5-11under

Hi Vectorman0, There's other circuits out there for composite and I think S-Video, which you should perhaps consider, which don't even really need a PCB. The circuit I've made takes the three outputs directly from the Video Display Processor, and transform them into a YPbPr/Component signal with as little signal degradation or processing as possible. Thanks, 5-11under Vectorman0 want to know if he can have component and s-video in the same CV. Would adding one of the other S-video mods out there affect this component mod. I am also interested in this as I would like both on mine as well. Occasionally I want to take my CV in a different room or to a friend's house and component is not always an option. Let me do a bit more investigation on this. I'll post when I've got the answer, hopefully tonight. In the past, I've had difficulty with the quality of the component video when trying this... but that was a while back, and other things have changed in the design in the meantime. Thanks, 5-11under I've tried this again, and there is a definite loss in quality when keeping the original circuitry. Thanks, 5-11under

Hi Vectorman0, There's other circuits out there for composite and I think S-Video, which you should perhaps consider, which don't even really need a PCB. The circuit I've made takes the three outputs directly from the Video Display Processor, and transform them into a YPbPr/Component signal with as little signal degradation or processing as possible. Thanks, 5-11under Vectorman0 want to know if he can have component and s-video in the same CV. Would adding one of the other S-video mods out there affect this component mod. I am also interested in this as I would like both on mine as well. Occasionally I want to take my CV in a different room or to a friend's house and component is not always an option. Let me do a bit more investigation on this. I'll post when I've got the answer, hopefully tonight. In the past, I've had difficulty with the quality of the component video when trying this... but that was a while back, and other things have changed in the design in the meantime. Thanks, 5-11under

Hi Steve, It's my own design (almost as much as anyone could say that about any design, at least). The ColecoVision outputs Y, B-Y, and R-Y natively, but at different levels than standard YPbPr/component. When you bring the "B" and "R" levels down to where they need to be, the associated "-Y" levels also change. This needs to be compensated for, otherwise the colours, especially the yellows, will be muted. The "Y" compensation on the "B-Y" and "R-Y" lines is the essence of the design, which makes it different than the ones I've seen pictures of. I've tried it with several monitors/TVs/converters so far, including a 42" Westinghouse, ~20" Panasonic(?), 12" Sony, a component to HDMI converter, and a component to VGA converter. The component to VGA converter requires some potentiometer adjustments, but the others looked fairly similar to each other. Thanks, 5-11under Edit: clarification on the design.

Hi Vectorman0, There's other circuits out there for composite and I think S-Video, which you should perhaps consider, which don't even really need a PCB. The circuit I've made takes the three outputs directly from the Video Display Processor, and transform them into a YPbPr/Component signal with as little signal degradation or processing as possible. Thanks, 5-11under

Star Castle was my favourite. Thanks, 5-11under

Hi boog, Here's the basic steps: Take the ColecoVision apart - 8(?) screws on the bottom, then "weasel" it apart - don't remove the front panel! Remove the shielding - two more screws, and likely either removing or desoldering some wire braid from the shielding. Removal of one inductor and two wire jumpers (and ideally desoldering the appropriate holes). Connecting 7 wires to the ColecoVision board: three at the video points opened up in the previous step, one for audio after temporarily popping open the lid of the RF modulator (most likely location), and three others for EM #1 (Atari2600) video, 5V and ground (best locations still to be determined). Drilling of the back panel of the ColecoVision case, to handle two mounting brackets, six RCA jacks, and if you like, 5 small holes for the trimmer potentiometers (also may require some clipping of some inner plastic that may be in the way) - some sort of template will be provided. Adjustments to the shielding - I still need to check this, but it will involve either cutting with tin snips or my preferred method of hacking with cutters and pliers, followed by covering up the edges with electrical tape. Installing the mod to the back of the case with the bolts provided. Putting everything back together. I think that's it. As you can see, there's still some details I need to figure out. I'll document the installation of the first proper unit, with pictures and descriptions of the process and end result, which will become the installation instructions. Thanks, 5-11under

I should mention it will be a video test cartridge, but I'll see if I can add a few other things, too. Depends on time. Thanks, 5-11under

Yes, it should work with PAL, as far as I can tell. Your ColecoVision can be the guinea pig. I'll give you a good deal if you get the mod done fairly quickly, and report the results. Any other PAL users who want to reserve one can do so, and we'll do the payment and shipping after cubelindo has reported back. I'm a bit scared of sending to Spain, but I'll give it another shot; I think your postman has someone's copy of Squares! and JetPack. Thanks, 5-11under

Hi there, I've started a thread with some information regarding a component (YPbPr) modification that I'll be selling, but thought I should ad it here, because it's almost in the "Marketplace". Hopefully that's okay. Here's the link with some of the details: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/153635-component-video-mod-for-colecovision/ Reserve in either thread, but please follow the link for technical questions, etc. The cost will be $45 each, and early reservations will get a bonus test cartridge, without the casing. Thanks, 5-11under

By the way, I've only been advertising these on AA so far... Are there other places I should advertise? What other consoles use the TMS9928A or TMS9929A, as opposed to the TMS9918A? Thanks, 5-11under

