Playstation in RGB, a sight for sore eyes

[Anthony1]

Recently I've been playing alot of the old Playstation games in RGB. Especially the early titles from 95 and 96. Those were the good ole days, as far as I'm concerned, when it comes to the Playstation.

But anyways, the reason that I bring this up, is because during the time that the Playstation was king, I actually didn't have a RGB cable for the Playstation. It's only recently that I've been able to enjoy all those games in RGB.

Wow, what a freaking difference it makes!

For example, I was just playing the original Crash Bandicoot. And you know those little butterflies that are flying around in the first couple of levels?

Well, in RGB, they really, really look like freaking butterflies. On a regular TV, they look like two little colored triangles floating around. It's all the little things that you notice with RGB, that make all the difference in the world. Especially when you go back and play something that you haven't played in 10 years. If you re-visit it in RGB, it's like a whole new experience.

Man, this just makes me more and more pissed at Redmond Cable. You see I had RGB cables for the Genesis, Sega CD, 32X, SNES, Jaguar and Saturn. I got them all from Redmond Cable. But when the Playstation came out, they never made RGB cables for the Playstation. At first they were going to do it, and they even were going to have Sony help them with it, so they would be official RGB cables for the Playstation, but then something happened, some legal red tape, some bullcrap, and they never ever made RGB cables for the Playstation.

At the time, I didn't know of another way to get a Playstation RGB cable. So during the entire time that the Playstation was actually viable, I never experienced any of it in RGB. So it's a real treat, to go back now, and experience all the classis PSone games in RGB.

Come to think of it, two other systems I had that can do RGB are the TG-16 and N64, but both of those systems, during the time that I originally owned them, I didn't know they could do RGB. So with those systems as well, I'm seeing all those games in RGB for the first time. It's pretty cool. But in a way I do get pissed off that I didn't know about RGB back then when they first hit. I could only imagine how great Bonk would have looked in RGB, when the game was first released. It would have been so freaking impressive for that time.

[The_EniGma]

kool :)

[Sylentwulf]

Never played a single console game in RGB.

[jonjandran]

Never played a single console game in RGB.

Me neither. I gots to give it a try someday. :o

[BenT]

Definitely do, preferably on a nice, sharp arcade monitor.

Anthony1, you should mention that the N64 and TG16/Duo/PC Engine both require hardware mods to output RGB. And in the N64's case, only the first generation of the hardware can. Later revisions can't.

[boatofcar]

Is RGB the same as component?

[anagrama]

Is RGB the same as component?

No. RGB is the true unmodified output that will give a better picture than any other form of connection.
It's a cinch to do in Europe through a SCART cable, and these days I wouldn't dream of playing anything that's not in 60Hz RGB :D

[BenT]

To explain a bit further, 15khz analog RGB is the video signal type that most arcade games output. So, if you can get your console outputting it (most just require an RGB video cable), you can enjoy the awesome image clarity on an arcade monitor or an old computer monitor. Like the C64's 1084s, not a modern VGA one. TVs sold in America will not be able to take RGB input, either.

See this page for more. (http://www.gamesx.com/rgbadd/caveatrgb.htm)

[Jasoco]

I'd love to have a TV that could do RGB. All I can do is S-Video and RCA. And I don't even notice a difference between them. At least not with the only device I even have that does S-Video. My TiVo. All three, Coaxial, RCA and S-Video all looked the same. Not sure if a video game would look different. Either way, I'd love to see shots of the same game using all kinds of inputs. I wanna compare them.

[Flack]

I would think that the clearer the output is on an original Playstation game, the worse it would look. I thought the N64 and the PSX kind of relied on "blurring" a bit.

[PhoeniX]

Speaking of hi quality playstation video output... Is RGB the only option, I have looked (on ebay) for a vga adapter, but to no avail. RGB sounds great but I don't have a RGB monitor. I know (think) computer stores sell things to convert RGB to VGA and vice versa, would this provide sunstanitive gains in quality, would it be close to RGB quality? would it even be worth doing? Are there any other inventive ways to get a high quality signal onto a VGA monitor, I'd rather not use a video capture card.

[JLukas]

I would think that the clearer the output is on an original Playstation game, the worse it would look. I thought the N64 and the PSX kind of relied on "blurring" a bit.

I agree here, playing some PS1 games on a PS2 via component isn't a pretty sight.

