Framemeister with Atari Lynx?

[unoclay]

I'm considering getting my Atari Lynx 2 modded with a VGA output (along with the McWillis screen replacement). What I'm trying to figure out is:

if i connect VGA to a regular monitor, roughly what size will the output be?

If i want to connect the Lynx to my Framemeister, what cables would I use?

If I successfully connect Lynx to framemeister, are there known profiles/settings to use?

Any input or guidance is welcome. Im somewhat of a dolt with this stuff, but always trying to learn a little more.

[power]

the output matches the internal display so 16:10

 

you then need to adjust your display to cope with it, so let's say it's a tv. you need to force to 4:3 otherwise it's stretched.

[BovineD]

19 hours ago, unoclay said:

I'm considering getting my Atari Lynx 2 modded with a VGA output (along with the McWillis screen replacement). What I'm trying to figure out is:

if i connect VGA to a regular monitor, roughly what size will the output be?

If i want to connect the Lynx to my Framemeister, what cables would I use?

If I successfully connect Lynx to framemeister, are there known profiles/settings to use?

Any input or guidance is welcome. Im somewhat of a dolt with this stuff, but always trying to learn a little more.

 

 

I stream with my Mcwill modded Lynx on stream so might be able to help here.

The output resolution on direct VGA would be 640 by 480 with the game in a smaller display area within that size. If you connect to a standard VGA monitor than it should be accurate aspect ratio but just in a smaller display size.

You can use a decent VGA to HDMI box to get it the signal out to a tv or capture card but the quality varies wildly in terms of noise so may a bit more for something decent and make sure you buy the right direction as its a one way signal.

You will need one of these converts to connect to a Frameister so again the best quality you can send it will help. Once there I find the image a bit soft so add sharpness to +1 but in general it seems good and of course you can use the zoom feature to fill out your display. There is no color profile that I am aware of but I would recommend to add some saturation.

I am going to test with an OSSC soon to see if it looks any better but here is some video so you can get an idea of what it might look like:
 

in this stream I am going from Lynx--> VGA to HDMI converter-->Frameister--> El Gato HD60 Pro PCI capture

let me know if you have any other questions!

[power]

mine when i push it to a monitor is stretched. i guess on a square monitor it'd be better. but it's a pita on a widescreen monitor.

[BovineD]

18 hours ago, power said:

mine when i push it to a monitor is stretched. i guess on a square monitor it'd be better. but it's a pita on a widescreen monitor.

Yes I imagine its your display that is stretching the non native res which is common for most modern displays. You would need some processor/scaler in between to force the intended aspect ration I imagine.

[power]

1 hour ago, BovineD said:

Yes I imagine its your display that is stretching the non native res which is common for most modern displays. You would need some processor/scaler in between to force the intended aspect ration I imagine.

i would think the panel is just accepting what's being pushed out. the tv is best as it has a 4:3 option to correct it.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I have two ways I handle this on my modern TV with my McWill modded Lynx II. I have a Sewell VGA - HDMI adapter that works really well. Basically the Lynx was showing up as a 640x480 image to my TV from that adapter. I then just had to change the aspect on my TV to 4:3 (Called Normal on my TV) and that brought it back where it needed to be and looked really good.

 

https://sewelldirect.com/products/hammerhead-vga-to-hdmi-converter

 

Now I have an Extron 7SC that most of my analog systems plug into. The 7SC also has a standard 15-pin VGA input on the front and so I now plug my lynx into that. The Extron doesn't scale anything on VGA input sources and just passes it through into the VGA on my OSSC. Same results I had with the Sewell adapter although the image doesn't quite fill in as large as it did with the adapter before. I could adjust this using different x processing values on the OSSC but it hasn't bothered me enough to set a separate profile for the Lynx (And my Game Gear) so I just use the default profile off the OSSC for it.

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by -^Cro§Bow^-

[unoclay]

Wow, this is all really helpful information everyone.  Thanks so much.  I cant wait to get my modded Lynx and work on all these various tests and solutions.  Thanks!!

[unoclay]

On 9/18/2019 at 5:45 PM, BovineD said:

 

 

I stream with my Mcwill modded Lynx on stream so might be able to help here.

