XRGB-mini photos (or, how I learned to let go of my CRT...and I am better off)

Yodd

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Just received last night an XRGB Mini and thought some folks might want to see some photos.

For those unfamiliar with it, the XRGB series has been a legendary RGB upscaler series produced by Micomsoft. The most recent model, the Mini, has HDMI output and handles both PAL and NTSC signals and has the ability to toggle scanlines off and on. Has a boatload of settings and different modes. All the photos below are with the default Standard settings, and 720P output @ 60Hz except the Amiga ones which are @ 50Hz (PAL machine). Some of the Amiga ones have scanlines enabled, others don't. I am using a Dell S2440L 24 inch monitor attached to the mini via HDMI.


I apologize ahead for the light reflection on the right hand side of many of the pictures coming in from the blinds in my den.


So, onto the Photos.

First up, SNES (with scanlines):

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Next up is my RGB modded PCEngine Duo-R (with scanlines):

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Now, the PAL Amiga photos (everything here @ 50Hz)

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Most of the Amiga photos that are of just Workbench are with scanlines disabled. The others are enabled. Scrolling @ 50Hz is silky smooth, since the Framemeiser has the option of passing the signal at 50 or 60Hz. The Dell monitor I am using was chosen specifically because it supports 50Hz.

I noticed in High Res Laced a little bit of artifacting around the mouse cursor. This didn't appear in just High Res. I have tinkered around a bit since I took these photos and I think for general Amiga usage, 576_50p is the best setting. Still some artifacts around the mouse cursor with a High Res Laced screen mode, but overall it looks really good.


The Framemeister can output in:
480_60p
720_60p
1080_60i
1080_60i
576_50p
720_50p
1080_50i
1080_50p



Ohhh and did I mention...scrolling in games and demos is buttery smooth with either NTSC or PAL sources and the appropriate output.

About the only place I know that you can import this from is Solaris Japan. It's expensive, no doubt...but a quality product that does a fantastic job.

One other thing to note: The XRGB-mini has an included female scart to RGB 8 pin mini din cable with it in the box. This cable is NOT wired to the Euro Scart spec. It's in fact wired to the Japanese JP21 spec. Don't plug a regular euro scart cable into it otherwise you risk releasing the Magic smoke from it!. Either buy a pre-built Euroscart cable for it, or do like I did and just rewire the included one to the Euro spec.


It's badass.
 
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Comrade Porn King Mikhail

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I have an XRGB2, so I only run the SNES through S-Video. Looks satisfactory, then again I've made my peace with having a less than perfect setup by getting rid of my space consuming CRTs.. How much better would you say this mini runs it? Just wondering if it's worth the upgrade.
 

SSS

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Looks great, however it doesn't address the input lag numerous modern LCD sets have. Really annoying for twitch games like MD3.
 

bloodhokuto

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This looks great, will have to check it out.

Thanks!
 

Yodd

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There is virtually zero lag. If there is any, we are talking a couple milliseconds tops. It's that damn fast.

I picked a monitor with an extremely low lag to avoid that issue as well.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2
 

Teddy KGB

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looks great Yodd. Can't wait to get mine.
 

Joneo

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Gotta love the nuclear palettes of those PCE games. Maybe someday I can get rid of my CRT too...
 

Jibbajaba

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I'm pretty attached to my RGB monitor, and am not a fan of retrogaming on HDTVs, but I have to admit that those pictures look freaking gorgeous. The new XRGB is too spendy for me, but if I had a fatty HDTV and $450 burning a hole in my pocket, I'd consider it. Nice post.

Chris
 

Nick Goracke

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I have an XRGB2, so I only run the SNES through S-Video. Looks satisfactory, then again I've made my peace with having a less than perfect setup by getting rid of my space consuming CRTs.. How much better would you say this mini runs it? Just wondering if it's worth the upgrade.

There's a pretty good review for comparisons between the units here: http://retrogaming.hazard-city.de/framemeister.html

In my experience, I can't really tell the difference in quality between XRGB models (on 240p content). I would probably only upgrade if I needed the new input or output options on the framemeister for a new console or a new TV.

