Sony PVM2530 Monitor on Arcade VGA 15Khz Videocard

[wakeup]

Hi,
 I have a Sony PVM-2530 that I am trying to connect to an ArcadeVGA Agp Video card on a system running windows xp.

 The Sony PVM-2530 has a 25-pin SYNC ON Green (SOG) Connection on the back which I am attempting to use.  I have built a cable that does the following:

"VGA Green" through a 100uF Capacitor to "SOG Green"
"VGA VSYNC & HSYNC" to "SOG Green"
"VGA RED" to "SOG RED"
"VGA BLUE" to "SOG BLUE"

I get a picture on the screen and it is definitely playable and in sync, however I am noticing faint horizontal lines moving up and down the screen.  It is more noticable on lighter color screens.

I would like to get rid of these lines (am I overscanning?).  WinXP is running at 640x480.

More info can be found here:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=41437.0
http://www.broadcaststore.com/store/model_detail.cfm?id=5062
http://www.ultimarc.com/avgainf.html

Please let me know.  Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

[Endymion]

To the best of my knowledge, this monitor does not require sync on green, it can however do this if you want. I suggest trying it with the sync separated and see what happens.

[wakeup]

So just with the Red Green and Blue pins connected from the VGA?  I had tried that before but the picture I got was very distorted and seemed out of sync.  I have recently noticed that there is an On/Off switch above the SYNC ON GREEN.  Maybe if I disable it and then try with just the RGB?  Is this what you are suggesting?

I have just tried the SYNC ON GREEN Switch disabled but with the SYNC still on Green.  I get absolutely no picture.

Is it worth trying the SYNC ON GREEN Switch disabled but with just the RGB pins and no sync?

[Endymion]

You should take note that I do not use my PVM-2530 with VGA. I wire my cables straight to 15KHz consoles. Apart from that I would gather your VGA converter card just outputs a simple 15KHz signal that the monitor should be able to understand properly.

But I am not suggesting removing the sync. I am suggesting using the monitor with the sync tied to the sync pin, as opposed to the green pin. If you use sync on green this monitor will work. If you use sync tied to the sync pin, it should still work and this is in fact the default setup as the manual pinout shows:

Pin   Signal         Descr
---------------------------------------------------------------
1     IBM Select     High: IBM mode (RGBI)
                     Low:  3 Bit TTL (RGB)

2     Audio Select   High: Audio input from pin 13
                     Low:  Audio input from LINE A/B/VTR jacks

3     HSync/CSync    Horizontal or Composite Sync, Negative Pol.

4     Blue Input     Video Inputs: Positive Pol.

5     Green Input    (Sync on green optional in analog mode)

6     Red Input

7     NC

8     NC

9     Analog/Digital High: Analog mode
                     Low:  Digital mode

10    RGB/Normal     High: RGB input selected
                     Low:  LINE A/B/VTR input selected

11    VSync          Vertical Sync, Negative Pol.

12    Blanking       High: Video input from RGB input only
                     Low:  LINE A/B/VTR signal is superimposed over
                           signal from RGB input

13    Audio Input    -5 dB / 100% mod.

14    NC

15-24 Ground

25    intensity      Positive Pol.

Try it that way with sync on pin 3, green on pin 5. Is there any special reason you want to use sync on green, anyway? I always thought it was more of a pain in the ass than it was worth. By the way, that switch over your DB-25 for RGB changes the input from analogue (what you want) to digital (what you don't want) so keep it where you can see video. It doesn't turn s-o-g on/off, that is only written there to let you know the monitor can use sync on green.

[wakeup]

So I tried your suggestion but am still getting the same results.  I've also noticed that I can see a faint cursor moving horizontally across each line, one at a time.

I've played with the refresh rate.  I'm leaving it at 60Hz.  I get a playable picture, its just not as good as I would want.  Any other suggestions?  Is it maybe my video card?  When I hook my dreamcast up through S-Video it looks perfect.  Any help is appreciated.

[Endymion]

That's a strange one, which leaves me out of suggestions. I do not know that it is your video card--it might be, but then it might also be your monitor's RGB at fault. Do you have any other device that you can connect via RGB? Get ahold of a Dreamcast RGB SCART, mod it to the PVM and compare it with your video card. If it still has issues it must be the monitor, if it is okay then there must be something going on with the video card. Come to think of it this just could be the cabling, also. Remember that rechecking your work is always a good idea.

[Guest]

I'll see what I can come up with.

I've tried two different cable jobs.  One was a VGA cable pulled from a faulty VGA Monitor.  Then soldered to a 25Pin connector for the PVM.

Does anyone else have any suggestions?  

[viletim!]

wakeup,
Connecting H-sync and V-sync together doesn't make composite sync!

build this simple circuit

Code Select Expand

.V-Sync o---R1---+
.           330  | All diodes = 1N4148
.                |
.H-Sync o---|<---+--->|--->|---o Green
.           D1       D2   D3
Connect it up (Green contains no video information, just sync) along with blue and red to their respective pins. Leave green (from the video card) disconnected. If all is well you should get a good, stable picture with no green.

Not very practical, I know, but it's a simple test.

[wakeup]

viletim!,
 I went ahead and built that circuit.  I do get a nice solid stable picture.  However, the horizontal lines are still there.  I wonder if its just a compatibility problem between the monitor and the video card.  Maybe I'll try tweaking it somehow through software.  Thanks for the suggestion.  Can anyone suggest anything else I can try?

James

[RGB]

The problem here is that you have to have run "composite" sync, and only composite sync.  Yes, there is a vertical pin... but it doesn't operate with analog RGB.

I've tried this... I have a PVM-2030.  If you want to get around the separate sync issue, locate an Extron RGB interface.  Extron RGB interfaces have the ability to output any sync config.   Ugg...

[viletim!]

wakeup,

You've ruled out sync "interface" problems. All that's left to eliminate is the monitor and the video card. Swap out one or the other. If you don't have another ArcadeVGA to swap then you can use a standard VGA card with a (DOS) TSR program that will play with the video timings. VGATV should do the job - run it with the /isp switch to make the H and V sync signals come out negative. If you do this make sure the video is a the correct frequency (you're PC monitor won't sync) before connecting the Sony monitor.