- Mar 1, 2014
- 10
- 0
- 4,510
I have never owned a gaming console so I decided to actually get myself a PS2 Slim because games are cheap now and there are loads of classic legendary games that I just feel the need to play at last.
Anyway I got inspired by this awesome project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnoUDE3aY0o
and wanted to know if something similar can be done with PS2 Slim. After one night of somewhat heavy research I have found out a lot but loads of questions still remain.
Connecting to the monitor (version1)
http://ebay.to/1xNGd7s
This device could take the the composite/component?/RCA/AV plugs from PS2 and output that (analog?) signal to VGA (digital?). I am really sorry if Im wrong but from now on I will be calling that 3piece video/audio cable a RCA just to make it short. Anyway I am pretty sure that this controller board device thingy is needed because something need to take PS2 analog signal and turn it into A VGA digital...Atleast thats what I think it is and thats why a simple RCA female 3piece to VGA wouldnt work just by itself (I saw some RCA to VGA cables on ebay. I guess some TVs can take VGA that carries a signal from PS2 straight, but a normal computer monitor cannot do that). Anyway that board needs some power. I guess that 5VDC port is 2.5mm (?) so would a USB to 5VDC cable power this thing if plugged straight into PS2 USB port? That would be pretty convenient, I do not think there is any way to get power from the inner PSU unit in PS2 Slim console itself.
Connecting to the monitor (version 2)
There is the idea to add another controller plate thingy that takes the VGA cable and outputs that to LVDS (a laptop screen connector type) and displays that on laptop screen. The only way I think that would make more sense is when the laptop screen is slimmer and that way the overall portable PS2 unit would be slimmer and nicer. The possible problems would be that both the controller boards (I have no idea if thats what they are called but I am saying that the RCA to VGA and VGa to LVDS are the controller boards. Just in case you aren´t really following) would distort the signal or in whatever way wont work together at once (I dont think if thats the case but maybe these two controller boards just will mess up something). Another problem would be the wiring of the laptop monitor. I have no idea where the power comes from, what is the inventer etc. Havent found a very informative article or teardown or whatever about laptop screen wiring yet. A normal computer LCD monitor would plug into the wall and problem solved, however I have no idea what would be the best way to power laptop monitor. Oh well.
Anyway here is a board thingy for VGA to LVDS
http://ebay.to/1s19bkR
and I found a straight RCA to LVDS controller board too (I still dont know if RCA is the right term)
http://ebay.to/13WbcU6
Dont know if it would work though.
Connecting to monitor (version 3)
The third and last option would be just to somehow get a flat LCD panel with straight RCA inputs but I dont really know if I could manage to find something like that in the are I live. I guess that would be slightly older tech and wouldnt be that slim and nice. I am taking the screen apart anyway and building a new outer box for all this but maybe there are more complicated electronics in a older LCD panel with RCA input...Problems everywhere but I am sure there is a simple solution that I havent managed to find yet. Oh well
"Portable"
This all would still be plugged into the wall and not ran by some kind of miracle battery. Unless ofcourse the PS2 doesnt consume a lot of power and the laptop screen would also be good with not much power. Because I know that the regular LCD monitor need lot of power. I havent done research on PS2 power consumption and laptop screen power consumption yet.
Anyway in BenHeckShow Xbox one project he managed to take the console power wall plug and the monitor´s one and somehow put them together. I didnt really understand that part from the video and havent googled that yet. I guess I still need to study all the names of different cables because I have no idea how a standard wall plug to computer or xbox would be called. Even if I cant take the PS2 plug and a monitor plus and put them together on the device´s end, maybe the end of the wall plugs could be somehow compactly made into only one plug that goes into one socket instead of two. But thats all extra improvements that would just make it look better and somewhat easier to use.
Quality of the final video
So another problematic part. I have read that all kinds of connections make the final picture look bad and there has been this "white snow" problem. The first controller board mentioned has some settings knobs but I am not really sure what those are all about and could they fix some problems. I have heard about this white snow problem, picture size and ratio problems, color problems maybe and that on some connection types the picture can be HD but on others its not (I think thats all this composite vs component thing). That could be a problem because the first controller board mentionad has 3input RCA plugs but the component cable (which is capable to display HD) has more plugs. Some people have said that it look fine on LCD monitors but others are sure that those older consoles are supposed to work straight to CRT panels throught scart or RCA or whatever. I am not sure at all how bad those picture problems can get and how big of a deal it is.
