1200XL - Clearpic or SuperVideo 2.1?

[+Guitarman]

Title says it all. Which is the preferred video upgrade for the 1200XL?

[STeSearcher]

I wanna know the answer to this too. My 1200XL is still a virgin and needs that mod...

[+remowilliams]

I've wondered about it as well. My 1200XL has the SuperVideo 2.1 upgrade, and it is the sharpest, cleanest looking video I've ever seen from any A8.

[Beetle]

What is the difference between the two? Mega-Hz did "a Video upgrade", but my Super Video 2.1 upgraded 800XL looks far better.

[JayoK]

Me too. My new 1200XL arrived yesterday and I'd like to know how to get the best from it.

[+bf2k+]

Anyone have any matching screen dumps of the two mods?

 

None of my 8 bits have video mods, AFAIK.

[charliecron]

Well I did the Clearpic 2002, it's different then the clearpic..so I voted 'other'

 

I chose the clearpic 2002 because well, it's Bob Wooley, the man knows his 1200xl's. The instructions are super simple, the components were relativley easy to come by, not a lot wiring (1). Nice and clean..and let me tell you, it looks awesome. Though the composite out is better, in alot of cases there is more bleeding than before the mod, but at least there is composite out, the original clearpic did not have composite out I believe..

[+Guitarman]

Well I did the Clearpic 2002, it's different then the clearpic..so I voted 'other'

 

I chose the clearpic 2002 because well, it's Bob Wooley, the man knows his 1200xl's. The instructions are super simple, the components were relativley easy to come by, not a lot wiring (1). Nice and clean..and let me tell you, it looks awesome. Though the composite out is better, in alot of cases there is more bleeding than before the mod, but at least there is composite out, the original clearpic did not have composite out I believe..

 

 

If not using composite, what are you using??

[+Guitarman]

Since I have 1 1200XL with SuperVideo upgrade, I may perform the others on my other 1200XL's and do a comparison.

[charliecron]

Well I did the Clearpic 2002, it's different then the clearpic..so I voted 'other'

 

I chose the clearpic 2002 because well, it's Bob Wooley, the man knows his 1200xl's. The instructions are super simple, the components were relativley easy to come by, not a lot wiring (1). Nice and clean..and let me tell you, it looks awesome. Though the composite out is better, in alot of cases there is more bleeding than before the mod, but at least there is composite out, the original clearpic did not have composite out I believe..

 

 

If not using composite, what are you using??

 

I'm using seperate Chroma/Luma on a Commodore 1702..

[Gunstar]

I can't vote, and maybe there are many who can't like me, since I've only ever done the SuperVideo 2 upgrade. Which I am quite happy with. How many people have actually done more than one version of this upgrade? I'm not sure a poll is the best way to find out which is best.

[Beetle]

Here are actual links to the three 1200XL videomods i know of.

 

Here is the original Clearpic

Here is the Clearpic2002

Here you find the S-Video 2.1

 

Just in case someone wants to take a look at them

 

Greets,

Beetle

[Beetle]

Now some pictures:

 

Here are two shots of my Supervideo 2.1 upgraded 600XL,

connected via seperate Chroma/Luma to my C=1084S.

This mod leaves the choice of generating composite video

by a switch. The following screenshot are made with the

composite generation left active.

 

 

even software 80 column characters are perfectly readable,

no (in this case) annoying artifacting left. That is, of course,

not everyones intention. Some games use artifacting for getting

some color onto the screen, but with PAL this works bad anyway,

so i can live without it.

 

It's even readable on my 4" CRT TV set!

Edited April 13, 2007 by Beetle

[Gunstar]

Now some pictures:

 

Here are two shots of my Supervideo 2.1 upgraded 600XL,

connected via seperate Chroma/Luma to my C=1084S.

This mod leaves the choice of generating composite video

by a switch. The following screenshot are made with the

composite generation left active.

 

 

even software 80 column characters are perfectly readable,

no (in this case) annoying artifacting left. That is, of course,

not everyones intention. Some games use artifacting for getting

some color onto the screen, but with PAL this works bad anyway,

so i can live without it.

 

It's even readable on my 4" CRT TV set!

 

It is nice to have the composite/S-video switch on the 1084s isn't it? I really love being able to choose between the composite artifacting and chroma/lumina without it at a touch of a button, instead of having to change cables/connections via plugging and unplugging jacks. And yet, the composite video is still nearly as clean and sharp as chroma/lumina.

[hueyjones70]

Is there a set of updated instructions for the supervideo 2.1 upgrade for the 1200XL? I know there is one for the 800XL which instructs the user to replace resistors rather that piggybacking in order to achieve the desired resistance.

[BillC]

Is there a set of updated instructions for the supervideo 2.1 upgrade for the 1200XL? I know there is one for the 800XL which instructs the user to replace resistors rather that piggybacking in order to achieve the desired resistance.

Piggybacking resistors would have the same affect as a singe one of equivalent value, the single just looks neater.

 

Brian's UAV mod is a more recent solution: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/260267-the-uav-rev-d-video-upgrade-thread/page-1

[+slx]

UAV mod.

[Gunstar]

Is there a set of updated instructions for the supervideo 2.1 upgrade for the 1200XL? I know there is one for the 800XL which instructs the user to replace resistors rather that piggybacking in order to achieve the desired resistance.

The link below includes instructions for the 1200XL version of Supervideo 2.1, it is a unique version as it takes advantage of a chroma-boost circuit that is in the 1200XL but not in any other 8-bit model, and no other video upgrade, as far as I know, incorporates the chroma-boost circuit of the 1200XL into their version of 1200XL video upgrades. That's why SV 2.1 is the best for the 1200XL, and only the 1200XL. As sharp or sharper than any of the other upgrades with video/s-video output, but with far better color saturation without bleeding, true reds too.

