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Peanut Butler
Jul 25, 2003



Shibawanko posted:

the wii is the only console i have absolutely no interesting in owning. id pick up a wii u if i saw it in a thrift store or something but a wii? nah itd just get in the way

it's super easy to run games off a Wii HDD, tho idk if the WiiU is any easier

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evobatman
Jul 30, 2006

it means nothing, but says everything!
Pillbug

Shibawanko posted:

the wii is the only console i have absolutely no interesting in owning. id pick up a wii u if i saw it in a thrift store or something but a wii? nah itd just get in the way

If you're interested in retro gaming on CRT tvs, it's an absolutely amazing device and does 240p in hardware.

Shibawanko
Feb 13, 2013

evobatman posted:

If you're interested in retro gaming on CRT tvs, it's an absolutely amazing device and does 240p in hardware.

really? i didn't know that honestly, i have a CRT so i guess i should just pick one up. there's usually a small stack of the things at the thrift store.

3D Megadoodoo
Nov 25, 2010

For a while the Wii was the best option to play Gamecube games on modern television sets, because they were dead cheap and the Gamecube component adapter cable was (and still is) very expensive.

e: Heck, some CRTs do component as well.

Cojawfee
May 31, 2006
I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius

Unperson_47 posted:

I also never got my $0.12 from Starkist for them ripping us of by putting less tuna in the can than the weight listed.

I guess class action lawsuits are obsolete and failed technology because I never got my checks in either of these.

Charlie Tuna living high on the hog on my loving dime. I got a star you can kist right here you blue-finned piece of poo poo.

WHERE's MY drat 12 CENTS , BIG TUNA.



I got like 140 bucks when BMW installed a hand grenade in my steering wheel.

Shibawanko
Feb 13, 2013

3D Megadoodoo posted:

For a while the Wii was the best option to play Gamecube games on modern television sets, because they were dead cheap and the Gamecube component adapter cable was (and still is) very expensive.

e: Heck, some CRTs do component as well.

im in europe so its all scart all the time, maybe thats why the wii was never on my radar since i can just make my gamecube output to scart rgb

evobatman
Jul 30, 2006

it means nothing, but says everything!
Pillbug

Shibawanko posted:

im in europe so its all scart all the time, maybe thats why the wii was never on my radar since i can just make my gamecube output to scart rgb

Get a wii, a scart cable from retrogamingcables.co.uk, use modmii to softmod the wii, fill it up with emulators and roms, and enjoy never seeing sunlight again!

Ruflux
Jun 16, 2012

Shibawanko posted:

im in europe so its all scart all the time, maybe thats why the wii was never on my radar since i can just make my gamecube output to scart rgb

There were a fair few CRTs that had component inputs back in the day right before HDTV and flatscreens started to become a thing

I recall it being a selling point in a Panasonic CRTs my dad was looking at in 2004, but supply issues ultimately lead to him buying a much cheaper TV that was about as good anyway, but it only had three SCART inputs rather than component. But that didn't really matter either since everything we had (DVR, satellite box, PS2) that could output component video didn't really need it, being 576i native for the most part and the DVD player did progressive scan over RGB SCART just fine anyway

Shibawanko
Feb 13, 2013

honestly, every time i try to wrap my head around the details of output signals i end up getting it wrong, but i have a big dumb widescreen CRT with RGB scart input sitting here and a bunch of old consoles hooked to it, but no wii since i already have a gamecube (so the wii wouldnt be needed to play those games) and there are only very few truly good wii games. the gamecube's component cable is very expensive i heard but it's easy to get a PAL one to output RGB over scart using a standard cable

Cojawfee
May 31, 2006
I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius
My Phillips CRT is a flatscreen and takes component inputs.

Dick Trauma
Nov 30, 2007

God damn it, you've got to be kind.

Unperson_47 posted:

I also never got my $0.12 from Starkist for them ripping us of by putting less tuna in the can than the weight listed.

I guess class action lawsuits are obsolete and failed technology because I never got my checks in either of these.

Charlie Tuna living high on the hog on my loving dime. I got a star you can kist right here you blue-finned piece of poo poo.

WHERE's MY drat 12 CENTS , BIG TUNA.

Last Chance
Dec 31, 2004

I have a giant 32" SHARP TV in my spare room with sick 480i component in. xbox 360 games look great and retro things converted to component also looks great. I just.. dread the day I have to move that fucker.

Cojawfee
May 31, 2006
I think the US is dumb for not using Celsius
That's why I have my 20" or so TV. It's big enough that I can play games while sitting near it, but it isn't insanely heavy and can be moved around easily.

