MiSTer to Consumer CRT Direct Video RGB SCART Output Issues

Discussion about displays and related hardware including MiSTer filters and video settings.
retrofan01
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MiSTer to Consumer CRT Direct Video RGB SCART Output Issues

Unread post by retrofan01 »

Just hooked up my MiSTer with Digital I/O Board 1.2 to my Panasonic TX-14S3T PAL CRT via Direct Video using a HDMI to VGA converter and a VGA to SCART cable purchased from UltimateMister.com but I'm getting a garbled output on the main menu:

sUF49Jd.jpeg
sUF49Jd.jpeg (53.36 KiB) Viewed 1968 times

My video chain is MiSTer > HDMI to VGA Direct Video converter > VGA to SCART cable > Panasonic TX-14S3T. direct_video and composite_sync are both set to 1 and the TV works fine with other consoles connected via RGB SCART in both 50 and 60Hz. My mister.ini file is below:

Code: Select all

[MiSTer]
key_menu_as_rgui=0     ; set to 1 to make the MENU key map to RGUI in Minimig (e.g. for Right Amiga)
forced_scandoubler=0   ; set to 1 to run scandoubler on VGA output always (depends on core).
ypbpr=0                ; set to 1 for YPbPr on VGA output.
composite_sync=1       ; set to 1 for composite sync on HSync signal of VGA output.
vga_scaler=0           ; set to 1 to connect VGA to scaler output.
hdmi_audio_96k=0       ; set to 1 for 96khz/16bit HDMI audio (48khz/16bit otherwise)
keyrah_mode=0x18d80002 ; VIDPID of keyrah for special code translation (0x23418037 for Arduino Micro)
vscale_mode=1          ; 0 - scale to fit the screen height.
                       ; 1 - use integer scale only.
                       ; 2 - use 0.5 steps of scale.
                       ; 3 - use 0.25 steps of scale.
                       ; 4 - integer resolution scaling, use core aspect ratio
                       ; 5 - integer resolution scaling, maintain display aspect ratio
vscale_border=0        ; set vertical border for TVs cutting the upper/bottom parts of screen (1-399)
;bootscreen=0          ; uncomment to disable boot screen of some cores like Minimig. 
;mouse_throttle=10     ; 1-100 mouse speed divider. Useful for very sensitive mice
rbf_hide_datecode=0    ; 1 - hides datecodes from rbf file names. Press F2 for quick temporary toggle
menu_pal=0             ; 1 - PAL mode for menu core
hdmi_limited=0         ; 1 - use limited (16..235) color range over HDMI
                       ; 2 - use limited (16..255) color range over HDMI, for VGA converters.
direct_video=1         ; 1 - enable core video timing over HDMI, use only with VGA converters.
fb_size=0              ; 0 - automatic, 1 - full size, 2 - 1/2 of resolution, 4 - 1/4 of resolution.
fb_terminal=1          ; 1 - enabled (default), 0 - disabled
osd_timeout=3600       ; 5-3600 timeout (in seconds) for OSD to disappear in Menu core. 0 - never timeout.
                       ; Background picture will get darker after double timeout
osd_rotate=0           ; Display OSD menu rotated,  0 - no rotation, 1 - rotate right (+90°), 2 - rotate left (-90°)                  
vga_sog=0 ; 1 - enable sync on green (needs analog I/O board v6.0 or newer). ; 1 - enables the recent file loaded/mounted. ; WARNING: This option will enable write to SD card on every load/mount which may wear the SD card after many writes to the same place ; There is also higher chance to corrupt the File System if MiSTer will be reset or powered off while writing. recents=0 ; lastcore - Autoboot the last loaded core (corename autosaved in CONFIG/lastcore.dat) first found on the SD/USB ; lastexactcore - Autoboot the last loaded exact core (corename_yyyymmdd.rbf autosaved in CONFIG/lastcore.dat) first found on the SD/USB ; corename - Autoboot first corename_*.rbf found on the SD/USB ; corename_yyyymmdd.rbf - Autoboot first corename_yyyymmdd.rbf found on the SD/USB ;bootcore=lastcore ; uncomment to autoboot a core, as the last loaded core. ; 10-30 timeout before autoboot, comment for autoboot without timeout. bootcore_timeout=10 ; Option to load the custom font. Format is plain bitmap 8x8. ; Supported sizes of font: ; 768 bytes - chars 32-127 (only alpha + numeric) ; 1024 bytes - chars 0-127 ; 1136 bytes - chars 0-141 ; up to 2048 - only chars 0-141 will be used. ; if first 32 chars are empty (for sizes 1024 bytes and more) then they are skipped. font=font/myfont.pf ; USER button emulation by keybaord. Usually it's reset button. ; 0 - lctrl+lalt+ralt (lctrl+lgui+rgui on keyrah) ; 1 - lctrl+lgui+rgui ; 2 - lctrl+lalt+del ; 3 - same as 0 (lctrl+lalt+ralt on keyrah) reset_combo=0 ; !!!! ; Attention: if video_mode is not set in INI, then MiSTer will try to detect ; native mode of display and use it instead. ; Additionally, if dvi_mode is not set (only if video_mode is not set), ; then MiSTer will try to detect if display is DVI. ; !!!! ; set to 1 for DVI mode. Audio won't be transmitted through HDMI in DVI mode. ;dvi_mode=0 ; 0 - 1280x720@60 ; 1 - 1024x768@60 ; 2 - 720x480@60 ; 3 - 720x576@50 ; 4 - 1280x1024@60 ; 5 - 800x600@60 ; 6 - 640x480@60 ; 7 - 1280x720@50 ; 8 - 1920x1080@60 ; 9 - 1920x1080@50 ;10 - 1366x768@60 ;11 - 1024x600@60 ;12 - 1920x1440@60 ;13 - 2048x1536@60 ;14 - 2560x1440@60 ; ; custom mode: hact,hfp,hs,hbp,vact,vfp,vs,vbp,Fpix_in_KHz[,hsyncp,vsyncp] ; video_mode=1280,110,40,220,720,5,5,20,74250,+hsync,-vsync ; ; calculated mode: width,height,refresh[,flags] ; video_mode=1920,1200,60 ; flags - cvt=CVT timing, cvtrb=CVT-RB timing (default) ;video_mode=0 ; set to 1-10 (seconds) to display video info on startup/change video_info=0 ; Set to 1 for automatic HDMI VSync rate adjust to match original VSync. ; Set to 2 for low latency mode (single buffer). ; This option makes video butter smooth like on original emulated system. ; Adjusting is done by changing pixel clock. Not every display supports variable pixel clock. ; For proper adjusting and to reduce possible out of range pixel clock, use 60Hz HDMI video ; modes as a base even for 50Hz systems. vsync_adjust=2 ; If you monitor doesn't support either very low (NTSC monitors may not support PAL) or ; very high (PAL monitors may not support NTSC) then you can set refresh_min and/or refresh_max ; parameters, so vsync_adjust won't be applied for refreshes outside specified. ; These parameters are valid only when vsync_adjust is non-zero. refresh_min=0 refresh_max=0 ; These parameters have the same format as video_mode. ; You need to supply both PAL and NTSC modes if you want vsync_adjust to switch between ; predefined modes as a base. This will reduce the range of pixel clock. ;video_mode_ntsc=0 ;video_mode_pal=7 ; 1-10 (seconds) to display controller's button map upon first time key press ; 0 - disable controller_info=6 ; JammaSD/J-PAC/I-PAC keys to joysticks translation ; You have to provide correct VID and PID of your input device ; Examples: Legacy J-PAC with Mini-USB or USB capable I-PAC with PS/2 connectors VID=0xD209/PID=0x0301 ; USB Capable J-PAC with only PS/2 connectors VID=0x04B4/PID=0x0101 ; JammaSD: VID=0x04D8/PID=0xF3AD jamma_vid=0x04D8 jamma_pid=0xF3AD ; Disable merging input devices. Use if only player 1 works. ; Leave no_merge_pid empty to apply this to all devices with the same VID. ;no_merge_vid=0x045E ;no_merge_pid=0x028E ; Same as above but can add multiple devices (one entry per VIDPID). Format is VIDPID in hex number ;no_merge_vidpid=0x12345678 ;no_merge_vidpid=0x11112222 ; Speeds in sniper/non-sniper modes of mouse emulation by joystick ; 0 - (default) - faster move in non-sniper mode, slower move in sniper mode. ; 1 - movement speeds are swapped. sniper_mode=0 ; Uncomment following option if you don't want to see a second line for long file names in listing. ;browse_expand=0 ; 0 - disable MiSTer logo in Menu core logo=1 ; Custom shared folder for core supporting this feature (currently minimig and ao486 only) ; Can be relative to core's home dir or absolute path. ; Path must exist before core start to use it, or it will fail. ; Make sure USB device is mounted before use shared folder on USB! shared_folder= ; Custom aspect ratio ;custom_aspect_ratio_1=16:10 ;custom_aspect_ratio_2=1:1 ; use specific (VID/PID) mouse X movement as a spinner and paddle. Use VID=0xFFFF/PID=0xFFFF