 

http://ftp.pigwa.net/stuff/collections/nir_dary_cds/Hardware%20Projects/Super%20Video%202.1XL/supervid5.html

Edited November 8, 2017 by Gunstar

[ACML]

The Super Video 2.1 was written before ClearPIC2002. Does anyone have a back to back comparison between this and the ClearPic2002? I've never accomplished the Super Video 2.1, but I've upgraded a dozen 1200XLs with ClearPic2002. The results are awesome. The quality of the ClearPic2002 is equal to or better than the original 800.

Edited November 8, 2017 by ACML

[Gunstar]

SV 2.1 on the 1200XL makes 800 chroma/luma S-video look like RF. I've never done any clearpic mods yet on any machines, but I don't have to try it on a 1200XL to know it won't be as good if it doesn't use the 1200XL Chroma boost circuit as described in the SV 2.1 instructions above. I do know for sure that any stock video output from an 800, 600XL, 800XL and 130XE's I've owned are terrible in comparison. I literally compare the quality of my SV 2.1 s-video output to Atari ST RGB. I literally had an STE and my 1200XL hooked up to the same 1084S monitor and would switch between RGB and chroma/luma inputs and couldn't believe my eyes at how well my 1200XL compared to my STE's video. Now I have my 1200XL s-video out going into an VGA converter upscaler and the image is as sharp as if it started out as VGA. I'm laughing at the superior intellect of VBXE RGB out...Kahn.

 

BUT, I cannot stress enough that I think the SuperVideo 2.1 upgrade is best for ONLY the 1200XL, NOT necessarily for any other machine. Clearpic 2002 may indeed outperform SV 2.1 on any other Atari 8-bit. Because it gets major help from the 1200XL's unique chroma-boost circuit. If the chroma-boost circuit of the 1200XL can be incorporated into Clearpic 2002 mod like is done with SV 2.1 mod, then maybe...

 

If we were talking about ANY other Atari 8-bit, then I'd choose Clearpic 2002 or UAV board.

Edited November 9, 2017 by Gunstar

[ACML]

SV 2.1 on the 1200XL makes 800 chroma/luma S-video look like RF. I've never done any clearpic mods yet on any machines, but I don't have to try it on a 1200XL to know it won't be as good if it doesn't use the 1200XL Chroma boost circuit as described in the SV 2.1 instructions above. I do know for sure that any stock video output from an 800, 600XL, 800XL and 130XE's I've owned are terrible in comparison. I literally compare the quality of my SV 2.1 s-video output to Atari ST RGB. I literally had an STE and my 1200XL hooked up to the same 1084S monitor and would switch between RGB and chroma/luma inputs and couldn't believe my eyes at how well my 1200XL compared to my STE's video. Now I have my 1200XL s-video out going into an VGA converter upscaler and the image is as sharp as if it started out as VGA. I'm laughing at the superior intellect of VBXE RGB out...Kahn.

 

BUT, I cannot stress enough that I think the SuperVideo 2.1 upgrade is best for ONLY the 1200XL, NOT necessarily for any other machine. Clearpic 2002 may indeed outperform SV 2.1 on any other Atari 8-bit. Because it gets major help from the 1200XL's unique chroma-boost circuit. If the chroma-boost circuit of the 1200XL can be incorporated into Clearpic 2002 mod like is done with SV 2.1 mod, then maybe...

 

If we were talking about ANY other Atari 8-bit, then I'd choose Clearpic 2002 or UAV board.

You've got me curious. Surely someone has done both. Hey Bob, care to weigh in on this? So you're saying Clearpic2002 does not exploit the chroma boost? What is the key component or location to pick off the boosted chroma signal?

[hueyjones70]

I just finished applying the supervideo 2.1 to my 1200XL and the color and clarity is fantastic. I can read the 80 column print from The Last Word with no trouble at all. I was not able to do that with my upgraded 800XL, the upgraded 130XE, or the 800XL with the UAV-D. I also removed the RF modulator box. I don't know if that had any effect or not but I am going to remove the RF next time I do a mod on an 800XL.

[Gunstar]

I just finished applying the supervideo 2.1 to my 1200XL and the color and clarity is fantastic. I can read the 80 column print from The Last Word with no trouble at all. I was not able to do that with my upgraded 800XL, the upgraded 130XE, or the 800XL with the UAV-D. I also removed the RF modulator box. I don't know if that had any effect or not but I am going to remove the RF next time I do a mod on an 800XL.

RF box always has some effect no matter what, best to remove it, as I did long ago. It gives you more room for upgrades anyway. I used the spot for stereo headphone jack output board for my dual-POKEY upgrade. I also re-purposed the channel switch for a composite/S-video switch for the SV 2.1 upgrade.

Edited November 18, 2017 by Gunstar

[Gunstar]

You've got me curious. Surely someone has done both. Hey Bob, care to weigh in on this? So you're saying Clearpic2002 does not exploit the chroma boost? What is the key component or location to pick off the boosted chroma signal?

It's been so long since I did the SV2.1 I'd have to look through the upgrade instructions again to know, something you could do on your own as well as me, I'm sure. I've never tried any clearpic mod since SV 2.1 works so well, for 1200XL due to the chroma boost circuit. I've only ever done 1200XL video mods since that's all I owned until recently. I now have an 800XL that I intend to try the Clearpic 2002 mod on when I get around to it, since it has no chroma boost circuit anyway.

Edited November 18, 2017 by Gunstar

[Gunstar]

 

If not using composite, what are you using??

That would be the other video output known as chroma/luma which is the same as S-video.