ok folks i have attempted and failed to output the rgb from my genesis model mk1 to the vga port on my 32 lcd tv. I have found almost every doc i can find on rgb mods and thier is something i am missing. using the pinouts i have found on this page: http://www-unix.ecs.umass.edu/~dhowland/mod/#overclock i have directly soldered wires from the bottom of the genny board to the vga connectors. i have red, green, blue hooked up to pins 1,2 and 3 on the vga connector. pins 5,6,7,8, and 10 on the vga connector are all various ground pins that i have hooked up to the ground on the genny. pin 4 on the diagram of the bottom of the genny is 5v and i have hooked that up to pin 9 on the vga connector. All documents i have found say that vga pin 9 is reserved for 5v and needs it for the rgb signal. here is were i'm stuck, the sync. apparently i need to sync the rgb or it wont work. one doc claims i can take the sync from the genny and take it straight to pin 13 on the vga. another doc i have found says that you have to take the sync to pin 2 on the lm1881 then hook that up to pins 13 and 14 on the vga. What is the lm1881? Has anyone else attempted this, and please what am i doing wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

You can't connect a 15KHz RGB source like a games console to a VGA display (unless you're *very* fortunate to have a multi-sync screen that can sync that low and also supports composite sync; both unlikely) - although VGA has Red, Green and Blue inputs it will likely expect any signal to be 31KHz or higher. You'll also be missing the horizontal and vertical sync signals - the only one you'll get out of the console is a sync-on-composite.

You need some sort of upscaler or frequency doubler in order to get a 15KHz RGB signal (as from your MD/Genesis, or a DVD player, or most consoles prior to the Dreamcast) to display on VGA monitor/TV.

well that explains it. I appreciate the feedback. now i dont feel so bad about failing. i had myself convinced thier was something small i was overlooking. i have the composite video working fine, i will just stick with that. the makers at samsung of my nifty new tv decided to leave out an s-video jack, so i'm not gonna bother with that one. all i have left on my tv is the vga port, and three rca jacks that are red green blue. but i'm told that is called component. can i adapt to component? and what is the difference between component or composite if any? i'm just trying to get a better picture. Thanks again for all the help.

I really do feel for you guys outside of Europe - we've had it so good with RGB as standard for the last 20 years or so that I sometimes forget the hassle you have to go through just to get a decent picture.

If the only options are the VGA input and the red/green/blue coloured Component jacks then you're going to either need an RGB to VGA convertor, or an RGB to Component convertor. I've no experience of either, so someone with more knowledge of those would be better to help you.

Component carries the video as three seperate signals (though not as red, green and blue, as the jacks would lead you to believe), so it's far better quality than composite, which jams it all down one cable, or svideo (which carries it as two signals).
The less conversions you have to put the signal through, the better the final picture - therefore, IMO, if you have an RGB source, an RGB connection like SCART (unavailable to you) or VGA will always be best. The next best would be Component, then s-video, then composite, then RF.

HOLY CARP!!!!!! well i looked up what such a converter would cost and i'm just not that desparate. thanks for everything. i shall move on my modding ways in to new directions. thanks again!!!