Analogue Mega Sg User manual

analogue.co
Analogue Mega Sg
Reference Manual
analogue.co V1.3 March 2019

analogue.co 2 / 23V1.1 March 2019
Analogue
Celebrate & explore the
history of video games with
the respect it deserves.

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Congratulations
on becoming an
Analogue Mega
Sg owner.
A reimagining of the underdog that led a 16-bit
revolution. Engineered with an FPGA. No emulation.
1080p. Zero lag. Total accuracy. Mega Sg is not a
plug n’ play toy. Compatible with the 2,180+ Sega
Genesis, Mega Drive and Master System game
cartridge library. Explore and re-live one of the
greatest video game systems of all time with
no compromises.
What’s in the box
— Analogue Mega Sg
— Analogue Sega Master System game
cartridge adapter
— Sega CD / Mega CD spacer
— Ultracore (digital)
— HDMI cable
— USB cable
— Worldwide USB Power Supply [100-240v,
50/60hz, USA/JPN plug-type]

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HDMI Output Micro USB
Power Input
Reset Button
Controller Port 2Controller Port 1
Cartridge Slot
Power Button
SD Card Slot
3.5mm
Headphone Jack

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CZ START
Mode Home [System Menu]Turbo Mapping
Button PadD-Pad

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Setting Up Mega Sg
1 Plug your micro-USB cable into your USB
Charger
2 Plug your micro-USB cable into Mega Sg
3 Plug your USB power supply into a working
AC Outlet
4 Plug one end of your HDMI cable into your
Mega Sg
5 Plug the other end of your HDMI cable into
your TV/Monitor/Capture Device
6 Plug in a Genesis/Mega Drive-compatible
controller into Controller Port 1
7 Insert a cartridge into the cartridge slot
(optional)
8 Push the Power Button
Updating the Firmware
Before playing your Mega Sg, make sure to update
to the latest rmware at support.analogue.co.
You will need a FAT16 or FAT32 formatted SD card
to update the rmware.
In order to update the rmware, copy the latest
rmware update le at support.analogue.co
(with a .bin extension) to the root directory of
your SD card. Make sure no other rmware les
are in the root directory. Insert your SD card
into the SD card slot on your Mega Sg and turn
the power on. The rmware update process will
start automatically and takes approximately three
minutes to complete. During that time the power
LED will icker red at the screen will be blank.
When the process is complete the LED will show
a steady color and you will see the Animated Mega
Sg Startup logo. Do not power o Mega Sg while
the rmware is updating. If the power goes o for
any reason, Don’t Panic! The system may
not display anything but it will look for a rmware
le to ash to once the power is restored.
You cannot brick your Mega Sg with a failed
rmware update.
When you update rmware, all settings are reset
to their defaults. Take notes of your settings prior
to updating.
Setting Up Mega Sg with Sega CD or Mega CD
To connect Mega Sg to a Sega CD or Mega CD,
you must remove the Expansion Slot connector
from the right side of the console. Put the Sega CD
spacer underneath Mega Sg to raise its connector
to a height which will match the Sega CD’s
connector.
Notes on Power
While any charger that can supply 5v/2A will
work with Mega Sg, including a car charger, it is
recommended to use the included high quality
USB-to-micro USB cable.

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Setting up your TV for perfect retro gaming
If your TV has a low-lag or Game Mode, enable it.
Otherwise turn o all processing features on your
TV or it may negatively eect gameplay
and latency.
Default Controller Key Assignments & Hotkeys
Down + Start — Enter/Leave Menu
Entering the Menu may not pause a game and
blocks controller inputs to the game, Leaving
the Menu returns to a game in progress and returns
controller inputs to the game.
Up + Start + A + B + C — Reset
Same as pressing the physical reset button, initiates
a soft reset.
A— Conrm/Select Menu Option Key
B— Cancel/Back Key
C— Exit Menu and Return to Game
Main Menu Options
Run Cartridge
Performs a Cold Reset (CPU registers and memory
is reset) and runs the cartridge in the cartridge
slot. This can be a Genesis/Mega Drive cartridge
or, with the appropriate cartridge adapter, a Sega
Master System cartridge, a Sega Card/MyCard, or
a Sega Game Gear cartridge. The system will load
the appropriate core automatically if the cartridge
is not a Genesis cartridge. This option is also used
to startup the Sega CD if one is attached to the
Mega Sg.
Play Ultracore
Allows you to play the previously unreleased game
Ultracore (formerly known as Hardcore) built into
Mega Sg.
Settings
Allows you to adjust the video, audio or system
options, save settings and view the credits.
Tools
Allows you to enter Game Genie-style cheat codes
and test your controllers using the built-in Analogue
controller test program.
Compatible Cartridges
— Ocial Sega/Manufactured and approved
Genesis/Mega Drive cartridges (all regions)
— Codemasters J-Cart Cartridges
— Sonic & Knuckles Lock-On Cartridge
— Virtua Racing
— Unlicensed/Homebrew/Reproduction/Pirate
Genesis/Mega Drive cartridges
— Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Game Genie
— Krikzz Mega EverDrive v1, v2/X7, X5 & X3,
EverDrive MD v1-v3
— Sega Master System Cartridges with
included Master System Adapter, Master
System Converter II, Power Base Mini or
PowerBase Mini FM, Master EverDrive X7
— Sega Game Gear Cartridges with Game Gear
adapter (sold separately)
— Sega Master System and SG-1000 Cards
with Card adapter (sold separately)
Compatible Controllers & Peripherals
— Ocial and aftermarket Genesis/Mega Drive
controllers (all regions, all varieties including
3 button and 6 button controllers)
— Ocial Sega Mouse and Mega Mouse
— Sega Activator
— Sega Team Player & Electronic Arts 4 Way
Play Multi-taps (never attach anything other
than a wired regular Genesis/Mega Drive
controller to a multi-tap)
— 8BitDo Retro Receiver
— Sega CD Models 1 & 2
— Zero Tolerance Link Cable
— Miracle Piano (with Sega Genesis/Mega
Drive Adapter)

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Settings Menu Structure & Outline
Factory Default Settings for each option are highlighted. If the option is not
highlighted, then it is not enabled with the Factory Default Settings. If there
is a range given to a particular option, then the default value for that range is
highlighted after the range limits are given.
A Video
1 Resolution
a 480p60
b 720p60
c 1080p60 (assuming your display
supports this resolution)
d 480p50
e. 720p50
f. 1080p50
2 Width & Height (when Advanced
Mode is enabled, otherwise Screen
Size)
a x320 width (depends on resolution,
1337 for 1080p)
b Horizontal Position (depends on
resolution, 38 for 1080p)
c Height (depends on resolution,
1080 for 1080p)
d Vertical Position (depends on
resolution, 50 for 1080p)
f Link x320 and x256 sliders
3 Screen Size (when Advanced Mode
is disabled)
a 1:1
b Square Pixels
c 4:3 for 16:9
d 4:3 for 16:10
e 4x Height (1080p only)
f 4.5x Height (1080p only)
g 5x Height (1080p only)
4 Scalers
a No Scaler
b HQ2x
c HQ3x
d HQ4x
e Scale 2x
f Scale 3x
g X-Ray
h Disable H Interpolation
i Disable V Interpolation
5 Scanlines
a No Scanlines
b Normal Scanlines
c Hybrid Scanlines
d Scanline Depth (0-255, 120)
6 Extra Features
a Mask Top and Bottom Borders
b Mask Left and Right Borders
c Enable Dither Blending
b Dither Blending Depth (0-63, 0)
7 Buer Mode (not shown unless
Advanced Mode is enabled)
a Fully Buered
b Zero Delay
c Single Buer
8 Color (not shown unless Advanced
Mode is enabled)
a Limit RGB Range
b Lock Gamma Sliders Together
c Red (1.00-1.99, 1.00)
d Green (1.00-1.99, 1.00)
e Blue (1.00-1.99, 1.00)
9 Advanced Mode
B Audio
1 Headphone Settings
a Headphone Volume (0-50, 32)
b High Impedance Phones
2 Channel Levels
a YM2612 L (28-100, 100)
b YM2612 R (28-100, 100)
c Square 1 (28-100, 55)
d Square 2 (28-100, 55)
e Square 3 (28-100, 55)
f Noise (28-100, 55)
3 Channel Panning
a YM2612 L (-100-100, -84)
b YM2612 R (-100-100, 84)
c Square 1 (-100-100, 0)
d Square 2 (-100-100, 0)
e Square 3 (-100-100, 0)
f Noise (-100-100, 0)
4 -3db Output Cut
5 Enable Cartridge and CD Audio
6 Swap Left & Right
7 Cartridge & CD Audio Volume (0-
255, 25)
8 Use Lowpass Filter
9 Lowpass Filter (100-20000, 20000)
10 Ladder Eect Depth (0-31, 0)
11 YM2612 High Quality Mode
12 YM2612 Waveform (0-31, 0)
C System
1 Menu Options
a Skin
i USA
ii EUR
iii JPN
b Highlight Style
i Solid
ii Swipe
iii Flash
iv Rolling
v Throb
c Highlight Color
i Chlorophyll
ii Quinoline
iii Fast Green
iv Petent Blue V
v Spirulina
vi Brilliant Blue
vii Anthocyanin
viii Indiotine
ix Phloxine
x Carmine
xi Carotene
xii Tartrazine
xiii Titanium Dioxide
xiv Aluminum Oxide
d Font
i Alternate Font
ii Upper Case
iii Mixed Case
iv Lower Case
v User Loaded Font
vi Load Font from SD Card
e Menu Bounce
f Dim Game in Menu
2 Hotkeys
a Reset Hotkey
i Left
ii Right
iii Down
iv Up
v Start
vi A
vii B
viii C
b Menu Hotkey
i Left
ii Right
iii Down
iv Up
v Start
vi A
vii B
viii C
c Disable Hotkeys
d Passthrough Mode
3 Startup Options
a Boot Sequence Delay (1-10, 4)
b Title → Menu
c Title → Cartridges
d Menu Direct
e Cartridge Direct
4 Hardware
a USA (NTSC Export)
b Japan (NTSC Domestic)
c PAL Regions (PAL Export)
d PAL Extra (PAL Domestic)
e Force 3 Button Mode
f SD Card Speed
i Normal Speed
ii Fast
iii Faster
g Debug
i Disable YM2612 Channels
1 0
2 1
3 2
4 3
5 4
6 5
ii Disable PCM Audio
iii Show IRQs
iv Show Display Enable
v Highlight Scanline
1 Scanline Number (0-255, 0)
vi Highlight Pixel
1 Pixel Number (0-359,0)
5 LED Options
a Standby Color
b Center Pixel
c K-Pro Rainbow
d Load Custom Pattern
i File Browser
e Adjust Pattern
i Animate Pattern
ii Animate Speed (0-31, 16)
iii Pattern Position (0-255, 0)
f LED Brightness (0-31, 8)
D About
1 Special Thanks
2 Licensing
E Save/Clear Settings
1 Save Settings
2 Restore Factory Defaults

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Video Settings
Resolution
480p modes set a resolution of 640×480
(no widescreen borders are added to the signal)
720p modes set a resolution of 1280×720
1080p modes set a resolution of 1920×1080.
50p is intended for European and Australian PAL
games, all Japanese, American, South Korean and
Brazilian games use the NTSC 60p frame rate.
If you see visual artefacts like tearing (assuming the
single buer mode is o) or stuttering, check here
to make sure your refresh rate matches the refresh
rate of the game’s region. This setting should be
used in conjunction with the Hardware settings
in the System Submenu.
Mega Sg supports EDID (Extended Display
Identication Data) over HDMI. The display will
send EDID information over the HDMI cable telling
Mega Sg what display modes it supports.
You may get an unsupported display mode to work,
but if you do not, you may end up with no picture.
Some NTSC displays may not report 50p support
but will work with some or all 50p resolutions
anyway. Almost all European displays support 60p.
Mega Sg will start up with the highest resolution
and frame rate your monitor supports unless you
select a lower resolution setting
and save the settings.
The Sega Genesis/Mega Drive could display four
resolutions. The main resolutions are 320×224
and 256×224 pixels, with the former being more
common. Games can and sometimes do switch
resolutions from screen to screen. There are also
interlaced versions of these resolutions supporting
320×448 and 256×448 at 60/50 elds per second.
320×448 is used for Sonic 2’s 2-Player Vs. Mode
and Combat Cars 2-Player mode. 256×448 is used
for SeaQuest DSV’s submarine navigation scenes.
PAL games could also use 240-line/480-interlaced
line modes.
If you select a resolution that does not work, you
may see a black screen. You can still access the
menu and may be able to walk back your steps to
select a working resolution. If you cannot, then turn
o the console and press the reset button as you
press the power button. Release the reset button
and your console should boot up in 480p mode,
which is the most compatible mode supported by
Mega Sg.

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Video Settings
Width & Height
1. 480p Options
Minimum/Maximum Width (Horizontal Pixels) :
340/640
Horizontal Presets (at 288) :
x320 Width – 340 (1×320); 408 (Square Pixels); 640
x256 Width – 340; 408 (Square Pixels); 544 (2×256)
Horizontal Presets (at 1.5x) : x320 Width – 340
(1×320); 344 (4:3 for 16:9); 360 (1:1); 382 (4:3 for
16:10); 510 (Square Pixels); 640
x256 Width – 340; 344 (4:3 for 16:9); 360 (1:1); 382
(4:3 for 16:10); 510 (Square Pixels); 544 (2×256)
Horizontal Presets (at 2x) : x320 Width – 340
(1×320); 459 (4:3 for 16:9); 480 (1:1); 510 (4:3 for
16:10); 640
x256 Width – 340; 459 (4:3 for 16:9); 510 (4:3 for
16:10); 544 (2×256)
Minimum/Maximum Height (Vertical Pixels) :
288/480
Vertical Presets : 288, 360 (1.5x), 480 (2x)
Horizontal Position : 0-128
Vertical Position : 0-64
2. 720p Options
Minimum/Maximum Width (Horizontal Pixels) :
680/1280
Horizontal Presets (at 2x Vertical) : x320 Width –
680 (4:3 for 16:10) (2×320); 1020 (3×320); 1280
x256 Width – 680 (4:3 for 16:10); 816 (3×256); 1088
(4×256)
Horizontal Presets (at 2.5x Vertical) : x320 Width –
680 (2×320); 720 (1:1); 765 (4:3 for 16:9); 849 (4:3 for
16:10); 850 (Square Pixels); 1280
x256 Width – 680; 765 (4:3 for 16:9); 816 (3×256);
849 (4:3 for 16:10); 850 (Square Pixels); 1088
(4×256)
Horizontal Presets (at 3x Vertical) : x320 Width –
680 (2×320); 720 (1:1); 918 (4:3 for 16:9); 1019 (4:3
for 16:10); 1020 (Square Pixels) (3×320); 1280
x256 Width – 680; 720 (1:1); 816 (3×256); 918 (4:3 for
16:9); 1019 (4:3 for 16:10); 1088 (4×256)
Minimum/Maximum Height (Vertical Pixels) :
480/720
Vertical Presets : 480 (2x), 600 (2.5x), 720 (3x)
Horizontal Position : 0-128
Vertical Position : 0-64
3. 1080p Options
Minimum/Maximum Width (Horizontal Pixels) :
1020/1920
Horizontal Presets (at 4x Vertical) : x320 Width –
1020 (3×320); 1224 (4:3 for 16:9); 1360 (4:3 for 16:10)
(4×320); 1700 (5×320); 1920
x256 Width – 1020; 1088 (4×256); 1224 (4:3 for
16:9); 1360 (4:3 for 16:10) (5×256); 1632 (6×256);
1904 (7×256)
Horizontal Presets (at 4.5x Vertical) : x320 Width –
1020 (3×320); 1080 (1:1); 1360 (4×320); 1377 (4:3 for
16:9); 1530 (4:3 for 16:10); 1700 (5×320); 1920
x256 Width – 1020; 1080 (1:1); 1088 (4×256); 1360
(5×256); 1377 (4:3 for 16:9); 1530 (4:3 for 16:9); 1632
(6×256); 1904 (7×256)
Horizontal Presets (at 5x Vertical) : x320 Width –
1020 (3×320); 1200 (1:1); 1360 (4×320); 1530 (4:3
for 16:9); 1699 (4:3 for 16:10); 1700 (Square Pixels)
(5×320); 1920
x256 Width – 1020; 1088 (4×256); 1200 (1:1); 1360
(5×256); 1530 (4:3 for 16:9); 1632 (6×256); 1699 (4:3
for 16:10); 1904 (7×256)
Minimum/Maximum Height (Vertical Pixels) :
960/1200
Vertical Presets : 960 (4x), 1080 (4.5x), 1200 (5x)
Horizontal Position : 0-128
Vertical Position : 0-64

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Video Settings
Recommended Scaling Settings
If you are outputting your Mega Sg to a 1080p
or 4K native display and you care about seeing the
vertical borders, then you should use 4x vertical
scale. If you do not care then you should use a
5x vertical scale. Ideally, the Genesis/Mega Drive
displayed 320 pixels in a 32:35 or .91:1 ratio and 256
pixels in a 8:7 or 1.14:1 ratio.
720p - x320 Width 1020 (Square Pixels)
(3×320) / x256 1088 Width (4×256)
Horizontal Position 21
Height 720 (3x)
Vertical Position 39
720p 320×224 3x/3x
Width 1020 (Square Pixels) (3x)
Horizontal Position 27
Height 720
Vertical Position 39
1080p 4x - x320 Width 1360 (4:3 for 16:10)
(4×320) / x256 1360 Width (5×256)
Horizontal Position 19
Height 960
Vertical Position 51
1080p 320×224 4x/4x
Width 1360 (4:3 for 16:10) (4x) (5x 256p)
Horizontal Position 23
Height 960
Vertical Position 51
1080p 256×224 6x/5x
Width 1632 (6x 256p)
Horizontal Position 10
Height 1200
Vertical Position 47
1080p 5x - x320 Width 1700 (Square Pixels)
(5×320) / x256 1632 Width (6×256)
Horizontal Position 16
Height 1200
Vertical Position 47
Screen Size
In the simplied Screen Size setting, height settings
are given only for 1080p modes. Horizontal and
Vertical Interpolation are enabled and the Borders
are disabled.
Scalers
Several scalers are available if you wish to
apply them. “No scaler” uses nearest-neighbor
interpolation where the color of a pixel is repeated
horizontally and vertically as often as is necessary
to get to the desired scaled resolution. This results
in the sharpest, “pixel purist” graphics but can leave
uneven horizontal pixels if the scaled resolution
is not an integer multiple of the original resolution.
The HQ2x, HQ3x and HQ4x scalers interpolate a
pixel based on the surrounding pixels. The result
is generally a smoother image. The 2x, 3x and 4x
refer to blocks of pixels, and the larger the block,
the fewer colors will be used. Scale 2x and Scale 3x
use a somewhat dierent algorithm but produce a
similar result. X-Ray uses a simple algorithm to give
inverted black and white graphics.
Using scalers may shift the image slightly, alter the
colors considerably and will cause a little extra lag
due to the processing of the image required.
The Disable H and V Interpolation options are
useful with 8:7 and 4:3 for 16:9 or 16:10 modes with
no scaler. These modes subtly blend the edges
of pixels to make uneven nearest-neighbor scaled
pixels less noticeable. It can also eliminate shimmer
in scrolling backgrounds on LCD displays. Genesis/
Mega Drive games can freely switch between 320
and 256 pixel screens, so shimmering will be more
apparent than a NES or a SNES as a result without
integer scaling or interpolation. If you are using a
true integer horizontal or vertical scale, you should
not need to use these options.
When the Disable Horizontal or Vertical
Interpolation box is checked, that means the
interpolation is NOT being applied to the video.
You can set each form of interpolation
independently.

