The PC Engine

[Milsancho]

Hi,

There’s an ODE for the PC Engine just announced which even does more things as you’ll know by now, among them, outputting RGB signal. I’d like to know opinions since it’s a system I’m not too familiar with: how’s the PC Engine’s RGB signal when modded like this? Asking because I read that some of these mods use surface mount capacitors “for the classic jailbar fix”. Should I expect jailbars to some degree? (Talking about the original console, which I assume are all the same internally, though I’d love to know if the Core Grafx and the other non-CD family members which added composite video are different in this regard.)

Also, seems the ODE will use a THS7374 (though not for 75 Ω impedance). Does it mean it’ll be equivalent to best mod/cable you can get for this purpose currently?

Can you recommend me a Mega Drive 2 RGB cable which has a 470 ohm resistor for using it with a CRT TV set?

Which power supply unit should I’ll be getting for a barebones PCE? Must it be the official one?

Thanks for reading.

[BuckoA51]

I’ve ordered one of these so I’ll let you know my thoughts when it arrives.

[Milsancho]

Also did I, couldn’t resist. Seems RGC will have an option for 75 Ω, so one less thing to worry about. I’m worried about the “jailbars” issue, nevertheless. apparently, you can find it whichever the console you get. Not too used with this system, myself. It seems to exist a universal fix already, but it’s not possible for me to do.

http://etim.net.au/av-driver/pcebars/

[Milsancho]

So it seems the developers have finally cleared up how’s the device’s video output:

Well, there is an error there in the manual. There is a 22 ohm (or 21, I can’t remenber) resistor to attenuate the output on a proper MD2 cable.

https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?p=1292915#p1292915

Do you think by that that RGC’s C-sync MD2 cables will do without brightness issues (nor TTL-level ones either; the developers’ idea is that RGB TVs or scan converters should use the sync-on-composite-video modality.)? Too bad they didn’t study a bit better the video thing beforehand. Or that they actually cared. If there’s already a hardware revision planned due to stuff like this, many customers will be upset for a reason.

[Milsancho]

They of course messed it up. Hopefully RGC releases a dedicated cable.

[Milsancho]

Read that yours arrived and you’ve been testing it. Can you confirm you can use a regular, cheap MD2 RCA/composite video cable with the device? (Interested only in the stereo audio output with it.)

Also, relevant link/announcement:

http://www.neosdstore.com/news/index.php/2018/01/24/super-sd-system-3-rgb-shipment-statement/

[BuckoA51]

No I’ve been using a retro gaming cables (non pack a punch) csync SCART with it. You have to make some adjustments to OSSC but it works when you do.

Yeah I’ll probably sort out shipping mine back, after another few days of PC Engine fun 🙂

[Milsancho]

Theoretically, you can use an ordinary composite video RCA cable just for the audio out, can’t you (for already RGB-modded units)?

[BuckoA51]

Of course.

[noodohs]

FYI there is a My Life in Gaming video on the thing. Jailbars are an inherent thing to the console, so you have to do the internal mod to get rid of them. It is super easy to do, though.

[BuckoA51]

We tried that on our CoreGrafx 2, it did not remove the jailbars 🙁

[noodohs]

Yeah, I saw your post over on Shmups. Dunno why, it worked great on my TG16. I’ll respond over there to keep it going all in one place :p

[Milsancho]

Hi,

Guess what, I get noticeable diagonal “banding” with my SSDS3 and a Packapunch cable. I wonder if there’s anyone who really lucked out with his since it’s something you won’t notice if there isn’t a flat dark-ish color on screen, so I woudn’t expect too many reports. In other words, it’s a bad-design issue and yet, they won’t acknowledge it so that some work is put into finding and fixing its causes. I don’t know if it’s known at this point, but surprisingly pausing/unpausing the game affects the diagonal banding. Very noticeable in Ankoku Densetsu’s first stage’s sky, for example, but also in many others. Not sure if it’s related to the audio since it usually stops when paused.

Not only that — I get a bit of graphic noise too. My system is RGB-modded and, supposedly, jailbar-fixed. Nevertheless, I get severe jailbars in many situations when using the console’s RGB out. It must be a cheap cable, so I was wondering if it’s worth buying a PCE Packapunch in order to mitigate the jailbars (so that I don’t have to use the SSDS3’s video output and therefore, get rid of the diagonal banding) or if the jailbars (there’s a vertical white line at the left side which is very prominent, even) will be the same no matter the cable?

Also, I’d like to read about your own experience with the PCE’s video and the SSDS3.

[cybercylon]

Which revision of the SSD3 do you have?

[Milsancho]

I had the 2018 revision. Sold it because it was really unbearable at least with my system and got tired of so many games with issues, but especially due to Terraonion’s customer support and unreliable attitude. No clue how “rev. B” (2019) performs.

Have now a spare Mega Drive 2/SSDS3 Packapunch RGB cable, like new (since I never had a proper chance to use it) and with audio breakout, in case there’s interest, by the way.

[Author]

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