How hard would it be to make a component video out for the 7800?

[Underball]

I already did the easier composite video mod, and it looks pretty great, but I'm wondering if making a component video mod (red, green, blue : Yr Pr Pb) is even possible.

 

The reason I ask - my brand new Samsung LCD HDTV for gaming doesn't have an S-video port. In fact - I've found that pretty much all of the better brand names have now started to leave S-Video ports out of their newer (2009 and up) models, as it's a dated format. Most TV/CE manufacturers seem to have settled on leaving composite video and standard coax RF as the only legacy input jacks on their newer model TV's.

[tep392]

I already did the easier composite video mod, and it looks pretty great, but I'm wondering if making a component video mod (red, green, blue : Yr Pr Pb) is even possible.

 

The reason I ask - my brand new Samsung LCD HDTV for gaming doesn't have an S-video port. In fact - I've found that pretty much all of the better brand names have now started to leave S-Video ports out of their newer (2009 and up) models, as it's a dated format. Most TV/CE manufacturers seem to have settled on leaving composite video and standard coax RF as the only legacy input jacks on their newer model TV's.

 

Anything is possible, but it would not be simple like what you have already done with the s-video. The Atari already produced the signal you needed for s-video. RGB/component would require some video processing and a fairly complex circuit. You would be better off buying a commercially produced s-video/composite to component converter. Most are expensive, but there are some <$100 solutions out there.

[phonedork]

I already did the easier composite video mod, and it looks pretty great, but I'm wondering if making a component video mod (red, green, blue : Yr Pr Pb) is even possible.

 

The reason I ask - my brand new Samsung LCD HDTV for gaming doesn't have an S-video port. In fact - I've found that pretty much all of the better brand names have now started to leave S-Video ports out of their newer (2009 and up) models, as it's a dated format. Most TV/CE manufacturers seem to have settled on leaving composite video and standard coax RF as the only legacy input jacks on their newer model TV's.

 

Anything is possible, but it would not be simple like what you have already done with the s-video. The Atari already produced the signal you needed for s-video. RGB/component would require some video processing and a fairly complex circuit. You would be better off buying a commercially produced s-video/composite to component converter. Most are expensive, but there are some <$100 solutions out there.

 

Thats not true component!

[tep392]

I already did the easier composite video mod, and it looks pretty great, but I'm wondering if making a component video mod (red, green, blue : Yr Pr Pb) is even possible.

 

The reason I ask - my brand new Samsung LCD HDTV for gaming doesn't have an S-video port. In fact - I've found that pretty much all of the better brand names have now started to leave S-Video ports out of their newer (2009 and up) models, as it's a dated format. Most TV/CE manufacturers seem to have settled on leaving composite video and standard coax RF as the only legacy input jacks on their newer model TV's.

 

Anything is possible, but it would not be simple like what you have already done with the s-video. The Atari already produced the signal you needed for s-video. RGB/component would require some video processing and a fairly complex circuit. You would be better off buying a commercially produced s-video/composite to component converter. Most are expensive, but there are some <$100 solutions out there.

 

Thats not true component!

 

 

Not true component, but I think the OP is just looking for a solution to his input problem. Besides, true component would be overkill for the resolution/color capability of these machines

[gdement]

The reason I ask - my brand new Samsung LCD HDTV for gaming doesn't have an S-video port. In fact - I've found that pretty much all of the better brand names have now started to leave S-Video ports out of their newer (2009 and up) models, as it's a dated format. Most TV/CE manufacturers seem to have settled on leaving composite video and standard coax RF as the only legacy input jacks on their newer model TV's.

That's disappointing. S-Video is really the most practical and effective mod for most older consoles. Most of them natively output chroma/luma from their video chips but it's rare to have any component or RGB signals to tap into. That's also the situation with the 7800 Maria chip. It outputs chroma on 1 pin and uses 4 pins (binary signal) to control luminance.

 

If possible, I'd be inclined to trade that TV with another one, so you can have SVideo for your game systems.

 

 

 

Thats not true component!

No, but if there's no SVideo port available, then converting it to component is a decent workaround. At least it would maintain more quality than downgrading to composite.

[Underball]

I already did the easier composite video mod, and it looks pretty great, but I'm wondering if making a component video mod (red, green, blue : Yr Pr Pb) is even possible.