Code Jockey
Jan 24, 2006

69420 basic bytes free

lol


so I keep reading about Wii doing RGB output, would I just use a Wii component cable for that? Or is there a specific RGB cable for the Wii? I've only ever done RGB out from my Raspberry Pi, would be nice to be able to hook up another device to the monitor.

3D Megadoodoo
Nov 25, 2010

Code Jockey posted:

lol


so I keep reading about Wii doing RGB output, would I just use a Wii component cable for that? Or is there a specific RGB cable for the Wii? I've only ever done RGB out from my Raspberry Pi, would be nice to be able to hook up another device to the monitor.

RGB is component video but when something is component video it basically always means YPbPr not RGB. I don't know if this explains anything because I'm not going to read it :evilbuddy:

https://www.retrorgb.com/wiirgbvscomponent.html

HTH tho.

Computer viking
May 30, 2011
Now with less breakage.

Roughly: you can split a picture into three components in multiple ways.

RGB matches up with the phosphors/subpixels/computer style color descriptions, and is fairly easily to understand - it's just the luminosity of the red/green/blue subpixels. 0,0,0 is black, 1,0,0 is red, 1,1,1 is white.

YPbPr sends Y (luminosity), the difference between Y and blueness (Pb), and the difference between Y and redness (Pr). The latter two sort of gives you a two dimensional color square, with green at 0,0, purple at 1,1 , and blue/red at the 1,0/0,1 corners.
This traces back to NTSC, where Y is the black/white signal - connecting just the Y cable to a composite input gets you a working b/w image. This also means you can downsample the two color signals but keep the luminance at full resolution, which looks fairly decent while reducing bandwidth a lot.

There are other three-coordinate color systems (like Lab and HSL), but I doubt any TV has ever had inputs for any of them.

Anyway, back to the point: "Component" really means any signal where you split the ... components over multiple cables, be they RGB or YPbPr or something else. However, it seems "component" unqualified is typically YPbPr while you need to specify RGB - but I wouldn't be surprised if that depends on your region.

If I understand things right, a PAL Wii can get RGB through SCART, while an NTSC Wii can get YPbPr through a cable kit. They look about equally good.

Computer viking has a new favorite as of 00:55 on May 29, 2020

DMorbid
Jan 6, 2011

Hello! I see you.


A PAL Wii can also get YPbPr with component cables, which is the best option because it also lets you enable 480p resolution in the system settings. This setting is only for Wii games regardless of region, so you have to enable progressive scan separately for each GameCube game that supports it. PAL GameCube games don't support 480p natively at all because gently caress you, but you can use a homebrew utility called Swiss to force PAL GC games to boot in progressive mode and it generally works fine.

Speaking of 480p, the original Xbox also doesn't support it (or 720p, which some games ran at) in the PAL region and you had to mod the resolution options back in. At least it had 60Hz as a system option.

Computer viking
May 30, 2011
Now with less breakage.

Ah, that's a bit silly.

(I grew up with a Gameboy and early PC gaming instead of any consoles, so I don't have the sort of nostalgia that makes this relevant to me - but it's technically interesting anyway.)

3D Megadoodoo
Nov 25, 2010

The silly bit is PAL Xboxes don't support high resolutions because they just didn't put the menu options to select them in the UI.

DMorbid
Jan 6, 2011

Hello! I see you.


3D Megadoodoo posted:

The silly bit is PAL Xboxes don't support high resolutions because they just didn't put the menu options to select them in the UI.
Yeah, that was very silly. I guess MS figured it was simpler to replace the resolution toggle with the 50/60Hz option instead of adding a new setting in the menu? Or maybe they just hated us, which generally seemed to be the case with PAL games back in the day. :v:

I mean, if I had to choose one I'd definitely pick 60Hz over progressive scan, but there's no reason they couldn't have included both options.

DMorbid has a new favorite as of 01:31 on May 29, 2020

evobatman
Jul 30, 2006

it means nothing, but says everything!
Pillbug
Just softmod your xbox (like you should have already done with your wii), and switching between PAL and NTSC high-res modes can be done in seconds.

DMorbid
Jan 6, 2011

Hello! I see you.


evobatman posted:

Just softmod your xbox (like you should have already done with your wii), and switching between PAL and NTSC high-res modes can be done in seconds.
Well, yeah. It was just kinda annoying those features weren't enabled in the first place.

Shibawanko
Feb 13, 2013

is component better than regular RGB scart? ive never seen component in the EU but whenever you search about this topic it seems to be the main thing american retrogamers want from their TV (it also makes it hard to get good information about it because all of the info out there assumes you have an american TV)

Code Jockey
Jan 24, 2006

69420 basic bytes free

3D Megadoodoo posted:

RGB is component video but when something is component video it basically always means YPbPr not RGB. I don't know if this explains anything because I'm not going to read it :evilbuddy:

https://www.retrorgb.com/wiirgbvscomponent.html

HTH tho.


Computer viking posted:

Roughly: you can split a picture into three components in multiple ways.

RGB matches up with the phosphors/subpixels/computer style color descriptions, and is fairly easily to understand - it's just the luminosity of the red/green/blue subpixels. 0,0,0 is black, 1,0,0 is red, 1,1,1 is white.

YPbPr sends Y (luminosity), the difference between Y and blueness (Pb), and the difference between Y and redness (Pr). The latter two sort of gives you a two dimensional color square, with green at 0,0, purple at 1,1 , and blue/red at the 1,0/0,1 corners.
This traces back to NTSC, where Y is the black/white signal - connecting just the Y cable to a composite input gets you a working b/w image. This also means you can downsample the two color signals but keep the luminance at full resolution, which looks fairly decent while reducing bandwidth a lot.

There are other three-coordinate color systems (like Lab and HSL), but I doubt any TV has ever had inputs for any of them.

Anyway, back to the point: "Component" really means any signal where you split the ... components over multiple cables, be they RGB or YPbPr or something else. However, it seems "component" unqualified is typically YPbPr while you need to specify RGB - but I wouldn't be surprised if that depends on your region.

If I understand things right, a PAL Wii can get RGB through SCART, while an NTSC Wii can get YPbPr through a cable kit. They look about equally good.

Oh duh. :doh: I totally forgot this for some reason. thanks you two.

DMorbid
Jan 6, 2011

Hello! I see you.


Shibawanko posted:

is component better than regular RGB scart?
It depends. Later consoles support higher resolutions through component so it's better for 480p (technically, RGB cables can do 480p but very few consoles support 480p via RGB) and high-def stuff, but for 240p/480i use either one is fine and it largely depends on your setup. Some HDTVs have problems receiving a 240p signal via YPbPr because 240p is more of a video trick than a proper resolution, but HDTVs tend to have issues with 240p regardless for that same reason.

I don't think I've ever seen a PAL consumer CRT with component inputs, but older HDTVs had both RGB and component along with HDMI.

Ruflux
Jun 16, 2012

I mentioned/complained about this very recently on these forums (possibly in this very thread, even) but the PAL PS2 did actually do 480p and 60Hz out of the box with component cables (and RGB SCART too, probably? DVDs were deliberately tinted green on that though, thanks to Sony's insane copy protection measures to prevent easy high quality rips) which was very cool for games like Jak 2 and 3 that actually had the devs make the effort to add in both for the PAL releases. I know some devs just didn't and gave Europeans a 50Hz, 576i only version.

The issue of course was that the PS2 didn't support 576p or PAL-60 so you had to own a multi-norm TV that could deal with NTSC. Then again I'm pretty sure every TV I ever used did have support for NTSC so it ultimately wasn't a huge deal.

Obsolete tech stuff though, relating to my earlier story of the Panasonic flat-tube CRT my dad was going to buy, years later we ultimately concluded it was a blessing in disguise since although having component input and four SCART slots would've been great, that beast would've been 36" and even heavier than the already intolerably weighty Finlux 32" he went with. It ended up living in my grandpa's house for a long while but moving it there was a horrible, terrible pain. The picture quality for SD content was absolutely astonishing though. Those late stage flat CRTs were some of the best TVs ever made.

Last I saw it, quite a few years ago now, I was loving stunned when I flicked it on. Not only did it look miles better than a lovely SD feed on a modern TV does, it also sounded incredible with the massive built-in speakers. I guess there's your obsolete tech for the day: TVs having good sound. So good, in fact, that you didn't need a home theater setup or separate speakers unless you were an enthusiast. Or, a soundbar to fix the awful audio reproduction of today's TVs which I guess is the modern equivalent. With just two speakers that Finlux could easily trade blows with the at the time popular home theater in a box solution with their tiny satellite speakers and "sub"woofers.

Humphreys
Jan 26, 2013

We conceived a way to use my mother as a porn mule


evobatman posted:

Just softmod your xbox (like you should have already done with your wii), and switching between PAL and NTSC high-res modes can be done in seconds.

If any Oz-Goons need help with this. I have a few of the games required for the softmod and the SDcard on a cable with the payload.

