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newer 4K televisions lacking ports?


S1500

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Can't you just run the RF through a cheap VCR and get composite out? You can then just hook the VCR up to the framemeister.

 

Yeah, that is an option, but the VCR/DVD combo that I have only has composite inputs on it. No RF connector at all. I did have a VCR before it that had them, though. It died honorably.

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Composite still looks like... well composite. The framemeister will however recognize a 240p signal and display it without adding weird interlacing artifacts like some tv's will.

In my case it meant smooth 60fps and cleaner (sharper) picture. I still get composite artifacting of course. YMMV depending on TV, mine was a 2007 Samsung which was replaced since.

Edited by Newsdee
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I'm not too surprised that this is happening, these legacy connectors have slowly been getting phased out. We are in the minority, most people just want to plug in their cable box/satellite and maybe a blu-ray player or hook up their laptop. HDMI is all most people need. I'd third (or fourth or fifth) the Framemeister recommendation. That said, I'm hoping my Samsung that has HDMI, component, composite and s-video inputs lives at least another decade.

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Another thing worth mentioning is that the XRGB-Mini Framemeister is able to handle VGA frequencies through SCART as well (i.e. 31khz instead of 15khz).

 

There are four extra things I recommend for any XRGB owner: the SCART adapter in EURO format with and without built-in sync cleaner (the machine comes with a JP21 adapter which you shouldn't use with SCART), a VGA to SCART adapter as mentioned above, and the remote overlay sticker to translate it to English.

 

With those you can pretty much upscale any video source (ignoring RF). I ended up using switches to have multiple machines permanently connected.

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I would argue we're already at RGB+framemeister levels... if you're willing to spend a bit and maybe have to replace your TV more often. OLED TV's are on the market now, though there are reports the blue OLED's wear out faster than the others. And then for the RGB CRT effect you can use MAME's overlay filters to get those old pixel patterns.

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Was a little joke on my part. Emulators aren't relevant to this thread. Would hate to see it go off on a tangent. If the OP's solution was just to stick with emulation there would be no reason to make this thread. Obviously wants to hook up ancient hardware.

 

I will say though, something like a genesis hooked up via RGB through the Framemeister, you'd be hard pressed to tell it wasn't an emulator. Maybe jailbars and a hint of background color noise would be your only clue something was up.

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Was a little joke on my part. Emulators aren't relevant to this thread. Would hate to see it go off on a tangent. If the OP's solution was just to stick with emulation there would be no reason to make this thread. Obviously wants to hook up ancient hardware.

 

 

 

I haven't gone full emulation yet. It's not like I can emulate a PS2 reliably. Also, I have a VCR & various flashbacks & other consoles. Also, I'm a cable cutter,so I'm gonig to need coaxial input for watching over the air shows.

 

What shocks me is what I paid for my TV now($1K last year) is now easily under $500 now. Those TV prices are dropping like a stone.

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You should just keep any classic gaming systems around you want and get a CRT TV from a thrift store. There's one reason that even if you could hook up old systems, it's better to do it with a CRT TV, lag. Granted modern games have worse network lag than TV lag so it won't be noticed, and if most games can compensate for 50-100 ms lag, it can surely compensate for 16 ms screen lag, but old games are where you notice. Take a game you have to react to something because there's some randomness. Or take a game you have a pattern timed to the background music, (hence why older game music is more memorable than today's stuff.) If the timing feels right, you've got a low ping TV like a CRT TV. If you have to guess on a random game, or if you press at the right time according to music, but it comes up late, or if you have to shift everything a a beat earlier, that's a sign of high ping. Even the best HD TVs in minimal processing modes is 16 ms or one frame in a 60 FPS game. Most TVs are designed to make game look good, not play fast.

 

I think I might have a Virtual Console tip on Wii/Wii U. Select 480 i, and go through on an S-Ideo, Composite or Component connection. Hook that up to a CRT TV. If it feels just like hooking an original NES to that screen, then this is a hidden way to play NES classics in Low Ping Mode.

 

FInally, not sure if Ataris can be hooked up to 4K TV. A year or 2 ago a local-to-me low-powered analog TV station turned into a low-powered digital station. Maybe soon there is no way to use an antenna port to hook up a 2600, because all modern tuners use ATSC, or NTSC. Your RF TV must either be an analog, or analog/digital switchable tv.

 

But the easiest way to turn an RF system into a composite system is to plug it into a VCR. It's light gun accurate. I've had problems with light guns pushed into a DVD recorder which does convert it to S-Video and or Component Video, but you should split it through a powered RF splitter and send one end straight into an Analog TV, if you want pixel-perfect light gun timing. Otherwise timing is thrown off not enough to notice it in most game play (< 1 ms), but enough to throw off a light gun(>55 ns at 480i resoluiton, limit is less with more pixels and fps).

 

And for those who want to play a light gun game as old as the original Xbox and PS2 or older, a CRT TV, especially ones with S-Video and component are vital. CRT TVs draw pictures one pixel at a time, whereas Modern TVs have a steady stream of light on all pixels at once, which "pigments" block to create anything which isn't white, and change every frame.

 

Most retailers can't get rid of them. So ask Best Buy to put you on a "buy a recycled CRT TV" list so they can make a little money instead of having to destroy it. Or check thrift stores. If you love retro games, there is no substitute for a CRT TV.

Edited by tripletopper
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  • 2 weeks later...

Speaking of the Framemeister, what's going on with the prices? They seem to have doubled over the past month on eBay and Amazon.

Not sure, wouldn't buy it from either of those places anyway. The price is the usual amount over at Solaris.

 

Edit: the price is for a preorder with release in January. So if I had to guess looks like Micomsoft was slacking on their production runs.

Edited by keepdreamin
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Not sure, wouldn't buy it from either of those places anyway. The price is the usual amount over at Solaris.

 

Edit: the price is for a preorder with release in January. So if I had to guess looks like Micomsoft was slacking on their production runs.

 

Ah. I wasn't aware of Solaris - thanks!

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FInally, not sure if Ataris can be hooked up to 4K TV. A year or 2 ago a local-to-me low-powered analog TV station turned into a low-powered digital station. Maybe soon there is no way to use an antenna port to hook up a 2600, because all modern tuners use ATSC, or NTSC. Your RF TV must either be an analog, or analog/digital switchable tv.

 

I figure not. The 4k TV I saw specifically states on the box that it does not include a tuner of any sort, and if you need to receive an over-the-air broadcast, you have to buy a receiver as well as an antenna. The receivers that I have seen as of late only accept digital ATSC/QAM, and typically don't support the old analog NTSC anymore, which means those old systems won't work with those. You would need some sort of method to convert the old RF signal to QAM, and possibly connect that through a digital receiver. Unfortunately, that doesn't exist, at least that I'm aware of.

Edited by rockman_x_2002
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So... some news on the Framemeister apparently one of the main ICs is being discontinued in Feb 2017 (there's a shortage right now which is why prices are high). Micomsoft is doing one final bulk order to sell the xrgb mini through FY 2017, but once stock runs out... that's it. Hopefully we'll see a follow up, seeing how the Framemeister is like their best selling product can't imagine why they wouldn't release another one.

 

Seeing how it was released at the end of 2011, it's had a decent run. Longer than the Wii U. :-D

 

http://www.micomsoft.co.jp/micomsoft_news3.htm

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