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Video Settings
Scanlines
Mega Sg can generate simulated scanlines to
reproduce the scanning beam structure of a CRT.
Normal Scanlines dim pixels by the same amount
regardless of the pixel’s color. Hybrid Scanlines
targets more realistic scanlines by adjusting for
gamma when dimming a pixel’s color. With hybrid
scanlines, darker objects have thicker scanlines
than brighter objects.
In the opinion of many people, the thickness of
the scanlines produced in 720p modes is the ideal
thickness. This dims every third line. Scanlines in
1080p modes dim every fourth (4x-4.5x) or fth (5x)
line. Some people view this as making the lines too
thin. Scalines in 480p mode dim every second line.
Some view these scanlines as too thick.
CRTs varied in their scanline thickness, with
higher quality displays tending to produce more
pronounced scanlines.
If you use scanlines, you may need adjust the
Vertical Position in the Width and Height from
the current setting to allow the scanlines to align
themselves with the top or bottom edge of each
line of scaled pixels. Having scanlines bisect a
scaled pixel is not ideal.
Extra Features
The Genesis/Mega Drive would show colored
borders on all four sides of the active display
area in many games. NTSC CRTs would typically
mask o most of these borders behind the
screen bezel, but PAL CRTs usually showed at least
some of the top and bottom borders.
Mega Sg can simulate this eect if you wish
by turning o the masking for the top and
bottom or left and right borders. The Genesis/
Mega Drive would also show colorful
ickering dots in the vertical borders which
represented entries into Color RAM, but the
Mega Sg does not simulate this artifact.
Dithering was a commonly used technique on
the Genesis/Mega Drive to blend colors of
adjacent pixels. With an RGB display, the pixels
would appear distinct and usually be in
a pattern of alternating vertical lines or a
checkerboard pattern where the pixels shift by
one every scanline. However, most people played
Genesis/Mega Drive through composite or RF
video. Composite video lacks the bandwidth to
show all pixels distinctly and will tend to blend
alternating patterns of two colored pixels.
Sometimes this was used as for transparency,
other times it would be used to show a mixed
color using the color directly generated by the
console. The slider will adjust the detection Mega
Sg uses to determine whether to blend
pixels or not.
Buer Mode
The buering modes on Mega Sg address the issue
that the Genesis/Mega Drive’s native NTSC frame
rate is 59.92275fps and the PAL rate is 49.70146fps.
A CRT can display these frame rates with ease but
modern displays and HDMI interfaces expect either
60fps. 59.94fps or 50fps and are generally not
tolerant of refresh rates that vary
from too far from the ocial frame rates.
Mega Sg has three modes that deal with the frame
rate dierential in dierent ways.
Fully Buered Mode buers full frames to maintain
the timing of a 59.92 frame rate using only 60fps.
This mode avoids tearing at the cost of latency.
Mega Sg must render at least 1 frame ahead
of the game’s internal rendering to stay ahead.
Zero Delay Mode speeds Mega Sg up to achieve
a true 60fps frame rate, a speed dierence of
0.13%. There is no latency penalty with this method
but this method causes Mega Sg to jump ahead by
about 1 second every 10 minutes compared to
an original Genesis/Mega Drive.
Single Buer Mode is something of a compromise
between the two methods described above.
Like the Full Buer option, the original timing is
being generated within Mega Sg. Unlike the Full
Buer, only a portion of the next frame is being pre-
rendered, giving latency of no more than 1 frame
depending on when the player activates an input.
The drawback is a recurring retrace line that is
visible once per every several seconds.

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Video Settings
Color
Limiting RGB Range adjusts the color output range
to accommodate those displays which do not
handle 24-bit RGB natively. Many LCDs found on
TVs do not show a full range of RGB for each of the
three primaries, red, green and blue. Each primary
color is represented by an 8-bit value, giving 256
levels of color for each primary. Full RGB displays
accept values of 0-255 for each color primary.
Limited RGB displays only accept values of 16-235,
with values below 15 being designated as black and
values above 235 being designated as white.
The identical RGB value will not produce the same
color in limited RGB versus full RGB because limited
RGB tries to cover the same color space as full RGB
but has fewer values to cover the range.
You should use Full RGB if your display supports
it. If you turn on the Limited RGB Option and see
black turn to dark gray, then you should not use
this option. If the black stays black, then keep this
option on.
The Lock Gamma Sliders Together option disables
your ability to set the gamma for Red, Green and
Blue independently.
Red, Green & Blue sliders can be set from 1.00 to
1.99 in .01 increments. You may come close to the
gamma of a CRT with the sliders at 1.20 without
scanlines and 1.40 with scanlines.
Advanced Mode
Enabling this option adds the Buer Mode, Extra
Features and Color options to the Video Submenu
and turns the simplied Screen Size options into
the Width & Height options.