to use all mice as spinners. ;spinner_vid=0x1BCF ;spinner_pid=0x0005 ; spinner_throttle with base value 100 gives one spinner step per one tick. Higher value makes spinner slower. ; Lower than 100 makes spinner faster. Negative value gives opposite direction. ;spinner_throttle=-50 ; 0 - X axis, 1 - Y axis. ;spinner_axis=1 ; Default filters for video scaler. Paths must be relative to "Filters" folder without leading slash. ;vfilter_default=LCD Effects/LCD_Effect_07.txt ;vfilter_vertical_default=<some_file> ;vfilter_scanlines_default=<some_file> ; Default filters for audio. Paths must be relative to "Filters_audio" folder without leading slash. ;afilter_default=LPF2000_3tap.txt ; Defines internal joypad mapping from virtual SNES mapping in main to core mapping ; Set to 0 for name mapping (jn) (e.g. A button in SNES core = A button on controller regardless of position on pad) ; Set to 1 for positional mapping (jp) (e.g. A button in SNES core = East button on controller regardless of button name) gamepad_defaults=0 ; Write out file name under the cursor in browser for external integration ; External application or script may parse the info and do some additional actions and/or send info to 3rd party server. ; Warning: it may slowdown the system or add lag while browsing the files in OSD depending on external app/script. log_file_entry=0 ; Automatically disconnect (and shutdown) Bluetooth input device if not use specified amount of time. ; Some controllers have no automatic shutdown built in and will keep connection till battery dry out. ; 0 - don't disconnect automatically, otherwise it's amount of minutes. bt_auto_disconnect=0 ; Reset Bluetooth dongle before pair dialog. ; Some dongles may have problem to pair if not explicitly reset. ; Some dongles (mostly CSR) have problem to pair with BLE if not reset in advance. ; Consequence of reset: some input devices get shutdown after reset. bt_reset_before_pair=0 ;default Shadow Mask ;shmask_default=VGA.txt ;default shadow mask mode: ; 0 - none, 1 - 1x, 2 - 2x, 3 - 1x Rotated, 4 - 2x Rotated ;shmask_mode_default=1 ; Wait for specific mount before start the core. ; Attention: waiting is performing BEFORE core start, so no message will be displayed on screen! ; It's useful for debugging when core is loaded from USB blaster and games folder is on USB or Network drive. ; This option cannot be used when defmra in CONFSTR is used (i.e. if arcade rbf is loaded directly not through MRA). ; This option is ignored for Menu core. waitmount=/media/fat/_Console ; Overrides for video mode ; When the core's video mode matches the parameters in the section header, any options in the section override options from MiSTer and core sections. ; Refresh rate in header is optional and, if present, must match exactly the output from video_info or the logs. For example, if it says "60.0Hz", the header needs to be "@60.0" to match. ; When the core changes video mode, MiSTer will first look for a matching WIDTHxHEIGHT@VREFRESH section. ; If no match is found, it will fall back to a matching WIDTHxHEIGHT section with no refresh rate. ; If there is still no match, MiSTer/core options will be used without overrides. ; [video=640x400] ; ... ; [video=640x400@70.1] ; ... ; Wheel centering force 0-100. Default is 50. ;wheel_force=50 ; Wheel steering angle range. Supported ranges depends on specific wheel model ; If not set then default (depending on driver) range is used ;wheel_range=200 ; Enable game mode on HDMI output. It may give you better optimization on some displays, but also ; can give worse result on others. Default is 0 (non-game). ;hdmi_game_mode=1 ; Variable Refresh Rate control ; 0 - Do not enable VRR (send no VRR control frames) ; 1 - Auto Detect VRR from display EDID. ; 2 - Force Enable Freesync ; 3 - Force Enable Vesa HDMI Forum VRR vrr_mode=0 ; Minimum framerate in VRR mode. vrr_min_framerate=0 ; Maximum framerate in VRR mode (currently only used in Freesync mode). vrr_max_framerate=0 ; VESA VRR base framerate. Normally set to the current video mode's output framerate vrr_vesa_framerate=0

