Question for those who own a Messiah Generation NEX.....

[jerkov]

Just bought a Generation NEX unit from the local Gamecrazy yesterday, since I wanted to hook one up in my living room and take advantage of the available wireless controllers. Unfortunately, one of the wireless controllers is defective, as the directional pad sticks in certain directions and basically renders games unplayable, although the other controller works fine. However, I do have a couple of questions about the actual console. I have mine hooked up to a Sony Bravia LCD TV via the A/V hookups that came with the system, and have noticed the following issues with the image display:

- faint vertical lines can be seen, especially if most of the background of a specific game is one solid color with little other details (doesn't look as bad as my top-loader NES did on the TV when I had it hooked up previously, but I thought the NEX didn't have any such problems)

- a faint horizontal line that is a few inches thick constantly moves from the top to the bottom of the screen for just about every game I've tried thus far. Again, it's harder to notice if the games have detailed backgrounds/landscapes, but is almost always present if I look hard enough.

Although neither of these problems cause a major distraction and don't have a huge impact on enjoyment, if there is a way to eliminate them, I would certainly like to. Although I was aware of some of the issues that the NEX has before picking it up (such as less than 100% compatibility, some games having minor glitches, sounds and images that may be slightly different than on a real NES, etc.), I did not hear or read about any of these problems anywhere.

For those that own one of these units, do you have any similar problems, or is there something that I may be able to change or fix in order to eliminate these lines in the screen?

[Trebuken]

Don't own, but can it do s-video, might solve your problem if it can.

Also, lowering the brightness or contrast on the TV can sometimes hide the bands.

Again, also. Sometimes these bands can be caused by interfernce. Often it is the cable cable (RF) plugged into the set.

[WizardEyes]

None here man could be faulty mine works great or maybe your games need to be cleaned? or it could be the actual connection wire. either way call the NEX people at 1800-711-1622 it comes with a lifetime warranty they will help ya out

:villagepeople:

[heybtbm]

I have a Generation NEX hooked up (via composite cables) to a Sony Bravia LCD and have never noticed lines. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

[jerkov]

None here man could be faulty mine works great or maybe your games need to be cleaned? or it could be the actual connection wire. either way call the NEX people at 1800-711-1622 it comes with a lifetime warranty they will help ya out

:villagepeople:

I don't think it's anything to do with the games themselves, as I have cleaned them with isopropyl alcohol before playing and it seems to make no difference. Good to hear that the system has a lifetime warranty, I am now reaching out to the Messiah folks, as I definitely some kind of replacement for the defective wireless controller anyway. It looks like the "luck of the draw" didn't really work out in my favor with these purchases, but hopefully I'll have better luck dealing with their customer service.


I have a Generation NEX hooked up (via composite cables) to a Sony Bravia LCD and have never noticed lines. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

By composite cables, do you mean the yellow/white/red cables that originally came with the console? Or did you upgrade to better cables? I am using the cables that came with the system, FYI.

Haven't really fiddled with brightness/contrast/etc., as I don't want to keep changing my TV settings every time I want to watch TV, play another system, etc., but it's strange that you can play a game like the original RC Pro Am and really notice the lines, but then you don't really notice them when you play a game like Mega Man 2 or Vice Project Doom that have a lot of activity/detail in the levels.

[Clownzilla]

I also had one hooked up to an LCD Bravia. I noticed that RC Pro AM and Track & Field had vertical lines on the solid surfaces (roads, walls, etc.). I haven't messed around with it since. It drove me crazy.

[heybtbm]

IBy composite cables, do you mean the yellow/white/red cables that originally came with the console? Or did you upgrade to better cables?

No upgrade...I'm just using the cables that came with the NEX.

