VOGONS


First post, by boxpressed

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Title says it all. I have a Sony 1354Q PVM and want to output VGA from my FX5500 to it. In another thread (Anyone use the TV Out from videocard?) I described outputting S-Video from the FX5500 to the PVM. It looks great sometimes, but at other times the image will be washed-out. There's no telling when the image will be vibrant or when it will be dull.

I'm curious whether anyone has connected their PC to their PVM via VGA. The PVM inputs are RGB + Sync (BNC connector). Would you use a cable like this one, or would you need a converter box? I've heard of people connecting a 15kHz VGA output to the PVM for MAME, but I'm not sure if a regular VGA card would work. I'd like to be able to run VGA (640x480) quality DOS games on it. Maybe S-Video is the best output I can get from a PC to this monitor, but I thought I'd check to see if anyone has been successful.

bncvga.jpg

Reply 1 of 6, by alexanrs

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You'll have to check that, but to be able to receive VGA signals, the PVM will have to be able to cope with 31KHz hsync signals. If it does, there is a chance it will work with these cables.

Reply 2 of 6, by 133MHz

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I own a 1354Q and it's a 15kHz only model. If you feed it 640x480p you'll see the picture repeated side by side.
You can use software like Soft15kHz or some DOS TSRs to get a 15kHz output the PVM will like and play some games. Games using 200~240 line modes look particularly good on such a setup.

http://133FSB.wordpress.com

Reply 3 of 6, by pewpewpew

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boxpressed wrote:

It looks great sometimes, but at other times the image will be washed-out.

This is odd. Have you already checked for loose/dirty connections? Also tried another cable, or at least twist that one around to check for internal damage, and of course check for wiggle at the sockets.

Reply 5 of 6, by boxpressed

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Thanks for all of the helpful responses. I took a little break from the hobby and forgot some basics such as VGA being progressive scan. I even have an old version of the ArcadeVGA that I bought for cheap and never used.

However, I think until I can score an Emotia, I'll leave well enough alone. I don't want to stress the PVM, which would be difficult to replace. The PVM looks great with Mode 13h games like Descent via S-Video, so I'll stick to playing the games that don't wash out the colors.

Reply 6 of 6, by boxpressed

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pewpewpew wrote:
boxpressed wrote:

It looks great sometimes, but at other times the image will be washed-out.

This is odd. Have you already checked for loose/dirty connections? Also tried another cable, or at least twist that one around to check for internal damage, and of course check for wiggle at the sockets.

I'll try another cable once I can locate one. I'm pretty sure it has to do with games periodically sending high resolutions to the PVM (cutscenes or menu screen) in between gameplay. Not positive about that since there's no consistency to when the colors will "wash out." Colors will even come back during a game, but only after a cutscene of some kind.