Finally, sweet sweet component video!

[Zeon]

So if you guys have been following me in the shoutbox lately, you'll know that one of my on-going projects was to mod my tg-16 for component video. Well I can finally say I am satisfied, it now works on my lcd of which it didn't work on at first. I have tried on a crt, my brothers dlp, and my lcd and it works flawlessly on all! No vertical ghost lines that i can tell, pixel sharp, and gorgeous colors. I don't think the red is overdriven either. I have to thank nat for this one as he suggested tapping the signals straight from the source and not the expansion bus. Thanks nat, it works like a dream now! I'll post more details on my endeavors but right now I am just so happy all I want to do is play it!

Edit: Ok here's a pic, but it doesn't do this mod justice at all really. Notice the ground's stone pattern, before I could barely make it out!



Double edit: So the red is overdriven a bit. I fired up my duo with my other copy of bonk's adventure and by flipping the video signal, I can tell something is up with the colors. I have found for some strange reason that having the pots on the encoder at max for the color lines, gives the closest to accurate colors, though they are a bit overly colorful then. Anyone who has an s-video mod, can you tell me how accurate your colors are, thanks.

[the haze]

dude nice work!


It's funny you mention the the "ground's stone pattern" because before I read your comment on that, it's the first thing I noticed in the screenshot, as I know DE so well.

[Michael Helgeson]

What encoder did you use,and what all did you add to it/do to get it working? Sorry I missed out on alot of the shout stuff,I wasn't aware you had been doing this project

[Zeon]

Ok so it started when I got my jrok encoder for my birthday in January, man i was so anxious to mod my old systems for component video. I started with snes and genesis cables because their video ports had red, green, blue, and sync as outputs. Those worked great I couldn't believe the colors and fidelity of the video over composite. So I got a tg-16 one day, as I didn't want to experiment on my duo just yet, and looked into how to mod it for rgb out so i could put it through my jrok encoder, thus began my long and arduous quest for component video from my tg-16. I first tapped the signals from the expansion bus, but it was a no go. I triple checked my work, no error. So i read that it works better if you use a lm1881n on the composite video signal and use that for sync, i tried using one of those, still a no go. So i took off the lm1881n put the wires back to rgb and sync lines and hooked it up to my arcade cab's monitor, worked like a charm, though the colors were drab and washed out.

The project went on hiatus for quite some time. I then got another tg-16 to see if that would fix things, still a no go. So I then tried it on my crt tv, and lo and behold We had video, though as with the arcade monitor the colors were washed out. Not satisfied I tried using transistors as amps, but it just made things worse, the video was extremely dark then and barely distinguishable. So finally i the shout nat suggested to tap the signals straight from the huc6260. I did so and viola, perfectly bright and colorful. Now I then tried it on my brother's dlp which I had not tested it on previously and it worked. You haven't lived until you've seen the tg-16 via sweet component video in 62 inches of screen! So finally I tried it on my lcd again, which was the problem tv originally and held my breath. Lets just say I was more than excited when I got a picture! 

Also does anyone know where the source of the left and right audio channels are? I am currently still tapping audio from the expansion bus, and the audio is very quiet.

[ceti alpha]

That is awesome Zeon!! 

[chop5]

fantastic work zeon 
history being made here

[Paisa49]

For those of us that are not very technologically inclined, does this mean that with this component video mod, you can use a tg-16 on a high definition tv, without the strange stretching that occurs on those kinds of tv sets?

[nat]

For those of us that are not very technologically inclined, does this mean that with this component video mod, you can use a tg-16 on a high definition tv, without the strange stretching that occurs on those kinds of tv sets?

Well, yes, but you hardly need a component mod to do that. You can play your TG-16 over RF, composite, or S-Video also on an HDTV and avoid that stretching simply by setting your TV's aspect mode to the correct setting.

[Paisa49]

Not trying to minimize this accomplishment but trying to understand it; in that regard, what is the significance of this component video mod versus utilizing S-video or just an RF switch. Is the picture vastly improved on an HD TV?

[Zeon]

Not trying to minimize this accomplishment but trying to understand it; in that regard, what is the significance of this component video mod versus utilizing S-video or just an RF switch. Is the picture vastly improved on an HD TV?

The main reasoning behind this mod is the video quality. With component video you're only one step away from the best picture you'll ever get out of a tg16/pce which is rgb. Since in america we don't really have many TVs with scart or rgb inputs, we have to deal with component. It is leaps and bounds better tahn rf and even composite. Even against s-video you will notice an improvement, though not as much as one from say composite to s-video. With component the fidelity and colors of the picture are absolutely astounding, once you experience it, you will be asking yourself how you ever played without it.

I think you are confusing component video as a hd standard. This is simply not true, component video has been on standard def tvs for years, it simply separates the colors on three cable similar to rgb and therefore the picture quality is much better. Although it doesn't upscale anything if that's what you are wondering, it will still look a whole lot better on a hdtv than composite, or even s-video, at least in my opinion. But the best picture will most certaintly be had on a standard def crt. It really depends if you like things pixely or smoothed out on the edges. I prefer well defined pixely edges so take that as you will.

[MissaFX]

Not trying to minimize this accomplishment but trying to understand it; in that regard, what is the significance of this component video mod versus utilizing S-video or just an RF switch. Is the picture vastly improved on an HD TV?

It is leaps and bounds better tahn rf and even composite. Even against s-video you will notice an improvement, though not as much as one from say composite to s-video. With component the fidelity and colors of the picture are absolutely astounding, once you experience it, you will be asking yourself how you ever played without it.

It's so true, once I tried my PSP's component out I was shocked how good Neo Geo games looked and played.  Component video really is the REAL DEAL.

[Turbo D]

Now turbo D will go out and buy the component video cable for his cf 4.01 M33-2 slim!!!

[MrFulci]

For those of us that are not very technologically inclined, does this mean that with this component video mod, you can use a tg-16 on a high definition tv, without the strange stretching that occurs on those kinds of tv sets?

As was mentioned, you can adjust the stretch with your television, though I have encountered a few HDTV's that "lock" the view area in certain aspects. Though, that's rare with new HDTV's.

Component is nice, I have a few machines that are modded to do so, however the rest have at least S-Video. Reason for that, is the HDTV I primarily play on SOMETIMES experiences a noticeable millisecond delay through component.

Component is nice, if you are havving a machines freshly modded, and have a television capable, you might as well have that mod thrown in there. Though, the jump from s-video to component is not as great as from rf or composite to s-video.

Then, there is always the chance that component may be a bit delayed from command (Button press) to action on the screen, due to the television
s internal decoder adjusting the video signal. Always good to have s-video to fall back on

Not all HDTV have that quirk, however I have encountered some that do it with Component, but not S-video. Some that don't do it through any input. Some that do it all the time....

Sega-16 had a great article about the video differences on a Genesis, along with screen captures showing the jump in picture quality.

S-video is good, however if you are going for a fresh mod on a machine, and your television is caapable of handling component, you might as well have that added to the machine's mod...

http://www.sega-16.com/feature_page.php?id=193&title=Seeing%20is%20Believing:%20Video%20Connections

[Paisa49]

Very informative. When I have the money to pony up for an HD TV, the information from here will come in handy.

[atr3yu]

Man do you have a guide or sorts for this?? I would really love to enjoy my PC Engine via componet cables