I got mine since that video about using CRT monitor to play retro consoles and I would like to thank you Bob, for me the GBS with the Control mod is the perfect solution I was looking for!
This is an extremely compelling product to use for deinterlacing and downscaling. As far as 240p goes, as you mentioned before the RetroTink and OSSC are still the top dogs as long as money isn't an issue. However, the GBS's deinterlacing has really made an awesome impression on me. I use an OSSC, but I'm not a fan of the bob-deinterlacing due to the fields constantly moving up and down which makes it hard to focus on static screens like menus and such. To fix this I use an Crestron HD Scaler which handles the deinterlacing instead of the OSSC, but I have no idea how much lag it produces. I don't think its bad at all, but the OSSC is needed to convert the analog signal to digital before the Crestron gets it because its does get laggy when dealing with pure analog since its also upscaling. The GBS on the other hand has some hard numbers to show and they're really good compared to more popular deinterlacers like the Framemeister. I may consider this project just for 480i only, but I am looking forward to seeing your next video on how downscaling may be beneficial. Thanks for all the effort and information you give us!
10:45 "Nerding" used in this way is new to me, but I approve. :D Anyway, this is awesome. Last time I looked at this project (a couple years ago?) they were using Raspberry Pis to do this stuff to the GBS scaler. Everything's gotten way fancier and cleaner with an Arduino and those awesome menus. Great work, guys!
Really great video Bob! I’ve been curious about the GBS control but never looked into it as I already own an OSSC and Framemeister. Glad to finally see this running, and I think your comparisons between the OSSC are really good, using games that makes the differences very noticeable :)
I actually did it. This is the best low cost investment I've ever made. This thing is incredible. It's just that good. Things you will need if you never soldered before, like me: • female ended wires, if you buy the full-size esp8266 board like I did, not the mini one Bob did • one single jumper, though you can get around this by...spreading solder between the two pins on the flip side of the board. Go with the jumper. • 100 Ohm resistors (3 total) • you can pretty much only buy the above parts in bulk because brick and mortar parts stores are basically dead RIP • soldering iron kit (iron, solder wire, flux, DESOLDER PLUNGER PUMP THING [necessary], solder wick, multiple iron heads) Having never done it before I really thought I would kill it, and I nearly did, but it turned out fantastically. The only complaints I have are that the 1080p output frequency is guaranteed to cause a disconnect with the wifi, and the screen tearing is noticable sometimes, but the clock gen mod fixes that easily, just more work and an extra purchase. This thing is a dream.
Bob thanks to you and this video I went down the rabbit hole. I now have 3 trash saved CRTs (2x toshiba af, and a Panasonic Tau) and just completed the gbs control build. I’m currently playing my Wii in 1080p upscalled from 480p and this entire build is awesome. Thanks man! No better way to wait out the pandemic!
I can't wait for the downscaling video, I've been interested in getting a downscaling solution, was thinking about a vsc into RGB interface, but if the GBS works better, that's even better.
@Poplep was this video ever released? Can´t wait to see what downscaling options we have now that the Retrotink 5X does not downscale with newer firmwares...
Most impressive part of this scaler is the Web/GUI interface. That is the one area the current OSSC and Frameister lack is a menu devoid of navigational nerding.
That motion adaptive deinterlancing looks pretty neat. It's no doubt very good for the PS2, even forcing 480p many games won't work at all in that resolution. Please do that video about deinterlacing
I made three of these, one for me and one each for my two oldest daughters that are also into ps1/ps2 gaming and they work beautifully. Easy to use and great performance at a very reasonable price. I actually bought a board for a fourth one. Lol. I am planning to build a dedicated PS2 arcade cabinet. I.e. an arcade cabinet but one that has a ps2 built in with a HDD and OPL. And instead of clickety buttons and a joystick it will just have a holder for a PS2 controller. Kind of like those cabinets you used to see at Fry's or game stores to try out some demo-games. But this one will look a lot more like an ordinary full size arcade game cabinet, but it will just be for a PS2.
Awesome stuff, Bob. Can't wait for the videos on deinterlacing and downscaling. Those seem like the killer apps for this device. Definitely better than spending $150+ on a DVDO or TVOne box for those same features!
I think you could just put the sync resistor inside the SCART connector - they're usually easy to open & have plenty of room inside. I used to do a similar modification inside 3rd party Nintendo cables many years ago.
A lot of this awesome information is completely over my head. I keep trying to soak it all up and make sense of it all. What a great lesson. Thanks as always Bob!
This is an awesome video, so clear on a lot of things and I will totally be exploring these options. Few quick questions though, 2:31 you mention 100 capacitor to ground yes? The link you included is for a 1000
Thank you for the informative video! 5:44 you show the 8200 and 8220 side by side... and they are each using different variants of the 8266. Looks like the 8220 uses the D1 style board whereas the 8200 is using the CP2102 (which is also the board you have linked in the description). Was that an intentional choice for a particular reason, or did it just happen to be what you had around (since the layout shouldn't matter)?
I use one of these for plugging a component source into a VGA monitor, with the "Source Pass-through" setting in gbscontrol, and it seems to just be straight up transcoding YPbPr to RGB, which is exactly what I want.
I've been using GBS-C as my daily driver for the past month and it's been pretty great, especially for the price. I'm no wizard with the soldering iron and I actually screwed up, damaging the board... But the board only costs £15 so I just bought another one and tried again. Imo, that's pretty much the point, right there.
