NetTV DTV34x monitor

[korpse413]

Hey all,

Picked up this guy this past week - a NetTV DTV34x. Driving it home sure was fun - entire right view was obstructed. Just stayed in the slow lane and didn't get pulled over

Spoiler

What intrigued me were the two VGA DB15 connectors labeled RGB.

Spoiler

From what little information about this that I can gather is, NetTVs are also referred to as Sampo / Picturetel / Tandberg .

Spoiler

Anyone have any experience with one of these? Can this thing support 240p content? I imagine its 480i/p - 1080i? Seems like it is just a giant PC crt for classrooms back in the day.

What do ya'll think? Should I keep her?

[xga]

What a beast!

I'm fairly certain that these models will only sync as low as 31KHz, but we won't know for sure until you try.

It seems like all the cool kids these days are getting 240P / 15KHz out of 31KHz monitors by forcing the vertical refresh to 120Hz and performing some other trickery. I haven't tried this myself, but might be worth exploring.

[Hoagtech]

What a beast!

I'm fairly certain that these models will only sync as low as 31KHz, but we won't know for sure until you try.

It seems like all the cool kids these days are getting 240P / 15KHz out of 31KHz monitors by forcing the vertical refresh to 120Hz and performing some other trickery. I haven't tried this myself, but might be worth exploring.

You just blew my mind xga. Can you elaborate on how to do this or at least pointing to the direction of the rabbit hole. I have a 37" megaview that is begging for this.

Also your Nettv looks dope

[bobrocks95]

What a beast!

I'm fairly certain that these models will only sync as low as 31KHz, but we won't know for sure until you try.

It seems like all the cool kids these days are getting 240P / 15KHz out of 31KHz monitors by forcing the vertical refresh to 120Hz and performing some other trickery. I haven't tried this myself, but might be worth exploring.

You just blew my mind xga. Can you elaborate on how to do this or at least pointing to the direction of the rabbit hole. I have a 37" megaview that is begging for this.

Also your Nettv looks dope

It'd have to be an emulator-only thing I'd imagine. When I had a PC CRT on my desk I was able to run the Steam version of Metal Slug 3 at 320x240@120Hz. Gave some really fat, cool-looking scanlines, but also totally disabled the monitor's controls, so I couldn't fix the weird geometry the mode gave (it was severely shifted or maybe stretched).

[Extrems]

It'd have to be an emulator-only thing I'd imagine. When I had a PC CRT on my desk I was able to run the Steam version of Metal Slug 3 at 320x240@120Hz. Gave some really fat, cool-looking scanlines, but also totally disabled the monitor's controls, so I couldn't fix the weird geometry the mode gave (it was severely shifted or maybe stretched).

This is supported by Game Boy Interface (standard and low latency) in 119.88i, 119.652p and 119.455p variants.

[korpse413]

Interesting info everyone! Please, do share some tests I can do!

Here is what the menus are showing me -

AV composite / S-Video 15khz (no surprise):

Spoiler

RF on 'white noise' screen showing 15khz/50hz... is this normal? Or is this PAL only? Seems odd. Maybe I just need a history lesson, it's not like I will ever be using RF anyway:

Spoiler

DC menu and in-game 31khz/60hz from an OEM DC-VGA box:

Spoiler

I unfortunately do not have a remote control, but it seems like I can navigate pretty far from the front face buttons. I might try and find a code with a universal remote because the onscreen menu (as shown above in the DC examples) shows M:01, which makes me wonder if there is a M:02 mode or something, only toggled by a remote? Just a hunch.

From the research I have done on these sets, I found some info from other forums from user "SignOfZeta" which helps out a ton. I still haven't tried to access the secret menu, but it seems to affect the AV inputs anyway... And it appears he is confirming that the RGB lines only handle 480p+, so it looks like I have a giant PC CRT. But again I will still do more testing, I am all ears!! Here is the source, and here is the helpful post (not sure if this is 'forum ethical' to copy/paste b/w the two, but here it goes. it was from 2011):

UPDATE:

For people anywhere on the internet that may stumble upon this info...

I managed to find a photocopied service manual for this TV on eBay. Actually, the manual is for a Sampo DTV29X, but they are really similar. I haven't really dug into it yet, but I did learn a few things:

All supported resolutions are spelled out in the manual, and it really does go no lower than 640x480 progressive on the RGB inputs.