[BenT]

I don't really agree. I don't think RF makes 2600 games look any better. I'd rather have crystal-clear clarity rather than artifacts like dot-crawl or red bleeding. But to each their own.
Speaking of hi quality playstation video output... Is RGB the only option, I have looked (on ebay) for a vga adapter, but to no avail. RGB sounds great but I don't have a RGB monitor. I know (think) computer stores sell things to convert RGB to VGA and vice versa, would this provide sunstanitive gains in quality, would it be close to RGB quality? would it even be worth doing? Are there any other inventive ways to get a high quality signal onto a VGA monitor, I'd rather not use a video capture card.
For a long time, the defacto RGB->VGA convertor for video gamers has been Micomsoft's XRGB-2. It can take input from a 21-pin Japanese RGB cable and display it on your VGA monitor. (It can also take S-Video and Composite, but there's no point to that -- may as well use a normal TV.)

The XRGB-2 was followed by the XRGB-2 Plus, which adds a few features but has a few new drawbacks, too. Here's a nice review of it (http://www.tiptonium.com/videogames/reviews/other/XRGB2-PLUS.htm).

There are a few other choices out there now (albeit not from Radio Shack) but the XRGB-2 line is a good starting point to learn from.

XRGB-2+ and other upscan converters can be bought from importers like NCS (http://www.ncsx.com).

[farfel]

Is RGB the same as component?

No. RGB is the true unmodified output that will give a better picture than any other form of connection.


I thought component video was the unomodified output? confused!

[BenT]

Component is "almost" RGB. RGB is a very high-bandwidth signal. Component is like RGB encoded in a clever way that really cuts down on the bandwidth requirements. The quality loss from this is just about unnoticeable, though I've heard a few people claim to notice it.

For PS2, Xbox and GameCube, component is the way to play. (Component is also required to use those systems' progressive scan capabilities.)

[Mayhem]

I bought a PS RGB cable for the debug unit I got, so that NTSC games would come out in colour (it's set solely for PAL output you see). Needless to say the overall picture quality jump was what I was expecting from composite. I don't run any of my consoles on anything but RGB unless there's some good reason why I can't do it.

[farfel]

http://www.dansdata.com/video.htm says signals RGB Component and Color-Difference Component are both lossless formats. = equal quality.

[dj898]

there is RGB->YUV transcoder that will allow you to hook up RGB output into your HDTV component input. It's expensive way to get around but still cheaper than getting RGB compatible TV :p

I have one for other need but when I tested with Saturn it works and the result was amazing on PDP!

cheers

[slip81]

I'd love to see your gaming rig in action, Anthony1. Every time you write about it on here it sounds sweet

[davidleeroth]

http://www.dansdata.com/video.htm says signals RGB Component and Color-Difference Component are both lossless formats. = equal quality.

I don't see it. RGB requires no compressing or decoding as of Component compresses the RGB signals to two color-difference- and one luminance signal. Component therefore reguires ~50% less bandwith.
But Component is good, good enough for all but the gnarliest hi-fi dudes.

I just can't understand why they (the industry) won't use RGB? It's the cheapest as it doesn't need any decoders and gives the best quality. x_x

[rbudrick]

<looks at his 40-50 daisy-chained RF systems>

RG Wha? :hmm:

I know not of these things, for I am a simple man....

<goes back to -_->

-Rob

[BenT]

there is RGB->YUV transcoder that will allow you to hook up RGB output into your HDTV component input. It's expensive way to get around but still cheaper than getting RGB compatible TV :p

I have one for other need but when I tested with Saturn it works and the result was amazing on PDP!
Sounds neat. I'd like to see that in action.

Besides the price, one potential problem with converting RGB to Component is that most modern HDTVs (ie, most TVs that have Component inputs) have line-doublers that will basically ruin the image. Scanlines disappear, pixels become twice as tall -- chunky city, sorta like an emulator.

That's one reason I'm sticking to authentic, low-res arcade monitors instead of jerry-rigging something to a modern TV. Modern TVs have too many problems with old stuff.

[FABombjoy]

I just can't understand why they (the industry) won't use RGB?

RGB and Macrovision have a history of not getting along together. Introducing RGB to the American consumer would create a new wave of professional movie-pirating aunts and grandmas.

...Well, that plus most people don't miss what they never had.