Awesome video. Gotta say based on my experience though that the 240p results in my GBS-C are far superior to what you're showing at 14:39 .. you have these really obnoxious horizontal ringing artefacts. Have you noticed these? And would you say they are universally present in the units you have tested? Or is it a side effect of your capture method? One of my biggest concerns with recommending GBS-control is the QC on the original devices, so it may be that my GBS board is just better than the one you used. Would be interested to hear your thoughts though!
I've built and tested three 8200's and one 8220 for these captures. All look pretty much the exact same. I agree, there's most likely a lot of different models with varying quality.
I watched this video like 10 times before pulling the trigger. OMG it’s good. Went from Hyperkin, to Portta (not bad), to GBS Control. Lots more control and overall image is much better. Thanks for all the details and examples. I’m enjoying the Wii I have hooked up to this a lot more now.
Just noticed that the adapter for HDMI at 12:23 says on the plugs HDMI IN and VGA Out. Does it work as VGA in and HDMI out combining the audio from the audio 3.5 jack to HDMI without an additional power supply to that adaptor?
Nice video! I've got one of these for my Genesis going to an arcade LED panel. Clean, crisp, and cheap, can't ask for much more. And let's be honest, being able to sit on your couch, and futz with the settings is enough to justify using it.
Mine didn’t have any luck with my Sega Blast City with 31Khz Sanwa arcade monitor, the image kept scrolling and fizzling out. Removing the GBS and plugging directly in via HDMI to VGA did the trick when set to 640x480 in Windows so now I can get my Mame setup going albeit without the GBS in the mix. Not sure what the problem was, perhaps it was the fact that mine had a clock mod installed for compatibility with certain other combinations? I thought that would be better to get a fully modded up GBS but perhaps not? I’m not interested in buying a non-clock modded GBS unit just to test since my arcade setup works and I found out the monitor didn’t do 15Khz anyway so now I may try to use my GBS unit with retro consoles and see how it does with that at least.
5:10 You mention there's a GBS-C that would allow you to simply plug the pieces together with no soldering necessary. Do you happen to know any information on where to get that specific variant?
@@RetroRGB Ah thats a shame. Thanks anyway! I ended up buying from Tindie a pre-built GBS Control. It doesnt have the HDMI adapter inside like the AIO variant, but I will simply stick a VGA-to-HDMI adapter on the back.
What about those using a GBS 8200 for an arcade board? Does the GBS Control mod help with that at all? Just started using one of these recently for my Mortal Kombat boards. This is an impressive mod.
@@RetroRGB Yeah I can confirm the lag from playing Mortal Kombat 1 on mine, although still playable. Luckily I found a replacement 25 inch CRT for my UMK3 so I didn't have to use the GBS. Anyways, thank you. I will definitely be looking at this solution for a CRT replacement in case its ever needed.
Would it be possible to use this device to get 240p composite video from an HDMI source? In my head, the setup looks like HDMI from PC -> HDMI to VGA converter into GBS -> VGA to composite converter out of GBS -> 15khz NTSC crt composite input. Would appreciate any help :-)
Generating composite from RGB is REAAAAALY hard. The short version is because you need a pixel clock to sync the color data. Here's the long version: th-cam.com/video/m12PgfZl56c/w-d-xo.html
@@RetroRGB Ahh, I see. Thanks for the quick reply! Starting to seem like composite 240p from HDMI source isn't possible at all, unless you have any ideas otherwise. But maybe it would be wiser to go in a different direction, such as original hardware or CRT Emudriver. Thanks again!!
Thank you for this vid. If you can help... I am also interested in finding out better downscaling method. Mainly going from recent “Mini” consoles to older 4:3 composite connection only TVs. New Mini consoles have 16:9 ratio only and have no means to do full screen mode using 4:3 TVs. I would appreciate your help on this one.
I'm currently working on a video dedicated specifically to downscaling. I hope to have it out in a few weeks, but 720p 16:9 -> 240p 4:3 is tricky and ads lag.
Excellent tutorial. I got one of these cheap boards with hope to render 15kHz Atari ST colour to modern monitor - it didnt work on the VGA but I see after buying it that the VGA only handles 30-32kHz. I figure rather than sending it back I will hack it as you have shown .... if nothing else it looks like a fun thing to try. Thanks again
Can you downscale a VGA computer signal to 240P with this device? I know you can achieve this using your graphics card in tandem with a VGA to component transcoder. However my graphics card is too old to achieve this. Instead, I use an Extron VSC 100 in tandem with a Extron RGB 190 to achieve a 240P image.
I'll be looking forward to those downscaling solutions! I got a PS3 recently and got bummed at how it can't display 240p. Although, the PS1 emulation on it seems worse than people think it may be, because aside from not displaying 240p, it's scaled incorrectly vertically, at least in 480i on my 29" CRT; Symphony of the Night has some tearing when scrolling up or down, though it's not noticeable on 3D games. But the worst thing to me, is the audio delay. Input lag seems fine, but it was impossible not to notice the delay on any audio cue. The PS2 is much, much better at backwards compatibility than the PS3.
Brilliant video. I'm trying to find out the best way to connect Atari ST 320x200 to a CRT VGA monitor as the 15khz scan is out of range. Do you think this is worth a try for that purpose?
I THINK this will work, however I don't have an ST to test. If you don't mind building your own hardware/software, I think this is a worthwhile project to test.
Actually bought this recently, but in blue color finished product. Absolutely fantastic with Amiga 1200 on Oled TV. searched for years for a solution for the Amiga, which does not cost many many thousands. Just as nice with the Nintendo SNES, no fuss, just set the image size, and everything was gold, didn't log in to WIFI with it either. Cream product For the NES i just dropping the whole retro thing with it, A/V sucks and so does the cart reader on the NES, so went for a Nes Mini
so am I right in understanding this can do lagless ypbpr to rgbhv converting? as a person trying to play original xbox games could be could if it did that and then also passed through ypbpr with the gbs-8220 model which has two outputs.
