[Help!] PAL Saturn + Rhea 60hz = Yellowed Composite Output?

[cauterize]

Hey y'all,

I recently got round to fitting my Rhea into my PAL VA0 Saturn - the 20 pin model with the power supply attached to the top of the unit. I fitted the Rhea correctly and set the frequency jumper on the back of the device to 60hz, and attached pin 79 to the hz solder point too.

The console works just fine, 60hz picture is coming out and Rhea loads the game ISOs correctly. The only issue I've found is that the picture on my Sony PVM is lacking any form of RGB through the scart lead I've been using just fine for years:



As you can see there is a loss of colour and absolutely no cripsness in the signal that you'd usually get from the RGB cable. I then tried changing the frequency jumper to 50hz, and the picture was then in colour but also a smudgey composite mess

I was wondering if the Rhea has the ability to completely change the console's region to NTSC, including how it handles video output (with PAL and NTSC scart leads being wired differently). It's all a bit beyond me, but does anyone have any ideas as to how I can get a full colour RGB picture back out of the console with Rhea installed?

Thanks,
Adam

[zyrobs]

You need to lift pin 79. You did lift it, right? Not just connect the line to it directly? If you did not lift it, then your system would end up sending a weird type of video output on NTSC games, since it would still be using the PAL colourburst frequency but with 60hz and NTSC encoding. I think that's what happens on your machine.


If you haven't lifted pin 79 then don't. VA0 PAL machines have external solder pads for that. Look for the four empty solder pads near the battery, they are labelled SW4. Three of them should be bunched up together: connect the Rhea 50/60Hz line to the MIDDLE one.

But if you have lifted pin79 properly, then I guess your TV just can't handle PAL60 signal.

[MIK]

Nothing to do with what your after, but just a bit of fun...

Asking people to look at a photo you have uploaded of your own screen is a bit like a TV company showing off it's latest HD screen in a TV advert that your watching on standard freeview via a CRT. All the bold claims that you have not seen a picture or colours as good as this, yet your viewing it on an old style TV and it looks no better than the one your viewing it on.

On my LED the colours don't look that bad on your picture, green in the speakers is way too strong for my liking though to how I would see it via RGB on a CRT. I can see it's a bit blurry overall but thankfully we know what your looking at with your own eyes by what your saying.


Hope you get your problem sorted any way!

[cauterize]

Thanks for the help zyrob! I can confirm that the pin has been lifted and soldered to correctly as Rhea is able to switch frequencies depending on what region ISO I load.

After testing things out, it would appear to be a TV related issue which is really odd. The Sony PVM I have (2130qm) is fantastic with every different region Saturn I've used on it before and has been fine.

Here's a few shots of the PVM running, and then another CRT displaying the same image from the same console just fine.

PVM 2130-QM



Other CRT



As you can see the other CRT is interpreting the image correctly. I'm not too sure really how to diagnose this one and move forward as it's stumped me!

[cauterize]

Just a quick update too, I have found my composite lead for the Saturn and have tested that. Both leads are giving the exact same picture, which suggests the PVM is only reading the composite image... how odd!

[zyrobs]

That picture looks to me like when I switched our old TV into NTSC mode while using a PAL composite signal. So I'm guessing your PVM sees the PAL60 signal as NTSC, but since it is still a PAL signal, you get the weird colours.

[cauterize]

Hmmmm I'm not so sure now. I'm pretty convinced that the output on all TVs (regardless of the colour) is coming out as composite.

Does the 9v mod to pin 1 of the cable work for PAL consoles?

[cauterize]

Just as a quick update, this is now fixed - here's what happened in case anyone else is suffering with the same issue.

The problem I had was that Pin 1 of the AV port was not getting enough juice. This sadly meant that all video output was composite. Whether or not this is related to Rhea I can't say for sure. This seemed odd though given that it was a PAL console and these issues are usually found when trying to use a PAL scart lead with a US/JPN console, right?

Anyway, I bravely attempted a variation on the following modification which resolved it:

www.mmmonkey.co.uk/ntsc-saturn-and-pal-scart-leads/

All I did here was connect pins 1 and 4 together, as shown in the last picture. This brought back the RGB signal for me

Thanks again,
Adam

[zyrobs]

PAL units natively output 9V (on later machines, 12V) on pin 1.

[buckoa51]

The problem I had was that Pin 1 of the AV port was not getting enough juice.

I would have suggested something like that but you said PVM, which instantly made me think it was connecting via a SCART to BNC breakout cable and therefore wouldn't need voltage to switch from composite to RGB. I didn't realise there were PVMs with actual SCART inputs!

[cauterize]

Yup! The 2130-QM has a scart socket on the back, it's been a great entry point into the world of PVMS.

[MIK]

Nice way to roll in the newyear, glad you managed to sort it!