TV for 480P...or not?

[soviet conscript]

Well, I'm not sure the monitor is going to happen anyways. Noone has answered my calls, texts or emails. Same with that hi-scan xbr set.

[BazookaBen]

Well the NEC guy was giving it away for free so it's understandable if he isn't a hurry to get back to you. I would just be patient with that one. From the sounds of it, it would definitely be worth the wait. And if it doesn't take component, the are plenty of decent RGBHV transcoders out there you can use.

But if that deals falls through, the Dell P990 will do a good job (and runs at higher resolutions). Even if it has long hours you can revive it with WinDAS.

[Ed Oscuro]

Hah, I still have the WinDAS cable I bought to try and fix a P990 (or 991, can't remember). Didn't succeed, but I should have persevered. Probably just needed voltage adjusting down.

Of course, you'll need a serial port on your computer to use WinDAS.

[BazookaBen]

Actually, I there are USB-compatible versions you can buy on ebay now.

[Ed Oscuro]

I was half certain somebody was going to say that, I should have checked

Good to hear that it's much simpler though. USB port support was already in the program, then?

WinDAS didn't seem otherwise limited to old operating systems, so that's very good news.

[soviet conscript]

Hah, I still have the WinDAS cable I bought to try and fix a P990 (or 991, can't remember). Didn't succeed, but I should have persevered. Probably just needed voltage adjusting down.

Of course, you'll need a serial port on your computer to use WinDAS.

I may have a computer or two with a serial port......

[Ed Oscuro]

The version of WinDAS I used did need a *relatively* modern PC, though, it's not a DOS program and it probably requires at least 1024x768 resolution. Easy enough to find out there.

Anyway, you'll be fine, I'm sure, you showoff

[BONKERS]

o.O I think I have that same exact Gateway monitor lol.

Why not use one of those monitors for 480p stuff with a transcoder?

[tacoguy64]

Don't forget the sync stripping woes many people get with this monitor. Beyond that, yeah, sounds pretty good.

I'd spring for a Mitsu Megaview Pro if given the option though

I figured once you have a sync strike then that becomes a non issue. At least for me, so far everything I have thrown at it has worked. Except for the xbox 360 when connected through component. It actually displays video but its all in a green tint. Maybe it just doesn't work but maybe there is a a way? Which is why I want soviet to get the monitor so that he can upload scans of the user manual.


And be patient soviet conscript, that monitor was listed for almost a month and nobody ever picked it up, may very well still be available. Not sure about the sony though, some of those get picked up pretty quick. I'd suggest you call on a moday after 10 am or later. Sometimes people just disconnect on weekends.

And geeze! how many old computers do you need?

[Fudoh]

Except for the xbox 360 when connected through component. It actually displays video but its all in a green tint. Maybe it just doesn't work but maybe there is a a way?

I would say the monitor just doesn't support component. If you use Scart (for 15khz RGB) or VGA (for 31khz RGB) instead, you'll be fine.

[tacoguy64]

I figured as much but I still wanted to try to see if it worked.

It really would have made the monitor a little better for the OP if it could accept component straight up, since the monitor can display higher than 480p. Though I believe only the PS3/Xbox360/WiiU can take advantage of the higher resolutions. The DC/PS2/GC/Xbox/Wii go only as high as 480p which can be easily done with SCART or VGA like you said. But if his consoles use component then he will have to spend extra money that he might not be able to afford.

[andykara2003]

There are some other things as well like the fans are loud

That's the great thing about the XP version of these monitors - they have no fans and so are completely silent. They only have one input though - VGA. The NECs take 15Khz fine via VGA with a sync strike and I use a Crescendo transcoder for component. Both work perfectly. It might be possible to find a cheap but decent used transcoder on eBay ....

[soviet conscript]

The monitors I already have are just to small for my liking. I think 19" is my absolute minimum and even that feels a little small.

[tacoguy64]

The monitors I already have are just to small for my liking. I think 19" is my absolute minimum and even that feels a little small.

So are you opposed to the consumer Sony TV's? It seems like they might be your best choice at this point. Though I would still wait for the NEC at least a day or two.

There are some other things as well like the fans are loud

That's the great thing about the XP version of these monitors - they have no fans and so are completely silent. They only have one input though - VGA. The NECs take 15Khz fine via VGA with a sync strike and I use a Crescendo transcoder for component. Both work perfectly. It might be possible to find a cheap but decent used transcoder on eBay ....

You are talking about the Loewe's monitor of similar size correct? I wonder how they managed to make it work without fans since I think both NEC and Mitsubishi crt's of that size have fans. Do you know if it's normal for similar sized crt's to have fans? I will admit that even though I tolerate the noise, I would prefer it if it was quieter.

[andykara2003]

You are talking about the Loewe's monitor of similar size correct?

I was talking about the NECs. I'm not sure but my theory is that the XV versions are designed more for single monitor scenarios. The XMs etc. are designed to be able to be used in a video wall & hence the combined heat of all those monitors in close proximity needs to be removed & expelled.