Trying to build one… and stuck. Bob, ive added a clock generator and vga to HDMI out adapter, while inputting via component video. I can only get video feed of 480p from a wii, in “pass-through” only. None of the upscaling presets are “selectable” and when i do select a preset, the screen just goes black. Can i get some help?
Great video! Are there any cheap VGA to HDMI transcoders that will output RGB Full Range? My experience is that they output RGB Limited Range which looks washed out on my computer monitors.
Cool, I might have to look into this for downscaling one of our digital streaming boxes (i.e. Roku, Google TV, Amazon Fire Stick) for use on our CRT that my son prefers.
Component video only. If you'd like composite, check out the RetroTINK products: www.retrorgb.com/retrotink2x.html www.retrorgb.com/the-retrotink-5x-has-arrived.html
Can't wait for the downstate video. Been looking for something to downscale the 360 to arcade cab. UVC is just crazy price right now. How come the esp8266 listed is different then the one installed in video?
I am having a issue with the gbs not outputting a video signal. I am using a vga to hdmi converter. Have verified the converter works properly. I can log into the controller via wifi, but cannot select a output resolution. Have triple checked wiring connections, but am at a loss at this point. I am questioning if the gbs is even powering on as the led indicator on the board does not illuminate. Any suggestions?
What I'm looking for is a cheap way to direct stream from my arcade cabinets to OBS. Do you have any videos explaining this? Another question is the Wifi. Can I use wifi to get signal from console or arcade to my PC? or is the wifi not used in that manner with this mod? Sorry this is all new to me, I currently stream with webcams recording the arcade screen and want to fix this with direct feed. Without paying hundreds of dollars, but I will spend more money if I need to.
I really want to use it to connect my PC, which has a video card capable of outputting dvi analog if required, to a consumer CRT set via component YUV/YPbPr at 15khz. It looks like it is capable of doing it, can anyone confirm?
Yup, it should work fine: Set your PC to 640x480, then connect the DVI-A output to the VGA input with a basic passthrough cable or dongle. Then it'll either output RGBHV or YPbPr, depending on how you have the output mode set.
@@RetroRGB thank you Bob for clarifying. I just subbed to ur floatplane to ask this but you were kind enough to answer here. I'll be keeping my sub there to support u. Have a great week!
I'm having a problem on Arduino GBS control upload , it's giving me an error - "call of overloaded 'abs(unit32_t) is ambiguous". Anybody have any solutions to this problem?
@retrorgb this just popped into my head, what if used to help safeguard a groovymame setup with an rgb modded consumer crt by having the gbs be the go between to prevent any chances of more than 15khz? Or on a crt with component inputs
Wow, I _just_ found the 8220 I bought like 15 years ago, after not being able to find it for years.... Now it just so happens that between building OSCRs and SlimeVR trackers, I have pretty much all the parts required for this mod. 😁👍
@@RetroRGB I think most makers have a crapload of esp8266 and esp32 boards by now, but I laughed pretty hard when you were like "And if you add this clock generator board...." because I've got like a dozen of those for OSCR builds! 🤣 Always refreshing to stumble upon a new project and _not have to buy anything_ innit?! 😁
Is it possible to somehow force GBS Control to output 1080p at all times? In my experience, it selects seemingly arbitrary resolution when for example no input is coming in.
Is this issue concerning? Best options for the GBS-8200 I would recommend as a minimum that any sync signals are scaled using at least a potential divider circuit or a transistor level shifter as they are readily available, providing your source produces a C sync signal. If you need to to combine H and V Sync, use a logic circuit.. If your system provides a composite video signal, use one of the sync strippers but ensure you condition the output to be 3.3V LVTTL compatible not 5 LVTTL. Nobody talks about this blowing up the GBS-8200.
@@RetroRGB Not even there yet. The GBS arrives tomorrow but other TH-camrs say 5 v will shorten the life of the board. Easy fix with a 1k resistor in series to lessen the voltage 18% which isn't 3 but I'll figure this thing out.
I have a question if someone can answer but how would one get audio out, my understanding is VGA is only video and not audio so with the VGA to HDMI solutions that have the little aux port how would one get audio from like component cables. Would you need to externally plug the audio cables to the aux input and route it that way? or Does the board have a spot to intercept audio signals from? I'm proficient enough at soldering that I would like to build one myself is why I'm asking
I have a consolized MV1C that has a 15khz RGB signal coming out a DB15 - could I run that to the GBS input and then have the GBS output component video (essentially using it as a transcoder)?
Yes. You can choose to pass through the signal, transcode, or scale it. Just check the github and notes about the proper mods required for high quality component output.
I have an odd usage case idea, For games that have the handshake drop out problem to other scalers. Could this be used to normalize their output before being sent over to say an OSSC or Framemeister to make it so that they no longer have that issue? I already have Framemeister but there are some things, Like Pokemon Stadium where the intro is unwatchable on it because of the resolution changes.
Mixing scalers like that can often result in a lot of unwanted side-effects. If this is an important problem to solve, the best solution by far would be selling the Framemeister and getting a RetroTINK 5x. I demo the resolution switching in my launch video, but there's been a ton of updates since...search this channel and RetroRGB.com for more info, but start here: th-cam.com/video/nwNrqIjxBaA/w-d-xo.html
@@RetroRGB I'm not sure the 5X is the right one for me. N64 and Playstation 2 are my newest systems. most of my collection includes NES SNES and first playstation aside from them and an Atari 2600 Edit: Oh and a Dream Cast my Mom fried by unplugging and plugging the controller back in while ignoring me saying to not to.
@@RetroRGB Thank you. I don't see myself selling my Framemeister. I'll just save up and potentially get this and a RetroTink 5x at some point. Thing is my newest TV is still only 1080p and I might be able to use this to down scale to make a better source to pump into a VCR in house transmitter science project to still use on my dozens of battery powered pocket up to 5" crt TV sets.
Thanks for great video. I want to use my crt VGA monitor for AtariST and this kit is exactly what I need. The 2X-Pro or OSSC won't work as they output hdmi and converting it down to vga is no go for me.
Does the pass-trough mode(240p or 480i source) also work with the VGA to HDMI adapter? I'm curious about this since this would be really handy for my streaming setup, since there are not a lot of Scart splitters of high quality and a reasonable price I had the idea to use a GBS8220(with the mod) and the use VGA as output method, combine the sync and use that on my CRT and then send the other via the VGA to HDMI adapter to a capture card, i'd really appreciate it if someone could point this out to me!
Does the GBS8200 convert Analog -> Digital -> Analog, or does it do all that processing while keeping the signal analog? If it's gonna convert the video to digital at any point, I'd think it would be able to output digital video directly.
@@RetroRGB Thanks. I need to switch between 2 CVBS sources from time to time. I guess it maybe similar to the 240p-480i swtich of the consoles. Is a GBS Control with a Koryuu Transcoder the solution for me?
Does anyone know if the gbs-control supports 240p@120hz? I've heard the older version by dooklink had a preset for it but I can't seem to find any information on the newer version having that preset as well. Any information anyone has would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
I'm considering picking this up but maybe someone could confirm something for me. I want to set up my GameCube, Dreamcast, and original Xbox to a PC CRT to take advantage of 480p. I was just wondering if this would be a fairly cost-effective way of doing that, or if there were better options since whenever I go looking for Component to VGA transcoders they either rarely pop up or are more money than I'd like to spend on something like this.
You mentioned that something needs to be removed from the 8220 (the one with dual vga outputs)...something that causes interference? What has to be removed?
Thanks! I used the SCART Cleaner, but the GBS-C AIO works equally as good...it's just not available yet: www.gbscaio.com/ www.retrorgb.com/scartcleaner.html
I got mine since that video about using CRT monitor to play retro consoles and I would like to thank you Bob, for me the GBS with the Control mod is the perfect solution I was looking for!
This is an extremely compelling product to use for deinterlacing and downscaling. As far as 240p goes, as you mentioned before the RetroTink and OSSC are still the top dogs as long as money isn't an issue. However, the GBS's deinterlacing has really made an awesome impression on me. I use an OSSC, but I'm not a fan of the bob-deinterlacing due to the fields constantly moving up and down which makes it hard to focus on static screens like menus and such. To fix this I use an Crestron HD Scaler which handles the deinterlacing instead of the OSSC, but I have no idea how much lag it produces. I don't think its bad at all, but the OSSC is needed to convert the analog signal to digital before the Crestron gets it because its does get laggy when dealing with pure analog since its also upscaling. The GBS on the other hand has some hard numbers to show and they're really good compared to more popular deinterlacers like the Framemeister. I may consider this project just for 480i only, but I am looking forward to seeing your next video on how downscaling may be beneficial. Thanks for all the effort and information you give us!
This is great for downscaling xbox 480i to 240p, it even do some quality deinterlacing, impressive. I need to get one ASAP!
Great video, thanks Bob!
10:45 "Nerding" used in this way is new to me, but I approve. :D Anyway, this is awesome. Last time I looked at this project (a couple years ago?) they were using Raspberry Pis to do this stuff to the GBS scaler. Everything's gotten way fancier and cleaner with an Arduino and those awesome menus. Great work, guys!
I did mine with dooklink's raspberry pi mod on a pi 2b. I didnt do the component out mod. That requires more nerding.
This is a great opportunity to just jump in and learn how to solder. I’m excited.
This looks like something fun to tinker with. I already had the parts for other projects, where I never ended up using them.
Fantastic video Bob! I think the motion deinterlacing is what makes this project so appealing. Good stuff!
Really great video Bob! I’ve been curious about the GBS control but never looked into it as I already own an OSSC and Framemeister. Glad to finally see this running, and I think your comparisons between the OSSC are really good, using games that makes the differences very noticeable :)
I actually did it.
This is the best low cost investment I've ever made. This thing is incredible. It's just that good.
Things you will need if you never soldered before, like me:
• female ended wires, if you buy the full-size esp8266 board like I did, not the mini one Bob did
• one single jumper, though you can get around this by...spreading solder between the two pins on the flip side of the board. Go with the jumper.
• 100 Ohm resistors (3 total)
• you can pretty much only buy the above parts in bulk because brick and mortar parts stores are basically dead RIP
• soldering iron kit (iron, solder wire, flux, DESOLDER PLUNGER PUMP THING [necessary], solder wick, multiple iron heads)
Having never done it before I really thought I would kill it, and I nearly did, but it turned out fantastically.
The only complaints I have are that the 1080p output frequency is guaranteed to cause a disconnect with the wifi, and the screen tearing is noticable sometimes, but the clock gen mod fixes that easily, just more work and an extra purchase. This thing is a dream.
Intersting I bought a pre made GBS-C and notice now and again a horizontal line scrolling down the screen.
Great video, as usual. Thank you, Bob. I’m looking forward to your downscaling video.
Bob thanks to you and this video I went down the rabbit hole. I now have 3 trash saved CRTs (2x toshiba af, and a Panasonic Tau) and just completed the gbs control build. I’m currently playing my Wii in 1080p upscalled from 480p and this entire build is awesome. Thanks man! No better way to wait out the pandemic!
I'm sold. I love my OSSC, but my use case has changed and I'm really digging the downscaling and motion adaptive deinterlacing.
I can't wait for the downscaling video, I've been interested in getting a downscaling solution, was thinking about a vsc into RGB interface, but if the GBS works better, that's even better.
@Poplep was this video ever released? Can´t wait to see what downscaling options we have now that the Retrotink 5X does not downscale with newer firmwares...
Great video! Thanks for reminding people to take their time on the install. It's always worth it :)
Think I'll finally find my solution to my Mortal Kombat 4 arcade issue here. Soon as I saw you did a video on this I was immediately relieved.
Great work as always. Shoutouts to Rama!
Most impressive part of this scaler is the Web/GUI interface. That is the one area the current OSSC and Frameister lack is a menu devoid of navigational nerding.
I'm so into this! Definitely going down this route for my setup - thanks Bob!!
that's what I want to see on retrorgb! thx Bob
That motion adaptive deinterlancing looks pretty neat. It's no doubt very good for the PS2, even forcing 480p many games won't work at all in that resolution. Please do that video about deinterlacing
Great video. That all in one unit looks very promising!
I ran into the GBS8200 by complete accident when I was trying to connect my SNES through RBG onto my CRT monitor, and now THIS comes up? Awesome.
If you mean a VGA CRT, then the GBS-Control project is perfect. Check this out for more info: th-cam.com/video/iLkN2AZLBMA/w-d-xo.html
@@RetroRGB I sure do! I've been fully enjoying this whole project!
It seems like Rama is like the Fire Nation: It changed everything.
I made three of these, one for me and one each for my two oldest daughters that are also into ps1/ps2 gaming
and they work beautifully. Easy to use and great performance at a very reasonable price.
I actually bought a board for a fourth one. Lol. I am planning to build a dedicated PS2 arcade cabinet. I.e. an arcade cabinet but one that has a ps2 built in with a HDD and OPL. And instead of clickety buttons and a joystick it will just have a holder for a PS2 controller.
Kind of like those cabinets you used to see at Fry's or game stores to try out some demo-games. But this one will look a lot more like an ordinary full size arcade game cabinet, but it will just be for a PS2.
Can you tell me how does the output look for the ps2. Is it progressive or interlacing.
Great video Bob! The quality and knowledge you bring is top notch!
Awesome stuff, Bob. Can't wait for the videos on deinterlacing and downscaling. Those seem like the killer apps for this device. Definitely better than spending $150+ on a DVDO or TVOne box for those same features!
I think you could just put the sync resistor inside the SCART connector - they're usually easy to open & have plenty of room inside. I used to do a similar modification inside 3rd party Nintendo cables many years ago.
A lot of this awesome information is completely over my head. I keep trying to soak it all up and make sense of it all. What a great lesson. Thanks as always Bob!
17:35, so this can also be an RGB to Component transcoder?
absolutely
With a bit more "nerding". 😉
"Some Nerding required..."
I happen to have a GBS 8220 lying around. This is just the kind of mod I'm looking for! Thanks for the thorough, high quality video.
Did you end up doing it?
9:50 where can I get an adapter cable like that? I can't seem to find one anywhere.
This is an awesome video, so clear on a lot of things and I will totally be exploring these options. Few quick questions though, 2:31 you mention 100 capacitor to ground yes? The link you included is for a 1000
Thank you for the informative video! 5:44 you show the 8200 and 8220 side by side... and they are each using different variants of the 8266. Looks like the 8220 uses the D1 style board whereas the 8200 is using the CP2102 (which is also the board you have linked in the description). Was that an intentional choice for a particular reason, or did it just happen to be what you had around (since the layout shouldn't matter)?
Honestly, it’s all I had access to. I bought from different sources hoping to get a variety, but that’s what I ended up with.
I use one of these for plugging a component source into a VGA monitor, with the "Source Pass-through" setting in gbscontrol, and it seems to just be straight up transcoding YPbPr to RGB, which is exactly what I want.
I've been using GBS-C as my daily driver for the past month and it's been pretty great, especially for the price. I'm no wizard with the soldering iron and I actually screwed up, damaging the board... But the board only costs £15 so I just bought another one and tried again. Imo, that's pretty much the point, right there.
Awesome video. Gotta say based on my experience though that the 240p results in my GBS-C are far superior to what you're showing at 14:39 .. you have these really obnoxious horizontal ringing artefacts. Have you noticed these? And would you say they are universally present in the units you have tested? Or is it a side effect of your capture method?
One of my biggest concerns with recommending GBS-control is the QC on the original devices, so it may be that my GBS board is just better than the one you used. Would be interested to hear your thoughts though!
I've built and tested three 8200's and one 8220 for these captures. All look pretty much the exact same. I agree, there's most likely a lot of different models with varying quality.
Mine also does not have these artefacts in 240p output. Worth investigation!
I watched this video like 10 times before pulling the trigger. OMG it’s good. Went from Hyperkin, to Portta (not bad), to GBS Control. Lots more control and overall image is much better. Thanks for all the details and examples. I’m enjoying the Wii I have hooked up to this a lot more now.
Helpful video, Bob!! Thanks for the walkthrough 👍
Thank you so much Bob! I use the GBA for capture from my Arcade games!
nice! I have one running now for some weeks with a neo geo mvs. works great!
Dude, that Rust in Peace Flying V is epic!
Thank you! I customized the neck and added hand-wown pickups :)
Just noticed that the adapter for HDMI at 12:23 says on the plugs HDMI IN and VGA Out.
Does it work as VGA in and HDMI out combining the audio from the audio 3.5 jack to HDMI without an additional power supply to that adaptor?
At 5:22 the adaptor had that 5v input, do they both work with audio?
I just grabbed the wrong adapter for the b-roll shot. Check the description for the one I recommend.
@@RetroRGB thank you for the clarification
Best retro rgb video, hehe
Thanks for the great video! It should be a real injection of new blood to the GBS-C scene.
Nice video! I've got one of these for my Genesis going to an arcade LED panel. Clean, crisp, and cheap, can't ask for much more.
And let's be honest, being able to sit on your couch, and futz with the settings is enough to justify using it.
Rama posted at CircuitBoard , that a sync stripper isn't needed anymore in actual revisions
17:31-17:39 Does that include converting 31+ kHz signals from YPbPr to RGBHV?
I do not understand one thing, gbscontrol is instaled on the wi-fi arduíno device and bypass the original hardware ?
*cries in Voultaurese* Just kidding Bob, your soldering looks fine, just wanted to tease you a bit. Interesting video.
Mine didn’t have any luck with my Sega Blast City with 31Khz Sanwa arcade monitor, the image kept scrolling and fizzling out. Removing the GBS and plugging directly in via HDMI to VGA did the trick when set to 640x480 in Windows so now I can get my Mame setup going albeit without the GBS in the mix. Not sure what the problem was, perhaps it was the fact that mine had a clock mod installed for compatibility with certain other combinations? I thought that would be better to get a fully modded up GBS but perhaps not? I’m not interested in buying a non-clock modded GBS unit just to test since my arcade setup works and I found out the monitor didn’t do 15Khz anyway so now I may try to use my GBS unit with retro consoles and see how it does with that at least.
5:10
You mention there's a GBS-C that would allow you to simply plug the pieces together with no soldering necessary. Do you happen to know any information on where to get that specific variant?
This one, however it's not sold anymore: www.retrorgb.com/gbs-c-aio-now-officially-open-source.html
@@RetroRGB Ah thats a shame. Thanks anyway! I ended up buying from Tindie a pre-built GBS Control. It doesnt have the HDMI adapter inside like the AIO variant, but I will simply stick a VGA-to-HDMI adapter on the back.
What about those using a GBS 8200 for an arcade board? Does the GBS Control mod help with that at all?
Just started using one of these recently for my Mortal Kombat boards. This is an impressive mod.
Yes, it's a massive help. Doesn't matter if you're using the original for arcades or consoles, it's still really laggy.
@@RetroRGB Yeah I can confirm the lag from playing Mortal Kombat 1 on mine, although still playable. Luckily I found a replacement 25 inch CRT for my UMK3 so I didn't have to use the GBS.
Anyways, thank you. I will definitely be looking at this solution for a CRT replacement in case its ever needed.
Would it be possible to use this device to get 240p composite video from an HDMI source?
In my head, the setup looks like HDMI from PC -> HDMI to VGA converter into GBS -> VGA to composite converter out of GBS -> 15khz NTSC crt composite input.
Would appreciate any help :-)
Generating composite from RGB is REAAAAALY hard. The short version is because you need a pixel clock to sync the color data. Here's the long version: th-cam.com/video/m12PgfZl56c/w-d-xo.html
@@RetroRGB Ahh, I see. Thanks for the quick reply! Starting to seem like composite 240p from HDMI source isn't possible at all, unless you have any ideas otherwise. But maybe it would be wiser to go in a different direction, such as original hardware or CRT Emudriver. Thanks again!!
Thank you for this vid. If you can help... I am also interested in finding out better downscaling method. Mainly going from recent “Mini” consoles to older 4:3 composite connection only TVs.
New Mini consoles have 16:9 ratio only and have no means to do full screen mode using 4:3 TVs. I would appreciate your help on this one.
I'm currently working on a video dedicated specifically to downscaling. I hope to have it out in a few weeks, but 720p 16:9 -> 240p 4:3 is tricky and ads lag.
@@RetroRGB Could you share the link to this downscaling video please? Could not find it.
Excellent tutorial. I got one of these cheap boards with hope to render 15kHz Atari ST colour to modern monitor - it didnt work on the VGA but I see after buying it that the VGA only handles 30-32kHz. I figure rather than sending it back I will hack it as you have shown .... if nothing else it looks like a fun thing to try.
Thanks again
Thanks...and that's a great idea! Worse case, you're out $20 and an hour of time...but have a "tool" you can use for tons of other stuff as well.
That's a cool Jackson V back there !
Can you downscale a VGA computer signal to 240P with this device?
I know you can achieve this using your graphics card in tandem with a VGA to component transcoder. However my graphics card is too old to achieve this. Instead, I use an Extron VSC 100 in tandem with a Extron RGB 190 to achieve a 240P image.
I'll be looking forward to those downscaling solutions! I got a PS3 recently and got bummed at how it can't display 240p. Although, the PS1 emulation on it seems worse than people think it may be, because aside from not displaying 240p, it's scaled incorrectly vertically, at least in 480i on my 29" CRT; Symphony of the Night has some tearing when scrolling up or down, though it's not noticeable on 3D games. But the worst thing to me, is the audio delay. Input lag seems fine, but it was impossible not to notice the delay on any audio cue. The PS2 is much, much better at backwards compatibility than the PS3.
Fantastic. Do you think this could work on an MVS + Jamma? I have one of these laying around. Pretty impressive project!
Absolutely, but you'd need to make sure the video levels matched standard RGBs. So MVS -> cheap supergun -> GBSControl should be perfect.
@@RetroRGB Get a MiniGun on ebay or tindie. MVS -> MiniGun -> GBSControl
Brilliant video. I'm trying to find out the best way to connect Atari ST 320x200 to a CRT VGA monitor as the 15khz scan is out of range. Do you think this is worth a try for that purpose?
I THINK this will work, however I don't have an ST to test. If you don't mind building your own hardware/software, I think this is a worthwhile project to test.
Search TH-cam I believe there's a video of most home computers to GBS. Atari ST, Amiga, Beeb, etc.
Actually bought this recently, but in blue color finished product.
Absolutely fantastic with Amiga 1200 on Oled TV.
searched for years for a solution for the Amiga, which does not cost many many thousands.
Just as nice with the Nintendo SNES, no fuss, just set the image size, and everything was gold, didn't log in to WIFI with it either.
Cream product
For the NES i just dropping the whole retro thing with it, A/V sucks and so does the cart reader on the NES, so went for a Nes Mini
so am I right in understanding this can do lagless ypbpr to rgbhv converting? as a person trying to play original xbox games could be could if it did that and then also passed through ypbpr with the gbs-8220 model which has two outputs.
Trying to build one… and stuck. Bob, ive added a clock generator and vga to HDMI out adapter, while inputting via component video. I can only get video feed of 480p from a wii, in “pass-through” only. None of the upscaling presets are “selectable” and when i do select a preset, the screen just goes black.
Can i get some help?
Great video! Are there any cheap VGA to HDMI transcoders that will output RGB Full Range? My experience is that they output RGB Limited Range which looks washed out on my computer monitors.
Cool, I might have to look into this for downscaling one of our digital streaming boxes (i.e. Roku, Google TV, Amazon Fire Stick) for use on our CRT that my son prefers.
Can the gbs control use composite inputs or is it only component? All I have for most of my old consoles is composite cables
Component video only. If you'd like composite, check out the RetroTINK products:
www.retrorgb.com/retrotink2x.html
www.retrorgb.com/the-retrotink-5x-has-arrived.html
Can't wait for the downstate video. Been looking for something to downscale the 360 to arcade cab. UVC is just crazy price right now. How come the esp8266 listed is different then the one installed in video?
I am having a issue with the gbs not outputting a video signal. I am using a vga to hdmi converter. Have verified the converter works properly. I can log into the controller via wifi, but cannot select a output resolution. Have triple checked wiring connections, but am at a loss at this point. I am questioning if the gbs is even powering on as the led indicator on the board does not illuminate. Any suggestions?
What I'm looking for is a cheap way to direct stream from my arcade cabinets to OBS. Do you have any videos explaining this?
Another question is the Wifi. Can I use wifi to get signal from console or arcade to my PC? or is the wifi not used in that manner with this mod?
Sorry this is all new to me, I currently stream with webcams recording the arcade screen and want to fix this with direct feed. Without paying hundreds of dollars, but I will spend more money if I need to.
I really want to use it to connect my PC, which has a video card capable of outputting dvi analog if required, to a consumer CRT set via component YUV/YPbPr at 15khz. It looks like it is capable of doing it, can anyone confirm?
Should be possible, but bare in mind the output will be RGBHV, not RGBs or YPbPr, so you'll need to convert.
Yup, it should work fine: Set your PC to 640x480, then connect the DVI-A output to the VGA input with a basic passthrough cable or dongle. Then it'll either output RGBHV or YPbPr, depending on how you have the output mode set.
@@RetroRGB thank you Bob for clarifying. I just subbed to ur floatplane to ask this but you were kind enough to answer here. I'll be keeping my sub there to support u. Have a great week!
I'm having a problem on Arduino GBS control upload , it's giving me an error - "call of overloaded 'abs(unit32_t) is ambiguous".
Anybody have any solutions to this problem?
Your ESP8266 community board package version is too high. Delete in Board Manager and install v2.7.1.
Hello! How to connect VHS (from SCART) to gbs82xx ?
I use 1881n, but have black screen.
I'm gonna need you to show us what's in the Voultar Nudez folder. Please and thank you
really looking forward to that deinterlacing video
@retrorgb this just popped into my head, what if used to help safeguard a groovymame setup with an rgb modded consumer crt by having the gbs be the go between to prevent any chances of more than 15khz? Or on a crt with component inputs
Where can I find a diagram for mods required for 8220? Some of the solder points are different than in the tutorials.
Wow, I _just_ found the 8220 I bought like 15 years ago, after not being able to find it for years.... Now it just so happens that between building OSCRs and SlimeVR trackers, I have pretty much all the parts required for this mod. 😁👍
Ha, awesome!
@@RetroRGB I think most makers have a crapload of esp8266 and esp32 boards by now, but I laughed pretty hard when you were like "And if you add this clock generator board...." because I've got like a dozen of those for OSCR builds! 🤣 Always refreshing to stumble upon a new project and _not have to buy anything_ innit?! 😁
Is it possible to somehow force GBS Control to output 1080p at all times? In my experience, it selects seemingly arbitrary resolution when for example no input is coming in.
Is this issue concerning?
Best options for the GBS-8200
I would recommend as a minimum that any sync signals are scaled using at least a potential divider circuit or a transistor level shifter as they are readily available, providing your source produces a C sync signal. If you need to to combine H and V Sync, use a logic circuit..
If your system provides a composite video signal, use one of the sync strippers but ensure you condition the output to be 3.3V LVTTL compatible not 5 LVTTL.
Nobody talks about this blowing up the GBS-8200.
Are you measuring under load?