I did learn some good things about adjusting it though, for that I'm really glad. This monitor has some barrel/pincushion/trapezoid issues and it was frustrating me that I couldn't adjust them. Well, if you are currently viewing the VGA inputs you can adjust all that stuff like with any computer monitor. The advanced geometry settings are only visible in RGB/VGA mode though. You can adjust them for the SD inputs, but for that you need to enter service mode. You do this by holding down the power button, pulling he plug, and then reinserting the plug (all with the power button still held down). The service menu will then appear where you can adjust all sorts of L337 shit.

I'm posting this now because there are a lot of these displays turning up at school auctions and stuff for even less than what I paid and its a great fucking monitor for gaming. Information is REALLY hard to find on it though. In fact, the expired craigslist ad for the very one I now own is on the first page of Google hits (I imagine this thread is pretty high up too). Anyone into classic games who stumbles across one of these monitors might really appreciate finding this info here (I certainly would have).

So far the only testing I have done is run VGA out from a gscartsw AND from the output of my BVMD20 via a bnc-to-vga cable that is confirmed to work on a PEXHDCAP60L, which I figured might not work since its just raw R,G,B,HV...

[FinalBaton]

At least you can get 240p with S-video! not bad at all

[kitty666cats]

Sorry to dig up an arcane thread, but I scored one of these the other day for free! It came with an enormous metal cabinet w/ wheels (with an old PC in it! Gotta turn the thing into an emulation PC!), and also a bunch of wacky late 90s video conference equipment. Using an OSSC with it currently, and got a used scanline generator for insanely cheap on eBay. Looking forward to comparing those to the OSSC's own scanline feature.

I also have a SECOND one that only has the composite & Svid, but there's some empty slots where the VGA ports would be. Unfortunately, I am going to have to toss the second one out soon, but if there's anyone near Massachusetts (I'm located about 20 minutes west of Boston) I would be elated to give it a good home!

EDIT: 'tis gone now, off to who-knows-where. Incredibly happy with the VGA one that I kept! OSSC 240p/480i resolution changes on Saturn/PS1 are very quick to recover, and the image adjustment options on the menu are very smooth and quick (hold the button down and the values ZOOM up and down, no incessant tapping like on my NEC PC CRT). Craigslist is pretty barren nowadays overall, but this monitor reminded me there's still gems to be found if you put in the time

[korpse413]

Sorry to dig up an arcane thread, but I scored one of these the other day for free! It came with an enormous metal cabinet w/ wheels (with an old PC in it! Gotta turn the thing into an emulation PC!), and also a bunch of wacky late 90s video conference equipment. Using an OSSC with it currently, and got a used scanline generator for insanely cheap on eBay. Looking forward to comparing those to the OSSC's own scanline feature.

I also have a SECOND one that only has the composite & Svid, but there's some empty slots where the VGA ports would be. Unfortunately, I am going to have to toss the second one out soon, but if there's anyone near Massachusetts (I'm located about 20 minutes west of Boston) I would be elated to give it a good home!

EDIT: 'tis gone now, off to who-knows-where. Incredibly happy with the VGA one that I kept! OSSC 240p/480i resolution changes on Saturn/PS1 are very quick to recover, and the image adjustment options on the menu are very smooth and quick (hold the button down and the values ZOOM up and down, no incessant tapping like on my NEC PC CRT). Craigslist is pretty barren nowadays overall, but this monitor reminded me there's still gems to be found if you put in the time

Awesome! Also from the sounds of it we are very close... Always cool to see when those in the hobby are around. Small world

These beaut's are MASSIVE but honestly are pretty sweet. I am kind of surprised more people don't praise these as much.

I've got to ask if yours happened to come with a remote? If so please send me a model# and/or picture I would love to see if they are around. My IR Samsung S6 still acts as a sweet universal remote but I am kind of a sucker for original sh*t.

One day I will attempt an RGB mod on this thing. Maybe our paths will cross one day (Western Mass. here)

Cheers

[kitty666cats]

Sorry to dig up an arcane thread, but I scored one of these the other day for free! It came with an enormous metal cabinet w/ wheels (with an old PC in it! Gotta turn the thing into an emulation PC!), and also a bunch of wacky late 90s video conference equipment. Using an OSSC with it currently, and got a used scanline generator for insanely cheap on eBay. Looking forward to comparing those to the OSSC's own scanline feature.

