Which is the best for price / effect video mod.

[Mclaneinc]

 

Righty, obviously this is for some time next year late on as the car is my priority and I simply could not and would not use any of the donated money for ANYTHING else. Its for the car and it stays that way..Again huge thank you's to all, your generosity will not be wasted, you have my word and that is a very important principle I live by..And I'll be posting proofs when its time in Jan..

 

But I have some duplicate items that may be let go at the end of next year..Maybe...Its just a thought and a very tiny one at this moment..

 

One thing I've been seeing is threads about video quality, I was signed up for a Sophia 2 but that was dropped long ago as were any other little wants. But what do people think is the best for the buck video mod, I have a TV that supports S-video but I'd rather use a crt monitor (I have a commodore that supports chroma and luma (I think))

 

Sophia will probably be the 1st choice offered but its way too much for me as if the car gets setup I then have a year of saving to keep it going and my daughter to try and support in Uni so cash will be er rather tight..

 

Put it another way, are there any cheap one's that offer a decent quality increase or is it just better to leave it alone...The picture I get has colour bleed and jail bars but its watchable in a retro duff old TV sort of way

 

Thanks people..

[Mclaneinc]

Actually Albert or any other mod, delete this, I'll ask nearer the time, might be some new mod by next year. In truth I was a little bored and just saw all the UAV etc threads and thought I'd ask but in hindsight it may look a bit odd and I don't want to annoy anyone, certainly would not ever be my intention.

[cwilbar]

You might be asking early.... but even if you're not buying now, any education on the matter will help you later anyway ?

 

If you are going to use a CRT, RGB is 'king'.  However, not all CRTs support RGB (at least in the staes, few 15KHz capable monitors support it in my experience (except maybe for arcade monitors ? ).

 

In UK, I believe most CRTs supported SCART, and SCART has RGB.  So, if you want the best CRT picture you'll want to investigate along those lines.

 

That said, at least in the US (NTSC land), s-video on a CRT with a quality video cable produces a very nice picture.  Going to s-video over most composite outputs is a big jump in quality, rgb less of a jump over s-video, but an improvement if you can use it.

 

If you're going to go digital, the best is the sophia upgrade (either the current ones, or the new sophia 2 when it comes out).

 

There is an RGB Sophia upgrade, and IIRC Sophia 2 is going to support RGB too (but double check that).

 

UAV is very nice if you're looking for clean composite and s-video output.  But find a UK distributor (one is mentioned on one of the threads), as taxes (VAT), and other duties (not to mention COVID shipping rates) will probably double the cost.

 

 

[Mclaneinc]

Thank you, as said, I was a bit bored yesterday hence the thread but yes, at some point in the distant future I may want to improve the display quality but expensive stuff which looks like its likely to stay expensive with the current economic climate looking very long term, I can't really imagine anything grand being got. Basically I want to know if the cheap ones are worth the effort. What I may likely do at some point is get a length of individually screened cable and build a composite lead just to see if it improves the jail bars. The cable I have at the moment is unscreened composite so I expect RF interference etc on it.

 

Thanks for the pointers, RGB was my initial aim when I was in the line for a Sophia 2 but as other more pressing things hit home and I pulled out that became a non option. I have 3 crt phillips / Amiga monitors that support RGB so that wasn't a problem, sadly only an LCD that has a S-Video which I want to avoid as its an old TV and I want to avoid blur and lag as much as possible. That said, its an old Atari that I played on a crappy old TV back then with a soft tube display and I loved it....

 

A very very minor problem to worry about much much later..

[mimo]

which flavor of Atari do you want to upgrade? The XL can be made to have pretty good S-Video with some simple tweaks

[Mclaneinc]

It will be my 800XL, if I bother..Mind you if its simple and inexpensive (most important) ie just soldering wires then do tell

 

Not sure I would go the whole 9 yards like Flashjazzcat with a dremel and mounting a S-Video connector, mind you his work did look bloody nice and losing the modulator would help..

 

I think I have an S-video cable in my cable box..Think...

 

Thank you for the reply old chap..Appreciated..

[mimo]

I was always happy with Bryan's Quick and Easy mod, certainly good enough for CRT and the cheapo LCD I used to have
 

 

[flashjazzcat]

53 minutes ago, Mclaneinc said:

Not sure I would go the whole 9 yards like Flashjazzcat with a dremel and mounting a S-Video connector

Absolutely no need on your 800XL, since you can have Y/C video on the existing jack. One extra connection and a DIN-5 to s-video cable and you're good. The XEGS to which I fitted an s-video connector had no 5-pin DIN monitor jack (otherwise it would have been used), and the owner opted for s-video instead of DIN-5 purely for convenience (no need for a custom cable; straight s-video to s-video).

 

As mentioned: the 800XLs have pretty decent video after a few simple modifications. Most important step is to hook up chroma to the vacant pin on the monitor jack via 100 Ohm resistor. Bryan's mod describes this along with several other quick tweaks. Connecting chroma and removing any blurring cap can often - on their own - produce more than acceptable results.

Edited September 15, 2020 by flashjazzcat
typo

[Mclaneinc]

Excellent work gentlemen, really appreciate the info...Will give me something to try my Aliexpress cheapo tools that finally arrive a month or so ago (3 month wait). Only a cheapo hot air gun and a very cheap desolder tool.

 

Have to say I really do love watching Jon's video's, loads of nice tips and good humour, and of course the music..

 

Right, off to read that article, thanks Mimo and jon..

[cwilbar]

6 hours ago, flashjazzcat said:

Absolutely no need on your 800XL, since you can have Y/C video on the existing jack. One extra connection and a DIN-5 to s-video cable and you're good. The XEGS to which I fitted an s-video connector had no 5-pin DIN monitor jack (otherwise it would have been used), and the owner opted for s-video instead of DIN-5 purely for convenience (no need for a custom cable; straight s-video to s-video).

 

As mentioned: the 800XLs have pretty decent video after a few simple modifications. Most important step is to hook up chroma to the vacant pin on the monitor jack via 100 Ohm resistor. Bryan's mod describes this along with several other quick tweaks. Connecting chroma and removing any blurring cap can often - on their own - produce more than acceptable results.

really liked that video.... thought it was a great solution with zero case mods for the XEGS.  Will probably do the same to mine at a point.

 

As @flashjazzcat indicated though.... since your 800XL has the DIN5 monitor jack, you don't need to 'hack' up the case/etc.  The pins are already there.  You will need to do a mod, or get a UAV, and do some internal wiring (and finally have the right video cable), and you're set.  I went the UAV route for my 600XL (and had to mod my case since I'm in 'NTSC world', PAL users already have the jack on 600XLs !).

 

If cost is the issue, there are mods out there to improve the video and add s-video (Y/C) which will require mostly time, not so much money.

 

Best of luck in whichever route you go.  You can always go the cheap route now, and it would not prevent you from going with a Sophia 2 in the future (or an RGB Sophia 1) when you're ready to go RGB.