Any RGB-VGA converters that will work properly with non-standard refresh rates?

drunkninja

New member
Joined
Nov 23, 2010
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Location
Bolivar, Missouri
Any RGB-VGA converters that will work properly with non-standard refresh rates?

I recently picked up a Raiden DX and Viper Phase 1 board. Both boards have refresh rates of around 54hz, which of course causes them to not work properly on any of my TVs when used with my supergun, nor can I do any video capture from them. I picked this up in the hopes of running it through an Emotia scan converter to get a 60hz output:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/25089307484...X:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_7602wt_1396

But the converter itself doesn't seem to work with those signals either (I just get a static image with my Seibu boards, but everything else I have works fine). So yeah, is there anything out there that will work probably with these boards, and anything else with odd refresh rates?
 
Weird. Almost all TV's that are a bit recent (talking at least 10 to 15 years ago) will accept 60Hz from f.i. older game boards painlessly here in Europe. Would be weird that a TV in the US won't have a bit of flexibility ? Did you actually try ?
 
Weird. Almost all TV's that are a bit recent (talking at least 10 to 15 years ago) will accept 60Hz from f.i. older game boards painlessly here in Europe. Would be weird that a TV in the US won't have a bit of flexibility ? Did you actually try ?

Yes, I either get a black and white or scrolling picture.
 
I have one that looks almost exactly like yours (I have two VGA outputs). Here are the settings that work for my Seibu boards :

Press the menu button and chose option "2. Geometry"

Raiden :
H Position........37
V Position.........24
H Size...............66
V Size...............23
clamp st............90
clamp sp............95

Raiden II
H Position........45
V Position.........32
H Size...............59
V Size...............48
clamp st............90
clamp sp............95

Viper Phase 1/Raiden Fighters/Raiden Fighters 2/Raiden Fighters Jet (I only have the cartridge versions of all these games, not the single board)
H Position........45
V Position.........26
H Size...............57
V Size...............47
clamp st............90
clamp sp............95

When I have a game that isn't displaying anything, I have found that adjusting the "V Postion" all the way through it's range will usually yield a workable picture at some point. From there it is a simple matter of adjusting the rest of the others for a perfect display.

I have also found that the "clamp st" and "clamp sp" adjustments have little effect as far as getting a good sized picture and have never needed to change them from the defaults.

Good luck!

Brian.
 
Wow, thank you SO much dbstallman! I hadn't even thought to mess with those settings, never even suspected that they would be causing my issues. Now I'm able to get video perfectly from those boards to the converter! Thanks a million!
 
Sounds like a real pain having to adjust those settings all the time. When these games are played on a proper monitor does it need to be adjusted?
 
It is absolutely a pain.

I have a console game room in the house. I've modified all the consoles that didn't already have RGB output to add it and then put 4 or 5 systems to a desk and run them all through a switcher to Comodore 1084s monitors. One desk has a little JAMMA harness and power supply so we can play the arcade boards in there as well.

A couple of years ago when another 1084 failed, I decided that they were getting too rare and expensive after the shipping was added (about $130.00 total) and figured I would try using one of those RGB to VGA converters with a standard (and esier get get for about $15.00 locally) CRT monitor.

I have been able to get it to work with almost all of my PCBs, but I hate having to adjust the settings all the time since the point of that desk is to be able to switch quickly between the SEGA Genesis/CD, TurboGrafx/CD, SEGA Saturn, and the JAMMA rig. Having to ALWAYS adjust the settings (not only from game system to game system but also between most JAMMA boards) isn't worth the trouble.

If anyone knows were I could get an 1084 monitor for only about $60 to $70 shipped I would apriciate it. :p

Hewitson, by "proper monitor" do you mean in a standard cabinet? If you do, then no, other than some adjustments to center the screen they work perfectly in my cab. In fact, if you look at what those adjustments do, they are just for centering the image. For some reason that style of HK video converter will sometimes show a blank or frozen screen if the image is alligned too far above the horizontal range.

Brian.
 
Last edited:
Why would you spend so much money on an old, small, clapped-out monitor? Buy an RGB to Component converter and use a nice big flat-screen CRT!

I meant a standard arcade monitor, yes. I did notice they were for centering the picture, I just wasn't sure if that was something which was specific to the converter or not. I have never had to adjust my screen size/position for any of the boards I own.
 
Why would you spend so much money on an old, small, clapped-out monitor? Buy an RGB to Component converter and use a nice big flat-screen CRT!

Have you ever seen the picture on one of these monitors? I know they're only 13 inches, but WOW! The picture is amazing. Plus, I have three of them in that room (well, now two), each desk has a switcher and several console systems on it. I can have friends over and we can play the Dreamcast, N64, and TurboGrafix CD all at the same time. :D

I meant a standard arcade monitor, yes. I did notice they were for centering the picture, I just wasn't sure if that was something which was specific to the converter or not. I have never had to adjust my screen size/position for any of the boards I own.

I like to have my games completely fill the screen. Since the corners on a CRT are rounded and the game will have hard corners, I usually adjust the display until I can just see all four corners. I twist the centering and size knobs on my full size cabinet every time I change a game, it's just a lot easier to turn some dials real quick than it is to use the digital menu system and keep pressing the buttons to change the values on that RGB converter.

Brian.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom