7" portable digital TV with double AV-in

[JohnBuell]

Mods, feel free to move this to an appropriate forum, I wasn't sure where to put it in.

 

As I mentioned in the 8-Bit eBay thread, I discovered a $49 portable TV on jcp.com:

http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?ItemTyp=G&itemID=178c67b&GrpTyp=PRD&ShowMenu=T&ShopBy=0&SearchString=TV&RefPage=SearchDepartment.aspx&s4PageSize=15&CmCatId=searchresults&Search1Prod=True&S4Filter=N|4294964560|Ntt|TV|Ntk|search_all|Nao|0|Nty|1|sid|126BC8C85F75|Ntx|mode%2bmatchallpartial|Ntpr|1|Ntpc|1&Refinements=4294964560|Product+Type|tv+%2b+video+electronics

 

It shipped USPS and came today in a small box. I've got it charging right now, but already, depending on how the picture actually turns out, it has potential. It comes with a Li-Ion battery built in (supposedly up to 6 hours), the two av jacks (but only one triple RCA [yellow, red, white] to 3pin mini-plug adapter), and the antenna can unscrew and become coax in. It also comes with remote, batteries for the remote, a set of earbuds, a car power adapter and a mount!

 

I don't know if 3pin mini-plug is the right name - it looks like a headphone stereo plug, but with three stripes on it, for left/right audio and video, a lot like early iBooks used to do for output out of a single jack.

 

Anyway, I've got some of the Jakks Pacific controllers, a Flashback 1 (with a 2+ on the way hopefully soon), and my 800XL and XEGS all of which I want to try and see how they look. So more later, complete with photographs!

[+Stephen]

Mods, feel free to move this to an appropriate forum, I wasn't sure where to put it in.

 

As I mentioned in the 8-Bit eBay thread, I discovered a $49 portable TV on jcp.com:

http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?ItemTyp=G&itemID=178c67b&GrpTyp=PRD&ShowMenu=T&ShopBy=0&SearchString=TV&RefPage=SearchDepartment.aspx&s4PageSize=15&CmCatId=searchresults&Search1Prod=True&S4Filter=N|4294964560|Ntt|TV|Ntk|search_all|Nao|0|Nty|1|sid|126BC8C85F75|Ntx|mode%2bmatchallpartial|Ntpr|1|Ntpc|1&Refinements=4294964560|Product+Type|tv+%2b+video+electronics

 

It shipped USPS and came today in a small box. I've got it charging right now, but already, depending on how the picture actually turns out, it has potential. It comes with a Li-Ion battery built in (supposedly up to 6 hours), the two av jacks (but only one triple RCA [yellow, red, white] to 3pin mini-plug adapter), and the antenna can unscrew and become coax in. It also comes with remote, batteries for the remote, a set of earbuds, a car power adapter and a mount!

 

I don't know if 3pin mini-plug is the right name - it looks like a headphone stereo plug, but with three stripes on it, for left/right audio and video, a lot like early iBooks used to do for output out of a single jack.

 

Anyway, I've got some of the Jakks Pacific controllers, a Flashback 1 (with a 2+ on the way hopefully soon), and my 800XL and XEGS all of which I want to try and see how they look. So more later, complete with photographs!

Please let us know how the old Ataris look on this screen.

 

Stephen Anderson

[atariksi]

Mods, feel free to move this to an appropriate forum, I wasn't sure where to put it in.

 

As I mentioned in the 8-Bit eBay thread, I discovered a $49 portable TV on jcp.com:

http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?ItemTyp=G&itemID=178c67b&GrpTyp=PRD&ShowMenu=T&ShopBy=0&SearchString=TV&RefPage=SearchDepartment.aspx&s4PageSize=15&CmCatId=searchresults&Search1Prod=True&S4Filter=N|4294964560|Ntt|TV|Ntk|search_all|Nao|0|Nty|1|sid|126BC8C85F75|Ntx|mode%2bmatchallpartial|Ntpr|1|Ntpc|1&Refinements=4294964560|Product+Type|tv+%2b+video+electronics

 

It shipped USPS and came today in a small box. I've got it charging right now, but already, depending on how the picture actually turns out, it has potential. It comes with a Li-Ion battery built in (supposedly up to 6 hours), the two av jacks (but only one triple RCA [yellow, red, white] to 3pin mini-plug adapter), and the antenna can unscrew and become coax in. It also comes with remote, batteries for the remote, a set of earbuds, a car power adapter and a mount!

 

I don't know if 3pin mini-plug is the right name - it looks like a headphone stereo plug, but with three stripes on it, for left/right audio and video, a lot like early iBooks used to do for output out of a single jack.