 

The reason I ask - my brand new Samsung LCD HDTV for gaming doesn't have an S-video port. In fact - I've found that pretty much all of the better brand names have now started to leave S-Video ports out of their newer (2009 and up) models, as it's a dated format. Most TV/CE manufacturers seem to have settled on leaving composite video and standard coax RF as the only legacy input jacks on their newer model TV's.

 

Anything is possible, but it would not be simple like what you have already done with the s-video. The Atari already produced the signal you needed for s-video. RGB/component would require some video processing and a fairly complex circuit. You would be better off buying a commercially produced s-video/composite to component converter. Most are expensive, but there are some <$100 solutions out there.

 

Thats not true component!

 

 

Not true component, but I think the OP is just looking for a solution to his input problem. Besides, true component would be overkill for the resolution/color capability of these machines

Actually this is wrong, on both counts.

 

I have, and can use composite video as stated above. I was looking to see if component was possible so I could up the image quality/clarity. Composite NTSC video is notorious for slightly ghosted images and NTSC color artifacting. Component video essentially eliminates this issue. Your suggestion would really be no different than using my existing composite video connection, but with more pieces in between to lower the signal quality and clarity even further.

 

As an update - I've done a bit more work the the existing "easier 7800 composite video mode", and now it looks fantastic. Just needed to add a 10k trim pot to both the 2600 and 7800 chroma resistors, instead of the original fixed value resistors. Cleaned up things very nicely.

 

Also - using high quality shielded RCA component cables for the video signal significantly improved the quality and eliminated the interference I was seeing when using low quality standard (unshielded) RCA video cables.

[tep392]

I already did the easier composite video mod, and it looks pretty great, but I'm wondering if making a component video mod (red, green, blue : Yr Pr Pb) is even possible.

 

The reason I ask - my brand new Samsung LCD HDTV for gaming doesn't have an S-video port. In fact - I've found that pretty much all of the better brand names have now started to leave S-Video ports out of their newer (2009 and up) models, as it's a dated format. Most TV/CE manufacturers seem to have settled on leaving composite video and standard coax RF as the only legacy input jacks on their newer model TV's.

 

Anything is possible, but it would not be simple like what you have already done with the s-video. The Atari already produced the signal you needed for s-video. RGB/component would require some video processing and a fairly complex circuit. You would be better off buying a commercially produced s-video/composite to component converter. Most are expensive, but there are some <$100 solutions out there.

 

Thats not true component!

 

 

Not true component, but I think the OP is just looking for a solution to his input problem. Besides, true component would be overkill for the resolution/color capability of these machines

Actually this is wrong, on both counts.

 

I have, and can use composite video as stated above. I was looking to see if component was possible so I could up the image quality/clarity. Composite NTSC video is notorious for slightly ghosted images and NTSC color artifacting. Component video essentially eliminates this issue. Your suggestion would really be no different than using my existing composite video connection, but with more pieces in between to lower the signal quality and clarity even further.

 

As an update - I've done a bit more work the the existing "easier 7800 composite video mode", and now it looks fantastic. Just needed to add a 10k trim pot to both the 2600 and 7800 chroma resistors, instead of the original fixed value resistors. Cleaned up things very nicely.

 

Also - using high quality shielded RCA component cables for the video signal significantly improved the quality and eliminated the interference I was seeing when using low quality standard (unshielded) RCA video cables.

 

I think a test would be needed to confirm if s-video-> component is better or worse than composite. S-video is better than composite. Would really depend on the quality of the converter. The video chip is designed for a chroma and luma output, so s-video would be the closest to what is being produced at the hardware level. Any kind of component output hack would fundamentally be an s-video -> component converter, so would could only degrade the signal. Wether or not the degredation is visible, would depend on the quality of the hardware.

 

It sounds like your happy composite output though, so no need to spend money on a converter.

[Longhorn Engineer]

If you use high quality chips you should not lose any quality going from S-video to Component. You will not gain any quality but you should not lose any. I have not seen any Analog S-video to Analog Component chips but you can convert S-video to a digital RGB then to whatever you please pretty easy. One of these days I am going to whip up a HDMI Atari 7800 for giggles.