Gamecube component cable

[megalomaniac]

just posting some pics of my current component cable project using the digital port.
i have the digital port wired to my breadboard..breadboard output is wired to monitor.
more details later..
for now, enjoy the pics..








first production test run
special discount of 43$ shipped for the first four volunteers..

Code: Select all

ashen      - internal - paid - shipped - received - sent video board only
iggunr     - internal - paid - shipped - received
pr0ton     - external
LOCtronics - internal - paid - shipped - received - sent video board only with separate audio board

second production run - in progress
49$ + shipping
video & audio board - all in one

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1. Benni       - internal - awaiting payment *removed
2. APE         - internal - paid - shipped - received
3. Liquitt     - external - wait for cable to arrive
4. andzlay     - external - paid - wait for external 
5. dilav       - internal - paid - shipped - received
6. yamaharacer - internal - paid - shipped - received
7. emu_kidid   - internal - paid - shipped - received
8. LOCtronics  - internal - paid - shipped - received

LAST RUN - on sale now
65$ + shipping
video & audio board - all in one
http://www.gc-forever.com/forums/viewto ... =18&t=1235


audio board only - PRE- SALE COMPLETED
25$ + shipping

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1. kel01 - paid - shipped - received

edit: updated page with list and prices...
i could not find prices i may have listed somwhere within this thread so if i listed other prices previously...LMK to make the proper correction to the listed price...


sign up list is currently closed...no more preorders
all remaining boards will be sold first come first serve
official sales thread here >>> http://www.gc-forever.com/forums/viewto ... =18&t=1235

[iggunr]

what is this exactly?
are you using the component cable's ic to feed vga to a monitor?
or did you find another way to get a usable output from the digital out? <<<<that would be awesome
digital audio would also be an amazing adition to your project

[sumas]

Nice pics hope you comment it.
Looks really interesting.

The little board in the upper side is it a selfmade XENON???

Optical/Digital Audio would be very nice

[liquitt]

nice eject switch hack

[Ashen]

I've also just modded a component cable for VGA output. It'll be used in my next portable, the picture quality is amazing. Nice looking setup man, looks familiar with all those wires dangling around.

[megalomaniac]

the pictures above use the MX ic..this project is not using a substitute chip..
the next phase of this project will be to add the digital audio / fiber optic output.


the purpose of starting this project was to ensure i could duplicate the component video output by reverse engineering the component cable PCB design. The process of reversing the design may seem trivial but was necessary as i have located a small supply of these chips. With this successful initial testing, i now know i could potentially build these cables with audio and offer for sale. If i can keep costs down, we should be looking at a cost of about 45$ - 50$. Less than the typical going rate on ebay.

For members who already have an official component cable and wish to just add the digital audio, i could make an addon module for those who are willing to solder a few contacts to their official cable.


lots of ideas to consider, but the most important question to determine if this project will move forward is:
who might be interested in component cable with digital audio?

[megalomaniac]

I've also just modded a component cable for VGA output. It'll be used in my next portable, the picture quality is amazing. Nice looking setup man, looks familiar with all those wires dangling around.

yo ashen...
what we really need to do is figure out how to use the digital port without the MX.
have you done any investigation into it? the signal is digital ycbcr which gets converted by the MX to analog ypbpr. most TVs nowadays understand how to receive digital ycbcr..

any thoughts??

[Ashen]

Nope, I haven't really messed with it much outside of just modding it for my next portable to be honest. I'd be all for finding a suitable decoder chip to replace the MX chip found in the official component cable. I'll have a poke around and see what I can find. If anything, it'd definitely be doable with an FPGA or CPLD. Marshallh creator of the 64Drive and resident benheck forum mod has recently gotten the N64 to output VGA with a altera chip on a custom built board. May want to chit chat with him? Not sure how much he knows about GC's though.

For those interested:

http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=43034

2nd page shows pics of the board.

At any rate, anything is better than trying to find/buying a GC component cable/d-terminal cable. They go for like $80-150 a pop here. I'm sure if we figured it out we could produce something much cheaper than that. <3 DIY.

[iggunr]

megalomaniac i'm very interested in a digital out add on, you seem to find a lot of interesting stuff!

[Benni]

I´m also interested!

BUT - I there is no digital out on my GC!

First I need a way to get a digital out!

[liquitt]

http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=43034

omg what a beautiful piece of hardware

[sm4rty]

will a PAL Gamecube output a component signal with PAl Games when using your cable?

as far as i know only a few PAL Games can output component signal.