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Audio Settings
All Sega Genesis/Mega Drive consoles include
two internal sources of sound. The rst is the six
channel, Yamaha YM2612 OPN2 Four Operator
Frequency Modulation Sound Generator. Later
Genesis/Mega Drive consoles integrate a slightly
dierent sounding YM3438 OPN2C. The second
is an integrated recreation of the four channel
Texas Instruments SN76489 Programmable Sound
Generator. Mega Sg also includes a DAC to allow
analog audio output via its headphone jack.
Headphone Output – Sets the volume level from
the headphone jack.
High Impedance Phones – If you are using studio-
grade headphones, select this option and Mega
Sg will try to provide the power necessary to drive
those phones. If you are using earbuds or typically
low impedance computer/gaming headsets,
leave this option unchecked. If your headphone’s
impedance is above 50 Ohms, then select this
option. If below 30 Ohms, leave it unchecked.
Between 30 and 50 Ohms, see which setting works
best for you. You will notice an increase in the
loudness of the audio with this item checked.
Channel Levels – Allows you to set the relative
volume levels of the FM and PSG sound sources.
The FM is inherently stereo, panning its output left
and right, so these outputs are aected. The PSG is
dual mono, so each channel is given its own volume
level. The default level should match a Genesis/
Mega Drive Model 1 with a discrete YM2612.
Channel Panning – Allows you to pan channels left
and right relative to center. The original YM2612
has stereo output, so these panning sliders can
inuence the inherent separation. The original chip
does have a certain amount of audio bleed.
The original PSG does not have stereo capabilities,
so this is an added feature. Set the sliders to 0 to
make the sound source mono.
-3db Output Cut – Some monitor embedded
speakers and soundbars clip or cannot recognize
a full-volume signal. This option reduces the
volume to reduce the peaks below their maximum
amount (0db). Try enabling this option if you are
not hearing any sound or hearing clipping sound
from Mega Sg.
Enable Cartridge & CD Audio – This option must be
turned on to hear audio from the Sega CD via Mega
Sg. Use this option to enable expansion audio from
a device like the Power Base Mini FM or the Mega
EverDrive v2/X7. Otherwise you should disable
this option if you are not using one of the above
because the audio inputs can pick up bus noise.
Swap Left & Right – This option reverses stereo.
Cartridge Audio Volume – Sets the volume of the
expansion audio.
Lowpass Filter – This allows you to apply a lowpass
lter to the audio output. You may wish to use this
to attenuate the higher frequency components of
FM audio. The slider allows you to specify a cuto
frequency from 100-20000Hz in 100Hz steps.
If you go too low the sound will start to sound
mued. The low pass lter is a 256-order low pass,
so the cuto frequency will sharply attenuate audio
above the set frequency. The lter will not aect
PSG audio or audio from any external source.
Ladder Eect Depth – This eect is sometimes
called DAC Noise, because the YM2612 sends its six
FM channels to its internal DAC sequentially, there
can be unnecessary noise or crossover distortion
produced when the audio is output. Some games
had their audio designed with this in mind and
sound less punchy when played in a system with
a YM3438, which almost totally eliminates the
eect. After Burner II is the classic example, set
the level to 4 or 5 to get a more analog sound when
playing that game.

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Audio Settings
YM2612 High Quality Mode – The YM2612’s
waveforms are expressed digitally using 14 bits,
but they are truncated to 9 bits when sent to the
internal DAC. When this Mode is turned on,
the 14 bit waveforms are not truncated, producing
a higher quality sound. This option is likely to be
appreciated with high amplitude audio where 9 bits
are insucient to express the full dynamic range
of which the audio is capable.
YM2612 Waveform – FM Synthesis works by one
or more waveforms modulating one or more other
waveforms. The YM2612 can only use a regular sine
wave, but other FM synthesizers like the YMF-262
could use other waveforms. By setting the value
of this parameter to something other than 0, you
can use many other waveforms for modulation:
0 Sine Wave
1 Half Sine
2 Rectied Sine
3 Quarter Sine
4 2x Sine
5 2x Rectied Sine
6 Square Wave
7 Exponential Wave
8 Clipped Sine
9 Half-Period Clipped Sine
10 Rectied Clipped Sine
11 Clipped Quarter Sine
12 2x Clipped Sine
13 2x Rectied Clipped Sine
14 Clipped Half Square
15 Half Exponent
16 Triangle Wave
17 Half Triangle
18 Rectied Triangle
19 Quarter Triangle
20 2x Triangle
21 2x Rectied Triangle
22 2x Rectied Square
23 2x Rectied Exponent
24 Sawtooth Wave
25 Half Sawtooth
26 Rectied Sawtooth
27 Quarter Sawtooth
28 2x Sawtooth
29 2x Half Sawtooth
30 2x Half Square
31 Half Exponent
The resulting sound may vary considerably from
what was intended, so the setting won’t be saved
when you Save Settings.

