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kirbysuperstar posted:Hoooly poo poo that is beautiful. That being said, whenever I use emulators I tend to enable filters to make it look like a lovely PAL RCA TV or whatever, but still.. drat. Yea, there tends to be two schools of thought when it comes to displaying retro games. 1. Display it in the original way you played it. That includes the lovely NTSC (or Pal, I guess) color filters, crt geometry, and scanlines. 2. Pixel perfect accuracy. I'm closer to number 2, but I like the inclusion of scanlines, as pixelated sprite based games really benefit from the scanlines.
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Jan 6, 2013 08:29
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Midnight Raider posted:I've got to admit, seeing that there are special devices people use to boost the display quality of their retro games that are intensive enough to require their own power source is kind of wowing to someone like me who is only just getting into this kind of thing. Completely agree, while it comes as no surprise that this exists, I can feel the  because I have added like 30 things to my wish list since I saw this thread existed all of 2 days ago.Edit: Alright, I really need an upscaler. Any crash-courses for relatively decent low-end ones? Zombies magazine fucked around with this message at 08:43 on Jan 6, 2013 |
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Jan 6, 2013 08:37
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Midnight Raider posted:I've got to admit, seeing that there are special devices people use to boost the display quality of their retro games that are intensive enough to require their own power source is kind of wowing to someone like me who is only just getting into this kind of thing. I'm glad I'm one of the few people not interested in modding their systems to run on higher-end video outputs and the like. I mean, it's cool and all, but I'm already paying stupid amounts of money on games as it is. I don't think I can afford to play around with running HDMI out of my NES, especially since I'm really picky about how old hardware should run on old non-flat CRTs. If anything, I should be spending money on more CRTs. Haven't really posted on this thread much since my purchasing has slowed to a crawl. I've reached a point where most of my Nintendo-related collections are at a satisfactory level, along with the Sega Genesis/CD/32X, Master System, 3DO, and all the pre-NES stuff. The big hurdles for me now are the Sega Saturn and the Dreamcast. While the Dreamcast won't be too difficult to bring it up to speed like how I powered through the N64 stuff, the Sega Saturn is going to be a big hit on my wallet, as I'm partaking in the foolish endeavor of focusing on US-released CIB copies of games, and I'm going to have to rely on the internet for most of my purchases. I'm also going to have to buy new shelving units. This year's gaming budget is all about the Saturn.
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Jan 6, 2013 08:47
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fatpat268 posted:Oh, and some more stuff that may be relevant to various people (*cough*Hamburglar*cough*): The RetroUSB guy does solid work and I have way more trust in whatever he's doing than the joke that is low_budget or whatever that dude was called. I'd really love to see some Metroid or Contra screenshots though, SMB always looks good in RGB but it's a game that wasn't made to take advantage of composite video blurring the way other games did. West Ham Sandwich posted:Edit: Alright, I really need an upscaler. Any crash-courses for relatively decent low-end ones? It's been discussed a few times in this thread. In fact Xik was just talking about his like one page ago. Aside from his, which looks pretty nice from his pictures, fatpat used to have a SLG In A Box I believe, but other than that pretty much everyone in here is either swearing by or saving up for an XRGB Mini. There is also one that does component to HDMI that looks nice and is about $50 but the catch there is it only takes component, so no pre-component consoles. An XRGB Mini is in my distant future plans but I also have a thing for CRT blur and glow, so I just use free Trinitrons until they die. Bing the Noize fucked around with this message at 08:55 on Jan 6, 2013 |
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Jan 6, 2013 08:52
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The more I read about the xrgb-mini, the more I want to just sell off things I'm not using and eBay one tomorrow. Should probably go to sleep before I do something irrational.