Any ideas what might be happening or is there anything I've missed?

akeley
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Re: MiSTer to Consumer CRT Direct Video RGB SCART Output Issues

Unread post by akeley »

Your config seems ok. Looks like maybe you have Scandoubler Fx option enabled in the OSD. Can you check it using an HDMI panel?

EDIT: I've just tried your config and it's not working on my setup, but I can't put my finger on as to why - maybe somebody else can see it. In the meantime, you can grab a fresh mister.ini from here and just change direct_video=1 and composite_sync=1, this should work.

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Re: MiSTer to Consumer CRT Direct Video RGB SCART Output Issues

Unread post by Swainy »

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Re: MiSTer to Consumer CRT Direct Video RGB SCART Output Issues

Unread post by retrofan01 »

akeley wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 10:26 am Your config seems ok. Looks like maybe you have Scandoubler Fx option enabled in the OSD. Can you check it using an HDMI panel?
Where can I find the option to disable Scandoubler FX for the main menu? I've not got as far as getting into any of the cores.
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Re: MiSTer to Consumer CRT Direct Video RGB SCART Output Issues

Unread post by akeley »

retrofan01 wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 10:39 am
akeley wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 10:26 am Your config seems ok. Looks like maybe you have Scandoubler Fx option enabled in the OSD. Can you check it using an HDMI panel?
Where can I find the option to disable Scandoubler FX for the main menu? I've not got as far as getting into any of the cores.
Scandoubler could be a residue if you have used it on HDMI previously, but anyway, see my EDIT above.

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Re: MiSTer to Consumer CRT Direct Video RGB SCART Output Issues

Unread post by retrofan01 »

Swainy wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 10:34 am Use one of these instead https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254514471844 ... media=COPY
What's the difference between this cable (I noticed the description specifically says that's it's not for use with MiSTer) and the one from UltimateMister.com?
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Re: MiSTer to Consumer CRT Direct Video RGB SCART Output Issues

Unread post by Swainy »

retrofan01 wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 10:40 am
Swainy wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 10:34 am Use one of these instead https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254514471844 ... media=COPY
What's the difference between this cable (I noticed the description specifically says that's it's not for use with MiSTer) and the one from UltimateMister.com?
Well to be honest the Spectrum Next cables should be the same. Are you sure that your TV is in RGB mode?
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Re: MiSTer to Consumer CRT Direct Video RGB SCART Output Issues

Unread post by rickdangerous »

Don’t worry that I sort out this with him.
Yes the cables are the same and we also produce them for our Next / NGO board.

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Re: MiSTer to Consumer CRT Direct Video RGB SCART Output Issues

Unread post by rickdangerous »

It’s already sorted. Tv configuration fixed.
Thanks akeley for your always awesome support and help with tv configurations and support on forum.

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Re: MiSTer to Consumer CRT Direct Video RGB SCART Output Issues

Unread post by retrofan01 »

Yes all I had to do was cycle through the inputs on the TV from VCR to AV even though the TV only has the one SCART socket and no built-in VCR. Shows how long it is since I've used a CRT :lol:

Thanks Ricardo and everyone for your help!
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Re: MiSTer to Consumer CRT Direct Video RGB SCART Output Issues

Unread post by akeley »

rickdangerous wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 11:34 am Thanks akeley for your always awesome support and help with tv configurations and support on forum.
Thanks mate, I was about to say it's definitely not the cable since I've personally tested a lot of your ones and they all work just fine ;)

Yeah, checking the absolute basics is usually a good idea, but since OP said they have already used other consoles on this TV I thought changing to AV was covered already.

One question remains: why me copy-pasting and using OP's mister.ini posted here breaks my display? It's bizarre, because there is nothing wrong with the ini itself. Something about text encoding?

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Re: MiSTer to Consumer CRT Direct Video RGB SCART Output Issues

Unread post by lister_of_smeg »

akeley wrote: Mon Jul 11, 2022 12:16 pm One question remains: why me copy-pasting and using OP's mister.ini posted here breaks my display? It's bizarre, because there is nothing wrong with the ini itself. Something about text encoding?
Possibly newline encoding. MiSTer.ini uses carriage return and line feed control characters (like Windows), whereas Linux uses just uses line feed. If you were pasting into a new file using Nano via SSH for example, you would get just line feeds.
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Re: MiSTer to Consumer CRT Direct Video RGB SCART Output Issues

Unread post by akeley »

Yep, this seems to be the case. Good to know about this quirk for the future. I usually either edit inis on my desktop or directly on MiSTer, and that works fine, so this here today threw me off.

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