[Mr.Ash]

Today I successfully performed the RBG Bypass Mod on my PAL Megadrive (Mainboard Revision VA4). As basis for this I used the manual on this page .
The reason for the installation was, because my aging Mega Drive showed clearly visible jailbars, which did not disappear completely even with a professional RGB cable . With the installation of the RGB Bypass from Voultar I hoped to solve this permanent problem and to get a nicer RGB image on the side.

However, I am rather disappointed with the result, especially since it is not a simple mod. The improvements of the RGB image are minimal, and the jailbars did not disappear completely. The effort was hardly worth it for me. So I think that the installation of a RGB bypass is only worthwhile if the original RGB image output is really bad and no high quality RGB cable can help anymore.

[Mr.Ash]

In the meantime I have found a surprisingly simple solution. I just have to select the resolution for 1080p-60Hz in the video output settings, then increase the horizontal resolution from 1920 by one pixel to 1921. Now the picture is displayed correctly on my Sony KD-65AG8 4k HDTV. This solution works for both the iScan VP30 and the VP50.

[Mr.Ash]

In the meantime I have taken a step further by connecting my PS1 (via composite video). With the VP30 the situation is unchanged -> no picture, but surprisingly sound. With the VP50 I suddenly have a picture, but no sound.

For me it will boil down to the fact that I will use the VP50 on a 4K HDTV in the future, because at least I will get a correct picture here. The sound will be transferred directly to my AVR via the digital coaxial output. I will continue to use the VP30 on my old Sony KDL-46HX800 FullHD, or I will get a compatible 4K HDTV (LG seem’s to offer some good unit’s).

On the other hand one must also say that it was never intended to use these old DVDOs on a 4K HDTV. As far as the HDMI interface is concerned, there is much more than just picture and sound data transmitted (control signals, Ethernet, etc.). It’s quite possible that this will confuse the old DVDOs because they can’t expect/process this information and therefore errors will occur.

Just as an example:
With my VP30 I also had big problems with the Sony KDL-46HX800 in the beginning. Most of the time the HDTV did not show any picture when it came from the VP30. After long back and forth in troubleshooting I found out that the 3D infrared transmitter of the TV itself (needed for the 3D glasses) causes the error. After I disconnected it, the VP30 and HDTV get along very well with each other. Maybe this is all but a peculiarity of Sony HDTV devices.

[Mr.Ash]

I have to dig up this old thread.

I am experiencing similar problems with the DVDO iScan VP30 and VP50 and 4K HDTV’s. Normally I use the two DVDO’s on my older Sony KDL-46HX800 Full HD 1080p TV, where they work fine.
But when I connect the DVDO’s to my new Sony KD-65AG8 4K OLED HDTV, I get a completely crooked and distorted picture.

What I noticed is that this problem on the 4K HDTV is related to the progressive output signals of the DVDO’s. If I select a progressive output signal (e.g. 1080p, 720p or 480p) the picture is skewed and distorted. But if I select an interlaced output signal (e.g. 1080i, 576i or 480i) the picture is displayed correctly but with the typical interlace flickering.

The information above is wrong. It just seemed to work at first, but in the 2nd atempt it turns out to show the same behaviour.

I can also imagine that the HDCP copy protection of the HDMI connectors of DVDO’s and new 4K HDTV’s are not 100% compatible anymore. I doubt that one can reproach DVDO in this respect, after all 4K was not an issue when the VP30 and VP50 units were released (2006).

These problems could certainly be solved by firmware, but since support for these devices has long since been discontinued, that won’t happen anymore. Unless a skilled hobby programmer takes care of it and develops a new firmware for it.

[Author]

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