I've done some tweaks to the PCB layout, to make it look as clean as possible. I've got some verification to do, after which I'll be ordering the boards. Delivery should be 1-2 weeks, so hopefully by the first week or two of December, I'll have the first proper one built. At this point, I'm hoping to mail out all the reserved ones by December 18 (2009). Payment won't be required until the boards are populated and tested. I'll be buying at least a few extra boards, but if you make a reservation in this thread (or by PM if you prefer) by this Wednesday (Nov. 25), I'll make sure your reservation is fulfilled. As an added incentive, anyone who reserves by Wednesday (or anytime before I order the boards - I'll post here when the deadline has passed) will get one free test cartridge, minus the casing (easily installed into an old Donkey Kong cartridge, for instance ). This will make it easier to perform any tweaking to the colours, if required. I'll think of an added incentive for anyone ordering two or more (like maybe a cartridge casing). Thanks, 5-11under

In fact , it was also for the SECAM Market not only PAL. All my SECAM Colecovision are labelled CBS Colecovision. Do all the SECAM units have a SCART connector? Thanks, 5-11under

Thanks for the interest so far! I've shortened the wires between the ColecoVision and the prototype video mod, and have a somewhat cleaner picture. Here's a un-edited screen image: Now I need extension cables for the controllers. Thanks, 5-11under Edit: picture taken at 1/45 second exposure this time, rather than automatic. Murph74, I'll think about offering installations, but it's a pain with shipping charges both ways.

There's a lot of good games there! Now all we need are the ROMs to the rarer ones. Thanks, 5-11under

I'll have to look at the posted pictures, to see if you're on there, and if I remember you. 5-11under

Pictures resized: The mock-up, vaguely showing the layout of the board (lots of stuff missing, but hopefully gets the idea across): Video images, resized and converted to PNG for easier viewing: Download the zip files if you need to see the full-size images. I've added circuitry to the PCB layout to smooth the solid colours better (not shown yet). The colours look pretty close to what I see on my TV (although the monitor you're looking at now is another variable). The colours could use some adjustment to saturate the yellows and other colours a bit. This is fully adjustable by the user. Sorry if I'm spelling "colours" wrong Thanks, 5-11under

Hi there, I tried uploading some pictures, as described below, but I guess jpg files are not allowed. For now, see the attached zip files containing the pictures... The first picture is a mock-up (emphasis on mock) of the PCB. The final version will have more RCA connectors and potentiometers, and look much better. It gives the idea, though, showing position of the RCA connectors, potentiometers, and mounting hardware. The next pictures are of my TV, showing video results of the prototype. It looks like I need to add more smoothing, to get rid of the vertical lines that show up, when the colours should be solid. Once the proper boards come in, I'll work on that detail. Ignore the horizontal lines on the test pattern - there's an issue with the program that I haven't bothered fixing. These photos are not retouched at all. Thanks, 5-11under 100_4404.zip 100_4412.zip

Yes, my Atariage mailbox is full. 500 messages is the actual limit... I need to clean it up. ...hmmm, the AtariAge online store is offline again. * EDIT * Another video format review of this game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv5HTORWpGU Mispronounced my last name a couple of times, but it's good to have one more review about the game! Yikes, sorry about that! Hey, I even saw Squares! on there. Anyway, nice video (although I scrolled through it quickly)... it's good to see people enthusiastic about a game. It's motivating, for me. Thanks, 5-11under

Hi Ikrananka, I only have NTSC consoles. I'm running directly off of the TMS9928A's pins 35, 36, and 38. I'm guessing this would work just as well from a TMS9929A. I'll post some pictures sometime, for sure. No, I haven't seen the screen "tearing". One one TV, I have seen some "subpixels" (as I'll call them) flipping near the top of the screen. Not enough to make me go back to RF or composite. Thanks, 5-11under

Hi there, I'm almost ready to order some PCBs for a Component (YPbPr) video modification kit for the ColecoVision. Included will be: Three RCA jacks (Green, Blue, Red) for Y, Pb, and Pr Two RCA jacks (White, Red) for audio (same signal on both) One RCA jack (Yellow) for Atari2600 Expansion module composite output Mounting brackets for back of ColecoVision Wires (7) to connect to the ColecoVision board Five potentiometers to control the color PCB with solder mask Instructions in some form or other Drilling instructions and/or template The potentiometers are part of the mod PCB. These can be controlled from the back of the case, if you've drilled the associated holes. I'm not sure if all the potentiometers are required or not, but they're provided, in case of differences in the ColecoVision output and the television input. This is a kit. You (or someone you know) will need to open the case, make holes in the back, modify the metal shielding around the ColecoVision PCB, connect some wires to the ColecoVision PCB, bolt the mod PCB to the back of the case, and close the case up again. The PCB will be fully assembled, by me, of course. The PCB layout is nearly completed. Following that, I'll likely build one more prototype, based on the layout, to minimize risk (although it depends on how many are interested). Pictures of the PCB and screen output to follow at some point. The price will be $45 US via PayPal, including mailing to US and Canadian addresses. This is just an interest check at the moment. I'll set up a purchase thread when I'm ready for that stage. Reply (or PM) if you're interested in purchasing one (or more). Reply if you have any questions. Thanks, 5-11under

I don't know how you guys didn't find this. Seems pretty easy to me. 5-11under

Is this really true? I don't see it. 5-11under You don't see jealousy and hate... me too. The CV homebrew scene is very active, with more programmers year after year, more games year after year, more programming tools year after year... you see the pattern. So, in my humble opinion, this is very good; the situation of the CV homebrew scene is very positive in fact. I saw something today... anyway, it's definitely an exciting time, with lots of new (and old - Penguin Land and Fireman) games newly available in 2009. Have fun everyone, 5-11under

It still uses some power when plugged in. Sorry, can't bother measuring it, 5-11under

Look online. There's places that do this sort of work... of course the lower the quantity, the higher the price. 5-11under

Is this really true? I don't see it. 5-11under