Easy SNES/SFC YUV component video!

[Bibin]

In short, early SNES decks have a BA6592F encoder, which spits out instead of clamped RGB, YPbPR!

This VERY ELUSIVE datasheet was helpful:
http://mikejmoffitt.com/BA6592F.pdf

Here is a writeup:
http://mikejmoffitt.com/wp/?p=74

And a video:


it would be very nice to somehow get additional BA6592F encoders and simply put them into other systems instead of paying so much money and putting so much time into getting YPbPr into MDs and N64s and such.

This is great for us silly crazy yankee Americans where YPbPr reigns supreme while 15khz RGB is hard to utilize.

[Lastcallhall]

Well, I know what I'm doing this weekend...

[TrekkiesUnite118]

it would be very nice to somehow get additional BA6592F encoders and simply put them into other systems instead of paying so much money and putting so much time into getting YPbPr into MDs and N64s and such.

This is great for us silly crazy yankee Americans where YPbPr reigns supreme while 15khz RGB is hard to utilize.

See this is what I wanted to see. Though I bet that would screw up 32X compatibility, so you'd need to either put it in the 32X, or put it in the Genesis on it's own board with a switch to go from the new encoder and the old encoder.

[Lastcallhall]

See this is what I wanted to see. Though I bet that would screw up 32X compatibility, so you'd need to either put it in the 32X, or put it in the Genesis on it's own board with a switch to go from the new encoder and the old encoder.

What the hell are you talking about?

[Bibin]

What the hell are you talking about?

I believe he refers to the hypothetical installation of the encoder into an MD and how it would affect use of the 32X. You'd need an additional encoder in the 32X if you wanted that compatibility.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

What the hell are you talking about?

The idea he proposed about putting this encoder in a Genesis system.

[Lastcallhall]

Ah. In my giddyness over SNES component, I skipped that part. buy yeah, unless you could get the same results out of the 32x output, that mod wouldn't work in tandem with the 32x, since the RGB and sync signals are sent from the AV out of the Genesis into the 32x. Still, it's worth a look...

[TrekkiesUnite118]

Well, I was thinking it would screw with the Internal mixing since the 32X is expecting RGB, and not component. Though I guess you could just put the encoder in only the 32X and call it a day, as you would only miss out on Virtua Racing and Master System compatibility.

You could possibly create some kind of switch system to go from RGB to Component to keep compatibility without modding the 32X.

[lumclaw]

What the hell are you talking about?

32X must receive RGB (only RGB) to operate as designed. Sending composite or anything else to 32X could get all sorts of video corruption.
So all Genesis models that lack RGB output, like Wondermega 1 and the Laseractive PAC, are incompatible with 32X unless modified.

[Lastcallhall]

Yeah, I had mentioned that above after clearing things up. Still, I wonder if the mod could be applied to the 32x in some way, Other than finding the YPrPb out signals, I'm having a hard time telling if the encoder can accept raw RGB signals, and if so, how to wire the entire thing up for an application circuit.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

What does the SNES send the encoder that's different from raw RGB?

The mod could probably be applied to the 32X the same was as it would be applied to any other system. You would simply be modifying the output after all the mixing was done. So if you had a 32X you could just apply the mod to only the 32X and leave the Genesis stock. That would probably work.

[Lastcallhall]

What does the SNES send the encoder that's different from raw RGB?

The mod could probably be applied to the 32X the same was as it would be applied to any other system. You would simply be modifying the output after all the mixing was done. So if you had a 32X you could just apply the mod to only the 32X and leave the Genesis stock. That would probably work.

I'm not saying it can't be done, but I have no idea where the inputs are on the encoder, nor do I have an application circuit to understand. I'll give it another look when I have time - this could be fun.

[TrekkiesUnite118]

If you get it working, I might just be the first person to send you a system to perform the mod on. I'd love to have a better solution for component video on my Genesis/32X. The cost isn't big deterrent that steers me away from the SCART to Component route, it's the amount of power adapters and cables required.

On a side note I wonder if it could be applied to the Saturn as well?

[Guntz]

Holy crap, that's the best news I've heard in a long time. I wonder if any of my SNES systems are old enough. CPU-01 is really, really old... Are any extra components needed at all?

[Chilly Willy]

Yeah, I had mentioned that above after clearing things up. Still, I wonder if the mod could be applied to the 32x in some way, Other than finding the YPrPb out signals, I'm having a hard time telling if the encoder can accept raw RGB signals, and if so, how to wire the entire thing up for an application circuit.

I looked at the datasheet - this is a VERY nifty chip! It takes raw analog RGB and produces YPrPb signals, but it also takes a separate YPrPb input and converts that to composite... both functions in the same package.

It also handles NTSC or PAL, like most encoders.

Pg 15 has a typical circuit diagram for how to wire up the chip.