What Is Your Main/Favorite Atari 8-bit Computer Display Used and Why?

[SHiNjide]

SONY PVM-2130QM Studio Monitor

 

I love this thing. I play all my retro computers and consoles on it, it's a beauty!

[jk40001]

Pal converted 1200xl with VBXE hooked up to Atari sc1435 monitor is my everyday runner.

[+slx]

Taxan Vision EX 12" composite (with "smoked" anti-glare screen). Looking for a PVM type monitor but 12/14" seem to be hard to find here.

[+therealbountybob]

I prefer using the Atari with a 14" CRT on the desk (yes at eye level) you get immersed in the thing, not that I have a large screen modern TV! Feels nice and authentic and I guess the programmers had this in mind for their efforts. Just playing Gyruss in the HSC and you get amazing phosphor trails around the screen not sure if these happen on LCD/Plasma etc.

[Mr.Amiga500]

I like the Atari connected to my CRT TV, 34" flat square tube. It has nice contrast and most importantly, nice glowing rounded pixels.

 

I have tried the Atari on Commodore 1084 and 1080 monitors and it looks fine there too, but it looks so much better on the TV.

[WizWor]

Great idea for a poll and comments. One of the reasons I like the XEGS is that it has very good composite out, so I can use a stock machine with a lot of televisions. To use a game that requires a light gun, there is only one choice -- a CRT. I have a 36" Sony tube which satisfies this requirement. Most of the time, though, my XEGS is hooked to a 15.6" lcd. It looks great and can be set up anywhere.

[Drummerboy]

I just choose the setup i use. C=1084s, ther C=Commodore monitor and Amdek Monitor.

[Level42]

I use the "Most beautiful television in the world"......

 

Well I kinda agree, definitly the most beautiful CRT televsion I've ever seen:

 

Bang & Olufsen MX4000, 51cm.

 

 

Pro's:

- No Trinitron but great Philips tube (and technology)

- does NTSC and PAL without any problems

- great Stereo sound for my dual Pokey

- fantastic picture

- composite, S-video and RGB through SCART (2x)

- flattest CRT (I mean front to back size) you'll ever find

 

I use S-video for the Atari 600XL PAL which is my main machine. Although (thankfully) the PAL 600XL's came with a monitor output I did do some mods and the picture is fabulous.

 

These TVs were "TVs for the rich" when they were new but now you can pick them up REALLY cheap

 

I also have a Philips CM-8833 and that works great too but it's too small for my taste now. Use it mainly as test-monitor for arcade stuff.

 

BITD I started with a tiny b/w Philips TV in which friends had hacked a monochrome video input, razor sharp it was Later I used a C 1702.

 

I will never use a flat-screen for all the reasons already mentioned by other CRT users here

Edited February 23, 2015 by Level42

[adam242]

I use a Commodore 1702 with my 'PAL' 800 connected via the S-video jacks on the back, and my 1200XL plugged into the composite jacks on the front. This way I can easily switch between the two without unplugging anything. 1702 handles both 50hz and 60hz scan frequencies with no trouble.

 

The 1702 has a wonderfully crisp display, but is still period-correct with the pleasant glowing pixels, visible scan lines and other CRT goodness. Nothing beats a CRT.

 

The 800 has the R189 mod - display is near perfect - and the 1200XL has the SuperVideo 2.1 upgrade.

[+MrFish]

Bang & Olufsen MX4000, 51cm.

 

 

Pro's:

- No Trinitron but great Philips tube (and technology)

- does NTSC and PAL without any problems

- great Stereo sound for my dual Pokey

- fantastic picture

- composite, S-video and RGB through SCART (2x)

- flattest CRT (I mean front to back size) you'll ever find

 

Interesting set; thanks for posting the info. I'd never seen one before.

[Level42]

My pleasure...

 

Here it is in action...

Edited February 24, 2015 by Level42

[+MrFish]

My pleasure...

 

Here it is in action...

 

I'm guessing they're not easy to get ahold of though.

[+MrFish]

Only one user so far using VBXE in their main display connection? I find that a little more than surprising.

[Level42]

I'm guessing they're not easy to get ahold of though.

There are 16 on marktplaats.nl now: http://www.marktplaats.nl/z.html?query=Mx4000

And that's just here in The Netherlands. They were sold all over Europe though.

 

Also I only did a search for "mx4000", there might be more if I just searched for the brand name, sometimes people even don't include that...

