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CyberTech 2600 to VGA adapter - working prototype (RFC)


cwilkson

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Hi all,

 

I managed to clean up my prototype enough that I can show a photo without being embarassed. It's still pretty ugly, but mosty on the bottom. Here it is:

post-260-1239964243_thumb.jpg

 

The 5xBNC cable in the photo is connected directly to the VGA input of my Viewsonic 29GA monitor (29" CRT). Here is a screenshot. I used Space Invaders for the high contrast levels - to help my sad camera take a decent shot.

post-260-1239964263_thumb.jpg

 

How many people would be interested in purchasing one of these when it's ready? I don't have a price in mind yet because I just used parts I had lying around and this will change when I layout a dedicated PCB. How much would you pay?

 

-Chris

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I do have some questions. Are you going to design different boards for the different models of 2600 and can this mod work on a 7800?
I have done different boards in the past. I also did a version with a single board that would work in any model. Or at least all the ones I tested with. I've done NTSC and PAL in the past, but I will probably limit this one to NTSC consoles. I don't think there's much point in doing a full-on VGA board for the limited PAL and SECAM palettes. This will work with 2600 games on the 7800 because I tap the TIA directly. The concept should work with the 7800 as a system too. But I haven't gotten that far yet.
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That's impressive! How well does it handle the various scan line counts? Can PAL games still be played on NTSC systems? I'm able to do that now as my CyberTech is driving my old C=1084S.
The way I chose to implement it, it has no understanding of "line count". It's just like the TIA...it'll keep scanning down until the software says stop. I think any limits would be due to the signal falling outside the vertical capabilites of the monitor. Hmm. That may be a problem. I think 50 Hz may be below the bottom cutoff for a lot of monitors. I didn't think about that. Dang it! Let me do some testing.
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That's impressive! How well does it handle the various scan line counts? Can PAL games still be played on NTSC systems? I'm able to do that now as my CyberTech is driving my old C=1084S.
The way I chose to implement it, it has no understanding of "line count". It's just like the TIA...it'll keep scanning down until the software says stop. I think any limits would be due to the signal falling outside the vertical capabilites of the monitor. Hmm. That may be a problem. I think 50 Hz may be below the bottom cutoff for a lot of monitors. I didn't think about that. Dang it! Let me do some testing.

I just tried what I thought was a PAL version of Centipede (from Atariage). It works fine using a monitor on which it should fail. Turns out the ROM is identical to the NTSC version. Do you have an example of a PAL only ROM I can check out?

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I'd love to have one since I've specifically purchased a NTSC 2600jr some time ago for composite-modding purposes and still have it lying around intact!

I also think $50 would be fair for it.

 

I just tried what I thought was a PAL version of Centipede (from Atariage). It works fine using a monitor on which it should fail. Turns out the ROM is identical to the NTSC version. Do you have an example of a PAL only ROM I can check out?

Humm, if it's a full PAL rom you need to test, I'd be honored if you'd try the PAL version of Space Treat Deluxe! (contained in the zip).

It displays 312 lines.

 

Regards,

Fabrizio.-

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Humm, if it's a full PAL rom you need to test, I'd be honored if you'd try the PAL version of Space Treat Deluxe! (contained in the zip).

It displays 312 lines.

Thank you Fabrizio. This is much better. (That is, it fails. :|)

Space Treat runs at 50.32 Hz on my NTSC Jr. It works fine on my big Viewsonic which claims VSYNC down to 50 Hz. But it falls in and out of sync on the Dell 1702FP which claims VSYNC down to 56 Hz. So the verdict is in. If you want to run PAL games through this board, you'll need a monitor (or other display device) that can sync all the way down to 50 Hz.

 

BTW, I forgot how good this game is. I got sucked into it for about 15 minutes, even with no sound. Well done, sir!

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Thank you Fabrizio. This is much better. (That is, it fails. :|)

Space Treat runs at 50.32 Hz on my NTSC Jr. It works fine on my big Viewsonic which claims VSYNC down to 50 Hz. But it falls in and out of sync on the Dell 1702FP which claims VSYNC down to 56 Hz. So the verdict is in. If you want to run PAL games through this board, you'll need a monitor (or other display device) that can sync all the way down to 50 Hz.

Ok fine, I'll still get one of your VGA adapters... for $49! :D

 

BTW, I forgot how good this game is. I got sucked into it for about 15 minutes, even with no sound. Well done, sir!

I'm really glad you like it!!! Probably disabling sound even benefits the experience! :roll:

(I promise I'll try harder with sound effects next time!)

 

Regards!

Fabrizio.-

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I'd buy one for sure, and pay up to $75 (really... that's only the cost of three large pizzas w/drinks). But I don't think most other people would pay that much. I'd say $49.95 would be the magic number.

 

(BTW - I love the picture with the screwdriver jammed into the 2600. :D)

Edited by Nathan Strum
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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

No. Couldn't get any beta testers. So I shelved the project. It's still there, ready to go, but I've been doing other stuff.

You should consider allowing beta testers who live outside your city (I recall that you required them to be driving distance?)

 

I shipped Harmony carts all over the world while they were in the testing phase. Well, there was one tester in my area who I was able to meet in person, but one tester wouldn't have been enough.

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No. Couldn't get any beta testers. So I shelved the project. It's still there, ready to go, but I've been doing other stuff.

You should consider allowing beta testers who live outside your city (I recall that you required them to be driving distance?)

 

I shipped Harmony carts all over the world while they were in the testing phase. Well, there was one tester in my area who I was able to meet in person, but one tester wouldn't have been enough.

Yeah, I considered broadening the search. In fact, I expanded it to all of Cali. But it seemed everyone was too busy at the time. I would have to do updates in person and the sad truth is I can't afford to ship the things back and forth. Meh...it's waited 10 years, it can wait some more. Edited by cwilkson
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  • 8 years later...

Yeah, I considered broadening the search. In fact, I expanded it to all of Cali. But it seemed everyone was too busy at the time. I would have to do updates in person and the sad truth is I can't afford to ship the things back and forth. Meh...it's waited 10 years, it can wait some more.

Hello! It is now 2018! What happend to this? Did you continue with the build?

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Hello! It is now 2018! What happend to this? Did you continue with the build?

No, the project is mothballed. I have one. It's quite nice. But that one and my backup are the only ones in existence. There just was not enough interest to support the development and I couldn't find help with testing when i needed it. I've considered taking the project out of mothballs a few times over the years, because it offers higher quality and some features that I haven't seen on the other converter projects that are available. But I don't really see the point as everyone seems to be happy with the individual format converters that are available elsewhere. I could be wrong...

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No, the project is mothballed. I have one. It's quite nice. But that one and my backup are the only ones in existence. There just was not enough interest to support the development and I couldn't find help with testing when i needed it. I've considered taking the project out of mothballs a few times over the years, because it offers higher quality and some features that I haven't seen on the other converter projects that are available. But I don't really see the point as everyone seems to be happy with the individual format converters that are available elsewhere. I could be wrong...

Well, sorry to hear this. If you ever change your mind, please tell me! :-)

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