TV card question

RoboCod

RoboCod

RoboCod

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TV card question - Gamecube related

I have a pinnacle tv card, IM trying to get the gamecube up on it. Im using a S-video in cable. Correct me if Im wrong but the S-Video in is the yellow jack type plug? Or is this a composite connection? I think it is the latter as IM not too impressed with the picture quality! How do I connect to Svideo? Currently Im using the Analog out lead (from the GC) to the yellow svideo in. Do I need some kind of Digital out lead (as there is a port for this on the GC) to actual Svideo in (dont know the name for the connection) ?
 
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Heya,

I too am using a Gamecube on a Pinnacle TV Card.

Composite is a single phono jack (usually yellow), exactly like the red and black audio leads.

S-video is plug with about four pins and a square central plastic pin:

http://www.zpluscable.com/svideo.php

I'm using S-video and the picture is pretty good.

As for software, use DScaler without hesitation:

http://www.dscaler.org/downloads.htm

My settings are:

Deinterlace = Video (Greedy High Motion)

Filters = Sharpness (75), Noise Reduction (Temporal) (Chroma 1, Luminance 5)

Then I just play with the video overlay (colour, brightness etc) to get it looking right, which sometimes isn't necessary.
 
Couple of quick screenshots with Dscaler and an Svideo lead:

GC.jpg


Monkey.jpg


I'm running a Jap Gamecube with a US / Jap switch, so it's NTSC.
 
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Captain Planet said:
Perhaps a silly question but most of the Svideo cables on Fleebay are advertised as NTSC, I need a PAL lead seeing as the cube is PAL right?
Click to expand...

The PAL cubes had some of their outputs taken off, which is partly why I got an NTSC cube.

I think it was the digital out, so a standard cable which does composite and S-video like that one whould be fine.

I'd double-check the PAL cube does S-video - I think it does, but not 100% certain.

That cable from the bay looks OK, although the cable on the box looks like it's using the Digital AV out so check your cube has that output. I'm using the Analog AV out on my cube, which has a plastic connector that's identical to those on the SNES and N64.

I'm using this cable:

http://www.consoleplus.co.uk/product_info.php?pName=universal-avsvideo-3in1-cable-oem

It connects to SNES, N64, Gamecube, PS, PS2, Xbox and provides composite, Svideo and L/R audio.
 
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OK I got the universal Svideo cable for the GC. It comes from the analogue out port. PLayed with all the settings in descaler and this is the best screen I can get from it :(

tv20060411095312069to.jpg


any ideas? Im going to try another software.

EDIT - the composite connection produces a normal picture so I dont think its the cable
 
Right, its been a while but I've gotten round to testing the GC much with other software. I've tried some third party programmes to view my TV card and nothing seems to work in Svideo. So this means its the cable or the TV card ???

HELP!

:)
 
PAL Gamecubes can't output an S-Video signal. You have to get a Japanese or NTSC Gamecube for that.

PAL Gamecube got SCART instead of S-Video.

Shame, as you can get excellent results with S-Video and DScaler.

You're extremely limited with what you can do.

Composite: DScaler and Composite looks fine in a small Window. Enlarge it or go full screen and it looks terrible. Interlacing problems, blurry and colours bleeding into one other.

Scart: Don't think theres any TV cards that support SCART input tbh. There are a few external boxes that can accept it. You connect the boxes directly to Monitor. Can be expensive and results hit and miss.

The remaining output for the Gamecube is component. You'll have to buy the cable (£20 to import it). Component is used for High Definition displays (XBox 360 but Gamecube resolution is limited to 480p). It has a seperate blue, red and green plug. So the colours are sent down the seperate wires. Picture quality is superb and sharp with no colour bleeding.

The problem with component is connecting it.

Unless you have a Dell 2405FPW, there aren't many monitors that accept component direct. You 3 options.

1. Buy a computer monitor with component. Can use it with the Gamecube now and then the 360/PS3/Revolution in the future.

2. Buy an external box. These take the component signal, convert it to VGA and send it to your monitor

3. Buy a PCI card that accepts component. These do exisit but not sure on cost and made by who.
 
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PANTS! Nobody told me that :(

There would be no point in getting an NTSC because all my games are PAL, unless you can get a converter cheap? I went to all the effort of purchasing the universal cable, the internal audio leads and RCA converter too! Double DOH!

EDIT: I see freeloader works both ways. Hmm, might get me an NTSC after all :)
 
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I had the same problem and ending up selling my Gamecube in the end.

Had I known all the things I do know, I would've purchased an NTSC and just purchased NTSC game instead. Works out the same if not cheaper.

Actually, I'm extremely tempted to pick up another Gamecube now!:D
 
GuruJockStrap said:
I had the same problem and ending up selling my Gamecube in the end.

Had I known all the things I do know, I would've purchased an NTSC and just purchased NTSC game instead. Works out the same if not cheaper.

Actually, I'm extremely tempted to pick up another Gamecube now!:D
Click to expand...

Yeah Ive just posted in the wanted section :)

Ive had the cube for ages and hardly play it because I dont get much access to the TV downstairs. I thought by rigging it up to the PC would have been a good idea as I am still determined to complete soul calibur 2 :mad: bloody annoying game.

GC is definitely one of the best consoles by far, even if it is rather dated now! Nothing beats it for thrashing your mates and mario kart. Just a shame I cant get it to look good on the monitor. The standard compsite connection isn't too bad with descaler. It's a little pixelated in places but it will do for now :)
 
Im sure you can use fd show to improve the picture and add de-interlacing to double the framerate. And remove the awful artifacts shown in jimbos picture.

The problem with ntsc is that the resolution is 20% less than pal, making the picture look even worse, even though its using a slightly better cable.
 
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But those screenshots are with S-video. Imagine how it looks with composite which is a worse video signal!

If the video signal is poor to start with you won't be able to improve on it much.
 
I had a PAL Gamecube and used the Component and external box idea to connect it directly to my monitor.

Interpolation was the biggest problem. 480P does not look great when stretched to fit on a 1680x1050 display.
 
GuruJockStrap said:
But those screenshots are with S-video. Imagine how it looks with composite which is a worse video signal!

If the video signal is poor to start with you won't be able to improve on it much.
Click to expand...

Yes but de-interlacing it will improve it a lot (obviously) and double the framerate and de-blocking helps to remove the pixelation. I think pal on composite looks better than ntsc with s-video the extra resolution helps with the streching issues espically on tft monitors where having native resolution really screws up the picture.
 
Yeah but that isnt comparing ntsc to pal, and when your running fullscreen on a monitor it looks a lot different, when you see how blocky it can become you can be thankful for the higher res and youll want to use some sort of deblocking which will blur the picture anyway. I must say im suprised though that the pal gamecube cant support s-video which has been around since 1980. Luckily with a computer you can improve the picture.
 
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