PC Engine AV mod

[Joe Redifer]

I took some pictures of my TV screen with my digital camera (at a slight angle).  I am not the best photographer in the world, and the exposure setting may be a little off.  Plus I took the pictures as JPEG instead of RAW and I resized them and compressed them as JPEG again, so take that as you will.  Here is the page I set up with rollover pics:

Clicky clicky to see da rollover pics!!

The same TV was used for both composite and component, and the settings on the TV were not adjusted between pics.  Yes, component (from RGB) is brighter.

[Michael Helgeson]

Really it looks like your total contrast on everything itself is higher. Some people like that alot,some people like a mid contrast more,with a lower black level as per THX settings. I heard the contrast issue was commonplace when you tap RGB off of the Pc engine,and you have to play with the signals to get it how you want it,briter or darker.

Your  pics are fine btw.

[Joe Redifer]

Actually I think they are a bit overexposed because some of the details seem lost in the component screens.

PS - Contrast (or Picture) adjusts the whites.  Brightness adjusts the blacks.

[Black Tiger]

I took some pictures of my TV screen with my digital camera (at a slight angle).  I am not the best photographer in the world, and the exposure setting may be a little off.  Plus I took the pictures as JPEG instead of RAW and I resized them and compressed them as JPEG again, so take that as you will.  Here is the page I set up with rollover pics:

Clicky clicky to see da rollover pics!!

The same TV was used for both composite and component, and the settings on the TV were not adjusted between pics.  Yes, component (from RGB) is brighter.

It's hard to fully guage the composite shots because of the darkness, but I can see the blue stripes in the brown gradients and the component shots sure do look nice and are much clearer.

I took some photos earlier when trying out FW on my bro's TV, but I'm the worst photographer and thought that the few usable pics that kinda turned out weren't accurate enough to post.

But after browsing Chris Covell's composite vs rgb screenshot page again, and seeing someone else is also posting their results, I now feel confident show the couple pics I was able to match up(but they're not professionally lined up like Joe's  :oops:)-

http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/f.html

[Michael Helgeson]

Actually I think they are a bit overexposed because some of the details seem lost in the component screens.

PS - Contrast (or Picture) adjusts the whites.  Brightness adjusts the blacks.

As I said

some people like a mid contrast more,with a lower black level as per THX settings.

On 2 of the 3 tvs here,and 2 of the 5 vga monitors brightness is listed as"blackness" or "black level" and not brightness,which is more correct and fitting,cause as you said,it adjust the blacks. THX settings tend to require you to really lower your blackness levels alot,which is totally fine with me because 2 of the 3 tvs and the 3 main vga monitors I use have darkglass. I got really picky about this after getting into laser disc collecting and started buying only darkglass monitors or tvs..

[Keranu]

Interesting links, Joe and Black.

For Joe's pics: The component seems a lot brighter, but the composite pics look unusual dark. Maybe it's just the camera but it seems like it shouldn't be that dark to begin with.

For Black's pics: Call me crazy, but I think the composite actually looks better since it blends the dithering and makes the game look more colorful, even though the colors aren't as vibrant. A really good example of this is looking at the darker shade on the mountains.

[FM-77]

Man, how do you guys take such good pictures off the TV? I've tried that myself and it just looks like crap every time.

[Keranu]

Man, how do you guys take such good pictures off the TV? I've tried that myself and it just looks like crap every time.

Good question.

[Joe Redifer]

I put it on a tripod, put the camera on a two second timer, press da button, switch to component, press da button again.  All of this happens when the lights in my room are off and the TV is the only light source.

Also, I think the composite being dark may be the result of the way my TV handles composite.  Well actually that composite is converted into s-video by the JVC switcher, and the NES composite doesn't seem dark.  I wonder...

I'll try to take a couple more pics and adjust the composite so the brightness level is more even with my component.  That would be more fair I think.  And requests as to what games I should take pictures of?