@@RetroRGB Not even there yet. The GBS arrives tomorrow but other TH-camrs say 5 v will shorten the life of the board. Easy fix with a 1k resistor in series to lessen the voltage 18% which isn't 3 but I'll figure this thing out.
hey bob what wire did you use? 26 awg and for the clock battery did you use kyner wire or 28 awg??
Any way to use this to downscale in an s-video monitor?
@RetroRGB - I have the 8220 dual output, what parts do I need for that?
I have a question if someone can answer but how would one get audio out, my understanding is VGA is only video and not audio so with the VGA to HDMI solutions that have the little aux port how would one get audio from like component cables. Would you need to externally plug the audio cables to the aux input and route it that way? or Does the board have a spot to intercept audio signals from? I'm proficient enough at soldering that I would like to build one myself is why I'm asking
I always route only video through the GBS-C, then have audio going from the source to the VGA to HDMI converter.
Thank you much appreciated!
Is there any news on the external board shown at 5:16 ? Thanks!
Yup! www.retrorgb.com/gbs-c-aio-pre-orders-now-open.html
@@RetroRGB Thanks! :)
Can I put hdmi-component converter in and take out scart RGB 480i?
I have a consolized MV1C that has a 15khz RGB signal coming out a DB15 - could I run that to the GBS input and then have the GBS output component video (essentially using it as a transcoder)?
Yes. You can choose to pass through the signal, transcode, or scale it. Just check the github and notes about the proper mods required for high quality component output.
I have an odd usage case idea, For games that have the handshake drop out problem to other scalers. Could this be used to normalize their output before being sent over to say an OSSC or Framemeister to make it so that they no longer have that issue? I already have Framemeister but there are some things, Like Pokemon Stadium where the intro is unwatchable on it because of the resolution changes.
Mixing scalers like that can often result in a lot of unwanted side-effects. If this is an important problem to solve, the best solution by far would be selling the Framemeister and getting a RetroTINK 5x. I demo the resolution switching in my launch video, but there's been a ton of updates since...search this channel and RetroRGB.com for more info, but start here: th-cam.com/video/nwNrqIjxBaA/w-d-xo.html
@@RetroRGB I'm not sure the 5X is the right one for me. N64 and Playstation 2 are my newest systems. most of my collection includes NES SNES and first playstation aside from them and an Atari 2600 Edit: Oh and a Dream Cast my Mom fried by unplugging and plugging the controller back in while ignoring me saying to not to.
The RT5x is by far the best scaler for all those consoles. No contest.
@@RetroRGB Thank you. I don't see myself selling my Framemeister. I'll just save up and potentially get this and a RetroTink 5x at some point. Thing is my newest TV is still only 1080p and I might be able to use this to down scale to make a better source to pump into a VCR in house transmitter science project to still use on my dozens of battery powered pocket up to 5" crt TV sets.
Thanks for great video. I want to use my crt VGA monitor for AtariST and this kit is exactly what I need. The 2X-Pro or OSSC won't work as they output hdmi and converting it down to vga is no go for me.
Very good video info thanks for sharing
How did you perform the lag testing?
th-cam.com/video/7VOsOuQ5mhM/w-d-xo.html
Does the pass-trough mode(240p or 480i source) also work with the VGA to HDMI adapter? I'm curious about this since this would be really handy for my streaming setup, since there are not a lot of Scart splitters of high quality and a reasonable price I had the idea to use a GBS8220(with the mod) and the use VGA as output method, combine the sync and use that on my CRT and then send the other via the VGA to HDMI adapter to a capture card, i'd really appreciate it if someone could point this out to me!
Yes, but your HDMI target device would have to be compatible with 240p and 480i for it to work.
@@RetroRGB Ok thanks! i believe my capture card supports that!
Does the GBS8200 convert Analog -> Digital -> Analog, or does it do all that processing while keeping the signal analog? If it's gonna convert the video to digital at any point, I'd think it would be able to output digital video directly.
It's A-D-A. As far as I know, no one's been able to tap digital video from it.
@@RetroRGB Thanks
hi! can you help me whit this error? " SSD1306Wire.h: No such file or directory"
I find a solution. It was the board manager ver.
You need to add the OLED driver library. You can find it on the github wiki.
como lo solucionaste amigo?? Tengo el mismo error y no le hallo
My signal input is AV(CVBS). It seems an add-on converter board is needed before the GBS Control or OSSC. Does this extra add-on add latency?
Zero latency added: th-cam.com/video/R3yIWdN0gKE/w-d-xo.html
@@RetroRGB Thanks. I need to switch between 2 CVBS sources from time to time. I guess it maybe similar to the 240p-480i swtich of the consoles. Is a GBS Control with a Koryuu Transcoder the solution for me?
Does anyone know if the gbs-control supports 240p@120hz? I've heard the older version by dooklink had a preset for it but I can't seem to find any information on the newer version having that preset as well. Any information anyone has would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.
Hi dear.
Is this a mod to extend upscaling pcb?
Can I use it to connect my Sega model 2 Daytona to LCD monitor?
I need to change it.
I'm considering picking this up but maybe someone could confirm something for me. I want to set up my GameCube, Dreamcast, and original Xbox to a PC CRT to take advantage of 480p.
I was just wondering if this would be a fairly cost-effective way of doing that, or if there were better options since whenever I go looking for Component to VGA transcoders they either rarely pop up or are more money than I'd like to spend on something like this.
You mentioned that something needs to be removed from the 8220 (the one with dual vga outputs)...something that causes interference? What has to be removed?
Great video. I do have a question. How did you get RGB out of the PS1? Did you use SCART to VGA?
Thanks! I used the SCART Cleaner, but the GBS-C AIO works equally as good...it's just not available yet:
www.gbscaio.com/
www.retrorgb.com/scartcleaner.html