 

Anyway, I've got some of the Jakks Pacific controllers, a Flashback 1 (with a 2+ on the way hopefully soon), and my 800XL and XEGS all of which I want to try and see how they look. So more later, complete with photographs!

 

It states in that link:

 

Note: TV does not work while in motion.

 

Maybe they are just referring to the RF reception of digital channels. If they are referring to A/V inputs don't work while in motion, that may indicate a bad design.

 

It may be better if it had a power output connection so some console can be powered by it. That way, both console and TV would be portable. I don't know of any XL/XE/A800 running on batteries.

[+5-11under]

Mods, feel free to move this to an appropriate forum, I wasn't sure where to put it in.

 

As I mentioned in the 8-Bit eBay thread, I discovered a $49 portable TV on jcp.com:

http://www3.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?ItemTyp=G&itemID=178c67b&GrpTyp=PRD&ShowMenu=T&ShopBy=0&SearchString=TV&RefPage=SearchDepartment.aspx&s4PageSize=15&CmCatId=searchresults&Search1Prod=True&S4Filter=N|4294964560|Ntt|TV|Ntk|search_all|Nao|0|Nty|1|sid|126BC8C85F75|Ntx|mode%2bmatchallpartial|Ntpr|1|Ntpc|1&Refinements=4294964560|Product+Type|tv+%2b+video+electronics

 

It shipped USPS and came today in a small box. I've got it charging right now, but already, depending on how the picture actually turns out, it has potential. It comes with a Li-Ion battery built in (supposedly up to 6 hours), the two av jacks (but only one triple RCA [yellow, red, white] to 3pin mini-plug adapter), and the antenna can unscrew and become coax in. It also comes with remote, batteries for the remote, a set of earbuds, a car power adapter and a mount!

 

I don't know if 3pin mini-plug is the right name - it looks like a headphone stereo plug, but with three stripes on it, for left/right audio and video, a lot like early iBooks used to do for output out of a single jack.

 

Anyway, I've got some of the Jakks Pacific controllers, a Flashback 1 (with a 2+ on the way hopefully soon), and my 800XL and XEGS all of which I want to try and see how they look. So more later, complete with photographs!

 

It states in that link:

 

Note: TV does not work while in motion.

 

Maybe they are just referring to the RF reception of digital channels. If they are referring to A/V inputs don't work while in motion, that may indicate a bad design.

 

It may be better if it had a power output connection so some console can be powered by it. That way, both console and TV would be portable. I don't know of any XL/XE/A800 running on batteries.

 

Probably they mean don't bother trying to watch a TV show when you're in a vehicle going 60 mph.

5-11uner

[nonner242]

Cant wait to hear how it looks!

Or how long it lasts?

[atariksi]

Cant wait to hear how it looks!

Or how long it lasts?

 

Keep waiting because it doesn't last long enough to test. Perhaps that's why the original poster hasn't replied yet. By the time he gets home, he has moved the device and damaged it. So he goes back to get a replacement but once again, he has to move it in order to get home. He's now contemplating using Zeno's paradox that there's no motion in the world.

[JamesD]

If I remember correctly, the ATSC standard is difficult to process while in motion and many chipsets can't handle it. I think it had something to do with handling multi-path signals.

[nonner242]

Cant wait to hear how it looks!

Or how long it lasts?

 

Keep waiting because it doesn't last long enough to test. Perhaps that's why the original poster hasn't replied yet. By the time he gets home, he has moved the device and damaged it. So he goes back to get a replacement but once again, he has to move it in order to get home. He's now contemplating using Zeno's paradox that there's no motion in the world.

 

Didn't think of that!

..hmmm I dont think I need all that hassel

[JohnBuell]

No, the original poster is just trying not to piss the wife off with yet another techno gadget in the house.

 

Yes, the bit about not using it in motion has to do with TV reception. As I figured, I can't get doodly squat in the townhome (previous experiments with an external indoor antenna and a multi-input flatscreen monitor got me Chicago's Fox and WCIU and that's it).

The video input, however, works like a TREAT. Since the Namco/Activision/Jakks games are all battery powered, it would be an easy way to take them on the road (if you don't have one of those new fangled cars with drop down screens).

 

 

 

 

On to the photos!

 

 

Edited February 22, 2010 by JohnBuell

[JohnBuell]

This is the monitor unit by itself.

 

Same thing, but with the earbuds and video adapter cable plugged into the right side

 

My first four test subjects at the bottom. Tetris, Activision 10-in-one, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man (not in that order).

[JohnBuell]

Title shot of Tetris. Note the monitor's remote at the bottom left.

