Connecting Atari 8bit (and consoles) to VGA crt monitor help.

[Mclaneinc]

In my infinite wisdom I managed to throw out my 22" crt TV that I used for my consoles and 8bit, I did it because we we having ALL the flat done and had to pack up the flat so the builders could work around us, lugging the TV was incredibly hard for me because of the arthritis so I got annoyed and dumped it without thinking.

 

So now I have my 8bit and other consoles and a spare VGA monitor, I tried to find a free TV via sites like gumtree but not one person even remotely close had a super cheap or free 14" or there abouts TV.

 

So I ask you guys if you know a CHEAP (seriously needs to be cheap) way to link to a VGA monitor.

 

I'll keep checking gumtree for a little TV in the mean time but as I have a 17" vga doing nothing I'd love to make use of it but because of our financial situation (the internet is my only luxury) cost does play an important issue here.

 

Just looking to find out my options and if its viable on a budget, I'm presuming not as I've seen stuff like scan doubler in the hundred pound mark where I have 20 - 30 UK as a MAX and even that needs to be saved (sounds bleak I know but with Serena's food and her Anorexia and body intolerances the food tends to be expensive, but she's my angel and worth that and more)

 

If its not possible on that budget then please tell me, its not a problem as I'm sure a cheap small TV will eventually end up on Gumtree somewhere near me, scart use is more than enough for me, not looking for fantastic picture quality..

 

Thanks for looking

 

Paul.

[Rybags]

There's various types of converters around but for a standard Atari you're dealing with Composite or S-Video (and don't get Composite confused with Component because we can't do it).

 

There's plenty of options for getting VGA to S-Video but not so much the other way around.

 

We have 2 problems - first up, the scan rate of the Atari is about half what most VGA monitors expect so the solution is to do scandoubling, ie send each scanline twice.

Problem 2 is that most VGA monitors don't like working at 50 Hz. Some just plain won't work or will emit a nasty noise and sometimes have a distorted picture. Often it'll flicker to the point of annoyance and seizure induction. And there's no point doing frame-doubling, for starters devices that do that will be expensive and secondly most CRT monitors won't do 100 Hz video.

 

My suggestion would be to look for a cheap LCD TV. These things are almost throwaway items, you should be able to get one well under 50 quid.

[carlsson]

Agreed. If you have a decent goodwill store or flea market nearby, you should be able to find a good 14" LCD TV for below £20, or a CRT for £5-10 but perhaps you don't have access to such well sorted stores.

 

A composite to VGA converter either is affordable but slow (introduces annoying lag) or fast but expensive, way out of your budget.

[Mclaneinc]

That's the sort of info I was looking for, was just looking to maximise my resources but I'm happy to wait for a cheapy TV, normally there's loads of them on Gumtree but the time I look its like a barren zone

 

I thought I'd ask as there so many little innovations that pop up which I'd never hear about but you guys would...

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply, its appreciated...

 

Paul..

[carlsson]

Here is a cheap one that is said to handle 480i (like a Wii) but not 240p (like a NES or Atari 8-bit). If you fancy, read through the reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/Composite-S-Video-Converter-Screen-Version/dp/B003NUN7DG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=atariage&linkId=e46fd6b3f6903263b7d4f60d36a3a8b5

[+mytek]

Here is a cheap one that is said to handle 480i (like a Wii) but not 240p (like a NES or Atari 8-bit). If you fancy, read through the reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/Composite-S-Video-Converter-Screen-Version/dp/B003NUN7DG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ll1&tag=atariage&linkId=e46fd6b3f6903263b7d4f60d36a3a8b5

The problem I've seen with these, or the clones of such, is that even with high quality S-Video coming out of the A8 (UAV) the color does not get rendered so you end up with a B&W only picture. In fact I have yet to find anything in the inexpensive realm that will do more than this.

 

- Michael

[carlsson]

Indeed. I understand the problem lies in the 240p video, so the device picks only up half the frame and loses colour information, but I may have misunderstood the technical details.

 

RetroRGB writes that you can assume any piece of converter hardware that costs below $100, will be junk for the purposes of playing games. I suppose YMMV a little but generally I think that is an accurate conclusion, at least for now.

http://retrorgb.com/upscalercompare.html

[Frankie]

I've had decent results with this one http://www.ambery.com/vitoxgacoscs.html

Edited November 15, 2016 by Frankie

[Mclaneinc]

Thanks for the help guys, sadly budget really really is so tight I cannot go to those prices, as said, my daughter is anorexic and between that and her college travel etc we have zero spare (I'm unable to work and my wife is a state sponsored carer which means she's very low paid but as its for a family member she does it).

 

I'll look out for a free / very cheap crt TV with scart...

 

Cheers..

 

Paul...