The output resolution on direct VGA would be 640 by 480 with the game in a smaller display area within that size. If you connect to a standard VGA monitor than it should be accurate aspect ratio but just in a smaller display size.

You can use a decent VGA to HDMI box to get it the signal out to a tv or capture card but the quality varies wildly in terms of noise so may a bit more for something decent and make sure you buy the right direction as its a one way signal.

You will need one of these converts to connect to a Frameister so again the best quality you can send it will help. Once there I find the image a bit soft so add sharpness to +1 but in general it seems good and of course you can use the zoom feature to fill out your display. There is no color profile that I am aware of but I would recommend to add some saturation.

I am going to test with an OSSC soon to see if it looks any better but here is some video so you can get an idea of what it might look like:
 

in this stream I am going from Lynx--> VGA to HDMI converter-->Frameister--> El Gato HD60 Pro PCI capture

let me know if you have any other questions!

Special thanks to BovineD for going the distance in this reply and really helping me get a picture of whats going on and what to try.  Sincerely, thats some great info.

[BovineD]

No problem @unoclay hope you find a good solution....I just hope someone learns from my mistakes on the path I took to try and see what worked best! Let me know if you have any other questions ?

[unoclay]

   @BovineD @-^CrossBow^-   Just wanted to tie a bow on this thread for anyone who searches for a similar issue;

 

I got my Lynx modded by MobiusStripTechnologies (EXCELLENT WORK, SPEED, COMMUNICATION BTW)  to include VGA and the McWillis Screen mod.

 

The McWillis screen is amazing---bright, vivid, games never looked better--seriously.  It's like a whole new system experience.

 

The VGA output is simpler than i expected.  I tried it on 2 different (older) computer monitors with a direct VGA connection, and it works fine.  I can toy with the size and ratio a bit, but it almost works just fine as-is.  Especially on my newer (~2015) monitor.  

 

Attaching it to a tv, i bought a low-end VGA>HD converter (very cheap, under 10$) and it works acceptably with both a modern HD tv, as well as running into Framemeister.  No problems at all.  I'm not a resolution hawk, so i cant say a ton about it, but it looks fine--as much as a game intended to be shown on a tiny screen, expanded to a large tv, ever really can, imho.  

 

Looking forward to the day when i can get a computer dedicated for streaming and gameplay recording, and capture some output from some Lynx games.  

 

Thanks all for the help.

 

[SavagePencil]

What settings are you using on the OSSC?  Or are you using Generic 4:3 and cropping manually?

[enthusi]

What is the experience with VGA out? Can it handle 50, 60, 75 (and others?) Hz ok?

I assume 60 Hz looks best on TFTs?

[power]

i plug mine into a 50" plasma - it looks awesome.

 

it played everything i threw at it no idea what refresh it was.

[+karri]

At home I have a 15" monitor that can be turned to portrait or landscape orientation. Everything works well except the old hi-res images.

[SavagePencil]

Are you using standard settings for your upscalers, or are you using custom ones for finer-fidelity?  For example, FirebrandX has optimal settings for OSSC and Framemeister that make them look even better:  http://www.firebrandx.com/osscprofiles.html

[+-^CrossBow^-]

1 hour ago, SavagePencil said:

Are you using standard settings for your upscalers, or are you using custom ones for finer-fidelity?  For example, FirebrandX has optimal settings for OSSC and Framemeister that make them look even better:  http://www.firebrandx.com/osscprofiles.html

FirebrandX does have some excellent info here but in my case my Sony Bravia doesn't work with the optimized modes and I can only get it to work using passthrough or generic 4:3 modes through my OSSC. Still looks great to me so I don't mind.

 

In the case of the GG and Lynx McWill VGA out, he doesn't have anything specific for those. I know in my case, I'm just using default settings, but then on the VGA side I'm pretty sure that the OSSC just passes everything through on the VGA and doesn't really do anything to the image. My Extron is only passing the signal through and doesn't upscale anything on VGA inputs either. So what I end up getting is an image that is about 3/4 of a full 4:3 picture in the middle of my Bravia. Since I have to hold onto the Lynx when playing anyway, I'm sitting pretty close to the display when I use the VGA out on mine.