ralphb Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 I'd like to use my US TI 99 and other NTSC gear here in Germany, where PAL is standard. My big CRT TV can run both PAL and NTSC, but my small Commodore CRT monitor cannot. So I'm looking for the best way to run NTSC on a CRT monitor with a composite signal. (The F18A is great, but I'm looking for something else here.) 1. NTSC-compatible PAL CRT monitor with composite If there are any, I haven't found them. 2. composite NTSC-PAL converter This was my second thought, but the only converter available simply doesn't work. (Tested with two models on TI 99 and Pyuuta.) Do you know any working converters? 3. NTSC-VGA converter VGA CRT monitors are readily available. Does somebody have experience with converting to VGA? How is the resulting picture on a CRT? Finally, what are you using to view foreign sources? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Ralph, While I've not had any personal experience with << THIS ITEM >>, it's had 77 reviews averaging 4 out of 5 stars. So simply as an NTSC to VGA converter it appears to work. The price appears reasonable as well, although I don't know what the shipping would be for you. Good luck in your quest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphb Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 Thanks, Omega, I find this on ebay.de as well. I guess I'll give it a try, although I would prefer a monitor with native NTSC capabilities ... less conversion, better picture. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+chue Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 (edited) Maybe not quite what you want, but there's a PDF on whtech that is titled "TI994A NTSC to PAL Conversion": ftp://whtech.com/datasheets%20and%20manuals/Datasheets%20-%20TI/TI%20NTSC%20to%20PAL%20Conversion.pdf Unfortunately the site is inaccessible at the moment. I pulled some of the content of the document from Google's cache: 2 x 560 RESISTORS one-half watt.1 x TMS9929 V.D.P.1 x 6 PIN DIN SOCKET (CHASSIS MOUNT)1 x PAL MODULATOR PHP2036 REMOVE 5 PIN DIN SOCKET J201 AND U100 TMS9918 VDP PROCESSORCHIP. REPLACE 6 PIN DIN PLUG AND TMS9929 VDP CHIP. SOLDER 560 RESISTORS R210—R211 IN VACANT HOLES ABOVE ANDBELOW L101 (TOP LEFT CORNER) UNSOLDER EARTH ENDS OF W201, 202, 203 204 JUMPERS US ANDRESOLDER TO VACANT ACTIVE HOLES LOCATED NEAR. PLUG IN PAL MODULATOR TO COMPLETE CONVERSION. Edit: Using Omega's document, I updated the quote above to fix scan errors by google. Edited June 21, 2017 by chue 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omega-TI Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Hmm, something might be wrong at your end... it comes up fine here. BTW - Good find! I have trouble finding things on that site. TI NTSC to PAL Conversion.pdf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphb Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Thanks, pretty cool solution for the TI. But a TMS9929A? Might be somewhat hard to come by. And it wouldn't help my little Pyuuta ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+chue Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 You may be right about the Pyuuta, but the 9929A is $6 shipped from China to the US. I don't know how much to ship to Germany, but you can easily check: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-TMS9929ANL-TMS9929A-NL-ORIGINAL-Video-Display-Processor-NEW-/171473908760?epid=1323800546&hash=item27eca43418:g:EegAAOSwDk5UI5XH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 What's the point of running NTSC gear if you convert the output to PAL and lose the 60Hz signal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphb Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Good point, but I only expect that the signal becomes somewhat jerky. I guess VGA is better, as it can keep the 60 Hz -- resizing, and thus reducing image quality, need to do both. I was actually thinking of transplanting an NTSC unit to a PAL monitor, preferably from the same model, or alternatively transplanting a 220V power unit to an NTSC monitor. I have yet to talk to my analog electronics guru what he thinks about this. I know some people use US consoles in Europe -- are you all using F18As? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 I used US Monitors, Consoles, and PEBs while I was in Germany--I just used a transformer to drop the input voltage to something they could handle. I did that for almost 12 years without any problems. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asmusr Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 I know some people use US consoles in Europe -- are you all using F18As? I use an NTSC console with a 'European' TV set when I want to test that something works on the old hardware. I use a composite video cable - no modulator. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ti99iuc Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 yes indeed... most of the recent TV managing the NTSC signal, i agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphb Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Yeah, I understand, my TV supports NTSC as well. But I'm looking for a monitor that can do this. The TV is too large to put on my desk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ti99iuc Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 (edited) Oh i understand... i have a 22" samsung TV on my desk that i use only as a monitor. so i have an HDMI,VGA,DVI,SCART,COMPONENT,AudioIN,Composite... all in one Monitor i just have to change the origin with the remote Edited June 22, 2017 by ti99iuc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphb Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Very well, but the other requirement is that the monitor supports composite. That's for the Pyuuta and the Geneve. But I also prefer the "dirty but not too dirty" look for leisurely using the TI 99 as well. The F18A is only for development. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+chue Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 (edited) Very well, but the other requirement is that the monitor supports composite. That's for the Pyuuta and the Geneve. But I also prefer the "dirty but not too dirty" look for leisurely using the TI 99 as well. The F18A is only for development. Ah, for some reason I was thinking that you were married to your Commodore CRT on this. Well if you don't have a problem with a somewhat modern HDMI monitor, the following is exactly my setup today. I have an NTSC TI outputting composite, going into a converter (composite to HDMI). The converter was around US $15. The picture isn't that bad actually. It is a little "dirty" as you say. The background is quite clear. Edges are not crisp. Lettering looks a little fuzzy, but not unreadable. Example photos attached. They are original size photos, so quite large. I tried to resize them but the resizing caused artifacts. Edited June 22, 2017 by chue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphb Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 Nice, but ... When you say HDMI, you're referring to an LCD/TFT-Monitor, right? Just to repeat , my requirements are: NTSC, composite, CRT! Otherwise, I've seen LCDs that had composite input and supported NTSC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+chue Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Just to repeat , my requirements are: NTSC, composite, CRT! I was afraid of that. OK, I will leave you alone 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphb Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 I was afraid of that. OK, I will leave you alone Haha, no, thanks for your creativity! I'm sorry if I'm just too weird and insist on a retro look for my picture. I'll test the VGA converter, and if that doesn't work, I'll look for an NTSC monitor (but importing from US will be precarious). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbox Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 Look in the charity shops for a PAL tv with CRT and with an analog composite input (SCART cables can support analog composite too) and give it a go- usually found for under twenty quid. Ignore anything with a digital tuner built in though- they deliberately broke support for analog. Try "British Heart Foundation" larger shops. Later crt tv sets became fairly friendly to NTSC signals. My current crt tv set is nominally PAL, my TI is PAL- but I can watch NTSC videotapes and DVDs without any problem. Sets varied depending on the chipset used. Worth mentioning that the UK TI console external modulator was not UK PAL, it was European pal, which differed just enough to cause tuning problems (the sound channel was a little farther from the video channel). I can even watch the ancient SECAM tv signals on my "PAL" tv set- but without the colour! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphb Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 Thanks for the tipp! I already have a 28" CRT television that does NTSC and SECAM, but I'm looking for a computer monitor I can put on my desk (and sit quite closely in front of). My guru said that some (later) converters in monitors were prepared for both NTSC and PAL with one possible IC, but a PAL IC was put in. If so, I need to check some schematics to find a good monitor that I can commutate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 It can be a little hit and miss with 14" CRT TVs and monitors accepting NTSC composite video. In our computer club we have two Sony monitors that happily accept NTSC composite as well as RGB with great sharpness, but those are not very common. If you can obtain an inexpensive small LCD TV, those tend to be more forgiving (newer) when it comes to NTSC signals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ralphb Posted July 5, 2017 Author Share Posted July 5, 2017 I've seen Sony studio monitors on ebay, but some seem deep, and the connectors are kind of weird (for me) -- they look like an antenna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Those are coax connectors. Actually the Sony monitors I referred to have a single coax for composite video, but there are inexpensive adapters to connect RCA style cables too. The inputs on the image look like component inputs, which may or may not work with the TI-99 natively without going through composite but that would be the advanced course. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 They're actually BNC connectors (for coax cable). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNC_connector 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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