OSSC v1.xx series beta firmware

[agnosticNinja]

Hi @marqs, I am wondering if there is any need for me to mod my OSSC rev. 1.6 to install the latest firmware 1.xx. It might be risky, and I don’t want to solder without a strong reason. The main motivation is to minimize the number of converters and make an ultimate device that supports both game consoles and a VCR player. I know that OSSC is not too good when it comes to VCR compatibility, but maybe some sync bugs were addressed and fixed in 1.xx (as I read in what has changed).

An old thread about VCR compatibility: https://videogameperfection.com/forums/topic/vcr-compatibility/

So far, I have 2 significant issues:

1) OSSC loses sync and drops audio/video frequently when getting input from the VCR. If newer firmware has some solution, it’s nice to know.

2) VCR has European SCART output, but not RGB, so I use a SCART to S-video/RCAs adapter and an OSSC add-on board like this to get a proper signal: https://videogameperfection.com/forums/topic/ossc-av-s-video-transcoder-add-on-worthy-upgrade-or-scam/. Since it’s a popular solution, maybe someone else had the same issue. Unfortunately, the colors of S-video output are not bright enough compared to CVBS (which shouldn’t be the case, I expected to see an image with better quality). Is it an issue with the add-on board itself or something related to Lumacode, which can be accessed only in 1.xx firmware? I’ll try to connect the add-on board with OSSC using component cables, not SCART, maybe it will help.

Thank you in advance.

Update: I tried my setup on RetroScaler2x, it has similar issues with sync, but at least getting the image from S-video works properly, and the colors are correct. If OSSC is still not compatible with VCRs, I’ll leave it as it is (so far I am happy with 1.6 and 0.90 firmware features) and will have to deal with an additional S-video to HDMI converter for VCR.

• This reply was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by agnosticNinja.
• This reply was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by agnosticNinja.
• This reply was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by agnosticNinja.
• This reply was modified 2 months, 3 weeks ago by agnosticNinja.

[Morpheus_79]

Afaik the video output of almost all VCRs has a very (VERY!) unstable sync signal. CRT TVs can cope with it easily – but it’s a big problem for all ADCs. It’s a technical issue and a result of the way VCRs work. There are minimal speed fluctuations for the motor… worn VHS tapes are more stretched in the areas that have been watched more frequently -> all this causes an unstable sync signal, which gets even worse for Longplay-Recordings.

I remember the later days of VHS-Capturing: there were recommendations for using VHS/DVR combo player/recorder, because some had an integrated TBC:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_base_correction

For VHS without a TBC it’s kind of a gamble on how stable the digital output from an ADC looks: it may be okay for one tape… but with another tape you have lots of flickering caused by lost sync.

[polipyc]

Hey, quick question. I love the addition of shadow masks to the firmware. I noticed there are a lot of unused remote buttons. Would it be possible to code a quick on/off toggle for shadow masks?

[kosekmi]

In general shadow masks are used to simulate various CRT structures and there are built-in presets for different CRTs (and next fw will support importing custom presets like these).

Looking forward to this feature! Any chance Shadow mask strength will also make it?

Edit: if this is any indication it probably will 🙂 how stable is the branch? I’d like to try it, but never compiled OSSC firmware before.

• This reply was modified 2 months ago by kosekmi.
• This reply was modified 2 months ago by kosekmi.

[marqs]

Hey, quick question. I love the addition of shadow masks to the firmware. I noticed there are a lot of unused remote buttons. Would it be possible to code a quick on/off toggle for shadow masks?

I suppose shmask selection and strength could be mapped to rev/fwd and vol+/-, respectively.

Edit: if this is any indication it probably will 🙂 how stable is the branch? I’d like to try it, but never compiled OSSC firmware before.

It’s relatively stable but documentation on compilation is not up to date. The dev branches are recommended only to people who have USB Blaster in case something goes wrong.

[kosekmi]

Thanks, I’ll wait for the release then. Nice idea putting shmask options on the remote!

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