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System Settings
Menu Options
Skin – Use the Cartridge graphic and Highlight
color appropriate for the region selected.
Highlight Style – Used to indicate the current menu
option.
Highlight Color – Used to determine the color of
the current menu option.
Font – Changes the menu font, Alternate Font uses
a thicker, standard 8×8 font instead of the default
font.
The user loaded font allows you to select your own
font in place of those which come with the
Mega Sg. The load font option will bring you to the
le browser. If you have a directory called
FONT at the root of your SD card, it will default to
that directory to load a font le. The font
must use an 8×8 text box and must be represented
in binary in a 1-bit per pixel format. Each
character will take eight bytes to represent in this
format. The le must be 768 bytes in size
and use the extension .fnt. The characters in the le
will have to start at ASCII 20 (space)
and end at ASCII 7F (delete).
Menu Bounce – The menus will drop down instead
of instantly appearing.
Dim Game in Menu – The game will be dimmed
when the menu is active, making it easier to see the
menu options but more dicult to see the eects
of changing video parameters.
Controls & Hotkeys
Reset Hotkey - You can use almost any combination
of controller buttons and directionals for this option.
You cannot use the Up and Down or Left and Right
directionals at the same time. X,Y,Z and Mode
buttons are not supported.
Menu Hotkey – You can use almost any
combination of controller buttons and directionals
for this option. You cannot use the Up and Down
or Left and Right directionals at the same time.
X,Y,Z and Mode buttons are not supported.
Disable Hotkeys – If you wish to eliminate any
accidental triggering of the hotkeys, you can use
this option but you will not be able to return to the
menu without power cycling the console.
The state of this option will not be saved when you
Save Settings.
Passthrough Mode – If you are having trouble
with an unusual peripheral or wish to disable all
Mega Sg controller compatibility processing and
eliminate a tiny amount of latency required by that
processing, enable this mode. You can disable the
Passthrough Mode by pressing the reset button
down for two seconds. The state of this option will
not be saved when you Save Settings. This is more
likely to be useful for the Sega Master System Core,
see the Master System section
Startup Options
Boot Sequence Delay – This slider determines
how much of a delay will be used before the screen
will be activated. Some LCDs cannot handle
information immediately available from the HDMI
interface, so if you are not getting a picture you
may want to add a little delay to give the display
time to set up the picture parameters.
Title → Menu – Starts up directly with the Root
Menu after showing the startup sequence.
Title → Cartridges – Starts any cartridge inserted
in Mega Sg after showing the startup sequence
Menu Direct – Starts up directly with the Root
Menu without showing the startup sequence.
Cartridge Direct – Starts any cartridge inserted in
Mega Sg without showing the startup sequence.

analogue.co 17 / 23V1.1 March 2019
System Settings
Hardware
USA (NTSC Export) – Use for Games released in
North and South America
Japan (NTSC Domestic) – Use for Games released
in Japan and South Korea
PAL Regions (PAL Export) – Use for Games
released in Europe and Australasia
PAL Extra (PAL Domestic) – Extra option which
is not used by licensed games
The Genesis/Mega Drive uses region locking where
the cartridge reads the state of a pair of bits.
In some consoles, the state of these bits can be
changed by installing jumpers or a switch,
and these options replicate this. However, the
PAL options also set the speed and video timing to
PAL-compatible settings, so changing these bits in
mid-game may cause a game, which is currently
running, to crash. These settings should be set in
conjunction with 60p modes for NTSC and 50p
modes for PAL in the Video Submenu.
By 1992, most games would display some kind
of message when a console played a game from
the wrong region and would refuse to progress.
Some games just give a single color screen or, for
companies such as Konami, just a generic logo.
In that case, change the region to the correct
region and reset.
Auto Region Detection will allow you to play a game
even if the game is not correct for the
region set by Mega Sg. When this option is active, it
will show the Region the console is
being forced to use below the option’s text. The
change in the region is only temporary and
nothing will appear if the region matches the
console’s settings. Some games are multi-region,
so Mega Sg prioritizes USA over Japan, then Japan
over PAL Regions with this
option.
Force 3 Button Mode
Some games will not function correctly with a
6 button controller, so use this option if you are
experiencing controller diculties. Most games
which have diculties with 6 button controllers
on original hardware will work ne on Mega Sg.
American Gladiators, John Madden Football, Ms.
Pac-Man, Olympic Gold: Barcelona ‘92 and Second
Samurai are examples of games which require this
option to be enabled on Mega Sg.
YM3438 Busy Behavior
The YM3438 has slightly dierent behavior when
telling the system that it is ready to receive data
compared to the YM2612. A few games do not
account for the varying behaviors and as a result
the speed of their music may not be ideal. If this
option is checked, then the music in Hellre will run
slower than intended. Earthworm Jim should have it
checked, the music is slower than it should be with
the YM2612’s behavior.
SD Card Speed
This option allows for SD card access in the File
Browser via three speed settings for loading les :
Normal Speed, Fast and Faster.
Unless your SD card is really slow, you should be
OK with Faster. Lower the speed down if you are
having trouble loading Files.
Debug
Disable YM2612 Channels – Allows you to
individually disable each of the YM2612’s channels.
Disable PCM Audio – Turns o the sampled sound
processing mode feature of Channel 5, FM audio,
which is synthesized sound, will still be heard
through Channel 5.
Show IRQs – Shows IRQs active on any scanline
or portion thereof in red. The Genesis/Mega
Drive can generate an IRQ on any scanline and can
generate an IRQ on each scanline. IRQs are often
used for advanced graphical techniques.

