ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
In short, I am trying to get RGB working with an MX 3000 and BEO 4 remote but so far, no dice. Whenever I plug in anything other then composite (CVBS) through a scart adaptor, I just get a black screen.
In long, I have been patiently waiting for an MX 4000 (or 4002) to come up on eBay in my area (Melbourne, Australia) without much luck. I'm wanting to use it as a hybrid arcade/console gaming monitor. I currently have the MX7000 which works a treat but is just a bit too big. I had an opportunity to pickup an MX 3000 very cheaply and although I couldn't find much info on its capabilities, so I gave it a shot at that price.
I realise that the BEO 4 is not the recommended remote but I'm trying to avoid purchasing a Beolink 1000 purely to test if I can get RGB into it. Most of the basic functions work on the BEO 4 however no menu as such. I may not have one but without a user manual I can't confirm that.
I can't find a user manual online or any reference to RGB (Beoworld, Beophile, Beocentral etc.). There doesn't seem to be a lot of information in general about the MX 3000 compared to other MX models.
I was about to give up until I noticed in the service manual that the scart input has pins allocated for RGB which gave me a glimmer of hope.
Can anyone help me get to the bottom of this?
Hi and welcome to Beoworld,
I have no idea about RGB inputs etc as I'm neither a gamer of TV tech. However, the user and service manuals are both available here on Beoworld if you upgrade your membership to at least Silver.
Secondly, the user manual shows that the Scart pins are:
5 = Earth connection for B input.
7 = B input.
9 = Earth connection for G input.
11 = G input.
13 = Earth for R input.
15 = R input.
I'm taking a stab in the dark/educated guess that these may be what you're looking for? If not, sorry, I can't help.
For some operations on the MX3000 you need the 'Shift' button which is on the Beolink 1000.
Dave.
Not 100% sure of the MX3000 (which is not yet a "real" B&O chassis), but in general B&O TVs don't have a menu item or function to turn on RGB. You just need to have the control signals present in the SCART, then it's automatic. Pin 8 minimum, possibly 16 as well. Otherwise the input defaults to composite/CVBS.
If the source has a SCART connector, you'll most probably just need a fully connected cable. If your current cable is suspiciously thin, it is probably missing quite a few connections.
--mika
Thanks for your reply tournedos.
The cable isn't the problem as I've had the same setup working with the MX7000.
pin 8 and 16 look like they are present according to the service manual but I'm not sure if I'm reading it correctly. Here's a snapshot if you have time to look at it (and understand it)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cgvwu1s45ma5bx6/Screenshot%202014-10-07%2011.04.51.png?dl=0
The signal is a converted PC VGA output. I don't have any other RGB devices to test with so I'm unsure if its the source thats the problem.
I've pretty much given up but if anyone notices anything it would be helpful
Thanks
Just to clarify: did you have the exact same setup (cable and the VGA converter) working with the MX7000? If not, I believe your converter box isn't supplying the control voltages to pins 8 & 16. They can be produced externally with a little bit of tinkering but I don't know if you are interested in that. This page might be helpful:
http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/gamescart/gamescart.htm
The MX3000 service manual we have on site is sadly quite unreadable at the schematics section, but I believe I see the RGB signals being routed. In fact, I have never seen nor heard about a CRT TV with a SCART input that didn't support RGB.
***EDIT: one more thing... are you sure the SCART cable is making good contact at the TV end? I have an MX2000 where I had to show some knife to the rear casework in order to properly seat a SCART cable, otherwise it didn't reach deep enough.
Andy_blanc, what kind of converter or cable are using? Do you have a link to a product page?
Thanks for all your help guys. I ended up figuring it out just in time. An MX 4000 popped up locally in the last couple of days (Which I had been waiting on for months). I thought I better try the MX3000 one last time before I grab the 4000 and It worked!
I ended up figuring out that the resolution that the MX7000 had been accepting happily was not compatible with the MX3000. So when I plugged the exact same setup into the MX3000 I got a blank screen. It didn't occur to me that the res would be an issue initially because usually when you plug in an incompatible resolution, it gives you a scrambled picture. In this case I got a completely blank screen which made me think that the set was not accepting RGB at all.
I was over the moon because the 3000 is cherry red and looks a treat.
If anyone is interested in a banging hybrid Arcade/Console gaming setup, this is what I'm running;
The beauty of this setup is that you can set resolutions for individual arcade games (usually around 320*240) and then default back to 640*480 for older consoles (NES, SNES etc.) gives an authentic feel with the quality of a B&O CRT.