Gamecube component cable

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megalomaniac
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Gamecube component cable

Post by megalomaniac » Mon Nov 14, 2011 6:20 pm

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..


Image

Image



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

Code: Select all

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

Code: Select all

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
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iggunr
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by iggunr » Mon Nov 14, 2011 6:26 pm

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
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by sumas » Mon Nov 14, 2011 6:38 pm

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
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by liquitt » Mon Nov 14, 2011 6:49 pm

nice eject switch hack :P
please search before you ask - a lot has been discussed already!
(or use google with "site:gc-forever.com *term*")
http://is.gd/MDmZcr

we also have a wiki filled with knowledge
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Ashen
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by Ashen » Mon Nov 14, 2011 7:00 pm

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. :D
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by megalomaniac » Mon Nov 14, 2011 11:45 pm

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?
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by megalomaniac » Mon Nov 14, 2011 11:54 pm

Ashen wrote: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. :D
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??
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by Ashen » Tue Nov 15, 2011 2:04 am

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.
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by iggunr » Tue Nov 15, 2011 3:47 am

megalomaniac i'm very interested in a digital out add on, you seem to find a lot of interesting stuff! :o
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by Benni » Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:48 am

I´m also interested!

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

First I need a way to get a digital out! ;-)
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by liquitt » Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:24 am

omg what a beautiful piece of hardware :shock:
please search before you ask - a lot has been discussed already!
(or use google with "site:gc-forever.com *term*")
http://is.gd/MDmZcr

we also have a wiki filled with knowledge
http://is.gd/dX58Rm
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by sm4rty » Tue Nov 15, 2011 12:40 pm

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.
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Ashen
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by Ashen » Tue Nov 15, 2011 3:34 pm

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

Post by Hucklebuck » Tue Nov 15, 2011 5:59 pm

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?
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Ashen
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by Ashen » Tue Nov 15, 2011 9:02 pm

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.
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by megalomaniac » Tue Nov 15, 2011 10:03 pm

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.
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by megalomaniac » Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:06 am

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.
Image



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



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






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



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



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
Image




NON-PROGRESSIVE SCAN SUPPORTED GAMES



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



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)
Image






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



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
Image







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??
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by AC_Orange » Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:17 am

looks messy but the picture quality is amazing
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by liquitt » Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:43 am

damn those pictures are huuuuuuuge :D
please search before you ask - a lot has been discussed already!
(or use google with "site:gc-forever.com *term*")
http://is.gd/MDmZcr

we also have a wiki filled with knowledge
http://is.gd/dX58Rm
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by BigRobotBil » Wed Nov 16, 2011 6:28 pm

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

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.
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liquitt
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by liquitt » Wed Nov 16, 2011 7:27 pm

wow now that i can see them next to each other it really makes a difference!
so for 480p you used your homemade cable?
please search before you ask - a lot has been discussed already!
(or use google with "site:gc-forever.com *term*")
http://is.gd/MDmZcr

we also have a wiki filled with knowledge
http://is.gd/dX58Rm
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by megalomaniac » Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:41 pm

liquitt wrote: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)
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by megalomaniac » Wed Nov 16, 2011 8:45 pm

AC_Orange wrote: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
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by liquitt » Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:17 am

so how do you switch between 480i and 480p ?
please search before you ask - a lot has been discussed already!
(or use google with "site:gc-forever.com *term*")
http://is.gd/MDmZcr

we also have a wiki filled with knowledge
http://is.gd/dX58Rm
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Re: Gamecube component cable

Post by emu_kidid » Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:21 am

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