Your biggest upgrade, by far, would be picking up a scart cable for your SNES to use in place of S-Video. It's the best 15 bucks you'll ever spend - you'll immediately notice the difference without having to do a side-by-side comparison.
 

Nick Goracke

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By the way, nice photos! I've used various XRGBs on CRT HD TVs, LCD/Plasma HD TVs, computer monitors, and DLP projectors, and I've been happy with the results. People are always (rightfully) blown away when they see an old console hooked up to an RGB-capable CRT, but I really think the XRGB can have the same effect.
 

lantus360

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Amiga pics looks great Broken!

do you get any flicker with the interlaced modes?
 

Kiel

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I had been on a ten year mission to find the perfect picture until I got my XRGB-3. I'd never go back after having it now
 

Yodd

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Amiga pics looks great Broken!

do you get any flicker with the interlaced modes?

Nope. Zero flicker.

Little artifacting around the mouse when moving it in Interlaced modes. But setting the Mini to output in 576_50p reduces that some. I would say overall, for PAL Amiga usage, 576p is probably the better res to use.
 

DangerousK

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Very nice pictures.

Hmmm...I might have to consider one of these things now. The scanlines look fantastic.
 

chipperkwah

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Looks really, really nice. With regards to the scanlines on snes and pc engine, does it double the resolution and then introduce the scanlines or just dim every other line?
 

Zenimus

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I've also got an XRGB mini, and they are spectacular!

There's a seller on eBay that sells scart cables for SNES, Genesis and Neo Geo. Buy some of those and hook them up to your XRGB mini. I'm telling you, it's indistinguishable from an emulator. The image quality of these old consoles on an LCD HDTV is unbelievable.

They're expensive, and setting up the firmware to run in English was sort of a pain, but the Framemeister is 100% worth it.
 

Kristian Meller

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I've had my eye on one of these for a long time now. Have to get more money in my bank account before I prioritize one though.
 

Loefye

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I have an XRGB2, so I only run the SNES through S-Video. Looks satisfactory, then again I've made my peace with having a less than perfect setup by getting rid of my space consuming CRTs.. How much better would you say this mini runs it? Just wondering if it's worth the upgrade.

I have a mini as well. Use it primarily with my Mega Drive. RGB out of this unit is awesome, I can tell you now it is worth the upgrade from S-Video. No doubt. It breathed new life into gaming for me, I'm so much more driven to actually play all the games on my shelf because they look so bad ass.

The only downside is that some older games, especially Mega Drive ones, used tricks with sprites and colors to make shadows more realistic etc. but these "tricks" stick out like a sore thumb in RGB. For example when I play Twinkle Tale on a TV I get a nice looking shadow under my character, on my mini I get diagonal black lines.

I actually got mine cheaper from Amazon.jp and used www.tenso.com as the middle man to complete the transaction. At the time of my purchase, it came out a bit cheaper this route. Solaris is great too though...
 
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Jedah Doma

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You know I don't get the hate leveled at CRTs. Sure they're big and take up space, but I've yet to see an XRGB or any similar device come close in terms of picture quality. It just doesn't make sense to me personally.
 

Joneo

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Maybe just me, but the pictures above appear to exceed CRT quality with ease.
There are other benefits of going LCD besides size:

* Better Color uniformity
* Usually no overscan (edge-to-edge, everything is on screen).
* No geometry distortion. Straight lines are perfectly straight, circles are circles.
* Images are much sharper (though I suppose that may have pros and cons).
* IME picture doesn't degrade with age as fast or as badly. Every CRT I've owed starts getting very dark a few years in.

I'm sure there are more. That said, I still love CRTs for low-resolution stuff and their price & availability.

You know I don't get the hate leveled at CRTs. Sure they're big and take up space, but I've yet to see an XRGB or any similar device come close in terms of picture quality. It just doesn't make sense to me personally.
 
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