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avatar_Animalgril987

CPC video upscaler

Started by Animalgril987, 18:53, 21 July 22

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Animalgril987

Hi guys.
My HDMI upscaler works fine, but the delay is very noticeable and it makes most games unplayable. Can anyone recommend a decent zero-lag upscaler that doesn't cost a bomb?

Cheers.

eto

For HDMI maybe RGB2HDMI might be an option. Although I have not yet seen anything about its lag.  


If VGA is an option, have a look at the GBS8200 with GBSControl mod (https://github.com/ramapcsx2/gbs-control). Lag is around 4ms.

Animalgril987

Thanks.
I've ordered a GBS8200 and will let you know how I get on with it.  :D

CaptainRon

I think you will like the GBS8200, it works great for me on a 4:3 aspect ratio VGA monitor 
If anything's gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there.

Animalgril987

My current upscaler has a cracking display on my wide-screen LCD ( set to display 4:3). The active display area like this is just a smidgen larger than the Amstrad monitor, but Mode 2 text is so clear, it's awesome. It's only the dreadful lag that's causing me grief. It's that bad that if I'm playing for example Gryzor ( the game, not the forum admin), I have to try and move BEFORE the enemy fires, usually with little success. Do you know if the GBS comes with the correct cable to connect to a CPC, or where I can get one?

Thanks.

eto

#5
Quote from: Animalgril987 on 19:39, 26 July 22My current upscaler has a cracking display on my wide-screen LCD ( set to display 4:3). The active display area like this is just a smidgen larger than the Amstrad monitor, but Mode 2 text is so clear, it's awesome. It's only the dreadful lag that's causing me grief. It's that bad that if I'm playing for example Gryzor ( the game, not the forum admin), I have to try and move BEFORE the enemy fires, usually with little success. Do you know if the GBS comes with the correct cable to connect to a CPC, or where I can get one?

Thanks.
If you have a CPC to VGA adapter/cable you can try if it accepts the signal through VGA input. I remember that I had issues with that, but it could have been before I applied the GBSControl mod. I used the Arcade connector pins which has R, G,B, sync and GND and soldered a cable directly to them (see picture).


CaptainRon

I simply soldered a din connector to the supplied set of wires that came with my GBS8200. This link shows how in detail

https://www.octoate.de/articles/connect-cpc-to-vga-display/
If anything's gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there.

Animalgril987

Thanks @eto and @jb2590. I'll come up with something when the board arrives. :D

Animalgril987

#8
Okay ;D
I got a DIN connector from Farnell ( otherwise I'd have had to wait several weeks from Amazon), soldered the wires to the correct pins ( black is ground, red, green, blue to respective RGB pins, grey to sync ( DO NOT CONNECT YELLOW)) and bingo I have great display, with no discernable lag.
Cheers, guys, the GBS8200, works brilliantly. I did have to change the OSD to English and tweak the vertical size and position to get rid of an annoying flickering bar at the bottom, but otherwise, it fantastic. I just have to get a case for it now.
The only downside is, it hasn't improved my ability when it comes to playing Gryzor, lol  :D

Just a point of note for other people thinking about the GBS, the barrel connector for power is centre positive ( which I don't think is mentioned in the manual), so the PSU for my original upscaler works just fine with it.
Now does anyone want a SCART to HDMI upscaler that has terrible lag and no PSU? I think I paid about £25 for it a couple of years ago, so I'll take any reasonable offer! I can include an active CPC to SCART cable at no extra cost.
@eto what problems did you have that you needed GBS Control? Mine appears to be ok without ( and I wouldn't trust my soldering when it comes to connecting wires to a surface mount IC).

Alan.

WacKEDmaN

ive got a GBS8200 aswell.. out of the box it works ok... but some games and most demos lose sync..
the original ghosts and goblins is one... its unplayable, screen shakes and goes black when it scrolls... 
i also notice some vertical lines in the picture...
but with GBS-C thats fixed, picture is amazingly clean..and GnG is completely playable!.. same goes for most demos that play around with the CRTC...(still some that dont work correct)
GBS-C gives you so much more control, and you can tweak many settings that arent available in the default firmware

eto

Maybe they optimized their firmware but my GBS did eg not properly sync ghosts'n goblins and with gbs control it works perfectly.

Then, a standard GBS has much more lag and will always display at 60hz. With GBS control it can display at 50Hz (if your LCD supports that - most seem to accept that).

And last but not least, it can add scanlines. Not everybody likes them of course - but if you do, it's a nice gimmick.

chinnyhill10

The RetroTink 5x is the best choice if you want quality and have the money. Yes it's fiddly, yes it loses all your painstakingly made presets every time you do a firmware update, but the quality and zero lag are excellent. Nothing touches it in fact.

And if you want CRT filters, it has some excellent ones.

The only thing to watch out for is the creator is totally focussed on consoles and CRT emulation (being America). The fact it works with ropey old European 8 bit micros is a bonus frankly (and indeed in the early days it was very hit and miss until he gave us more settings to tweak in the menu).
--
ChinnyVision - Reviews Of Classic Games Using Original Hardware
chinnyhill10 - YouTube

Animalgril987

Yeah, and the Retrotink will cost me over £350. No thanks.

chinnyhill10

Quote from: Animalgril987 on 18:14, 09 August 22Yeah, and the Retrotink will cost me over £350. No thanks.
It's expensive. But if you want zero lag it's your best option unless you use a CRT.

There is the Medusa which looks promising but mine is still in its box.
--
ChinnyVision - Reviews Of Classic Games Using Original Hardware
chinnyhill10 - YouTube

chinnyhill10

Quote from: WacKEDmaN on 08:02, 08 August 22ive got a GBS8200 aswell.. out of the box it works ok... but some games and most demos lose sync..
the original ghosts and goblins is one... its unplayable, screen shakes and goes black when it scrolls...


Can confirm I was playing Ghosts and Goblins on the Tink last night with no issues (other than the game being a stinker that is).
--
ChinnyVision - Reviews Of Classic Games Using Original Hardware
chinnyhill10 - YouTube

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