Some other stuff
Does PS2 Slim need extra cooling or not? Should I add a fan anyway juyst because the console components and the display together can cause heat or somehow be problematic to each other.
I could add any PC fan and I was thinking about not plugging that exra fan into the console PSU or mainboard (mainly because I have no idea if that´s even possible). Instead I could make little AAbatterybox TO switch TO PC fan thingy. If the fan is 12v, do I need to add a battery box of 8 (1.5V each) or would I be good with less. How long would the batteries last if the fan is blowing at 12V and lets say I have some awful ebay rechargeable 1000mah (There isnt said how much mah these batteries are but they are pretty awful I think. Claimed to be 3000mah but thats ofcourse not true).
Could the first mentioned controller board 5VDC input be also from a battery box? I would have a separete battery box for that too because I think it would be awesome to turn on all these switches before I can turn on the main system. It would look pretty ghetto and now I am just intensely typing random stuff I think would be cool. In the end the unit would look neat because I care about the design a lot. It would look like a 19inch (If I choose to go with a 19inch monitor) tablet that has some serious weight problems. Similar to BenHeckShow´s Xbox One project.
Anyway the PS2 is not as wide and tall as a 19inch monitor so there would be extra room on the side for the battery packs and controller plates (can be mounted on top of the PS2 mainboard too if needed).
More endless text about this project
I have no idea if I´ll even start with this project because I actually do not have a single item I need. no PS2 Slim, no monitor, no controller boards, no nothing. But I can tell that if I get some positive feedback and information I will certainly want to do something like that and I really hope I have a chance to make this project succesfully. I am sure that I forgot something and there could be a lot more difficulties to make this thing but I guess some time I will give an update (that will most likely to be more endless questions and ideas)
I have no idea if I am in the right place posting this. I guess it´s not really convenient to post a build log here but to be fair, I havent really started building anything at the moment. I will save this text and post it anywhere I have to to (that "to to" is weird, what should be changed there?) get answers and you, the brave guy who managed to read all this, could help too and say where else should I post all this to get the best answers.
Looking forward to this project but I am not going to promise anything, its just and idea I have.
Anyway I got inspired by this awesome project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnoUDE3aY0o
and wanted to know if something similar can be done with PS2 Slim. After one night of somewhat heavy research I have found out a lot but loads of questions still remain.
Connecting to the monitor (version1)
http://ebay.to/1xNGd7s
This device could take the the composite/component?/RCA/AV plugs from PS2 and output that (analog?) signal to VGA (digital?). I am really sorry if Im wrong but from now on I will be calling that 3piece video/audio cable a RCA just to make it short. Anyway I am pretty sure that this controller board device thingy is needed because something need to take PS2 analog signal and turn it into A VGA digital...Atleast thats what I think it is and thats why a simple RCA female 3piece to VGA wouldnt work just by itself (I saw some RCA to VGA cables on ebay. I guess some TVs can take VGA that carries a signal from PS2 straight, but a normal computer monitor cannot do that). Anyway that board needs some power. I guess that 5VDC port is 2.5mm (?) so would a USB to 5VDC cable power this thing if plugged straight into PS2 USB port? That would be pretty convenient, I do not think there is any way to get power from the inner PSU unit in PS2 Slim console itself.
Connecting to the monitor (version 2)
There is the idea to add another controller plate thingy that takes the VGA cable and outputs that to LVDS (a laptop screen connector type) and displays that on laptop screen. The only way I think that would make more sense is when the laptop screen is slimmer and that way the overall portable PS2 unit would be slimmer and nicer. The possible problems would be that both the controller boards (I have no idea if thats what they are called but I am saying that the RCA to VGA and VGa to LVDS are the controller boards. Just in case you aren´t really following) would distort the signal or in whatever way wont work together at once (I dont think if thats the case but maybe these two controller boards just will mess up something). Another problem would be the wiring of the laptop monitor. I have no idea where the power comes from, what is the inventer etc. Havent found a very informative article or teardown or whatever about laptop screen wiring yet. A normal computer LCD monitor would plug into the wall and problem solved, however I have no idea what would be the best way to power laptop monitor. Oh well.
