Sony PVM 1271Q

[erichenneke]

Anyone ever try a Sony PVM 1271Q monitor with the Atari 8 bit computers?

 

I am looking at one because it can do both NTSC and PAL.

 

My hesitation is because it is "super fine pitch resolution"... not sure exactly what that means. Will this still look "right" from a classic gaming experience standpoint? Correct artifacting, etc.?

 

Also, it seems the input connections are all BNC. Will this pose any issue?

 

Seems like a really nice monitor, and potentially a great solution so I can have both NTSC and PAL CRT experience in a single monitor.

 

Thanks!

-Eric

Edited August 28, 2018 by erichenneke

[+Nezgar]

Looks like it has 2 composite video inputs (A/B) and a single RGB input. no S-Video.

 

Will probably be just fine. NTSC artifacting should be fine with Composite input. BNC to RCA adapters are easy to find...

ie: 2 with free shipping from China for less than $1 https://www.ebay.com/itm/183357486730/

[+Nezgar]

You could get RGB output from the Atari with a Sophia board http://atariki.krap.pl/index.php/Sophia

 

I personally have a Sony SSM-14N1U. Inputs for S-Video or Composite, no RGB.

[Level42]

Yes this is a great (little) monitor for any classic computer or console.

 

The Super Fine Pitch refers to the CRT. I means that the dots (Color CRTs have little dots of Red, Green and Blue that together form the picture) are smaller than normally. As with pixels, the smaller the dots, the sharper the picture, however do NOT confuse them with pixels. CRTs with smaller dots are (sorry....were) harder to make so more expensive.

The specification indicating this for CRT is called Dotch Pitch and mentioned in imperial size. Naturally the smaller the number, the better the CRT.

 

I have worked for a low-end Taiwanese CRT computer monitor manufacturer (Cheer, the name says enough) for a year back in the early 90s and I remember that the cheapest versions of the monitors had a really course dot pitch which produced a terrible image with VGA.

The electronics were identical for the monitor with large and small(er) dot pitch.

 

With the Atari you will simply get a very nice sharp picture so dont worry about it....pixels are not dot pitch

 

Yes I would really recommend getting a Sophia RGB version too. This will give you the best picture you can get with it and you wont believe what you will see. I have one in my 600XL and the picture quality is simply amazing (I use Bang & Olufsen TVs and use RGB via the SCART connector).

 

The BNC connectors are not a problem. for composite video, there are little adapters that go from RCA to BNC.

 

For RGB (with Sophia) you probably need to build your own cable....depends on what you want to use as the output connector from your Atari too. I didnt like the mini sub-D connector that comes with Sophia because I like to keep my Atari look stock from the outside. So I removed the RF modulator, enlarged the hole where the RF RCA connector was a bit and used a mini-DIN 9 pin connector and wired this up like a Sega Meagdrive II (Genesis II for US). This added the possibility of adding stereo sound out.

 

The only quirks I have with Sony PVMs are that they are pretty expensive usually and because they were meant for broadcast or at least professional use they are quite complicated inside compared to a regular monitor or TV. Many parts means many possible causes of issues, but then again they were built High quality because of the target market.

 

I had a 20 one and I was unlucky (as I am often with Sony products) there was an issue with the Red Color and when I opened the monitor I figured it would be a LOT of work to find the issue and fix it...so I didnt bother and got rid of it.

 

12 is quite small for a display IMHO these days. Depends on your goals/what you are used to.

Im lucky to live in Europe where I can pick up Bang & Olufsen TVs in quiete large sizes for prices between free and 25 euro and picture quality is very close to the PVMs and they have GREAT sound and look fantastic as well.

 

EDIT: I dont know about artifacting......I hated programs that used that dirty trick because they looked terrible in PAL. My guess is that when using RGB there will no artifacting. However, for the few programs that use it, installing a SOPHIA does not take away the composite video output so you could simply switch back to composite on the monitor for those games and hook up both cable to the monitor.

Edited August 28, 2018 by Level42