I also have a SECOND one that only has the composite & Svid, but there's some empty slots where the VGA ports would be. Unfortunately, I am going to have to toss the second one out soon, but if there's anyone near Massachusetts (I'm located about 20 minutes west of Boston) I would be elated to give it a good home!

EDIT: 'tis gone now, off to who-knows-where. Incredibly happy with the VGA one that I kept! OSSC 240p/480i resolution changes on Saturn/PS1 are very quick to recover, and the image adjustment options on the menu are very smooth and quick (hold the button down and the values ZOOM up and down, no incessant tapping like on my NEC PC CRT). Craigslist is pretty barren nowadays overall, but this monitor reminded me there's still gems to be found if you put in the time

Awesome! Also from the sounds of it we are very close... Always cool to see when those in the hobby are around. Small world

These beaut's are MASSIVE but honestly are pretty sweet. I am kind of surprised more people don't praise these as much.

I've got to ask if yours happened to come with a remote? If so please send me a model# and/or picture I would love to see if they are around. My IR Samsung S6 still acts as a sweet universal remote but I am kind of a sucker for original sh*t.

One day I will attempt an RGB mod on this thing. Maybe our paths will cross one day (Western Mass. here)

Cheers

I have a remote that does everything but access the menu for the screen adjustments on RGB/VGA mode... I have to dig through this nasty box, the official remote may be in there too. I'll have to snap some pics of all the silly conference room tech that came with it, it's all very very dirty. The fucking keyboard is shaped exactly like a Sega Genesis controller, lol. I will let you know if I dig out a better remote that 'does it all'!

Western Massachusetts is beautiful! The fact that we both got these and live in the same state leads me to believe that, perhaps, some salesman may have convinced a bunch of offices/schools up our way to use these... or it's just a funny coincidence :p

Also, the reason they don't get much praise is probably because they go by so damn many different names! Sampo is the original manufacturer, they made all sorts of monitors (arcade stuff, industrial stuff). My monitor's model number is SME-23DL3(A). Here's a spec sheet: https://www.manualslib.com/manual/31593 ... 23dl3.html

I'm sure our paths will cross eventually! My friend and I are setting up an arcade/console night soonish at this bar near his house, he maintains all the arcade cabs there. Unfortunately, it's in Canton which is QUITE far from you I posted in the meetups subforum last time we had one, and will be sure to do the same next time

EDIT:

https://boston.craigslist.org/sob/zip/d ... 10001.html

Here's a picture of the Craigslist post where I found them. Those wheely-cabs are fucking monsters, I assumed they'd be hard plastic but they were metal and had a thick layer of cast iron built into the base. Very fun lifting those into my uncle's pickup truck this morning to take them away to get disposed of *barfs*

[kitty666cats]

Update: Also that old forum post from elsewhere was wrong about resolutions, I have a PS4 hooked up right now (Portta HDMI to VGA, I doubt a Tendak would work since those dumb things don't have external power) set to 720p. I believe the monitor is 1024x768

[kitty666cats]

I think mine may have died already... absolutely heartbroken right now. Hopefully I can find someone to help me move it, and then take it into another room with the space to open it up and inspect. I was so excited to use this VGA RaspPi image I was working on, having more fun using PS4 on it via the Portta HDMI to VGA, all sorts of things! And now I'm just sitting there with it staring at me across my bedroom, breaking my heart

[korpse413]

what happened? was it a funky signal from the rasp pi or something?

[kitty666cats]

what happened? was it a funky signal from the rasp pi or something?

I don't believe so, it would simply not display in a standby mode/would show a scrambled image and "out of range" indicator if it encountered a funky signal. I think it was just because this thing was stored in a dirty cold garage for 15 years and used for god-knows-what beforehand. I've found a service manual online, and it seems to either be the standby circuit or the KA3842A chip. I think I can fix it, I'm not gonna be deterred! I need to play more gorgeous CRT Dark Souls

[kitty666cats]

@korpse413 An unlikely miracle has occurred! It turns out the monitor itself wasn't borked, but actually the power strip it was plugged into!

I let the thing chill for a couple days and got it to power on, only to have it turn back off. After making sure it was FULLY off, I unplugged it fro the power strip and noticed the strip was making funky noises that sounded just like the monitor was. I put two and two together, and plugged the monitor directly into the wall socket... BINGO! Got 'er turned on and working just fine, happily displaying PS4 via a Portta HDMI to VGA!

