Fairly Cheap Alternative to JROK and Neobitz

So I recently got one of those CVS287 external Scart RGB to YPbPr video encoders for all my older game systems and I love the thing. The video clarity on my Sony Triniton is Damn near that of RGB. Since I take my CMVS with me to social get togethers and what not I decided to use a Neobitz with only component video so I would not have to haul around an external encoder and scart cables.

Well today I was playing around with the CVS287 and decided to take it apart and try to get it working as an internal encoder on the CMVS. I personally prefer it over the neobitz and Jrok. The CVS287's colors are better than the Neobitz and don't seem to be screaming in your face like the JROK's. It is also a bit sharper than both of them (if it's pots are properly set). It only took about an hour but I was able to get it going and the results were impressive to say the least. All you have to do is desolder the SCART socket, power regulator, and power port and feed red, green, blue, sync, and 5 volts DC into it. Like with the Neobitz I recommend using 124 ohm resistors on the RGB Lines, it will give you the best results if you are switching between a CRT and HDTV. If you are only using a CRT I recommend 150 ohms.

The encoder only has component capability but in all fairness if you are using an HDTV or CRT that has component it would be better than S-Video and composite anyway. The Neo-Geo with the internal CVS287 looked great on both my HDTV and my 35 inch Sony Triniton. The CVS287 can easily be obtained from eBay for about $55.90. I recommend buying them from this guy http://stores.ebay.com/SPECIALTY-AUDIO-VIDEO?_trksid=p2047675.l2563, he ships super fast and will get it to you in no time.

I'm sure a lot of you know this already but I am just posting it for people that may not realize they have this alternative.

Here is a picture of where you need to solder everything on the encoder once you desolder the components. I will be desoldering the RCA jacks as well but am keeping them there for testing for the moment.

Grey = Ground
Yellow = Sync
Purple = 5 volts DC
If you don't know what the other three are I am sorry but you need more help than this picture .

Do you have any comparison pictures (Neobitz vs. CVS287) by chance?

Joneo said:

Do you have any comparison pictures (Neobitz vs. CVS287) by chance?

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Unfortunately I don't at the moment. All I have is a shitty cell phone camera but I managed to get some pictures of it with this encoder in it. These look A LOT better in person, my camera just sucks ass.

Well last night after I posted those screenshots I got to thinking, what should I do with the neobitz and empty shell to the CVS287? Make an external Neobitz encoder that's what!

I gathered up a bunch of parts I had left over from my various projects and combined them all into one unit to make this thing, the external Frankenbitz! It works quite well and I am glad I was able to put that Neobitz encoder to some use. I also included some pictures of it running my RGB NES. And yes I realize I could have built the sync stripper into the Neobitz. This was a circuit I built awhile ago and did not feel like redoing it.








Gameplay screenshots

I couldn't say which is better, but my home and cd systems hooked up by one of those converters is comparable to my CMVS with Neobitz. I use the thing with all my RGB capable systems.

GohanX said:

I couldn't say which is better, but my home and cd systems hooked up by one of those converters is comparable to my CMVS with Neobitz. I use the thing with all my RGB capable systems.

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I recommend desoldering the power regulator and wiring it up to use a 5 volt DC power supply like most CMVS units do. Both the power regulator and stock PSU it comes with are garbage. Doing that gave me a bit of a sharper picture on it. I was using the same type of PSU I use on my CMVS before I made it internal. I use a 5 volt DC 3 amp 2.5mm on my CMVS. It works well on a 5volt modded CVS287.

I also found an old pic of the CVS287 running my RGB NES. Here is a comparison shot.

Neobitz




CVS287

please excuse my ignorance, but the application of this into a supergun is apparent. my question is, If I were to use this, as well as a SCART output, what would I need to Do about the Sync from the Arcade board? Does this encoder have a place where I can pull sync from to wire to a SCART socket, or can I just pull it from the board without an encoder?

Lemony Vengeance said:

please excuse my ignorance, but the application of this into a supergun is apparent. my question is, If I were to use this, as well as a SCART output, what would I need to Do about the Sync from the Arcade board? Does this encoder have a place where I can pull sync from to wire to a SCART socket, or can I just pull it from the board without an encoder?

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This is not really a super gun. The CVS287 is an external RGB to YPbPr encoder that takes R, G, B, and sync in via a scart cable. I basically just converted it from external to internal so it works more like a JROK and Neobitz. As for sync you would connect that from the game console's PCB. I am not exactly sure if the CVS287 has an R, G, B, and Sync out. Nothing is really labeled so I don't know. This would be something for people who just want component and don't have an RGB display like a Sony PVM.

Lemony Vengeance said:

please excuse my ignorance, but the application of this into a supergun is apparent. my question is, If I were to use this, as well as a SCART output, what would I need to Do about the Sync from the Arcade board? Does this encoder have a place where I can pull sync from to wire to a SCART socket, or can I just pull it from the board without an encoder?

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If you use the CVS287, you can pull sync from the scart socket on the inside by lifting the pin. I did this for someone before that wanted to build a sync circuit into the encoder with a on/off switch.