Edited February 21, 2010 by JohnBuell

[JohnBuell]

2600/Activision Fans! I know a portable 2600 is NOT a new idea at all (and has been done many times, actually), but I thought these looked pretty cool on a wide screen. The only game that wasn't really playable was Atlantis (and I didn't take photos of all 10, just 5), and Atlantis was unplayable because you couldn't see any of your guns actually firing at anything flying overhead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JohnBuell]

Screenshots from the Jakks Pacific Ms. Pac Man 5-in-one:

 

The main problem I had with this was NOT getting any sound at all. But that was the controller, not the monitor unit. I had no trouble with the other three games I tried tonight. Except that with Tetris, the right earbud kept cutting in and out, so I don't know yet if that was the earbuds, or the headphone jack. That's on my list to test tomorrow.

 

 

Sorry for all the muckups with attachments, neither Firefox nor Opera seem to like the multi-uploader on Ubuntu.

Edited February 22, 2010 by JohnBuell

[nonner242]

So what do you think so far?

Sound

Sharpness

Blurring

What couldnt you see on Atlantis?...stuff off screen?

 

 

[JohnBuell]

So what do you think so far?

Sound

Sharpness

Blurring

What couldnt you see on Atlantis?...stuff off screen?

 

 

 

Sound seems excellent, except for the problem that I need to narrow down to being either cheap-came-with-the-package earbuds or the headphone jack. If it's the latter, that's one strike against it right there.

 

Sharpness - extremely high. Compared to the larger, but CRT-based TV I originally played these games on, everything is a lot crisper.

Blurring - nothing noticed yet, but I really only played a couple of quick games just to see what worked/what didn't.

 

You get no sense of which gun is firing in Atlantis - can't see any bullets/rays or whatever they're supposed to shoot. I can't remember and I even had the original cartridge as a kid!

 

I'll try to upload the rest of the Ms. Pac Man/Pac Man photos later, maybe from a Mac or Windows.

[Syfo-Dyas]

Can you try out Theta Music Composer 2 and let me know if it cuts off the very top and bottom of the screen?

 

Download: Theta Music Composer 2

 

Edited February 22, 2010 by Syfo-Dyas

[JohnBuell]

 

Sound seems excellent, except for the problem that I need to narrow down to being either cheap-came-with-the-package earbuds or the headphone jack. If it's the latter, that's one strike against it right there.

 

 

So I tried plugging in a DVD player and a pair of Sony headphones. It was definitely the cheap earbuds that came with the monitor, as the Sony headphones gave me full stereo sound.

 

The only other place where I noticed trouble was using AtariWriter 80 - it cuts off the top of the screen.

[JohnBuell]

Can you try out Theta Music Composer 2 and let me know if it cuts off the very top and bottom of the screen?

 

Download: Theta Music Composer 2

 

 

Yes, I sure will once I've got the cables that I need to transfer .atr files

[JohnBuell]

More screenshots:

 

Here are the other three shots from the Jakks Pacific/Namco Ms. Pac-Man controller

 

Xevious

 

Galaga

 

Ms Pac-Man

[JohnBuell]

Jakks Pacific/Namco Pac-Man controller:

 

main menu

 

Pac-Man

 

Galaxian

 

Rally-X

 

Dig-Dug

 

Bosconian

[JohnBuell]

Jakks Pacific/Atari Paddle Controller:

 

Main Menu

 

Arcade Warlords

 

Arcade Pong

 

2600 Warlords

 

2600 Casino

[JohnBuell]

XEGS:

 

Food Fight

 

AirBall - the "darkened room" levels were nearly impossible to see on the little screen.

 

Into the Eagle's Nest

 

Missile Command (built in version)

 

FS2 - I was VERY surprised that this was legible and nothing was cut off!

[JohnBuell]

AtariWriter 80 (on the same XEGS, with XEP80 and 1050):

 

 

Sears Target Chase (loaded off a 1010):

 

AtariArtist:

[JohnBuell]

All in all, I think it's a cool little monitor, for $50. If I could find a way to use a Y-power adapter in my car and adapt the XEGS for using an automobile power outlet, road trip! Although heck, portable arcade Pac-Man on a 7" screen isn't too bad....

 

Any other requests of software titles or hardware configurations to test, let me know!

[+Stephen]

I have a request - can you please try FlickerTerm with this. If it displays correctly, a bunch of ____________________ characters will be in a nice straight line. I have a suspicion it will look like _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ though because the deinterlacers get fooled by the Atari's signal (there is no odd/even field offset by one scanline).

 

Stephen Anderson