Confirmed working Scalers/Scan Converters/ETC with X68000

Started by incrediblehark, July 30, 2021, 04:09:53 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

incrediblehark

I know the Micomsoft XPC-4 is the go to solution for displaying the X68000 on modern displays, but what other devices are known to be working? OSSC can work but can be very hit or miss depending on your tv/monitor. What about GBS-Control? It would be helpful to start a maintained list of these. If one already exists please let me know!

Jehuty

I am using OSSC. I thing its one of the best.
Using it with X68000, FM Towns, Amiga and a lot of Consoles.
But you have to spend some time to configure it to your display.

My GBS Control doesn´t work with X68000, don´t know why

dankcomputing

The Framemeister will work, but it can be cranky in some modes. It's been a while since I've had it hooked up though.

incrediblehark

Thanks for the info so far! I am able to get ossc to work on 2 out of 3 displays I've tried using some tweaking. No luck with my hdcrt though... if anyone has suggestions for settings I'd be interested.

I can get a picture if I go ossc (all resolutions 2x) to extron vsc-700 but the picture is interlaced, and starts to become too many devices connected. But it is a lower cost solution for people interested.

htdreams

I would like to say that an alternative to the OSSC is the GBSControl, it involves some tinkering but is probably about half the price of the OSSC, I've done two, one for my X68000 and other for my Amiga 1200, to hook them to 20" vga triniton monitors (they look crisp and beautifull) and works for 15kz, 24kz and 30kz resolutions :-)

https://www.retrorgb.com/gbs-control-installation-overview.html


incrediblehark


Cyothevile

I would also be interested in getting GSBControl working.

I built it properly but if my memory serves it wouldn't display the FMT IPL screen which is 24khz. I didn't test any further

I didn't test for X68000 yet.

leonk

GBS-Control does not work. The problem is not a hardware issue but software.  I used my oscilloscope and calculated the correct values for RGBHV resistors to get the correct Vpp values. GBS-Control gets confused by the X68000 res.

The best solution that works for me is OSSC -> HDMI2VGA adapter -> old computer screen.

X-Col

Quote from: leonk on August 17, 2021, 03:45:35 AMGBS-Control does not work. The problem is not a hardware issue but software.  I used my oscilloscope and calculated the correct values for RGBHV resistors to get the correct Vpp values. GBS-Control gets confused by the X68000 res.

My GBS-Control works fine on my XVI Compact, but the screen has flickering dots @15Hz on my ACE HD

incrediblehark

Does anyone here know about the Medusa?

https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=357

There's a lot of old computer resolutions supported, wonder if X68000 would work? If anyone has used this I'd be interested to hear about it.

amazin

I'm using the OSSC with my XVI Compact, and it works great. I still need to do some cleanup and do some fine tuning, but it displays all modes, all resolutions, no complaints whatsoever.

incrediblehark

Can also confirm that X68K and OSSC works with the Sony A80J and looks amazing! If anyone needs help with settings in this particular combination let me know. Would love it if a 4:3 version of this oled existed...

armitage

Could not get GBS-Control running latest firmware as of this post to work with my SUPER. In the debug console it throws an error about "unrecognized source format", defaults to pass through, and my display shuts off.

I had very good luck with OSSC. It took a little tweaking but looks great on my Dell 2007FPb. Just had to switch it to DVI mode because HDMI audio causes the monitor to go to sleep.

repoMan

If you're the lucky owner of a Dell P2314H you'll never need an scaler again.

It's the first modern screen I've seen capable of syncing correctly the X68K freqs, displaying all the vertical resolution of the screen without loosing a single line. The image quality is also top notch.

I'm absolutely satisfied now, at least having successfully tested some tricky software.

Does anyone knows a good testbed to be sure is working with 100% of the software?

tsmvp

Quote from: armitage on March 11, 2023, 02:33:53 PMCould not get GBS-Control running latest firmware as of this post to work with my SUPER. In the debug console it throws an error about "unrecognized source format", defaults to pass through, and my display shuts off.

I had very good luck with OSSC. It took a little tweaking but looks great on my Dell 2007FPb. Just had to switch it to DVI mode because HDMI audio causes the monitor to go to sleep.

Mind sharing what settings you have on the OSSC? Oddly enough, my GBS-Control has zero issues with the X68000 Compact I have but the OSSC cuts off the bottom of the screen, so maybe there is some setting I am missing. That said I remember reading somewhere that some sort of software patch on the X68000 OS would fix that but not sure if that is accurate. Thanks!

HIggy

Quote from: repoMan on March 16, 2023, 11:55:40 PMIf you're the lucky owner of a Dell P2314H you'll never need an scaler again.

It's the first modern screen I've seen capable of syncing correctly the X68K freqs, displaying all the vertical resolution of the screen without loosing a single line. The image quality is also top notch.

I'm absolutely satisfied now, at least having successfully tested some tricky software.

Does anyone knows a good testbed to be sure is working with 100% of the software?

I just got the Dell P2214Hb Rev 06 and that is also working great with 15Khz and 31Khz.
I did the trick of changing the background purple (any colour apart from black) in Switch.X and then 'auto adjust' fits the screen perfectly.

armitage

Quote from: tsmvp on March 17, 2023, 12:37:32 AM
Quote from: armitage on March 11, 2023, 02:33:53 PMCould not get GBS-Control running latest firmware as of this post to work with my SUPER. In the debug console it throws an error about "unrecognized source format", defaults to pass through, and my display shuts off.

