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Hi,

I read here that on both the GG and SMS, their vram wasn't available to be accessed from the cartridge just like the Mega Drive did for newer hardware on cartridge. So I don't understand how the TV Tuner worked and why no other expansion hardware could replace or improve the original hardware. I'd imagine a Mega Drive "on cartridge" sort of like the Master Gear or some new mp3/mp4 player for the GG would be great projects for people having the skills needed.
Thank

If I recall correctly, most Game Gears had a Composite-In line on their cartridge port.

The TV tuner decodes the signal, sends it down, Game Gear decodes Composite video, LCD renders!

EDIT: Below posts make it totally clear I'm wrong. :3

I think it's the opposite, the tuner contains one board to produce composite video from RF and another to digitise it to the spec of the system's LCD. The cartridge connector then enables a mode whereby a bunch of the pins are directly connected to the LCD. The tuner has a composite in connector which substitutes for the actual tuner board.

With experience, FPGAs and oscilloscopes, I bet you could make a device to drive the screen the same way - but why, it's a terrible screen. Better to use that to make a screen replacement, and maybe put your MP4 player on that.

Maxim wrote

I think it's the opposite, the tuner contains one board to produce composite video from RF and another to digitise it to the spec of the system's LCD. The cartridge connector then enables a mode whereby a bunch of the pins are directly connected to the LCD. The tuner has a composite in connector which substitutes for the actual tuner board.

With experience, FPGAs and oscilloscopes, I bet you could make a device to drive the screen the same way - but why, it's a terrible screen. Better to use that to make a screen replacement, and maybe put your MP4 player on that.

Thanks. I always like the idea of new hardware on these console; I always found the lcd, with all its bad colors/contrast, did improve the realism of the GG games palette. Mortal Kombat 1 was absolutely awesome thank to that in my opinion. :)

Tuner takes over the LCD drive signals, all of the GG side image processing is pretty much inactive.

Author	Message
386DX Joined: 13 Jun 2017 Posts: 96	TV Tuner questions Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:08 am
386DX Joined: 13 Jun 2017 Posts: 96	Hi, I read here that on both the GG and SMS, their vram wasn't available to be accessed from the cartridge just like the Mega Drive did for newer hardware on cartridge. So I don't understand how the TV Tuner worked and why no other expansion hardware could replace or improve the original hardware. I'd imagine a Mega Drive "on cartridge" sort of like the Master Gear or some new mp3/mp4 player for the GG would be great projects for people having the skills needed. Thank

Flygon Joined: 30 Jun 2016 Posts: 196 Location: Melbourne, Australia	Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2017 12:32 pm Last edited by Flygon on Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:31 am; edited 1 time in total
	If I recall correctly, most Game Gears had a Composite-In line on their cartridge port. The TV tuner decodes the signal, sends it down, Game Gear decodes Composite video, LCD renders! EDIT: Below posts make it totally clear I'm wrong. :3

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2017 2:00 pm
	I think it's the opposite, the tuner contains one board to produce composite video from RF and another to digitise it to the spec of the system's LCD. The cartridge connector then enables a mode whereby a bunch of the pins are directly connected to the LCD. The tuner has a composite in connector which substitutes for the actual tuner board. With experience, FPGAs and oscilloscopes, I bet you could make a device to drive the screen the same way - but why, it's a terrible screen. Better to use that to make a screen replacement, and maybe put your MP4 player on that.

386DX Joined: 13 Jun 2017 Posts: 96	Posted: Thu Dec 14, 2017 5:21 pm
386DX Joined: 13 Jun 2017 Posts: 96	Maxim wrote I think it's the opposite, the tuner contains one board to produce composite video from RF and another to digitise it to the spec of the system's LCD. The cartridge connector then enables a mode whereby a bunch of the pins are directly connected to the LCD. The tuner has a composite in connector which substitutes for the actual tuner board. With experience, FPGAs and oscilloscopes, I bet you could make a device to drive the screen the same way - but why, it's a terrible screen. Better to use that to make a screen replacement, and maybe put your MP4 player on that. Thanks. I always like the idea of new hardware on these console; I always found the lcd, with all its bad colors/contrast, did improve the realism of the GG games palette. Mortal Kombat 1 was absolutely awesome thank to that in my opinion. :)

TmEE Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Posts: 853 Location: Estonia, Rapla city	Posted: Fri Dec 15, 2017 9:44 am
	Tuner takes over the LCD drive signals, all of the GG side image processing is pretty much inactive.

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