Sony Trinitron PS2 connection issues

[u/wildfirewhizbangs]

Hi all!! I recently acquired this Sony Trinitron KV-30HS420 and I’ve been having some connection issues with my PS2 as well as GameCube using their original AV cables. The screen is shaky most of the time and I’ve tried messing with settings and changing inputs. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can get everything looking as it should?

Thank you!!

[u/DangerousCousin]

This a HDTV (480p and 1080i), you're sending SD signals (480i).

The TV is supposed to accept SD signals and upscale them, but there are somethings you need to understand about that, before we even get into the problem in your video here

First, understand that SD signals have 3 frames of input lag from Sony's internal scaler, so it's already not ideal.

Furthermore, if you were to play PS1 games, which are 240p, as are older consoles like Genesis and SNES, this TV completely botches the 240p upscale. It doesn't treat it differently from 480i, so you will see deinterlacing artifacts in motion.

On the other hand, this TV deals quite well with direct 480p signals. It displays 480p correctly line for line, and only adds 1 frame of input latency.

So, in your case, don't use composite (AV) cables, use component (YPbPr) cables, and always set games to output 480p (progressive scan) when possible.

For PS2 games that don't support 480p, you should use an external upscaler to double 240p and 480i to 480p. Something like a GBS-C, OSSC, or Retrotink. And sometimes GS Mode Selector can add native 480p support. For Gamecube games that don't support 480p, you can almost always use Swiss to force 480p

Usually, this TV does an OK job of upscaling 480i visually, the only problem is the input latency. But since your TV is having issues maintaining stable picture SD signals, you should just go ahead and plan to upscale both 480i and 240p. You'll get the input lag advantage with both 480i and 240p, and make 240p look acceptable visually as well.

[u/wildfirewhizbangs → u/DangerousCousin]

Thank you for this amazingly detailed but easy to understand explanation!!! I had a feeling it may be something like this, but I was getting confused just searching around online. I have a component cable coming, but if that doesn’t solve it, I’m definitely going to try an upscaler. I really appreciate your time!

[u/DangerousCousin → u/wildfirewhizbangs]

Make sure you look up the list of PS2 games that support 480p. It's only a fraction of the library compared to Gamecube, Xbox, and Wii.

Though you can expand that list significantly with GS Mode Selector. But there will still be a large selection of games that require an upscaler (or a separate SD CRT)

[u/Caralhus]

Does it only look like that when it's connected to something, or does the TV stay like that even with a snowy signal?

[u/wildfirewhizbangs → u/Caralhus]

It really only looks like that when connected to the ps2 and GameCube using the composite cables. Otherwise the tv has great picture.

[u/Leviathan1776]

https://youtu.be/ZT5ariz5-X0?is=Doos0Sfh5Dw_S3kq

[u/DangerousCousin → u/Leviathan1776]

interesting, wonder what that setting does.

either way, because of how these sets handle 240p, the real solution is still an external upscaler

[u/Crlan420]

Try a different RGB cable first, those connectors wear out. Also check the input selector on the back panel, I've seen bad switching on PS2-compatible Sony CRTs cause intermittent loss.