What should I look for in a (EU/PAL) Mega Drive?

[pipnina]

Hey guys!

 

I've recently gone hunting for a SEGA Mega Drive, having been spurred on by the local computer exchange having a MK2 & several cartridges in their window. I've bought Sonic 1 and 2 cartridges combined for £13GBP from there but wanted to do more research before buying a whole console from them (for £47GBP).

 

I look on the internet for info and I'm definitely bamboozled. MK2s all have crummy sound (I listened to comparisons, model 2 basically sounds like a telephone call), many MK1s are good but some are not, but I don't know to what extent they vary (could be a simple matter of the good MK1s having stereo and other MK1s having similar quality but in mono?).

 

And of course, you have to connect it to a TV through RF or S-VIDEO (These days probably RF or some series of adapters).

 

Pretty excited to try one in honesty. A piece of history at this point (console reached EOL a year before I was born, I never owned one).

 

Cheers

[Monkey Dust]

I'm a Nintendo man, so can't help which Mega Drive to get, but hooking it up to your TV I can help with. Hopefully your TV has a Scart socket (quoting GBP I'm assuming you're in the UK) in which case an RGB Scart cable from these people https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/sega/mega-drive-1 I bought my SNES RGB cable from here and I can't fault it. You could connect it thought the RF socket, but it will look very rough.

 

If all you have is HDMI sockets you'll need a good (low-lag) up scaler, like the Framemeister, but they are really expensive. If you have the room, picking a up an old CRT TV would be the cheapest option.

[pipnina]

30 minutes ago, Monkey Dust said:

I'm a Nintendo man, so can't help which Mega Drive to get, but hooking it up to your TV I can help with. Hopefully your TV has a Scart socket (quoting GBP I'm assuming you're in the UK) in which case an RGB Scart cable from these people https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/sega/mega-drive-1 I bought my SNES RGB cable from here and I can't fault it. You could connect it thought the RF socket, but it will look very rough.

 

If all you have is HDMI sockets you'll need a good (low-lag) up scaler, like the Framemeister, but they are really expensive. If you have the room, picking a up an old CRT TV would be the cheapest option.

RF gives a rough image? Well at least I've been forewarned! Thankfully my current TV has both multiple SCART ports and red/white/yellow AV ports. I have seen many SCART to HDMI adaptors/scalers for relatively low prices, I'm guessing they introduce a lag?

 

My next-door neighbors threw out a CRT television only two months ago, now I wish I'd asked to have it. (They just wanted to replace it, it was working albeit large and heavy).

 

Cheers for the info

[kol]

You ideally want a Megadrive 1 with the "High Definition Graphics - Stereo Sound" Written along the top of the console. This apparently has the best video and sound output. I personally own a Genesis 2 and it's been fine for me as i've never owned a Model one so I have nothing to compare it to. To get the best sound output, use a 3.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable and use the headphone out port on the front of the console or buy a SCART cable with a 3.5mm breakout.

 

In regards to hooking it up to a TV, You want to look for a SCART cable that's wired up for RGB, this is the best output the Megadrive can output and requires no modification. You can hook it up straight to the TV if your TV has a SCART input, if not you will need an upscaler such as the Framemeister or a line doubler like the Open Source Scan Converter (I use this). I would not recommend buying any SCART to HDMI upscaler boxes you might find on eBay or Amazon as they're usually pretty shit and can add input lag, output wrong aspect ratios or not have the image aligned on the screen correctly.

 

In my opinion you should try and get a Genesis or a Japanese Megadrive for 60Hz video output, games will run at full speed and not feel slow. You could buy a PAL modded console to output 60Hz if you cannot get a Genesis or JP MD.

[Stefan Payne]

18 hours ago, pipnina said:

RF gives a rough image?

RF is utter garbage, the Image in general is the worst possible.

Composite with separate audio cables is way better than that but still not great.

S-Video or RGB should be desired and used if possible.

 

18 hours ago, pipnina said:

thankfully my current TV has both multiple SCART ports and red/white/yellow AV ports.

The question is:
a) What Signals does your TV support on the SCART Ports. Its a pretty universal connector that can be used for Composite, S-Video and even RGB. With TV you have the Problem that not all signals are supported on all SCART Connectors. You have to take a look at the TV manual for the supported Input on the SCART Connectors.

b) The red/White/Yellow Ports are the rather bad Composite ones.

Red and White are Stereo Audio while Yellow is Video. Its way way better than RF but still rather shitty. But you can use it in the beginning before using an RGB Cable.

 

You can also make it yourself as the Sega Mega Drive uses a pretty Standard DIN Cable, that was used before SCART with the Same Pinout as for example a Commodore C64. And a Commodore C64 Cable works on the Megadrive well more or less and vice versa.

 

I'm talking about the Original Version here because that's what I had at the time.

Sadly I sold it (yeah, I was young...)

 

 

18 hours ago, pipnina said:

I have seen many SCART to HDMI adaptors/scalers for relatively low prices, I'm guessing they introduce a lag?

Of course they do!

As does the Analogue to Digital Translation inside your TV.

If you want to enjoy the original experience, go get a 100Hz CRT TV.

They should still be widely available in 2nd Hand Shops.

 

18 hours ago, pipnina said:

My next-door neighbors threw out a CRT television only two months ago, now I wish I'd asked to have it. (They just wanted to replace it, it was working albeit large and heavy).

 

Yeah, that would have been a great idea.

But you didn't know at the time.

 

And used CRT TVs are cheap as hell, you can get a 26" one or more for something like 20€ or so.