[Wozza]

LCD's are a very precise technolgy so some detail that would be 'smoothed over' on a plasma or crt tv will stick out like a sore thumb on an LCD. Sticking say a TV shopw with bad reception on an old tv and then on a new LCD TV - the new LCD will look worse. I use a little CRT for my older consoles so I dunno how older NES games look on an LCD, it could be the cables. Composite (AV - red, yellow, white) are far from an ideal cable and because they are thrown away free with consoles ect, they give you the cheapest they can. These are prone to pic up interference so an S-video cable or componant with some magnetic shielding (I don't know what outputs the NEX has) will likely give you a better picture. Your cables don;t run next to a power supply do they?

[heybtbm]

Composite (AV - red, yellow, white) are far from an ideal cable and because they are thrown away free with consoles ect, they give you the cheapest they can. These are prone to pic up interference so an S-video cable or componant with some magnetic shielding will likely give you a better picture.

Yes, yes...we all know that composite cables looks like shit on a LCD, but we're talking about 1985 technology here. The NEX doesn't support S-video or component cables. It's composite or (gasp) RF.

I do agree with your original point...LCD screens tends to pick up things that you wouldn't notice on a normal TV screen. I think that's 75% of the problem here.

[ccovell]

The vertical lines are a well-known problem with the PPUs of the toploader NES and several NOAC famiclones. There's nothing you can do to solve that problem, as far as I know, since you're stuck with an NOAC.

The horizontal line going down the screen sounds like some kind of interference, perhaps from the power supply. I'm no expert in these matters, but if the Generation NEX's AC adaptor is the standard 9VDC, centre tip negative adaptor, try using a higher-quality one, like from a Sega Genesis, for example.

[jerkov]

The cables do go close to the wall outlet where I have quite a few things plugged in (unfortunately, it's the only spot in my TV stand set-up that I can put the NEX right now), so I guess it is quite possible that there is some interference problem there. I'll try to fiddle around and move the cable away to see if I can at least get the horizontal line to go away.

As for the power supply, I'll have to double check.....when you talk about a "centre tip negative adaptor", does this refer to a three-prong plug? I can't remember if the old NES AC Adaptors are three-prong or two-prong, but the unit that came with the NEX is definitely a two-pronger, so I am not sure if the NEX will accept an NES or Genesis AC Adaptor.

Bottom line, I can live with it if need be, but I figure it's worth a shot to at least figure it out.....I can't really say that I expected the NES to look all that great on the LCD TV anyway.....

[bangtango]

The cables do go close to the wall outlet where I have quite a few things plugged in (unfortunately, it's the only spot in my TV stand set-up that I can put the NEX right now), so I guess it is quite possible that there is some interference problem there. I'll try to fiddle around and move the cable away to see if I can at least get the horizontal line to go away.

As for the power supply, I'll have to double check.....when you talk about a "centre tip negative adaptor", does this refer to a three-prong plug? I can't remember if the old NES AC Adaptors are three-prong or two-prong, but the unit that came with the NEX is definitely a two-pronger, so I am not sure if the NEX will accept an NES or Genesis AC Adaptor.

Bottom line, I can live with it if need be, but I figure it's worth a shot to at least figure it out.....I can't really say that I expected the NES to look all that great on the LCD TV anyway.....

I'm pretty sure somewhere in the Generation NEX manual it says not to use the NES power supply on the NEX or the NEX power supply on the NES. So I wouldn't do it unless you want to void that lifetime warranty. I don't have the manual in front of me so you might want to go back and reread it. Pretty sure you are stuck with the power supply that came with the NEX.

I don't have a Sony tv but the NEX looks fine on the model I do have. I don't notice any of those same problems you mentioned.

[ccovell]

Yes, do NOT use the NES adaptor, since that outputs 9V AC (not DC) to the NES unit. By centre tip negative, I mean the polarity of the output on the DC plug. This is the configuration that most famiclones/pirates/older Sega systems use, and so the adaptors are all common and mostly interchangeable.

You know; you'll see a diagram like this on the adaptor:

+ --------G--------- -