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Jan 6, 2013 08:56
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ACID POLICE posted:The RetroUSB guy does solid work and I have way more trust in whatever he's doing than the joke that is low_budget or whatever that dude was called. I like the idea of what low_budget is doing, but it just seems kinda pointless for a couple of reasons. As I understand it, his primary motivation was to create a new board to improve on nintendo's original design and produce cleaner video output. As well as creating a separate board that includes an RGB amp, provided that you want to use an RGB PPU. But really, how big would his customer base be? His design doesn't fit in any standard case, and you'd have to hack up some random plastic project box to make this a usable console. And even then, unless someone comes along and creates a case specifically for the board, it'd be an eyesore. And understandably, it won't be cheap. Alone the non rgb version will cost $150 for the board alone, and then you still have to supply the cpu and ppu. Again, admiral effort, but I can't see it making much of an impact. quote:It's been discussed a few times in this thread. In fact Xik was just talking about his like one page ago. Aside from his, which looks pretty nice from his pictures, fatpat used to have a SLG In A Box I believe, but other than that pretty much everyone in here is either swearing by or saving up for an XRGB Mini. There is also one that does component to HDMI that looks nice and is about $50 but the catch there is it only takes component, so no pre-component consoles. Yea, the SLG-in-a-box is actually pretty decent. I had issues with it, but it had to do with my cable (that I eventually fixed after I got rid of the slg and bought the xrgb). It's around $200. West Ham Sandwich posted:The more I read about the xrgb-mini, the more I want to just sell off things I'm not using and eBay one tomorrow. Should probably go to sleep before I do something irrational. Don't get gouged on ebay. solarisjapan is the place to buy them. http://www.solarisjapan.com/products/XRGB%252dmini-Framemeister-Compact-Up-Scaler-Unit.html
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Jan 6, 2013 09:13
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fatpat268 posted:Don't get gouged on ebay. solarisjapan is the place to buy them. Funny, I had just bookmarked that website with the intention of finding out whether they did international delivery or not.
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Jan 6, 2013 09:27
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fatpat268 posted:I like the idea of what low_budget is doing, but it just seems kinda pointless for a couple of reasons. As I understand it, his primary motivation was to create a new board to improve on nintendo's original design and produce cleaner video output. As well as creating a separate board that includes an RGB amp, provided that you want to use an RGB PPU. I like the idea of what he's doing too, and I haven't followed any of his threads wherever they are aside from glancing at it once, but I've just been hearing talk about how he's an endless stream of bad decisions (wasn't he trying to make everything fit in those stupid Linksys cases top priority or something?)
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Jan 6, 2013 09:38
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Doing some late-night reorganizing, and I stumbled across this stupid thing again I've never actually used it, got it cheap from a Half Price Books years ago.
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Jan 6, 2013 09:58
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For an upscaler like the XRGB Mini is it best to connect it via RGB or can you just use the composite connection?
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Jan 6, 2013 09:59
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That's like spending ten grand on an amazing stereo and playing 128kbps MP3's through it. Why.
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Jan 6, 2013 10:03
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Chainclaw posted:Doing some late-night reorganizing, and I stumbled across this stupid thing again Man, that thing was a total blow. gently caress yeah I want a moon colony. Too bad it's just name changes and some minor graphics/palette tweaking. Dammit Maxis.
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Jan 6, 2013 10:03
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Chainclaw posted:Doing some late-night reorganizing, and I stumbled across this stupid thing again  Also, the idea of a Wild West-themed metropolis does sound pretty amazing. 
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Jan 6, 2013 10:18
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Been digging around my dad's house and found my old snes mags. These are scans from Nintendo Magazine System from Australia. I don't know if Nintendo Power was the same, but pretty much every issue had kids sending in artworks of Mario killing Sonic. There is some classic stuff in there that was either funny or interesting to me that i thought i'd share. http://www.flickr.com/photos/45178508@N04/sets/72157632450162324/with/8352812504/ Some examples: -Short interview with the guy that was involved in making the Super FX chip (he mentions there was a 3rd version Nintendo never approved) -A hilariously terrible looking controller by Capcom for Street Fighter II -The Super CD was going to have amazing copy protection on it (sure sure...) -The Ultra 64 was going to exceed HDTV resolution!  IMG_0272 by projectk44, on Flickr The last photo is hilarious to me, because on another board i frequent they had the actual Kerri Hoskins post because she googled her name and found the thread.