But you need two people for Transport...

[pipnina]

2 hours ago, Stefan Payne said:

RF is utter garbage, the Image in general is the worst possible.

Composite with separate audio cables is way better than that but still not great.

S-Video or RGB should be desired and used if possible.

 

The question is:
a) What Signals does your TV support on the SCART Ports. Its a pretty universal connector that can be used for Composite, S-Video and even RGB. With TV you have the Problem that not all signals are supported on all SCART Connectors. You have to take a look at the TV manual for the supported Input on the SCART Connectors.

b) The red/White/Yellow Ports are the rather bad Composite ones.

Red and White are Stereo Audio while Yellow is Video. Its way way better than RF but still rather shitty. But you can use it in the beginning before using an RGB Cable.

 

You can also make it yourself as the Sega Mega Drive uses a pretty Standard DIN Cable, that was used before SCART with the Same Pinout as for example a Commodore C64. And a Commodore C64 Cable works on the Megadrive well more or less and vice versa.

 

I'm talking about the Original Version here because that's what I had at the time.

Sadly I sold it (yeah, I was young...)

 

If you want to enjoy the original experience, go get a 100Hz CRT TV.

They should still be widely available in 2nd Hand Shops.

 

Yeah, that would have been a great idea.

But you didn't know at the time.

 

And used CRT TVs are cheap as hell, you can get a 26" one or more for something like 20€ or so.

But you need two people for Transport...

I have checked, my TV is a panasonic tx32lxd85. I also noticed it has an s-video port of its own. I have found a copy of the manual which states the resolutions it is designed to work at:

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/649195/Panasonic-Tx-32lxd85.html?page=52#manual

 

320x200 is noticeably missing from that list, unsurprisingly.

 

Although that only mentions PC (VGA) and Component cables, not anything about RF, s-video or scart.

This page also gives some specifications, but nothing too relevant unfortunately. https://www.manualslib.com/manual/649195/Panasonic-Tx-32lxd85.html?page=59#manual

 

I have won the auction for a model 1 (sadly not with the "high definition graphics - stereo audio" sticker). Pretty reasonable price (£25 GBP). It comes with the RF connector but now I'm not sure if I should buy a regular s-video cable or something else. My old TV sure is giving me a lot of options...

[Stefan Payne]

Try to get a better cable.

 

The R

1 minute ago, pipnina said:

It comes with the RF connector

wich you should leave in the Box and get a 

 

1 minute ago, pipnina said:

 

but now I'm not sure if I should buy a regular s-video cable or something else. My old TV sure is giving me a lot of options...

I'm not sure if an S-Video Cable for the Mega Drive works or exist.

That is something that Commodore Used on their C64...

[pipnina]

9 minutes ago, Stefan Payne said:

Try to get a better cable.

 

The R

wich you should leave in the Box and get a 

 

I'm not sure if an S-Video Cable for the Mega Drive works or exist.

That is something that Commodore Used on their C64...

I thought this was the other end of an s-video cable?

 

Also, I suspect your post is slightly mis-formatted? A few sentences look like they might end a bit early? ("The R", "wich you should leave in the Box and get a  ")

[Stefan Payne]

7 minutes ago, pipnina said:

I thought this was the other end of an s-video cable

No, its the old DIN Video Connector that preceded the SCART Connector and also can be found on some decent TVs of the time.

 

And what's that 9pin DIN Connector for??
That looks like the console could have been RGB Modded or something like that...

Quote

Also, I suspect your post is slightly mis-formatted? A few sentences look like they might end a bit early? ("The R", "wich you should leave in the Box and get a  ")

Yes, sadly.

 

I wanted to say that you should leave the RF Cable in the Box because the image quality is just so bad that its not worth it...

 

Here a comparison between RF and Composite and other stuff.

 

In short:
RF is the worst, to test it, OK, not enough to use it.

Composite should be the minimum you use.

S-Video and RGB should be preferred...

 

[pipnina]

Does this adapter look about right? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scart-cable-Megadrive-Master-System/dp/B002W7GFJE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1521757874&sr=8-5&keywords=megadrive+scart

Seems similar to the one Monkey Dust mentioned.

If the resolution isn't supported on SCART with my TV for whatever reason, is it likely to give an "out of range" error or perhaps just display the image in a slightly strange manner? I can't seem to find exact supported res for SCART on mine.

 

I think the 9-pin was for attaching the console to a modem or something like that. Something to do with the difference between the first model 1s and the later model 1s. I'm not sure exactly.

[Monkey Dust]

On 22/03/2018 at 10:37 PM, pipnina said:

Does this adapter look about right? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scart-cable-Megadrive-Master-System/dp/B002W7GFJE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1521757874&sr=8-5&keywords=megadrive+scart

Seems similar to the one Monkey Dust mentioned.

If the resolution isn't supported on SCART with my TV for whatever reason, is it likely to give an "out of range" error or perhaps just display the image in a slightly strange manner? I can't seem to find exact supported res for SCART on mine.

 

I think the 9-pin was for attaching the console to a modem or something like that. Something to do with the difference between the first model 1s and the later model 1s. I'm not sure exactly.

It doesn't have the break out cable for the front audio jack, how big of an issue that is would best be answered by a Sega Megadrive owner. 

 

Resolution and your TV, it should work through Scart as it is a legacy connection. Where resolution can be a problem is with devices that convert the signal to HDMI without upscaling, 240p/288p though HDMI can be out of spec for the TV and not work.