bitfracture Posted January 20, 2014 Share Posted January 20, 2014 I have an old Atari 800 XL in great condition, but it only seems to display readable video output on my Zenith monochrome monitor. When I plug the DIN to A/V cable into any TV, I get the color channels horizontally separating several pixels, which makes any fonts or other small sprites rainbow and blurry. I was hoping I could get some information on what causes this, if it is incompatibility with new TV's or the video chip messing up, I'm not sure. All I know is that my monochrome monitor displays things perfectly. I have heard something about NTSC vs. PAL and I really don't know which this machine is or what difference it would make considering one of the TVs I tested the machine on is European. Thank you to anyone who can help me on this. I can provide pictures if requested. Thanks, BitFracture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClausB Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Have you tried only LCD TVs? My cheap LCD delays the color signal by nearly a whole color clock, causing color fringes. Is that what you see? Try an old CRT color TV to make sure the XL is OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitfracture Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 (edited) Have you tried only LCD TVs? My cheap LCD delays the color signal by nearly a whole color clock, causing color fringes. Is that what you see? Try an old CRT color TV to make sure the XL is OK. I have tried both LCD and CRT TV's. I am concerned that something is not synchronizing correctly. I will get some pictures of the problem ASAP tomorrow so we can see if my problem matches your experience. Edited January 21, 2014 by bitfracture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbking67 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Does the RF output work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feather Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Show images. You have access to the signal s-video (monitor, TV)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitfracture Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 (edited) Show images. You have access to the signal s-video (monitor, TV)? I have tested it on a TV through the video composite connector, which are a component of s-vid. Does the RF output work? Actually, it does... I forgot that was an option! Is the video processed two ways? Or is something maybe just a little screwy with the one output type? The signal through RF is always fuzzy, just due to the nature of the signal type, and I am still very interested in making the direct video line work correctly. I have attached pictures of them. I apologize that my camera somehow got knocked onto the lowest resolution... trying to hide my anger at it! Either way I think they get the point accross. First off, the pictures on an LCD turned out better, but the result is exactly the same as on a CRT. Pictures up close: And here are some pics of the perfectly working monochrome display And an example of the working video out on RF Thank you all for the help, It is much appreciated! Edited January 21, 2014 by bitfracture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClausB Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Wow. That's much worse than my LCD. Do you have another video cable to try? Where did you get this one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClausB Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 (edited) Double post. Edited January 22, 2014 by ClausB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClausB Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 (edited) Triple post. Really?! Edited January 22, 2014 by ClausB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feather Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 In my 800XL was similar for composite video. After installing the s-video is okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitfracture Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 In my 800XL was similar for composite video. After installing the s-video is okay. Was this a system modification? Or did you simply feed it through the different input? Wow. That's much worse than my LCD. Do you have another video cable to try? Where did you get this one? I have no other cables to test with, but I am very inclined to believe the cable is fine. Nothing changes no matter how I wiggle it about. ALSO, I routed the video through my computer capture card and now it is way easier to see what's going on with the video separating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Looks like cable is luma chroma cable, You might try a composite cable. I just dug out an 800xl with the video mod and it looked exactly like this... I had it plugged into LED TV and CRT. Swapped the cable to composite. Problem solved, wanted better video and hacked the luma chroma cable to s-video connector. Plugged that in and now VERY nice display from both cables! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClausB Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Oh, right, the factory 800XL had no chroma connection. Was yours modified for chroma with a resistor or just a wire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitfracture Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 (edited) Oh, right, the factory 800XL had no chroma connection. Was yours modified for chroma with a resistor or just a wire? My main board didn't appear to have any modifications. This thing is all vanilla as far as I can see. Looks like cable is luma chroma cable, You might try a composite cable. I just dug out an 800xl with the video mod and it looked exactly like this... I had it plugged into LED TV and CRT. Swapped the cable to composite. Problem solved, wanted better video and hacked the luma chroma cable to s-video connector. Plugged that in and now VERY nice display from both cables! Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Finding 5-pin DIN to anything is hard... do you recommend I look anywhere in particular? I don't know how I will know if the cable is one type or another... I don't want to cut this one because I also use it with my TI99/4A (which happens to have a burnt out video processor at the moment, but I will fix that too!). But yeah, I need some guidance as to what I need to look for and buy. I can experiment with solder leads and alligator clips for now if you guys can tell me which pins to plug into Thanks guys Edited January 22, 2014 by bitfracture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 A 100 ohm resistor is in series with the wire. Some may choose 75 but I think I chose 100 for a reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitfracture Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 (edited) A 100 ohm resistor is in series with the wire. Some may choose 75 but I think I chose 100 for a reason. Okay. But I also tried this: And that's connected to a cut-open composite connector, and boom, perfect video. The resistor stuff will help if I want to create a cable, but really all I need is a cable that does exactly what the above diagram does. Preferably also having sound output like my current cable. Edited January 22, 2014 by bitfracture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitfracture Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 I am going to create another topic about an unrelated problem with my 800 XL setup, if y'all don't mind checking it out, that would be fantastic. Thanks for your help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 (edited) the pin out is floating all around Atari age. Glad to see you have what you need. I you wanted to go all the way I suggest reading and trying this mod http://www.mathyvannisselroy.nl/Super%20Video%20XL%20XE%20plus%20errata.pdf Edited January 22, 2014 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bitfracture Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 (edited) I think that link got a little messed up Edit: Thanks Edited January 22, 2014 by bitfracture Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 click it again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feather Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 See also: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/41580-quick-easy-video-upgrade-for-800xl/?hl=%20s ... or (tested - works, but in PAL): http://atarionline.pl/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=1525&page=1#Item_32 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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