Black_Tiger...  It might be the JPEG compression of the pic, but I think I can see a tiny little bit of blue color bleed in the dude's legs on your s-video pics.

[Keranu]

And requests as to what games I should take pictures of?

J.J. and Jeff  . Actually anything with a lot of dithering would be best, like Strip Fighter II if you have that (rare game).

[Black Tiger]

Interesting links, Joe and Black.

For Joe's pics: The component seems a lot brighter, but the composite pics look unusual dark. Maybe it's just the camera but it seems like it shouldn't be that dark to begin with.

For Black's pics: Call me crazy, but I think the composite actually looks better since it blends the dithering and makes the game look more colorful, even though the colors aren't as vibrant. A really good example of this is looking at the darker shade on the mountains.

The composite pics all turned out way better than the S-Video photos, since I did the S-Video ones first and sorta figured out what I was doing towards the end. If you saw them both running in person, you probably wouldn't prefer the composite overall.

But if you like detail getting blended out, then the Virtual Console games are just for you. 

Man, how do you guys take such good pictures off the TV? I've tried that myself and it just looks like crap every time.

Like I said earlier, they pretty much all turned out like crap. I was lucky enough to get those two pics of each to turn out well enough.

I just followed the instructions I remember from the first year Nintendo Power comic: turn out all the lights and sit the camera on a pile of stuff with a level surface on top. Which meant I cradled my bro's Xbox360 box on my knees as I tried to squat in front of the TV set.  I also had to figure out the hard way to start a real game and pause it before snapping photos.

I put it on a tripod, put the camera on a two second timer, press da button, switch to component, press da button again.  All of this happens when the lights in my room are off and the TV is the only light source.

Also, I think the composite being dark may be the result of the way my TV handles composite.  Well actually that composite is converted into s-video by the JVC switcher, and the NES composite doesn't seem dark.  I wonder...

The composite of my Duo/Turbo systems always appears extra bright and washed out, like it's being displayed on a crappy projection TV or something.

Black_Tiger...  It might be the JPEG compression of the pic, but I think I can see a tiny little bit of blue color bleed in the dude's legs on your s-video pics.

It could be, but all the S-Video photos turned out with extra glowing colors than they appeared on the screen. Especially that big vagina. I know I didn't hold the camera very steady with the S-Video pics...

Man, how do you guys take such good pictures off the TV? I've tried that myself and it just looks like crap every time.

Good question.

[Joe Redifer]

Here are some more comparison rollover pics I took:

http://pixelcraze.film-tech.net/turbovideo/swap2.html

I don't have JJ & Jeff or Strip Fighter, but the Fantasy Zone comparison has lots of dithering!

[Michael Helgeson]

Those are alot better,esp the Fantasy Zone pic,because it shows the problems,not just color wise,that composite gives compared to RGB..

[Keranu]

So awesome, thanks! That's actually what I usually do when I take pictures of my TV. Image saved  .

Here are some more comparison rollover pics I took:

http://pixelcraze.film-tech.net/turbovideo/swap2.html

I don't have JJ & Jeff or Strip Fighter, but the Fantasy Zone comparison has lots of dithering!

Maybe you really do have to see it in real life, but the differences are very small, in my opinion. It just seems like things are a tad brighter and sharper in component. I don't mean to be an All-American hero here (even though I am), but I say component is not worth it if that's how much it improves . Also people can call me crazy here, but I thought some of the colors actually looked better in composite on Joe's site, especially the Legendary Axe.

[Joe Redifer]

The component is brighter and therefore my pics of them are a tad overexposed.  If I change the shutter I get a giant bar across the screen when I take pics.  Also, did you not notice the giant vertical bars in the clouds in Fantasy Zone?  They flicker back and forth like crazy.  Also the stem of the flowers towards the bottom of the screen are pretty messed up in composite.  It is definitely worth it for someone who appreciates video quality.  Definitely not worth it for people who don't care and/or can't notice.