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ZZAP69
Registered: Feb 2002
Posts: 30 |
Best LCD TV-set for the C64?
Most people I've talked to, doesn't recommend a LCD TV as a C64 monitor, but my question is: which is the best one? I'm looking forward to a slick C64 setup with 1541U and a very portable monitor. :D
Tobias |
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soci
Registered: Sep 2003
Posts: 479 |
Meanwhile I've found that it's possible to get good results with an LCD monitor which can do 720x576@50 on VGA using an old PC with an asus agp-v264gt3 and a Debian 4.0 with custom driver hacks based on the BT829 manual.
Took only 3 days not counting that I gave up trying to use the card 20 years ago for this purpose due to it's poor quality interlaced output. As always, it was bad drivers and software of course, hardware is fine.
If set up right the card can capture all frames right into a video decoder/scaler overlay. Without de-interlacing of course, full frame-rate with a latency of less than 20ms. Actually the CPU isn't used at all once it's up and running.
I haven't done a software PLL hack yet to get the exact vertical refresh rate (could be done). Instead the frame timing is set so close that it takes minutes that the capture and decoding crosses once. So smooth scrollers and interlaced pictures.
Colours are ok if it's set up right (tunable), cropping can be set up properly (no left white bar). Source resolution is 720x288 which gets scaled up. Hires pixels are nice sharp (using s-video). Slight colouring of checker pattern of course (like on TV). PAL colour mixing works. The card is sensitive to power quality so the supply should be good or else the brightness is not stable.
Unfortunately it's a big box under a monitor which is noisy, boots slowly and uses a lot of power. But it work with a modern monitor after all :)
Btw. it's even nicer with a CRT monitor at 100Hz without any scaling of source (288 raster lines!) but in this setup the lack of PLL is visible quite often.
Anyway, there are better solutions on the market today to do the same thing (and more) with a LCD monitor. |
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anonym
Registered: Jan 2002
Posts: 267 |
Quote: Since I haven't found the Samsung mentioned above yet, I'm keeping my eyes open for this Kickstarter project:
https://www.checkmate1500plus.com/IntroductionDisplays.aspx
Just an update here, I decided against backing this project, as it's basically just a standard monitor and wouldn't have supported Svideo out of the box.
Considering I have a Framemeister, I can use that anyways to display to most LCDs and projectors that can handle 50 Hz. |
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Frantic
Registered: Mar 2003
Posts: 1646 |
An update regarding the samsung monitor that I mentioned in a previous post. Except for a dead pixel, it did indeed work very well. |
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F7sus4
Registered: Apr 2013
Posts: 117 |
Quote:Most people I've talked to, doesn't recommend a LCD TV as a C64 monitor, but my question is: which is the best one? I'm looking forward to a slick C64 setup with 1541U and a very portable monitor. :D
I roll with an oldschool Sony Bravia TV (KDL40V3000 model, made in 2010-ish) with S-Video input solely for C64/A1200 setup, and honestly it feels difficult to find a better upgrade. On top on proper 4:3 ratio and good, sharp video quality (no blur on the edges, noise etc.) it also has built-in filter which smoothes interlaced/FLI modes, but doesn't produce artifacts (even when there's a lot of movement on the screen).
Wasn't really looking for it, it's just an old TV that happened to fit to retro setups. I believe the smallest model was 28", so it should be portable enough. |
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chatGPZ
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 11357 |
I can recommend the Samsung SyncMaster 214T - not a TV, but a monitor with cvbs, svideo, vga, dvi. It can do PiP, so really nice for coding on PC and watching C64 output if you dont have a lot of space.
It also has a common flaw in its power supply, which is why they are available very cheap. Fix some caps (google will tell you how) and you get an excellent TFT for a few bucks. |
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CreaMD
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 3050 |
Quote: I can recommend the Samsung SyncMaster 214T - not a TV, but a monitor with cvbs, svideo, vga, dvi. It can do PiP, so really nice for coding on PC and watching C64 output if you dont have a lot of space.
It also has a common flaw in its power supply, which is why they are available very cheap. Fix some caps (google will tell you how) and you get an excellent TFT for a few bucks.
Hi Groepaz, which of those I can use to connect C64 video output please? I'm kinda not skilled in this area and I'm quite interested to have monitor for my real C64 that is not a blob. |
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chatGPZ
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 11357 |
Both cvbs or svideo should work. I have used svideo with C64 and cvbs with Atari800 :)
That said do NOT get this monitor if you are not prepared to fix its PSU - it WILL go wrong even if you find a working one. We had 3 (or 4?) in the company, and all of them had to be recapped at some point. |
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CreaMD
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 3050 |
Quote: Both cvbs or svideo should work. I have used svideo with C64 and cvbs with Atari800 :)
That said do NOT get this monitor if you are not prepared to fix its PSU - it WILL go wrong even if you find a working one. We had 3 (or 4?) in the company, and all of them had to be recapped at some point.
Thank you. I found couple of refurbished here in SVK for around 70 bucks. I might try one. |
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Silver Dream !
Registered: Nov 2005
Posts: 108 |
For LCDs I can safely recommend the "transitional" SD studio gear like LMD-1410, LMD-1420 or even better but noticeably more expensive LMD-1750W. All are designed to work with analogue signals, have Y/C inputs and adapt perfectly to even non-interlaced, out of specs video like the one coming out of unmodified C64. I have multiple units. Especially the 1410s, which I used to use in my late TV studio times. Can put up some for sale too. And even if nothing beats a good, hi-res studio CRT, when space is at premium then they are the next best thing I use to connect retro machines to |
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cbmeeks
Registered: Oct 2005
Posts: 78 |
My precious 1084S is starting to have issues (I've had it since I was around 16). Even with s-video I can see color banding going down the screen.
I was lucky enough to get a Kawari lately and I couldn't be happier. Although it has that "emulator" look, I don't mind that.
It's depressing that good CRT (and LCD) options are going away for C64 users. Especially in the US.
me
http://meeks.co |
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