Anyway here is a board thingy for VGA to LVDS
http://ebay.to/1s19bkR
and I found a straight RCA to LVDS controller board too (I still dont know if RCA is the right term)
http://ebay.to/13WbcU6
Dont know if it would work though.
Connecting to monitor (version 3)
The third and last option would be just to somehow get a flat LCD panel with straight RCA inputs but I dont really know if I could manage to find something like that in the are I live. I guess that would be slightly older tech and wouldnt be that slim and nice. I am taking the screen apart anyway and building a new outer box for all this but maybe there are more complicated electronics in a older LCD panel with RCA input...Problems everywhere but I am sure there is a simple solution that I havent managed to find yet. Oh well
"Portable"
This all would still be plugged into the wall and not ran by some kind of miracle battery. Unless ofcourse the PS2 doesnt consume a lot of power and the laptop screen would also be good with not much power. Because I know that the regular LCD monitor need lot of power. I havent done research on PS2 power consumption and laptop screen power consumption yet.
Anyway in BenHeckShow Xbox one project he managed to take the console power wall plug and the monitor´s one and somehow put them together. I didnt really understand that part from the video and havent googled that yet. I guess I still need to study all the names of different cables because I have no idea how a standard wall plug to computer or xbox would be called. Even if I cant take the PS2 plug and a monitor plus and put them together on the device´s end, maybe the end of the wall plugs could be somehow compactly made into only one plug that goes into one socket instead of two. But thats all extra improvements that would just make it look better and somewhat easier to use.
Quality of the final video
So another problematic part. I have read that all kinds of connections make the final picture look bad and there has been this "white snow" problem. The first controller board mentioned has some settings knobs but I am not really sure what those are all about and could they fix some problems. I have heard about this white snow problem, picture size and ratio problems, color problems maybe and that on some connection types the picture can be HD but on others its not (I think thats all this composite vs component thing). That could be a problem because the first controller board mentionad has 3input RCA plugs but the component cable (which is capable to display HD) has more plugs. Some people have said that it look fine on LCD monitors but others are sure that those older consoles are supposed to work straight to CRT panels throught scart or RCA or whatever. I am not sure at all how bad those picture problems can get and how big of a deal it is.
Some other stuff
Does PS2 Slim need extra cooling or not? Should I add a fan anyway juyst because the console components and the display together can cause heat or somehow be problematic to each other.
I could add any PC fan and I was thinking about not plugging that exra fan into the console PSU or mainboard (mainly because I have no idea if that´s even possible). Instead I could make little AAbatterybox TO switch TO PC fan thingy. If the fan is 12v, do I need to add a battery box of 8 (1.5V each) or would I be good with less. How long would the batteries last if the fan is blowing at 12V and lets say I have some awful ebay rechargeable 1000mah (There isnt said how much mah these batteries are but they are pretty awful I think. Claimed to be 3000mah but thats ofcourse not true).
Could the first mentioned controller board 5VDC input be also from a battery box? I would have a separete battery box for that too because I think it would be awesome to turn on all these switches before I can turn on the main system. It would look pretty ghetto and now I am just intensely typing random stuff I think would be cool. In the end the unit would look neat because I care about the design a lot. It would look like a 19inch (If I choose to go with a 19inch monitor) tablet that has some serious weight problems. Similar to BenHeckShow´s Xbox One project.
Anyway the PS2 is not as wide and tall as a 19inch monitor so there would be extra room on the side for the battery packs and controller plates (can be mounted on top of the PS2 mainboard too if needed).
More endless text about this project
I have no idea if I´ll even start with this project because I actually do not have a single item I need. no PS2 Slim, no monitor, no controller boards, no nothing. But I can tell that if I get some positive feedback and information I will certainly want to do something like that and I really hope I have a chance to make this project succesfully. I am sure that I forgot something and there could be a lot more difficulties to make this thing but I guess some time I will give an update (that will most likely to be more endless questions and ideas)
I have no idea if I am in the right place posting this. I guess it´s not really convenient to post a build log here but to be fair, I havent really started building anything at the moment. I will save this text and post it anywhere I have to to (that "to to" is weird, what should be changed there?) get answers and you, the brave guy who managed to read all this, could help too and say where else should I post all this to get the best answers.
Looking forward to this project but I am not going to promise anything, its just and idea I have.
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