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Jan 6, 2013 10:36
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So I finally got stuck into replaceing the cabinets control panel:  What we started with. Messy buttons that wouldn't clean, lovely microswitches, and an unresponsive stick.  Fresh parts appear!  Fresh spades on new buttons. 10 Million Click rated buttons / joystick, means I'll probably never have to change them again. Spades are currently temporary, since the whole panel will be coming off to get blasted and powder coated, along with the coin door.  The bolts used were absolute garbage and of course, got stuck. This joy won't be back in use again anytime, so I said gently caress it and broke the panel over the bolt. Then had to hacksaw the bolt out, because it was so tight nothing would shift it.  Temp fittings and it already makes a world of difference in views alone. Just got to add the dust cover to the joystick, order the new bolts and I'm done.  Repairing these is messy work. But as these things do, I plugged her in and turned her on, and nothing happened. Not a zing, not a pop, not a fizz.  Looks like the PSU died, since there's not glow in the monitor and no sound at all. Usually I can hear the hum noise from the PSU during turn on, but all I hear was a very faint electrical fuzz. Bummer.  Ordering a new PSU late in the week. Oh and it oughta to be fun to replace... Imagine a giant game of Operation, but instead of a red nose lighting up, you receive a huge discharge from the transformer pack / monitor chassis.  Looks like I'll have to very carefully remove the cashbox cover to get the PSU out, as I dare not touch the power pack.
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Jan 6, 2013 10:47
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the_lion posted:Some examples: I own three of the Capcom Pad Soldiers, one for SNES/SFC and two for 3DO. They made them for Genesis as well, and possibly other platforms I don't yet know about. I've not used it much, particularly for its intended purpose, but it's decent for most games at least, and on 3DO is loads better than the pack-in controller. The tilted button platform is designed to be comfortable for players who use their fingers to hit the buttons like in the arcade in addition to being thumb-accessible. The 3DO version at least was advertised on the back page of the Super Street Fighter II Turbo manual in a mail order form. Discount Viscount fucked around with this message at 11:15 on Jan 6, 2013 |
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Jan 6, 2013 11:09
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Sexy Slippers posted:For an upscaler like the XRGB Mini is it best to connect it via RGB or can you just use the composite connection? Um. Well. You can run composite through it, but it's not really going to be an improvement over just running it direct to your TV. I've posted about this before, but the issue with composite is that all the signal information is combined into a single analog waveform (this works because of wave addition properties), however doing that leads to some information loss on both ends since it's not a perfect conversion and unlike digital signals which have various forms of error correction any interference or degradation in an analog signal is going to show up on the other end. The reason why S-video, component, and RGB look better is because they use more signal lines. S-video has one line for color and another one for intensity, component (YPbPr) has intensity and sync (Y), the difference between blue and Y (Pb), and the difference between red and Y (Pr), and RGB has individual lines for red, green, blue, and sync. So, there's a limit to how good you can make a composite signal look, given that there's already going to be some information loss no matter what. The XRGB Mini is going to do about as good a job as you'll find, but it's still not going to make composite look good. If you're spending the money on one of these things, you should really put in the effort to get RGB outputs for as many of your systems as possible since otherwise you're just wasting money.
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Jan 6, 2013 11:12
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I use S-video over SNES with a 2-chip console and I think I'm set on video quality for it and the N64. A while back I made some comparison images. It should be obvious but if you aren't using S-video you should. It is perfect on a CRT and I couldn't care much about RGB since I will never not play games on a CRT. Sorry for the gigantic images. If these break tables anywhere outside my post I'll edit them out. These images were straight off my capture card, using official Nintendo cables and all that jazz. I didn't bother to combine two frames or whatever so these are not quite perfect due to interlacing. They still illustrate the main idea. S-video vs Composite   Here is a comparison of S-video over 1-chip/2-chip. 1-chip seems to be darker and... bluer? The colors just seem wrong to me, especially on my CRT. (I am a bit colorblind though, so just take a look at the images.) I see no sharpness issues in the 2-chip image like you'd notice over composite. These might vary based on the exact board in your SNES. I think the big vertical line is present in both of these (you can't really see it in these images) but it doesn't show up for most colors and I've learned to live with it. Obviously the 2-chip has worse composite than the 1-chip, but if you care enough about that to look for a 1-chip, you may as well be going the S-video route. (linking this one because it is quite wide) http://i.imgur.com/7fuBV.jpg Also, here is a shot of the video from the (non-modified) AV Famicom over composite. It has a very beautiful image with none of the problems present in the two NES models. Again, due to interlacing the fine lines on this may look worse than they actually are. 