Skips said:

This is not really a super gun. The CVS287 is an external RGB to YPbPr encoder that takes R, G, B, and sync in via a scart cable. I basically just converted it from external to internal so it works more like a JROK and Neobitz. As for sync you would connect that from the game console's PCB. I am not exactly sure if the CVS287 has an R, G, B, and Sync out. Nothing is really labeled so I don't know. This would be something for people who just want component and don't have an RGB display like a Sony PVM.

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If people have used this for CMVS, it can be used for a supergun. I want to have Multiple connection options (Component, VGA, SCART) so I'm trying to see how this could be used.

Xian Xi said:

If you use the CVS287, you can pull sync from the scart socket on the inside by lifting the pin. I did this for someone before that wanted to build a sync circuit into the encoder with a on/off switch.

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So, the sync from the board can go right to SCART without anything in between?

Lemony Vengeance said:

So, the sync from the board can go right to SCART without anything in between?

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Correct, the break in the connection would be internal. What exactly are you trying to do?

Also, if you want to have multiple connections for video I would suggest using the JROK since it has RGB pass through.

Lemony Vengeance said:

If people have used this for CMVS, it can be used for a supergun. I want to have Multiple connection options (Component, VGA, SCART) so I'm trying to see how this could be used.

So, the sync from the board can go right to SCART without anything in between?

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Sorry I missed the into part. I thought you were calling it a supergun, my bad.

Very nice! I've just ordered one of these converters this week and waiting arrive now.
It's kind difficult these days since that TVs here don't have the scart input and the new LCD TVs don't have s-video too. So when I have to take one of my Neo CDs for someone's house I could use the component connection. But I'm thinking about doing some mod too, turn the thing more neo geo dedicated without the shell and psu as well, maybe some kind of built in aspect if have enough space in the top loader, not sure yet what I'll do, anyway thanks Skips! And James too by providing the info for the RGB encoder.

The CVS287 is a cheaper clone of the CSY-2100 http://www.cypconverters.com.au/video-processors/csy-2100.html

http://www.gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:csy-2100

I used to use it for my MVS boards and have used it with a basic supergun. Does a pretty damn good job I must say. It's unfortunate the CSY-2100 uses a 7.5v power supply.

The CSY-2100 has an internal Voltage regulator...most likely a 7805.

If so, it can easily be bypassed and the whole board ran off 5volts just like the CVS-287.

I've never tried the CSY-2100, is it any better looking that the CVS287 or about on par?

I'm currently consolizing my MV-1C. I'm using this exact encoder from the first post however I'm not getting any video. I've wired the MV-1C's BGR from 13-N-12 to the SCART's 7-11-15 respectively. I also tried giving the video ground to pin 18 on the SCART and 5v to pin 16 on the SCART, and finally the sync to pin 20 on the SCART. I have a feeling it has to do with the sync but I'm not quite sure

Any idea why I'm not getting any video out? Thanks.

where is the best spot on the mvs to connect the 5v power too?

Ok, figured out why it wasn't booting, it had no fuse . All is well:

mord said:

where is the best spot on the mvs to connect the 5v power too?

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You put the 5v to the jamma pin 3, 4, C or D on the MVS, they all have continuity with each other so you only need to have 5V on one of them, although you could send the 5V directly to each if you wanted. I use a quality universal power supply set to 9v and have the DC powerport going to a 7805 regulator which brings it down to 5v that goes to a power switch to the jamma pin to power my MV-1C.

Cool you got it working. Looks a bit too bright though. Increase the resistance on the RGB lines a little, maybe 10-15ohms more.

Ya, I noticed that right away, luckily there are pots on the encoder just for that reason, I have my meter to test. On my other consoles I only needed to raise the red's resistance slightly, but the MVS's RGB is much brighter, the green looks very very strong. I'll play with the pots and such when my enclosure arrives tomorrow, that's all I'm waiting for, I just set this up to verify the MV-1C I bought is working. It's a shame because I've been wanting to get in contact with you personally about enclosures but never had the ability to PM until now after I've went ahead and purchased one. Oh well.

Pasky said:

Ya, I noticed that right away, luckily there are pots on the encoder just for that reason, I have my meter to test. On my other consoles I only needed to raise the red's resistance slightly, but the MVS's RGB is much brighter, the green looks very very strong. I'll play with the pots and such when my enclosure arrives tomorrow, that's all I'm waiting for, I just set this up to verify the MV-1C I bought is working. It's a shame because I've been wanting to get in contact with you personally about enclosures but never had the ability to PM until now after I've went ahead and purchased one. Oh well.

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What enclosure did you go with?

Xian Xi said:

What enclosure did you go with?

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http://www.pactecenclosures.com/product-detail.php?productid=132&seriesid=48&classid=26

I was looking everywhere for the New Age Enclosures S3A-907516 but apparently it's not made anymore and no stock of them exists anywhere. When I received the MV-1C I noticed most enclosures aren't large enough to house the length of the board in plastic (I have no tools to be able to do work on aluminum) so I just went with that crappy rectangle design.

My enclosure should arrive tomorrow, I'll post my resistance values on the pots for this encoder when I'm done fine tuning it (I'll use MAME to help me get the colors correct) for others using it. It's a great encoder, I use it for my SNES/GENESIS/N64.

Use the hardware test on the board to get your values right.