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System Settings
Debug Options Cont.
Display Enable – Will show a blue screen or blue
area of the screen whenever the display is inactive.
The Display can be enabled on any scanline.
Disabling the display gives the programmer more
resources to accomplish other tasks.
Highlight Scanline – Shows a green horizontal line
on the line on the accompanying slider.
Highlight Pixel – Shows a green vertical line on the
pixel column selected on the accompanying slider.
LED Options
These options control the colors displayed by Mega
Sg’s RGB LED.
Standby Color – LED Color is solid White.
Center Pixel – LED Color will be whatever the pixel
in the center of the screen’s color is. If you choose
this option, you may not see the LED show color
when the system turns on if you boot to the menu
because the center pixel is black.
K-Pro Rainbow – LED Color cycles through the
rainbow.
Load Custom Pattern – Allows you to load a custom
pattern contained on the SD card. Will send you to
a File Browser. Pattern les are 768 bytes in size.
Here is a link to a few custom patterns.
Adjust Pattern – These options allow you to adjust
the animation speed and position of the pattern
selected in the previous menu.
Animate Pattern – Will disable animation and leave
the LED set to the last displayed color if disabled.
Equivalent to setting the Animate Speed to 0.
Animate Speed – Determines the speed at which
the LED changes colors, higher numbers give faster
transitions.
Pattern Position – Determines the currently
displayed color within the pattern. Each pattern
consists of 256 RGB values.
LED Brightness – Determines the brightness of
the LED in a slider, 0 turns the LED o.
Save/Clear Settings
Save Settings – Saves menu settings to Mega Sg’s
internal ash memory.
Restore Factory Defaults – Restores Factory
Defaults, so take notes of your settings prior
to updating.
Tools
Cheat Codes
Enable Checked Codes – Activates and Deactivates
Codes individually. Up to six standard Game Genie
codes can be entered, Codes #1-#6. A code
is entered by moving the D-pad to the box and
pressing A to advance the numbers and letters.
You can only go forward from A-Z & 0-9, not
backward. Genesis/Mega Drive Game Genie
codes do not use the letters I, O, Q or U.
Controller Settings
Runs a small program that lets you test the
controller directionals and buttons.

analogue.co 19 / 23V1.1 March 2019
Playing
Sega Master
System Games
Included with your Mega Sg purchase is an
adapter for Sega Master System cartridges.
With the Adapter you can use Sega Master
System Cartridges.
Master System
Cartridge
Master System
Adapter
Mega Sg
Sega CD Spacer

analogue.co 20 / 23V1.1 March 2019
Master System Video Settings
The NTSC Master System only supports one video
mode, 256×192. Many games will show solid-
color borders above and below the active screen
image for 48 lines. In addition, some games may
mask the rst left eight pixel columns and show
the border color, giving an eective 248×192
resolution. Horizontal borders outside the 256-pixel
active display area are not shown, so when you
calculate horizontal scaling you must use 256-pixel
increments. The PAL Master System adds a
256×224 resolution, but that resolution is only used
in Codemasters’ games.
Cropping is added to the Video menu to allow you
to crop all four sides of the screen if you wish.
If you wish to remove the top horizontal border,
use 23, the bottom border, use 25, and the left
side border, use 8.
1. 480p Options
Minimum/Maximum Width (Horizontal Pixels) :
384/640
Horizontal Presets (at 2x Vertical) : 384, 438 (4:3
for 16:9), 480 (1:1), 487 (4:3 for 16:9), 512 (2x), 548
(Square Pixels), 640
Minimum/Maximum Height (Vertical Pixels) :
480/480
Vertical Presets : 480 (2x)
Horizontal Position : 0-128
Vertical Position : 0-64
2. 720p Options
Minimum/Maximum Width (Horizontal Pixels) :
512/1280
Horizontal Presets (at 2x Vertical) :
512 (2x), 548 (Square Pixels), 585 (4:3 for 16:9), 650
(4:3 for 16:10), 768 (3x), 1024 (4x), 1280 (5x)
Horizontal Presets (at 2.5x Vertical) :
512 (2x), 600 (1:1), 685 (Square Pixels), 731 (4:3 for
16:9), 768 (3x), 812 (4:3 for 16:10), 1024 (4x), 1280 (5x)
Horizontal Presets (at 3x Vertical) :
512 (2x), 720 (1:1), 768 (3x), 822 (Square Pixels), 877
(4:3 for 16:9), 975 (4:3 for 16:10), 1024 (4x), 1280 (5x)
Minimum/Maximum Height (Vertical Pixels) :
480/720
Vertical Presets : 480 (2x), 600 (2.5x), 720 (3x)
Horizontal Position : 0-128
Vertical Position : 0-64
3. 1080p Options
Minimum/Maximum Width (Horizontal Pixels) :
768/1920 (1080 visible maximum)
Horizontal Presets (at 4x Vertical) :
768 (3x), 960 (1:1), 1024 (4x), 1097 (Square Pixels),
1170 (4:3 for 16:9), 1280 (5x), 1300 (4:3 for 16:10),
1536 (6x), 1792 (7x), 1920
Horizontal Presets (at 4.5x Vertical) :
768 (3x), 1024 (4x), 1080 (1:1), 1234 (Square Pixels),
1280 (5x), 1316 (4:3 for 16:9), 1462 (4:3 for 16:10),
1536 (6x), 1792 (7x), 1920
Horizontal Presets (at 5x Vertical) :
768 (3x), 1024 (4x), 1200 (1:1), 1280 (5x), 1371 (Square
Pixels), 1462 (4:3 for 16:9), 1536 (6x), 1625 (4:3 for
16:10), 1792 (7x), 1920
Minimum/Maximum Height (Vertical Pixels) :
960/1200
Vertical Presets : 960 (4x), 1080 (4.5x), 1200 (5x)
Horizontal Position : 0-128
Vertical Position : 0-64