HDMI CMVS?

Lemony Vengeance

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It looks awesome man. Would you consider making some kits for sale? I think some people here with no access to a PVM might be interested. I am interested for sure.

Regards.

if this can be used in Superguns as well, that would be a must have purchase for me. I'm looking to consolize a CPS2 board :)
 

kraquepype

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if this can be used in Superguns as well, that would be a must have purchase for me. I'm looking to consolize a CPS2 board :)
Unfortunately it uses the raw digital signals that are different from the RGB signals a supergun would usr so I don't think its possible.

It might be possible with different FPGA code though to convert RGB but it won't be as pure a signal.

Or, a similar mod could be done for the CPS2 using pure digital if they handle video output similarly. That would most likely require new FPGA code as well, which I'm still green at - I barely understand what the code for the Neo does, let alone how to apply the concept to other platforms.
 

kraquepype

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It looks awesome man. Would you consider making some kits for sale? I think some people here with no access to a PVM might be interested. I am interested for sure.

Regards.
I can put together a parts list and figure that out later. Mostly eBay stuff.

A custom PCB that puts the FPGA and resistor arrays together in a small package with an HDMI port pre attached would be really nice ... But I've no experience in PCB design so that would be a while off.

Anyway, a kit would be relatively cheap but would require a ton of soldering and lots of trial and error. (Edit: I say trial and error because I don't know yet how this will work out on boards besides the MV1B.)

Also I need to figure out the sound output which is woefully missing right now. Right now its a matter of different DACs ... The original creator said he would look into the YM3016.
 
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kraquepype

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The original author (https://github.com/charcole/NeoGeoHDMI) added YM3016 sound support to the project today!

I was able to quickly add the additional wire and re-compile the code, and it works great so far!

This time I took a video from my projector (This hooked right up to my home entertainment receiver without a problem) and it looks great. I'm uploading the video now, but it doesn't do it justice - it looks darn near perfect.

Once I add controller ports, I might actually get to PLAY something!

Parts list and a how-to is forthcoming.

(Edit: Video is uploaded but still processing by YouTube. Not sure why, but hopefully it'll finish soon)

 
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kraquepype

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Poke around the original project's github page for details. This is where I started at once I discovered this project.

https://github.com/charcole/NeoGeoHDMI

My Parts list:

Consolized or ready-to consolize MVS board or an AES if you are brave (Mine was a MV1B)
Altera EP2C5T144 and USB blaster (Amazon / Ebay - about $30)
30 1K resistors (ebay - $5)
25 470 resistors (eBay - $5)
1 solder breadboard (Radioshack - $3)
Nylon stand-offs to keep the breadboard from touching the main board (Ebay - kit from china for $9)
1 old PC floppy cable (Might have them laying around? Free? Ebay otherwise)
HDMI port (ebay - $5
Misc wiring (Radioshack)

Tools:

Wire strippers / clippers
Multimeter
Fine point soldering iron
Solder
Desoldering braid
Patience of a budhist monk
Understanding family
Vodka
Wine
Beer
 

aha2940

AH, A, COLUMBIAN!,
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Poke around the original project's github page for details. This is where I started at once I discovered this project.

https://github.com/charcole/NeoGeoHDMI

My Parts list:

Consolized or ready-to consolize MVS board or an AES if you are brave (Mine was a MV1B)
Altera EP2C5T144 and USB blaster (Amazon / Ebay - about $30)
30 1K resistors (ebay - $5)
25 470 resistors (eBay - $5)
1 solder breadboard (Radioshack - $3)
Nylon stand-offs to keep the breadboard from touching the main board (Ebay - kit from china for $9)
1 old PC floppy cable (Might have them laying around? Free? Ebay otherwise)
HDMI port (ebay - $5
Misc wiring (Radioshack)

Tools:

Wire strippers / clippers
Multimeter
Fine point soldering iron
Solder
Desoldering braid
Patience of a budhist monk
Understanding family
Vodka
Wine
Beer

It would be great if you posted a cuple pics of your adapter, to have an idea of how it will look like. Unfortunately, I think these chips are SMD instead of through-hole and my abilities are not enough to solder those.

Regards.
 

buaku

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I'd buy one! Putting one together sounds fun, but I get really lazy sometimes.
 

Xian Xi

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Picture looks good, is the volume on the TV just really low or is the sound output via HDMI just low?
 

kraquepype

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Volume on the TV is low I think, it was bedtime. I will take a closer look. To be honest it was late and I was so happy to have sound I didn't pay much attention.

As for chips to solder, there are none. The wire attachment points on the board are small depending on the board but not hard to do.
 

kraquepype

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I'll start a how-to thread this week based on what I did and see how things go from there.

This is still in it's infancy as a whole, so any kit I put together wouldn't be turn-key but it should be enough to follow with decent soldering skills and some patience.
 

