Atari 800 display issues

[bernie]

I am considering purchasing an atari 800 of craigslist. I when asked if it worked I was told that "someone tried last year an got some wavy lines".

 

Any ideas of things to try? How can you hook up a monitor other than via the tv-out?

[bernie]

Can someone point me to the type of cable I can use for the monitor out function? Is it a standard S-vid cable?

[electronizer]

The easiest place to find these cables is on eBay (see link below). You need a 5-pin DIN to 4 RCA connector cable. The four connections are composite video (available on most modern TVs), chroma, luma, and audio. Chroma and luma make up the S-video signal, which is better quality, but usually only found on older TVs and monitors. Also, since most TVs use a mini-DIN 4 connector, you will need an adapter (see the second link below).

 

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Color-Composite-Video-A-V-Monitor-Cable-DIN-to-RCA-for-Atari-800-XL-XE-6-New-/130888382784?hash=item1e798e3940%3Am%3AmEq5Xkccxwvlc7ClvaEIjWA&_trkparms=pageci%253A3e312cdc-fdef-11e6-9616-74dbd180a595%257Cparentrq%253A8646b96b15a0a357d649cdabffe942c5%257Ciid%253A1

 

S-video to RCA adapter:

 

http://m.ebay.com/itm/S-Video-Monitor-Adapter-Male-Mini-DIN-to-Male-Female-RCA-Atari-800-XL-XE-New-/131599230226?hash=item1ea3ece512%3Ag%3ArGsAAOSw9r1V79Y1&_trkparms=pageci%253A299a6008-fdf0-11e6-a319-74dbd1808c31%257Cparentrq%253A864cc03d15a0a9947380f066fff73f14%257Ciid%253A2

[bernie]

Thanks so much for your reply, I've been researching it and have been having issues trying to figure out what my vizio 65" supports.

 

On the back of my TV I have 5 RCA connections that double as the composite and component outputs.

 

3 RCA for video - Y/V, Pb/Cb and Pr/Cr

2 RCA for L/R audio channels.

 

To which of the above do I hook up the cable?

White Luma ?

Yellow Audio - I assume L or R and won't have stereo - maybe get a splicer?

Black Chroma(not all XL) ?

Red Composite I assume this goes to the Y/V

Edited February 28, 2017 by bernie

[bernie]

Duplicate post removed

Edited February 28, 2017 by bernie

[electronizer]

You can only connect _either_ S-video (Luma and chroma) _or_ composite video. You will end up with one or two rca plugs unconnected depending on which one you choose. It sounds like your TV only has the ability to accept a composite video input, so you would connect the red composite plug to the Y/V input on your TV. Note that component video is not compatible with S-video. If you wanted a higher quality picture, you would need an S-video adapter. There's a discussion about such adapters here:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/236810-inexpensive-s-video-or-composite-to-hdmi-video-up-converter

 

You are correct that the yellow audio plug would go to either the left or right audio connector on your TV. I usually don't bother with a splitter and just connect it to the left channel (some TVs will automatically play through both speakers when a mono source is connected to the left channel).

[bernie]

Thanks for shedding light onto this topic and helping me. I've ordered the cable, and will test with that first and then look into the up converter.

[electronizer]

You're welcome! Good luck with your 800

[tjlazer]

I found if you combine the chroma and Luma with a Y RCA to the composite input a really improves the image