 

Granted, some think they still can get 200 euro for one, but that's crazy for any CRT TV today.

 

But if you look you can find them much cheaper.

 

I have no idea if B&O ever exported to North America though....

Edited February 24, 2015 by Level42

[+MrFish]

There are 16 on marktplaats.nl now: http://www.marktplaats.nl/z.html?query=Mx4000

And that's just here in The Netherlands. They were sold all over Europe though.

 

Also I only did a search for "mx4000", there might be more if I just searched for the brand name, sometimes people even don't include that...

 

Granted, some think they still can get 200 euro for one, but that's crazy for any CRT TV today.

 

But if you look you can find them much cheaper.

 

I have no idea if B&O ever exported to North America though....

 

I should have qualified my statement by saying, "in the U.S.". I did a search on eBay yesterday and didn't see anything. I wouldn't want to imagine the cost to ship one from overseas. But yeah, it looks like they're pretty readily available over in Europe.

 

I noticed that 20" was the smallest screen size they made for that series. I'm more into the 13" to 15" CRT's for a number of reasons. Cool set though.

[Bill Lange]

1702x2

[ClausB]

1702 in the day but after decades of sitting in front of CRTs all day I got skin cancer on my chin so I switched to LCDs on all my computers. 19" cheap Dynex with S-Video looks pretty good on the mod'd 800XL.

[+MrFish]

bump...

[Grevle]

Im using 14" crt PAL Tv,s mostly. Did pick up some Panasonic 14 " Crt,s here and there , Various models but same series. Mostly only composite and Scart on these but they can do NTSC via a extenal color Converter PAL to NTSC color. One of the Panasonic has internal support for NTSC. and then I got hold of A thomson 14", very little used, sharp and good image and this one have PAL and Ntsc support and S-video , Scart and composite, Its a winner.

Edited March 3, 2015 by BioFreeze

[+wood_jl]

Thanks to our pal and resident Atari8 expert/AtariAge user "Bryan," I'm going with the JVC TM-A13SU that he recommended to me a few (several?) years ago, and I havent' looked back.

 

This 13" monitor is very similar to the fabulous Commodore 1702 (itself made by JVC) and offers all of that quality, plus notable features:

 

 

- It is notably smaller and lighter than a same-size-screen 1702. 1702s are huge/heavy bastards.

 

- It has full digital controls (including volume/etc) so there are no analog rheostats to get dirty/fail

 

- It displays PAL (!!!) so feel free to import a Euro-Atari and run those demos and games on real hardware

 

- It accepts composite and S-video both on the back, with an A / B switch on the front of the monitor. When combined with one of 8-bit Classics' fabulous composite/S-video cables, you can run S-video most of the time for clarity, and then push a button on the monitor to switch to composite for those times when artifacting is desired for color. Case in point, Choplifter:

 

----> On the front of the monitor.

 

----> On the back, both S-video and composite hooked up at the same time.

 

----> Choplifter through composite, with proper artifacting.

 

----> Choplifter through S-video, without the artifacting and less color.

[Bryan]

Thanks to our pal and resident Atari8 expert/AtariAge user "Bryan," I'm going with the JVC TM-A13SU that he recommended to me a few (several?) years ago, and I havent' looked back.

 

This 13" monitor is very similar to the fabulous Commodore 1702 (itself made by JVC) and offers all of that quality, plus notable features:

It may be more similar than we think!

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 191660533461

[KLund1]

I use my Atari branded 1084S. Note the color scheme!

[MARIO130XE]

Commodore 1084 Monitor for my 130XE using S-Video and RGB for my Amiga 600 HD

 

 

[Albert]

 

JVC TM-A13SU

 

http://pro.jvc.com/pro/attributes/monitor/manual/TM-A13SU_A13UCV_A13SUW.pdf

 

It does S-video, NTSC & PAL, and uses a P22 tube like the classic Commodore, Amdek, etc.. monitors. Basically it's the classic computer monitor with multi-system features.

 

I'll use LCD when I need to hook up to something in a hurry, but I think software choices should be made to look good on a CRT.

 

Just bought one of these on eBay for $95.50 shipped. I've needed a monitor that supports PAL for some time. Hopefully it arrives undamaged! Look forward to trying it out.

 

..Al

[+davidcalgary29]

1084 for VBXE and a LCD for my other A8s.