BTW, someone on Reddit just scored one recently:

https://www.reddit.com/r/crtgaming/comm ... s_to_come/

This makes FOUR different brand names I've seen these under. It's interesting that yours isn't a PictureTel, as that company was/is(?) based out of Massachusetts. But when it comes down to it, they are all Sampo monitors with Toshiba tubes.

The Reddit guy didn't nab one of the models with YPbPr, unfortunately. I would kill to have one of those! Unfortunately the YPbPr is only 15kHz, but it supports 240p just like the composite and s-video. If mine had component, I wouldn't particularly need to hold onto the 32" WEGA I have sitting right next to it. My poor, poor dresser... got 2 bigbois on top of it. At least I don't have 2 XBRs on it! xD

[mikejmoffitt]

I had one of these, they are great. You can inject 15khz trivially into the jungle chip, as there's an unused RGB input just hanging out.

Details here:

http://mikejmoffitt.com/articles/0051-nettv-rgb.html

[kitty666cats]

I had one of these, they are great. You can inject 15khz trivially into the jungle chip, as there's an unused RGB input just hanging out.

Details here:

http://mikejmoffitt.com/articles/0051-nettv-rgb.html

Very awesome! At the moment I'm plenty happy using an OSSC (and after I get to work on it, a modded GBS8200 w/ my Mini-SLG), but this looks like an awesome project I ought to undertake one of these days. Thanks for the link, I'll bookmark the hell outta this. Why did you eventually get rid of it? Too massive? Heh

[korpse413]

I had one of these, they are great. You can inject 15khz trivially into the jungle chip, as there's an unused RGB input just hanging out.

Details here:

http://mikejmoffitt.com/articles/0051-nettv-rgb.html

Yeah man, this is awesome. I have yet to get around doing this mod myself (I also have this bookmarked, hehe). I remember reaching out to you on twitter back when I got this thing.

When that time eventually comes I will research more on this but in that diagram you posted and the photo on your site with soldered wires the outlines from the diagram don't seem to add up. Or is that photo just not the true final product (the one on website with the grey wires)? I might ping you again someday down the line

Also kitty666cats I am glad it works for you!

Hope everyone is staying safe and sane in this fkn pandemic

[kitty666cats]

Also kitty666cats I am glad it works for you!

On again, off again

Got a cold solder joint in there, I can get it running fine if I moved the monitor around a bit/give it a lil' spank, but it will sometimes crap out again... I really need to stop playing with fire and risk the thing getting super screwed up. It's just a matter of finding someone to help me move it, and setting up a big wiiiiiide open space to open the thing up and carefully re-flow the solder.

I'm tempted to kill two birds with one stone and do M. Moff's awesome 15kHz RGB mod, but I'm probably just going to save that for a later date. Thank goodness the job all takes place on that one daughterboard, it's quite the relief.

I was wondering: anyone ever come across/know of someone with one of the variants that also has the 15kHz YPbPr inputs on the back? It's not super exciting since they are 15kHz-only, but I would still LOVE somehow coming across one of those units someday. I bought the Final Fantasy VII remake (or rather, bleh, part 1) the other day and I'm planning on finally trying it tonight on our dear beastly monitor, in 720p/with the vertical size turned almost all the way down (right around that range seems fine for 16:9). It's tough choosing between 720p and 1080i, they both look great on this thing! Thank goodness for the Portta HDMI to VGA (and its external PSU which is absolutely essential, at least for me, when using PS4 on this monitor. Without said optional external PSU plugged in, nothing will display)

[korpse413]

Any luck on an official remote in that box? I am wondering if the PictureTel RC-119D would work on my NetTv. Like you mention, it is just one of the (several) rebrands, right? A quick google using the RC-119D mentioned both PictureTel and Sampo so that seems promising. What is throwing me through a loop tho is this ancient review of my NetTV where the dude mentions the remote control having 'roughly fifty keys on this remote and all of the major functions...' found here: https://www.audaud.com/audaud/NOV02/EQU ... NOV02.html

I've used my Samsung S6 with the Peel Universal Remote app to great results but I'm a weirdo who likes having OEM remotes... Still trying to find one for my newly acquired small Samsung GX TV (any leads out there guys?)