[Ashen]

Yes, PAL GameCube's will output through the component cable, only in interlaced display mode though, as no PAL games (natively) support progressive scan. :/

[Hucklebuck]

Count me in.

Would like to see some pics of it in action..

What is the compatability with NTSC cubes? Just a few games? Or most games?

[Ashen]

If you VGA mod the component cable an NTSC cube will display everything on a VGA monitor just fine in (RGBHV) interlaced mode. Even the IPL boot screens and such display correctly. Select games on NTSC cubes when booted will ask if you want to display in progressive mode, which makes things look even nicer. I'd say at least half of the NTSC game library supports 480p output.

[megalomaniac]

the component cable is compatible with all games on a DOL-001
...the gamecube hardware and component cable were designed to output interlaced and progressive video via the component cable.


in order to view games in 480p, the game itself must support 480p.
...only certain NTSC games were created with the option to select progressive scan support
...all other games will default to interlaced video at 480i or 576i.
...list of games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ni ... :9_support
...my understanding is that a modchip or other method is required to play out of region games on JAP and EURO DOL-001 to achieve 480p. <<<--- ( fact check any one?? )


for games which only support 480i, color and brightness improvements should be instantaneously noticeable to the average person using a component cable.
...RGB interlaced picture quality is much better compared to RF, Composite, and S-video.


I have yet to try the VGA mod to compare with RGB. Comparing those two signals was not within the scope of the project.
Since my monitor has RGB (YPBPR) inputs, i opted to test and compare video signal from my breadboard RGB component cable mod to an unmodified component cable.

[megalomaniac]

For non-progressive scan 480p supported games, the component cable with 480i output still offers great quality improvements over a 480i composite cable. Here are some photos to show comparison of 480p/480i with component cable and 480i with composite cable....

Please keep in mind, these photos were taken with iphone so the images do not provide justice as to how much improvement in picture quality is provided by the component cable. With that in mind, please also consider how much picture quality improvement can be noticed by looking at these "low quality" pictures.






PROGRESSIVE SCAN SUPPORTED GAMES


Geist
480i using composite cable.
1. This is our baseline image for comparison.




480i using component cable.
1. improved facial detail
2. improved blue separation behind the title GEIST
3. improved letter detail on LOADING




480p
1. improved higher quality facial detail
2. smoother blue separation







Robotech
480i using composite cable.
1. This is our baseline image for comparison.




480i using component cable.
1. improved overall clarity
2. improved overall letter detail
3. improved "A" button detail




480p
1. improved higher quality detail and sharpness
2. improved overall color separation can be seen on the upper torso (also due to improved sharpness)
3. improved higher quality "A" button and "CONFIRM" detail





NON-PROGRESSIVE SCAN SUPPORTED GAMES


Mortal Kombat
480i using composite cable.
1. This is our baseline image for comparison.




480i using component cable.
1. improved room color clarity (ceiling/walls)
2. improved overall letter detail
3. improved "A" "B" button detail
4. improved color separation (less red bleed)







MegaMan
480i using composite cable.
1. This is our baseline image for comparison.




480i using component cable.
1. improved facial detail
2. improved overall color
3. improved detail on title banner "MegaMan ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION"
4. Improved letter detail
5. improved overall sharpness








considering the fact these are not the greatest photos, do "you" see any picture quality improvement between 480i and 480p??
also, more importantly, do "you" see the quality improvements alone just comparing 480i composite to 480i component??

[AC_Orange]

looks messy but the picture quality is amazing

[liquitt]

damn those pictures are huuuuuuuge

[BigRobotBil]

This is some great stuff. I'll be checking this thread quite a lot.

I've actually been becoming tempted to plunk down the money for a cable on eBay, but if you manage to make one to sell for a cheaper price, I'll love you.

[liquitt]

wow now that i can see them next to each other it really makes a difference!
so for 480p you used your homemade cable?

[megalomaniac]

wow now that i can see them next to each other it really makes a difference!
so for 480p you used your homemade cable?

Yes!!

i used my homebrew cable for all images indicating "480p"


also i would like to point out and clarify the images indicating "480i using component cable" were also using my homebrew component cable....
and images indicating "480i using composite cable." were using a regular composite cable (yellow/red/white)

[megalomaniac]

looks messy but the picture quality is amazing

i agree, the breadboard looks like quite a mess of wires all over the place.
of course this is just a breadboard for initial dev / experimentation
...once i build a pcb version, im sure it will look much better

[liquitt]

so how do you switch between 480i and 480p ?

[emu_kidid]

it'll ask you on boot up (us PAL users aren't used to it) if you want Progressive Mode.