S-Video and Display Choices

[bfollowell]

12 hours ago, Beeblebrox said:

(EDIT) Another reason for keeping it, (and also why I've not gone down the LCD TV route), is that I have a dual monitor articulated gas powered () arm setup on my desk. It allows 2 x monitors to be connected by Vesa 100 mounts and "float" over my desk - great given the lack of surface desk space after you factor in the laptop/monitor, 3 x A8s and the Dell ). So I needed a monitor anyway. (FYI It's this one and is highly recommended https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06ZYK2TQB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

 

 

That is a pretty cool mounting arm. It's about a third cheaper in the U.K. it seems. It's currently £54.99, which should equate to about $78.03 USD, but it actually sells for $119.99, or £84.56 on the U.S. Amazon site. When I look a little closer though, it seems that Duronic is in the U.K., so I guess it's not all that surprising that it is more expensive after importing it into the U.S.

 

[ColleenLover]

My solution!  I bought a lifetime supply of NOS or near-new DELL 24" monitors that have SVIDEO in-ports.  aka the 2007 WFBP  types  ..

 

On my 1200XLs  - i perform the "1200XL simple video mod" (takes like 15 min) and the results are great for me.

 

[iainjh]

20 hours ago, Mazzspeed said:

I've got one of these monitors. I couldn't get it to sync to the PAL svideo signal from the A8 at all, I just got the flashing svideo icon at the top of the screen.

if it helps I've also got a Dell 2007 -and can confirm the above. The older dell 2001 I have however does display pal s-video. Such a shame the newer panel doesnt handle pal!

[Beeblebrox]

On 5/29/2021 at 7:40 PM, iainjh said:

if it helps I've also got a Dell 2007 -and can confirm the above. The older dell 2001 I have however does display pal s-video. Such a shame the newer panel doesnt handle pal!

@iainjh thanks for confirming. Yeah, shame. Still, I'll see how it all hooks up when the DIN - S-video cable arrives next week. Least I have the ODV, etc option as a fall back. 

[Beeblebrox]

On 5/29/2021 at 6:35 PM, bfollowell said:

 

That is a pretty cool mounting arm. It's about a third cheaper in the U.K. it seems. It's currently £54.99, which should equate to about $78.03 USD, but it actually sells for $119.99, or £84.56 on the U.S. Amazon site. When I look a little closer though, it seems that Duronic is in the U.K., so I guess it's not all that surprising that it is more expensive after importing it into the U.S.

 

@bfollowell Yeah it's great. It also allows me to effortlessly tilt the monitor 90 degs, which is great for viewing some of the Rastaconverted images that are oriented that way sometimes. It has full asjustability for different weights of monitor also. TBH there are many dual monitor arms of this type out there, so I'd imagine you'll be able to pick up one stateside without breaking the bank. Good luck.  

[Beeblebrox]

On 5/29/2021 at 5:27 PM, Faicuai said:

Good choice, ideal aspect reatio and display-surface, indeed (19"-20", so you have more latitude to place real A8 host around, while still being able to see the screen/s clearly, even with our aging, older eyes... ?

 

Now, THAT is really cool! Just checked out those mounts and they look pretty functional (just need to check if my twins VP950B monitors would handle such mounts,... but very nice. indeed).

 

It seems to me you are on the right path with your setup. It always depends on intended use and purpose, of course, but the reality is that the video-source interfaces are on the rise and proliferating on out desk (e.g RF, Composite, Y+C. Component, VGA, DVI, etc,) AND newer interfacing solutions like Sophia (DVI, replacing on-board GTIA) are first signs that we are marching towards true NTSC / PAL convergence, which will constitute a MAJOR milestone in the "future" of our retro-experience (sounds ironic, but it is!).  The ability to fire up any title, in any format, from same A8 host would mean integration of the whole software library and enabling NTSC users to enjoy PAL's higher spatial resolution, and PAL users to enjoy NTSC faster-paced, higher temporal-resolution (+ artifacting).

 

I know that day is coming, and for that, the ideal approach would be making sure the screens (LCDs or CRTs) are 50 hz / 60 hz compliant to begin with, and also abstract the screens (LCDs or CRTs) from most interfaces except DVI or HDMI (or VGA?), and handle the rest (more flexibly) outside, via good scalers or video-processors, so we can throw any legacy interface and any video format at it, as needed today or tomorrow.

 

Don't have your sweet mounts around, but here's my latest dual-monitor arrangement, for retro and PC/Windows:

 

 

@Faicuai  Belated reply. Nice setup you have there. Interesting what you say about the NTSC / PAL convergence and also artefacting. So much to discover and look forward to.

 

Re monitor arms - thanks - it really works for me. Also I quickly googled and your VP950B monitors are VESA 100 compliant so no worries there. It's great not to have desk space taken up - I highly recommend this model but there are doubtless many others. You just need a secure table to clamp em too. (Not sure how it'll work on a glass table top, although your's looks pretty robust).

 

Having recently returned to the A8 scene after 20+ years and discovering just how far things have advanced in so many areas, my main goal with the space I suppose is to get my A8 setup comfortably running next to my Windows laptop and VR setup (relatively small space).

With the A8 graphical output I am focusing on getting the best output I can that stays true to the A8 hardware graphics capabilties. So whilst I'll certainly be considering Sophia 2 somewhere down the line, I want to see how the S-video output improves things initially using the A8s original graphics chips. (Partially a cost thing also).

 

My main interest at present is generating images with Rastaconverter at the mo. (Still can't believe the quality of the images it can generate and just how amazing it is to see the A8 displaying so many colours). I'll likely start to create my own images to later convert on my Windows laptop. I may also dabble in Graph2font although I've watched a few tutorial vids and it a painstaking process and ultimately I prefer the Rasta converted images with many more potential colours, even if they do have some flaws and take up a lot of the A8s resources to display them.

 

I'll also be getting stuck into the Side3 cart shortly. At present I've just been using my newley aquired SDrive Max.

 

Then there is Prince of Peria of course - by all accounts it's getting close to completion. I am holding fire playing the levels on the demo/beta releases to avoid spoiling the final experience. (Big fan of PoP, Flashback and of course Another World, back in the day on 16bit systems).

 

I have a 320XE with Stereo pokey, (as we other XE's and a grandaddy A400 (which still works!) - so I am having fun with the 320XE primarily at the mo. I'll likely go for the Ultimate 1MB upgrade when I can afford it as it's a no brainer, (Side3 will come into it's own). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 31, 2021 by Beeblebrox

[jaybird3rd]

@Sugarland: I granted edit permission to your post in this thread (the second post), so if you wish to edit it, you should now be able to do so.

[Sugarland]

4 hours ago, jaybird3rd said:

@Sugarland: I granted edit permission to your post in this thread (the second post), so if you wish to edit it, you should now be able to do so.

Thank you! Done.