friend’s place and seeing that 240p content would not display or look terrible. It’s also one of the first TVs with FALD, so it doesn’t look as washed out as most LCDs from that time. Too bad about the re-sync speed. You’re probably right that it simply has some extra processing/buffering for the analog inputs and just doesn’t expect that kind of mode change over HDMI. It’s probably quite rare to have an HDMI device other than a gaming scandoubler that requires rapid refresh/resolution changes.

How about the consoles that output at both SD and HD resolutions? Like, is Gran Turismo 4 on the PS2 or Soul Calibur 2 on the original XBOX correct with Rec. 601 in 480i and Rec. 709 in 480p/720p/1080i? Does 480p already count as HD? If it’s really that straightforward maybe there should be an Auto setting.

I tried the backporch and active settings, and they simply seem to crop the image once I set them low enough, more like the mask options. Nothing is actually repositioned. My TV unfortunately does not offer its usual shift/zoom options for ‘PC’ resolutions, so I can’t correct the shift there.

When I checked the Wiki on the Auto setting for the 480p input sampler it said this:

” Auto: “VGA 640×480”-mode is selected when the signal comes from RGBHV input. “DTV 480p”-mode is selected with all other inputs [default] ”

That sounds like it just always uses the ‘VESA’ setting for a VGA-type signal on AV3? That just seemed strange to me since the only console I can think of that natively outputs RGBHV is the DC and that’s DTV.

[BuckoA51]

Dreamcast is also the only console that outputs VGA 🙂 Mostly it’s computers that use that type of connection, though I stand corrected I thought OSSC did some kind of auto detection on it. Follow the steps on the wiki for the Dreamcast for best results – http://junkerhq.net/xrgb/index.php?title=Dreamcast

[Morpheus_79]

And here I was hoping the OSSC Mode button did some magical thing I was missing, too bad

It makes the remote magically work with the OSSC. Isn’t that something 😉 ?

[SirRockALot]

Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. If the DC is the only VGA console, why does the default / ‘Auto’ setting for the 480p input sampler on the OSSC default to the wrong mode for it? If you set it to ‘Auto’ that means ‘VESA’ for RGBHV over AV3, but you want it to be ‘DTV’ for the DC.

[BuckoA51]

Dreamcast’s aren’t the only thing you can connect to OSSC AV3 🙂

[paulb_nl]

When the console is hooked up directly to the TV this is just a brief flicker, through the OSSC it takes a few seconds. Is there anything I can tweak to fix this or is this simply an unlucky case of my TV being intrinsically slow with this over HDMI vs SCART/Component?

That 2 second delay is just inherent to HDMI/DVI whenever it has to resync. My Sony also has near instant switching between 240p/480i on SCART. That is probably because it processes everything like 480i so it knows what kind of signal to expect.

While the normal and Low-Latency version of the Game Cube Game Boy Interface software work fine, the Ultra Low Latency version seems to have sync problems. For instance, when playing Metroid Zero Mission it’s very visible in the background where the individual pixel rows just seem to twitch around when moving left & right. Is this a display incompatibility with the odd refresh rate or a bug/limitation of the OSSC?

This is not caused by the odd refresh rate but is actually a bug in the ULL version. I even experienced the tearing on a CRT with GBI ULL. It usually happens after a few minutes.

[Teddy Rogers]

Are you sure your Bravia is handling 240p, I was under the impression the Bravia’s were only capable of going as low as 480i?

In the following post I commented how I have my OSSC configured with my Dreamcast, hopefully it can be of help…

Best Dreamcast VGA Cable for OSSC?

Ted.

[SirRockALot]

I’ve only been using this TV for 9 years with 240p content, I’ll get back to you in another decade when I’m REALLY sure 😉 Sony made a lot of different TVs in the last ten years, I doubt there’s a completely universal ‘Bravia’ thing when it comes to 240p.

My DC looks great already. One issue is that this TV only does 480pX2 in VESA mode. Ah well, guess I have to decide between sharper pixels and the correct aspect ratio.

Bummer about the slow re-sync speed as well (~3-5s, depends), but it’s fine in practice. Mostly pisses me off in the EverDrive X7 when I need to use save states.

[Gummi]

You can adjust the aspect ratio by changing the timings, as long as your TV can handle the timing change. My TV also only handles 480p x2 in VESA mode.

[SirRockALot]

Seems like I’m not having much luck with the advanced timing menu. On my AES I was able to correct the super slight vertical offset with the vbackporch setting, but on the original xbox I can’t get it to shift horizontally with the hbackporch. Not much luck with the DC aspect either, looks absolutely OK to my eyes, though.

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