neo geo with weird video issue

[saferkefka]

so a while back. i picked up a japanese neo geo aes. the system works, but it has lines running across the screen. everyone who's seen it say the lines look like really thick scan lines. i dont know how to explain it. sadly i dont have the system with me at the moment to take any pictures of it.

i've done a few basic trouble shooting steps, like trying different ac adapters and different video cables and games. but the lines are still there. when i power the system on without a cart. it shows the blue screen indicating every things fine.

any suggestions on what to try next? could there be something wrong with the video ram?

[saferkefka]

heres a video of what the system is doing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOvnHkj7Dks

[Dangerboy]

There might be a trace that got scratched or cut - that or possibly the teeth in the cart slot / needs repair.

[shadowkn55]

If you have a low serial number system, you may have some dried up capacitors. The early models use 100uf caps on the video outputs whereas the datasheet for the video encoder recommends using 470uf. I've had a couple systems where the caps would cause video distortions and replacing them fixed the issue.

[saferkefka]

i thought it might be a cap issue, but i wasn't sure. i've also noticed it gets worse the longer you leave it on.

[shadowkn55]

And the fact that low motion/intensity screens cause fewer glitches leads me to believe it's a cap issue. Pull out that hammer and find out!

[FABombjoy]

Looks like a digital problem to me. The lines in the video are perfectly vertical and the distortion is random, even within the same scene. A dirty connector can cause glitches like this, so I'd start with a thorough cleaning.