[kitty666cats]

Any luck on an official remote in that box? I am wondering if the PictureTel RC-119D would work on my NetTv. Like you mention, it is just one of the (several) rebrands, right? A quick google using the RC-119D mentioned both PictureTel and Sampo so that seems promising. What is throwing me through a loop tho is this ancient review of my NetTV where the dude mentions the remote control having 'roughly fifty keys on this remote and all of the major functions...' found here: https://www.audaud.com/audaud/NOV02/EQU ... NOV02.html

I've used my Samsung S6 with the Peel Universal Remote app to great results but I'm a weirdo who likes having OEM remotes... Still trying to find one for my newly acquired small Samsung GX TV (any leads out there guys?)

My RC-119D works great, ordered one off eBay (which ended up not including the battery cover!). It allows me to access the menu functions, instead of having to stand up every time I want to make geometry adjustments for different sources, blahhh that sure was annoying.

I have the RC-119G that it came with, works great EXCEPT that it can't access the menu (at least when using VGA, it may possibly work for composite and s-vid?). Took the battery cover off of that one and stuck it on the D

[NJRoadfan]

Its really annoying when these clearly 15khz capable CRTs lock out 15khz signals from their VGA ports. When you tried a 15khz source, did you use composite sync or separate horizontal and vertical sync (like VGA would)? I know my Toshiba TIMM can be picky about sync signals on its VGA port, I wouldn't be surprised if these are too.

[kitty666cats]

Its really annoying when these clearly 15khz capable CRTs lock out 15khz signals from their VGA ports. When you tried a 15khz source, did you use composite sync or separate horizontal and vertical sync (like VGA would)? I know my Toshiba TIMM can be picky about sync signals on its VGA port, I wouldn't be surprised if these are too.

Tried both RGBS and RGBHV @ 15kHz. I didn't bother trying sync on green because, well... if it's not gonna take those, it certainly won't randomly take RGsB

[kitty666cats]

An update on mine, it's been working completely fine after some minor adjustments and is just completely rocking my world! From casual NetFlix-ing on new consoles in 720p or 1080i (or even playing said consoles, I did some of the FF7 remake on 'er) to playing old game consoles upscaled with a CFW'd GBS8200, this baby does it all for me!

I just reallllllly need to do mikejmoffitt's RGB mod one of these days (but what a pain it will be to find somewhere to move it/find HELP to move it!)

[SuperSpongo]

These stories are all well and good, but where are the pics???

[kitty666cats]

These stories are all well and good, but where are the pics???

Spoiler

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... image1.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... image0.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... image0.jpg

Saturn in 720p via GBScontrol

240p scanlines really are kinda overrated, heh

[kitty666cats]

Any luck on an official remote in that box? I am wondering if the PictureTel RC-119D would work on my NetTv. Like you mention, it is just one of the (several) rebrands, right? A quick google using the RC-119D mentioned both PictureTel and Sampo so that seems promising. What is throwing me through a loop tho is this ancient review of my NetTV where the dude mentions the remote control having 'roughly fifty keys on this remote and all of the major functions...' found here: https://www.audaud.com/audaud/NOV02/EQU ... NOV02.html

I've used my Samsung S6 with the Peel Universal Remote app to great results but I'm a weirdo who likes having OEM remotes... Still trying to find one for my newly acquired small Samsung GX TV (any leads out there guys?)

You get a RC-119D yet btw? They make the monitor so amazing and convenient, it's a game-changer and the remotes are dirt cheap Geometry adjustments without having to stand up every damn time!

[SuperSpongo]

Very cool set indeed

[kitty666cats]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... image0.jpg
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/ ... image0.jpg

moar pix

[kitty666cats]

Hey korpse / mike, another thing - there's a "Recall" button on the remote that, I believe, is supposed to set geometry to factory default. However, I think the case may be that it's only for the 15kHz inputs, for VGA it seems to just save and load your geometry from the last source you had plugged in...? I'm not certain, but yeah I went down an OCD rabbit hole last night trying to nitpick my geometry and ended up making shit all screwed up, lol. Decided to go back to it with a fresh mind sometime today! Either of you, by any chance, happen to know a way to reset the geometry for the RGB inputs? I know korpse still may not have a remote, but perhaps a button on the front panel you hold down in conjunction with the power button?

Good ol' geometry OCD! The 'Parallelogram' setting is what screwed me, I could always just start using the 2nd VGA port but that would be admitting defeat