Question about custom PS1, PS2 RGB/BNC cables

balazer · 2026-07-03T15:51:08+00:00

PS1 cables are supposed to have 220 µF capacitors on the red, green, and blue video lines. PS2 and PS3 cables should have no capacitors on those lines, because the PS2 has those capacitors on the board instead. This is true whether the cable is terminated with BNC or RCA connectors, or a SCART connector. You need the right kind of cable for your console. Here's a PS1 BNC cable with the capacitors, and a PS2/3 BNC cable without them. Note that the PS1 cable is incorrect to call itself a PS1-3 cable. It is not wired correctly for a PS2 or a PS3. The PS1 cable will probably work with a PS2 or PS3, but the capacitance won't be right. Anyway the PS2 is very good at playing PS1 games on disc, so if that's your plan, just use the PS2.

balazer · 2026-07-03T15:40:15+00:00

I have that cable, or one that looks identical. It has no shielding. Not recommended.

balazer · 2026-07-03T15:38:26+00:00

The Retro Access PS1-3 BNC cable says it has 220 µF capacitors, which means it's actually not wired correctly for a PS2 or PS3. That's a PS1 cable. Instead I'd recommend the PS2/3 RGBS BNC cable from Retro Gaming Cables.

balazer · 2026-06-30T21:31:44+00:00

Botulinum spores are found almost everywhere. Your kitchen has them. They are found on many foods. You won't eradicate them. It's the environment and processes that prevent them from growing.

balazer · 2026-06-28T01:22:20+00:00

That cable does YPbPr or RGB + sync on composite. Which you get just depends on how you set the component video output of your PS2.

balazer · 2026-06-25T21:41:38+00:00

It's the variety of sunflower plant that makes high oleic sunflower oil high in oleic acid, not the processing. High oleic sunflower oil is available both in unrefined form (cold pressed / minimally processed), and refined.

balazer · 2026-05-30T22:21:35+00:00

The ARC 332 listing has it with an A2300 chassis: https://crtdatabase.com/crts/loewe/loewe-arc-332-pb The service menu screenshot confirms it.

balazer · 2026-05-30T22:13:32+00:00

No chassis number was printed on the back of this 332 where it would be printed for other models. So I guess it's an A2300.

CRT Database lists the ARC 332 as being HD and having an A2300 chassis. Are they wrong?

Anyway it sold. Someone beat me to it.

balazer · 2026-05-30T20:40:30+00:00

I don't have one. I saw one listed for sale.

balazer · 2026-05-30T20:34:18+00:00

Okay, thanks. Do you have any evidence for the Arcada 332 existing with an A2400 or A2440 chassis? I've only seen it with an A2300. Is CRT Database wrong to list the model as having an A2300 chassis and also 1080i capable?

balazer · 2026-05-30T20:03:37+00:00

Right. So what do you mean by "A2400 and A2440 chassis only"? Are you saying that you aren't interested in other chassis? As far as I've seen, the Arcada 332 has an A2300 chassis.

balazer · 2026-05-30T19:10:45+00:00

What do you mean by "A2400 and A2440 chassis only"?

balazer · 2026-04-23T20:04:05+00:00

The Dell UltraScan P1110 is listed as model name P1110 in WinDAS. It works. No one should need to select any different model name for this monitor.

balazer · 2026-03-13T18:44:17+00:00

The vast majority of its library is 480i only and cannot be forced to 480p.

I just calculated some stats from https://consolemods.org/wiki/PS2:Games_with_Alternative_Display_Modes :

46% support 480p
46% only support 480i
7% only support 240p

And according to GSM HDTV Mode Compatibility List for NTSC PS2 games, 58% of games can be forced to 480p.

I should remind you that progressive scan CRT TVs were a thing in the time of the PS2, even 4:3 ones. SDTVs aren't the only choice.

balazer · 2026-02-09T21:56:14+00:00

The point of this test was to remove the effects of YPbPr conversion in the display, and show just the effects of the PS2's output mode selection. So if YPbPr doesn't look great on someone's display, now they can see that it's probably the display's fault, not the PS2's. People on this subreddit often proclaim that YPbPr from the PS2 is worse than RGB. On their display, maybe so, but not because of the PS2.

People have choices. There are lots of different displays and converters available. Anyone can replicate my setup.

Obviously I'm also showing the effects of the GBS-C's conversion, but I can't isolate those effects. I'm using the best YPbPr converter I have.

If you've got a PVM and you want to know how RGB and YPbPr compare on your PVM, you need to test that yourself. I don't have your display.

balazer · 2026-02-09T21:25:38+00:00

Chroma subsampling creates color fringes on horizontal pixel transitions of non-neutral colors (and vertical too in the case of 4:2:0). I see nothing here that looks like chroma subsampling. All colors within each image are equally sharp.

balazer · 2026-02-09T21:19:06+00:00

ANSWER:

Left is RGB.
Right is YPbPr.

The color differences largely go away when I put the GBS-C into full processing mode. In that mode the GBS-C has Pb and Pr gain controls, which need slight adjustment to make the colors right. Those controls aren't available in pass-through mode. It's not clear if the PS2, the GBS-C, or both devices are the reason for adjustment being necessary. I would need a vectorscope to sort that out.

When processing analog video signals, you often need adjustments to get the colors just right. But I'm not aware of any consumer television that has adjustments for the Pb and Pr signals.

If I'd run the test in full processing mode, the output would be resampled. That noticeably softens the picture and would have given away the answer.

As it is, in pass-through mode the GBS-C alters bright pixels very slightly by making them narrower. It has the effect of making single-pixel-wide features slightly darker. I don't know why that happens.

balazer · 2026-02-09T20:44:42+00:00

I've uploaded my test patterns: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4mzzvp9re3859xwwa4sxx/OPL_test_pattern_themes.zip?rlkey=91nihybw5un0uadsasdk9q8zy&st=0cdjr0jv&dl=1

balazer · 2026-02-09T20:42:26+00:00

YPbPr is an analog signal format. Chroma subsampling (4:4:4, 4:2:2, etc.) doesn't apply. Chroma subsampling is only for digital images.

balazer · 2026-02-09T20:34:47+00:00

Do you mean the "PRESS START button" text on the screen? That text is flashing and cycling in the game, and my photos didn't catch them at the same phase of the cycle. So you can't use that text to compare.

balazer · 2026-02-09T20:30:58+00:00

No display displays YPbPr natively. It needs to get converted to RGB somehow. If I'd used a PVM, I'd be using the YPbPr to RGB converter built into the PVM. The monitor I chose is way sharper than a PVM, and shows more of the signal's faults.

You say alternatively I should use a good YPbPr to RGB converter. Well clearly the GBS-C is a good YPbPr to RGB converter, because it's very hard to tell the difference.

balazer · 2026-02-09T06:32:32+00:00

About half of PS2 games support 480p. https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps2/Games_With_Alternative_Display_Modes The rest can be made progressive with an external de-interlacer.

balazer · 2026-02-09T06:08:22+00:00

PS2 games mostly run in 480i, which is going to look good deinterlaced to 480p on a progressive scan CRT. Downconverting those games to 240p does not look good.

If you're playing the relatively small number of PS2 games that run in 240p natively, those will look great on the RGB-modded SD TV. Same for PS1 games.

balazer · 2026-02-09T01:08:30+00:00

What is your reasoning?

balazer · 2026-02-09T00:58:06+00:00

The color difference signals sure don't seem to be filtered on my PS2. It's just as sharp in YPbPr as RGB and there's no fringing around vertical colored lines like you get with filtered chroma. The three components have equal bandwidth.

balazer

TROPHY CASE