3D Megadoodoo
Nov 25, 2010

Doc M posted:

It depends. Later consoles support higher resolutions through component so it's better for 480p (technically, RGB cables can do 480p but very few consoles support 480p via RGB) and high-def stuff, but for 240p/480i use either one is fine and it largely depends on your setup. Some HDTVs have problems receiving a 240p signal via YPbPr because 240p is more of a video trick than a proper resolution, but HDTVs tend to have issues with 240p regardless for that same reason.

I don't think I've ever seen a PAL consumer CRT with component inputs, but older HDTVs had both RGB and component along with HDMI.

They were readily available around Gamecube times. Readily, that is, if you had

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON-7v4qnHP8

Humphreys
Jan 26, 2013

We conceived a way to use my mother as a porn mule




Ah, that period of british music that was complete trash and involved zero filter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MqMZ6XqMfc

Jaguars!
Jul 31, 2012


Well over the LD50 for Alexei Sayle right there

Humphreys
Jan 26, 2013

We conceived a way to use my mother as a porn mule


Crossposting from the Tech relics thread

Humphreys posted:

I think it was this thread that had funky CD shaped stuff. Completely forgot to show one from my archives:








Nocheez
Sep 5, 2000

Can you spare a little cheddar?
Nap Ghost
That brought back memories! I had these cards that would fit into a record player (or you used a hand-held one that they sold) and you could hear the play-by-play for that scene on the card. It was pretty neat in the 90s, but I wonder if that would be an actual collectible because there's just not much like those. I think my brother still has them, or maybe they're in my closet in my mom's house.

edit: of course YouTube has it covered:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYlsTny81Sw

verbal enema
May 23, 2009

onlymarfans.com

Nocheez posted:

That brought back memories! I had these cards that would fit into a record player (or you used a hand-held one that they sold) and you could hear the play-by-play for that scene on the card. It was pretty neat in the 90s, but I wonder if that would be an actual collectible because there's just not much like those. I think my brother still has them, or maybe they're in my closet in my mom's house.

edit: of course YouTube has it covered:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYlsTny81Sw

that is stupid cool

Scarodactyl
Oct 22, 2015


That reminds me of the matchbox record they showed off in the classic movie Gizmo!
It's on youtube for those who haven't seen it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs4p5ZjiR3s
(15:40 for the record)
It is mostly a compilation of old footage, but they got professional lip readers for thr silent footage and dubbed it very well, so even if you've seen some of it before in other co texts it is worth seeing.
It is themed around weird inventions and inventive things, seems like it should be of interest to people in thread. Technology that was obsolete before it was even made.
(I have no clue what he's saying in the 'dedication').

Scarodactyl has a new favorite as of 08:45 on Jun 5, 2020

Humphreys
Jan 26, 2013

We conceived a way to use my mother as a porn mule


Not really a tech relic but I'm sure theres an audience in this thread.

Al Jaffee of Mad Magazine fame for the past 57 years has officially retired at 'ripe' old age of 99

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2020/06/06/al-jaffee-mad-magazine-retires/

It's apparently issue 14 for you in the USA. I have no official way of getting it, but have a few comic stores trying for me (I'm in Australia).

Humphreys
Jan 26, 2013

We conceived a way to use my mother as a porn mule


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxt5A0KJ9nw

Kamrat
Nov 27, 2012

Thanks for playing Alone in the dark 2.

Now please fuck off

I always wondered, it's nice to have a video explaining it...

When I first got a cd-rom drive caddy's where out of fashion, but I always thought it was a cool idea that you could have a cd-case that you could just plug into your computer.

twistedmentat
Nov 21, 2003

Its my party
and I'll die if
I want to
I always mention my friend who in the 90s was obsessed with SCSI and the only SCSI CDROM available needed caddies. We always made fun of him for it in 1996. It also cost him $300 at the time.

TITTIEKISSER69
Mar 19, 2005

SAVE THE BEES
PLANT MORE TREES
CLEAN THE SEAS
KISS TITTIESS




I'm been going on a junk purge lately and I recently found my 5.2GB DVD-RAM discs with caddies.

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Horace
Apr 17, 2007

Gone Skiin'

twistedmentat posted:

I always mention my friend who in the 90s was obsessed with SCSI and the only SCSI CDROM available needed caddies. We always made fun of him for it in 1996. It also cost him $300 at the time.

I was like that a decade later, but with Firewire. Needlessly spent double on an external DVD burner just because it was the only one which used FireWire. Every peripheral had to be FireWire! USB is rubbish!

FireWire 400 did have a number of advantages over USB 2.0 though, such as increased purchase price, inability to use with friends PCs and inability to use with next laptop without finding a 400/800 adapter, inability to use with friends Macbook because he had found the only Unibody MacBook they made with no FireWire ports, etc

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