Keyboard Kid fucked around with this message at 11:46 on Jan 6, 2013 |
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Jan 6, 2013 11:43
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the_lion posted:Aus Magazine Stuff I wish I still had all my Official Australian PlayStation Magazines. Those things taught me how to swear. They were filled with foul language and bad humour. If I remember right, they referred to their editor as "The Black Pig".
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Jan 6, 2013 11:57
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fatpat268 posted:
Not only that, but they sell Japanese PSN cards and email you the code. Awesome.
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Jan 6, 2013 12:42
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Just updated the MOTD in IRC and I'll repeat it here. AGDQ 2013 starts today! http://marathon.speeddemosarchive.com It will start shortly, they're doing a final tech setup check. Edit: Also we got our own chat on IRC too in #agdq@irc.synirc.net 8-bit Miniboss fucked around with this message at 19:21 on Jan 6, 2013 |
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Jan 6, 2013 19:04
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Code Jockey posted:Not only that, but they sell Japanese PSN cards and email you the code. Awesome. THIS is that good knowledge! E: does anyone have an extra copy of Shemmue? I always just played my friend's copy and he got rid of all his old game stuff long ago. Bing the Noize fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Jan 6, 2013 |
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Jan 6, 2013 19:30
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I have a copy that's missing the manual (it has the passport CD and passport manual, no game manual) if you're interested.
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Jan 6, 2013 23:07
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WendigoJohnson posted:I have abit of a strange request. I need a scan of the Sega Genesis Game Genie box(front, spine, and back). I've scoured all over for even a raw scan and I can't even find those. Either the Purple or Silver version boxes will do. I plan on making the cover able to fit either the EA Genesis boxes or the Universal Game Case boxes. So any help in aquiring a scan would be greatly appreciated. The original owner of mine went a little nuts with the duct tape, but I hope this helps you out in some way! (Click for big)   
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Jan 6, 2013 23:18
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Discount Viscount posted:I own three of the Capcom Pad Soldiers, one for SNES/SFC and two for 3DO. They made them for Genesis as well, and possibly other platforms I don't yet know about. I've not used it much, particularly for its intended purpose, but it's decent for most games at least, and on 3DO is loads better than the pack-in controller. The tilted button platform is designed to be comfortable for players who use their fingers to hit the buttons like in the arcade in addition to being thumb-accessible. The 3DO version at least was advertised on the back page of the Super Street Fighter II Turbo manual in a mail order form. Read through that link you posted, drat. It's such an odd shape, i assumed it would be uncomfortable as all hell. kirbysuperstar posted:I wish I still had all my Official Australian PlayStation Magazines. Those things taught me how to swear. They were filled with foul language and bad humour. If I remember right, they referred to their editor as "The Black Pig". Old magazines are great. I love their overly optomistic views of what future technology will be. 
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Jan 6, 2013 23:35
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Spraynard Kruger posted:The original owner of mine went a little nuts with the duct tape, but I hope this helps you out in some way! (Click for big) Thanks a ton, this was what I was exactly looking for. The duct tape isn't an issue, it's not obstructing anything major.
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Jan 6, 2013 23:52
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WendigoJohnson posted:Thanks a ton, this was what I was exactly looking for. The duct tape isn't an issue, it's not obstructing anything major. Cool, post the results when you're done!
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Jan 7, 2013 01:23
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the_lion posted:Been digging around my dad's house and found my old snes mags. These are scans from Nintendo Magazine System from Australia. http://www.flickr.com/photos/45178508@N04/8352825144/in/set-72157632450162324/ 
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Jan 7, 2013 02:16
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What was the letter that caused this reply though?
