GBI ULL - 240p upscaler cheap option [PAL consoles only]
Posted: Fri Nov 20, 2015 4:39 pm
Hi,
Just a heads up to help others. I had a spare PAL Gamecube console and I live in the USA and I wanted to enjoy the GBI homebrew app in ULL mode on my HDTV without spending hundreds on an XRGB so I looked for options.
First I bought a composite to HDMI adapter (big mistake I know). It sucks even more than connecting my other Gamecube (NTSC) directly to the TV. So it went in the trash and I gave up and decided to just use my NTSC Gamecube for Gameboy Interface instead.
However over time I wanted to speedrun and use the ULL and LL versions. The LL and ULL versions via composite on my TV were so terrible. The reason for this, with composite the LCD TV has to demodulate the color and this process cannot be done right with abnormal refresh rates, causing major fuzziness and other video issues.
Next.....
I knew that RGB SCART does not have to process NTSC or PAL / demodulate colors. Red green and blue are sent down separate wires. I knew that it HAD to remove the fuzziness somehow! I had a PAL Gamecube so why not give it a try.
I went ahead and bought these two for my PAL console (see attachment). Now I have absolutely good quality 240p GBI ULL goodness coming from my PAL Gamecube on my American NTSC 720p Samsung LCD HDTV via HDMI.
In summary if any of the following apply to you buy these products
If you have a PAL console and a US HDTV without a SCART connection
If hooking up your Gamecube to your TV looks terrible and/or your TV does not interpret 240p properly (you can check using the 240p test suite on Gamecube, drop shadow test is a good test)
If you want to play PAL and NTSC games on the same modded console
If your TV has zooming modes for HDMI (you need them for full screen on GBI ULL/LL)
If your TV has a game mode and a screen fit mode (you need it to minimize lag)
If you are unhappy with composite/RF and your TV doesn't have S-VIDEO
If you have other consoles like Sega Saturn/Sega Genesis/SNES/RGB modded N64 the upscaler would be perfect for these
If you are using a computer monitor with HDMI connection and want to use a Gamecube on it
Do not buy these products if you are happy with composite / s-video and your TV handles 240p just fine.
Notes on 240p / video quality
I tested the 240p test suite, it correctly handles the drop shadow 240p test and all other tests I tried, amazing!
ULL version has no fuzziness or color bleeding VS composite which is terrible due to the differences in refresh rate
Use a great SCART cable not a cheap one!
Notes on lag (a major concern for many)
Lag from the upscaler is 90ms (total including the general lag from my 720p LCD TV in game mode / screen fit)
My TV is just 720p so I set the adapter to 720p, which I assume is less lag than the 1080p mode
Just a heads up to help others. I had a spare PAL Gamecube console and I live in the USA and I wanted to enjoy the GBI homebrew app in ULL mode on my HDTV without spending hundreds on an XRGB so I looked for options.
First I bought a composite to HDMI adapter (big mistake I know). It sucks even more than connecting my other Gamecube (NTSC) directly to the TV. So it went in the trash and I gave up and decided to just use my NTSC Gamecube for Gameboy Interface instead.
However over time I wanted to speedrun and use the ULL and LL versions. The LL and ULL versions via composite on my TV were so terrible. The reason for this, with composite the LCD TV has to demodulate the color and this process cannot be done right with abnormal refresh rates, causing major fuzziness and other video issues.
Next.....
I knew that RGB SCART does not have to process NTSC or PAL / demodulate colors. Red green and blue are sent down separate wires. I knew that it HAD to remove the fuzziness somehow! I had a PAL Gamecube so why not give it a try.
I went ahead and bought these two for my PAL console (see attachment). Now I have absolutely good quality 240p GBI ULL goodness coming from my PAL Gamecube on my American NTSC 720p Samsung LCD HDTV via HDMI.
In summary if any of the following apply to you buy these products
If you have a PAL console and a US HDTV without a SCART connection
If hooking up your Gamecube to your TV looks terrible and/or your TV does not interpret 240p properly (you can check using the 240p test suite on Gamecube, drop shadow test is a good test)
If you want to play PAL and NTSC games on the same modded console
If your TV has zooming modes for HDMI (you need them for full screen on GBI ULL/LL)
If your TV has a game mode and a screen fit mode (you need it to minimize lag)
If you are unhappy with composite/RF and your TV doesn't have S-VIDEO
If you have other consoles like Sega Saturn/Sega Genesis/SNES/RGB modded N64 the upscaler would be perfect for these
If you are using a computer monitor with HDMI connection and want to use a Gamecube on it
Do not buy these products if you are happy with composite / s-video and your TV handles 240p just fine.
Notes on 240p / video quality
I tested the 240p test suite, it correctly handles the drop shadow 240p test and all other tests I tried, amazing!
ULL version has no fuzziness or color bleeding VS composite which is terrible due to the differences in refresh rate
Use a great SCART cable not a cheap one!
Notes on lag (a major concern for many)
Lag from the upscaler is 90ms (total including the general lag from my 720p LCD TV in game mode / screen fit)
My TV is just 720p so I set the adapter to 720p, which I assume is less lag than the 1080p mode