[OCEAN]

Sakura's Bank Manager
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Wow, this project is looking great!
As said before, I'd be all over a kit or pre built board to consolize an MVS.

Great work!
 

redmec

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Hi kraquepype, great job !!!
you've noticed a delay during the game? As in much delay led to my mvs consolized ...
 

kraquepype

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I've been thinking about doing this on an AES but I don't want to tinker with mine - its a low SN US model so I'd rather not mod it.

Would anyone like to sell or loan me a newer AES to go under the knife?
 

CMS

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The video looks great, I also saw your second video with working sound. I cross my fingers that it will also work with the AES :)
 

Xian Xi

JammaNationX,
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It will work with the AES easily, the only problems you'll run into are getting the hardware to fit inside and mounting the HDMI output socket.
 

mikejmoffitt

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The only possible delay is the television set doing upscaling (from the source 480-line image to the display's native 720p/1080p/whatever framebuffer). The project itself principally can't introduce that sort of lag, it doesn't have a big enough buffer to store a whole frame.
 

Xian Xi

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The only possible delay is the television set doing upscaling (from the source 480-line image to the display's native 720p/1080p/whatever framebuffer). The project itself principally can't introduce that sort of lag, it doesn't have a big enough buffer to store a whole frame.

Wait, I thought this mod did everything digitally within itself as in a full pixel perfect upscale to 720p? So it's only 480p? If that's the case then I'm not really interested in this project anymore.
 

Asure

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If i read all the docs this displays in 4:3 at 720x480P (Doubled from 360x240) with various scanline settings, and minimal soldering of a small PC ide cable. So no, not 720P scaled.
You could triple stuff up (3x360 -> 1280, and 240x3=720) but the aspect would be wrong and some stuff needs to be drawn in the middle of the screen otherwise it looks stretched.

I've no idea how the FPGA will perform when doing more work, it should be possible. Anyway, I see no reason to do it, most modern TV's will display the 480P just fine with no lag or blurryness.

Great solution/project so far :)
 

kraquepype

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Please refer to the actual project for details.

It outputs a 720x480p signal @ 60FPS generated by the FPGA using digital signals and line doubling.

https://github.com/charcole/NeoGeoHDMI/blob/master/README.md

https://github.com/charcole/NeoGeoHDMI/blob/master/Notes.md

Sorry for any confusion. So far as I can tell there isn't any reason to upscale further. 720x480 is plenty to provide a pixel perfect representation and further scaling would introduce lag.

( Edit: I see the point though that individual displays may only support a higher resolution and force an upscale causing a delay, but this is very dependant on the display. I'll check signal outputs on my displays and see what they are getting.

The question becomes, what is the best tradeoff? 720p output that could be more than the FPGA can handle, or a signal that not all displays handle natively? I'm also not sure what displays DON'T support 480p, so maybe this is all moot.)
 
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mikejmoffitt

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The appeal of upscaling is that you might potentially be able to run the display at 1080p. No modern LCD is going to run anything lower than its native resolution without a frame of lag (at least) as the image must be captured into a buffer, then that buffer must be scaled to the output resolution.

The advantage of this project over other options (my project, or expensive analogue capture and scale equipment like the XRGB series) is that more TVs these days have an HDMI port than a VGA port, and there will be no potential quality drop from analogue capture (these comparisons are respective).

720p provides no advantage, unless you have a 720p native TV. If you aren't running at native res, then passing it exactly doubled 480p will end up looking better.
 
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kraquepype

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So over the last few days not much has changed. Wired up a controller port so I'm actually enjoying it, still got some tweaking to do though.

There are a few issues I'm trying to work out:

1) Sync - If I don't have the sync line attached to a non-grounded metal object of some sort (Screw driver even works), I get the terrible picture I posted early on. This is largely resolved by running the sync line to the heatsink screw on the MV1B board, but I can't explain WHY it helps. Charlie (The original author) is going to implement this on his MV1FS and see if he runs into the same issue. My guess is it has something to do with the clock signal, so I'm going to explore how it works with the FPGA -> NEO clock signal disabled and run off the standard crystal.

2) Line artifact on the left side of the screen in certain games (Fatal Fury 2) or scenes where there is lots of flashing (Harahara attacks in Waku Waku 7). It isn't really that bad but still a bother. Could be related to my sync issue.

3) Random bouts of clicking in the sound - I may simply need to clean up my wires running to the DAC. Seems to come and go.

4) Residual power to FPGA when system is turned off - the FPGA stays barely powered on if the HDMI cable is left attached when the MVS is turned off. I'm currently at a loss for this.

5) Random blanking of screen - this got REALLY bad when I moved the SYNC pin to the same pin bank on the FPGA as the sound pins. I moved it to a mostly unused section and it cleared right up. Going to run it for a few days like that and see how it goes.
 
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