I had very good luck with OSSC. It took a little tweaking but looks great on my Dell 2007FPb. Just had to switch it to DVI mode because HDMI audio causes the monitor to go to sleep.

Mind sharing what settings you have on the OSSC? Oddly enough, my GBS-Control has zero issues with the X68000 Compact I have but the OSSC cuts off the bottom of the screen, so maybe there is some setting I am missing. That said I remember reading somewhere that some sort of software patch on the X68000 OS would fix that but not sure if that is accurate. Thanks!

I used the settings in the last post of this thread (#7) as a baseline and then made a few minor adjustments for my display: https://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=6622.0

flag26838

Quote from: incrediblehark on October 21, 2022, 10:24:07 AMDoes anyone here know about the Medusa?

https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=357

There's a lot of old computer resolutions supported, wonder if X68000 would work? If anyone has used this I'd be interested to hear about it.

I was eyeing the Medusa too, did you take the plunge?

incrediblehark

Not yet, but it supports a lot of older PCs so I am really tempted. Would like to see how it compares to the XPC-4.

megabyte1986

Quote from: incrediblehark on October 21, 2022, 10:24:07 AMDoes anyone here know about the Medusa?

https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=357

There's a lot of old computer resolutions supported, wonder if X68000 would work? If anyone has used this I'd be interested to hear about it.
Hi all.

Just want to inform that I purchased Lotharek Medusa, connected X68000 via VGA-cable and it works perfectly. Both 15 and 31 khz modes.

Does anybody knows some games which use a 24 khz video modes?

armitage

Quote from: megabyte1986 on September 12, 2024, 06:49:50 AMDoes anybody knows some games which use a 24 khz video modes?

Marble Madness has a 24khz mode, you just have to select it in the menu.

incrediblehark

And Fantasy Zone, press HELP on the title screen or any time during gameplay to switch.

Also, thanks for taking the time to test out the Medusa! Nice to see another working scaler.

Sebastian77

#22
Framemeister works using scart and H+V connected together but I had some issues

GBS Control works but depends on the monitor, several LG monitors works even without any scaler, but don't accept all frequencies

OSSC works, but again depends on the monitor

OSSC Pro works perfectly , but for the first and second batch you have to do a mod

Retrotink 4k works perfectly too, but using the correct profile

incrediblehark

Just got my ossc pro in and it works better than any other scaler I've tried so far! This is the newest batch with the firmware from April. Scaler mode works perfect, there's even a 540p mode for hd crt which I appreciate. If you can enable frame lock that works the smoothest I've seen so far with X68K. If your display doesn't support framelock then you get a little choppiness when playing but it's still a lot better than the xpc-4 and more responsive too. I was able to scale down to 480p without weird artifacts or cut off portions of screen like I get on the retrotink 4K. Works well with PC98 also, I definitely recommend it!

cloverskull

I've been struggling to find an original x68k CRT monitor with 15/24/31khz compatibility. I've tried sniping some Japanese auctions but keep failing :(

I really prefer vintage gaming on CRT monitors. I would love to find a way to use all 15/24/31khz modes on a VGA CRT. However, most of these solutions seem like they upscale for HDMI, which adds some latency. I acknowledge it's a near imperceptible amount of latency, but...it's too much! :P

Does anyone know if it's possible to upscale to a standard VGA? In other words, I want to avoid the analog->digital->analog conversion. In my head it seems to make sense that a strictly analog converter/upscaler should be able to work without introducing any latency at all. Is that a correct assumption? And if yes, is there a device that does this?

With my Amigas, I use the Indivision scandoubler/flicker fixer and there is zero added latency. This is what I'm shooting for!

megabyte1986

Quote from: cloverskull on September 24, 2024, 02:33:55 PMDoes anyone know if it's possible to upscale to a standard VGA?
Yes. Try Lotharek Medusa (https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=135), which I mentioned above.

It has a DVI video output, but DVI connector also has an analog RGB signals. So you can use any DVI-VGA passive adapter for using analog VGA CRT monitor.

Jehuty

Which Output resolutions does medusa have ? Can it downscale to 240p ?

megabyte1986

Quote from: Jehuty on September 25, 2024, 01:43:24 AMWhich Output resolutions does medusa have ? Can it downscale to 240p ?
As I understood, Medusa works in two modes for each videomode - it doubles horizontal frequency or not.

So 15 khz becomes 31, 24 - 48, 31 is not doubled. And you can control it via LCD menu.

So, Medusa don't downscale anything, it just doubles hfreq.

cloverskull

Quote from: megabyte1986 on September 24, 2024, 05:41:06 PMYes. Try Lotharek Medusa (https://lotharek.pl/productdetail.php?id=135), which I mentioned above.

It has a DVI video output, but DVI connector also has an analog RGB signals. So you can use any DVI-VGA passive adapter for using analog VGA CRT monitor.

Thanks! My only concern here is that if Medusa is converting the signal to a digital one, it's introducing some latency. Are you saying that's not the case here?

BlackVega

What sort of TV/monitor brand/model anyone can recommend for plugging in X68000 or PC98 directly or through OSSC? X68k is a pain in the ass to get working on anything and I can confirm this thing doesn't work on any Samsung tv or monitor. However it works with LG Flatron M2780 directly and through OSSC, although the image is sometimes jittery and annoying (this is not a problem with the X68000-I verified). PC98 works too in both 24khz and 31khz modes. Looking for something bigger that can also handle these picture frequencies better or perfectly