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Jan 7, 2013 02:55
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the_lion posted:The last photo is hilarious to me, because on another board i frequent they had the actual Kerri Hoskins post because she googled her name and found the thread. Yeah you can't just post something like this and not elaborate. fatpat268 posted:Oh, and some more stuff that may be relevant to various people (*cough*Hamburglar*cough*): I can't even wrap my head around how this thing will work (just solder it to the existing PPU and the picture is flawless? What the hell?) but I cannot wait. Hopefully it works in the toasters too and not just the top loaders.
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Jan 7, 2013 03:02
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Miyamotos RGB NES posted:I can't even wrap my head around how this thing will work (just solder it to the existing PPU and the picture is flawless? What the hell?) but I cannot wait. Hopefully it works in the toasters too and not just the top loaders. From the sounds of it, they're attempting to steal the digital signal as it enters the PPU and convert it offsite on a different chip and output it as HDMI. I'm betting it's a very complex circuit and not easy to install.
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Jan 7, 2013 03:13
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fatpat268 posted:From the sounds of it, they're attempting to steal the digital signal as it enters the PPU and convert it offsite on a different chip and output it as HDMI. I'm betting it's a very complex circuit and not easy to install. Anything has to be easier than the RGB PPU mod. Anything.
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Jan 7, 2013 03:23
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Miyamotos RGB NES posted:Yeah you can't just post something like this and not elaborate. It's possible with the toaster, but it requires a different board to get it to fit. The reason for doing it to the toploader is just because it's popular right now, and it just has crappy rf out. Bunnyboy(retrozone) will be selling modded toploaders instead of the boards, at least at first, because he doesn't want to deal with customer service from people that screw up installation.
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Jan 7, 2013 03:40
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I have a crazy idea, and I want to see if goons know if it can be done. I want to be able to take my NES, SNES, and DC, and switch any of them between two TVs, for composite/S-Video, so that any two systems can be used at any time. I know AV switchers exist, of course, but the ones I've seen have always been multi-input single-output, for selecting from different sources for a single TV. Are there ones that are multi-input multi-output?
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Jan 7, 2013 03:58
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Cicero posted:I have a crazy idea, and I want to see if goons know if it can be done. You could buy a couple of xrgb minis and have a 2x2 hdmi switcher. Haha. Seriously though, I don't know of an analog solution.
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Jan 7, 2013 04:03
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Haha, even if I had that much money, this would be for CRTs.
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Jan 7, 2013 04:08
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Cicero posted:I have a crazy idea, and I want to see if goons know if it can be done. Get a regular 3-to-1 switcher and run a distribution amp or something similar (you'll want something powered since splitting to multiple outputs reduces image quality). You might also be able to find a similar 1-to-3 switcher for the output. If you want to do this in less than two parts you'll probably be spending a lot more than you need to. Or actually, http://www.amazon.com/Cables-To-Go-28750-Composite/dp/B0032ANC8M/ might be easier, but you'll see the same problem of image quality when outputting to multiple sources. Keyboard Kid fucked around with this message at 04:14 on Jan 7, 2013 |
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Jan 7, 2013 04:11
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Keyboard Kid posted:Get a regular 3-to-1 switcher and run a distribution amp or something similar (you'll want something powered since splitting to multiple outputs reduces image quality). You might also be able to find a similar 1-to-3 switcher for the output. If you want to do this in less than two parts you'll probably be spending a lot more than you need to. quote:Or actually, http://www.amazon.com/Cables-To-Go-28750-Composite/dp/B0032ANC8M/ might be easier, but you'll see the same problem of image quality when outputting to multiple sources.
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Jan 7, 2013 04:21
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Cicero posted:I have a crazy idea, and I want to see if goons know if it can be done. They exist in a single box, but typically are pro-level and cost several thousand dollars. Google "video mixers" if you're curious; the Edirol V-4 is a relatively entry-level one at $1275. The good news is it'd also let you do fancy sweep/fade transitions between your video sources.
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Jan 7, 2013 04:34
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Would this one not work? http://www.vpi.us/av-switch-svva.html edit: found it on Amazon, the reviews seem to indicate it's legit: http://www.amazon.com/S-Video-Composite-Analog-Matrix-Switcher/dp/B0014Y1IUC
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Jan 7, 2013 04:38
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