The XV has built in speakers under the screen and so is a bit taller - so wouldn't be ideal in a wall, but much better as a single conference monitor for example. I guess there wouldn't be as much heat buildup in that scenario and the fans wouldn't be as necessary (and would be distracting in that environment). It has the same image/resolutions as the XMs but it's also just got one input - VGA - so might be more geared to just use with a PC for presentations etc.

I don't use it for 15Khz because I really don't like prominent scanlines - but it's awesome for 480p. I use 25" Loewes for 15Khz because as they're sub-29" high-end shadow mask consumer CRTs, they have a really nice clean (but not overly pixellated) image with beautifully subtle scanlines (My BVM sits unused!)

[soviet conscript]

The monitors I already have are just to small for my liking. I think 19" is my absolute minimum and even that feels a little small.

So are you opposed to the consumer Sony TV's? It seems like they might be your best choice at this point. Though I would still wait for the NEC at least a day or two.

not at all though I have had bad experiences with Sony CRT HDTV's in the past. was looking at a few goodwill today actually. found a widescreen sony wega crt hdtv but the frame was all cracked. wasn't worth the effort. if I'm going to transport a 150lb TV I at least want one that looks half decent.

[BazookaBen]

found a widescreen sony wega crt hdtv but the frame was all cracked. wasn't worth the effort. if I'm going to transport a $150lb TV I at least want one that looks half decent.

I would bring in some stuff to run some test patterns to check the sharpness and colors. What's most important is the quality of the picture, considering CRT's are extinct and you only have a handful to choose from at any time. Would you rather have a tube with a nice bezel but with blurry picture and worn out phosphors, or a tube with cracked bezel but sharp and colorful picture?

[soviet conscript]

found a widescreen sony wega crt hdtv but the frame was all cracked. wasn't worth the effort. if I'm going to transport a $150lb TV I at least want one that looks half decent.

I would bring in some stuff to run some test patterns to check the sharpness and colors. What's most important is the quality of the picture, considering CRT's are extinct and you only have a handful to choose from at any time. Would you rather have a tube with a nice bezel but with blurry picture and worn out phosphors, or a tube with cracked bezel but sharp and colorful picture?

honestly around here they aren't to hard to come by. of course I live in one of the biggest cities so its probably different elseware. it actually looked like it was dropped so I have no idea if that can effect the speakers or hardware long term. I'm not looking for something in perfect condition but not one with a whole corner shattered.

again I've had some pretty bad experiences with huge Sony CRT's so maybe I'm a little more picky now. The last two I had looked fine and died on me after a month of use. The second one sat in my apartment dead for months because I had no way to get it out.

I loved that off brand CRT HDTV I had though. it was only 20 some inches but at least I could actually move and transport it. I'll admit it didn't look as good as the Sony sets but it did the job. shame it died on me as well but at least it lasted awhile.

[Josh128]

Dropped CRTs can often = issues with the yoke, such as a rotated picture, etc. Test if you can prior, but if you are getting it for almost nothing or free, if you are not paying movers, its almost pointless to test for anything other than if it works or not, because as you said, you probably will not notice the nuances in the image till you get it home.

I tested a 32" Philips HD CRT at the sellers home a couple hours away with my Wii, and all seemed fine. When I got it home and tried 240p systems on it, I found that 240p ran at about 10fps on it!! It was the strangest problem, crystal clear picture but 10fps screen updates, regardless of composite, component, or SVideo.

Turns out this was a known issue with that model set, 240p was COMPLETELY overlooked by the sets design engineers and was inherently broken. I bought it for 480p and it also had tremendous 480i, but yeah, I was bummed none of my retro-systems worked on it. You cant test for everything on site.

That said-- when I bought my first F4500 plasma, I brought a Wii into Walmart and connected it to several different TVs, testing everything (especially 240p!) I could. I tested to the point where Wal Mart employees were giving me strange looks / hassling me, despite the fact that I got permission to do so.

The testing was worth it though-- despite the bright showroom lights which generally make plasmas look bad in comparison to LCDs, the 4500 easily thrashed all the other LCDs on the wall that I connected the Wii to. The only set that came close was a 60" PN60F5300 pentile-matrix screen Samsung plasma. The pentile, despite being bad for PC text, etc, actually makes 1080p sets look more natural with 480p sources than full RGB 1080p sets, I later found out.

[soviet conscript]

Dropped CRTs can often = issues with the yoke, such as a rotated picture, etc. Test if you can prior, but if you are getting it for almost nothing or free, if you are not paying movers, its almost pointless to test for anything other than if it works or not, because as you said, you probably will not notice the nuances in the image till you get it home.

I tested a 32" Philips HD CRT at the sellers home a couple hours away with my Wii, and all seemed fine. When I got it home and tried 240p systems on it, I found that 240p ran at about 10fps on it!! It was the strangest problem, crystal clear picture but 10fps screen updates, regardless of composite, component, or SVideo.

Turns out this was a known issue with that model set, 240p was COMPLETELY overlooked by the sets design engineers and was inherently broken. I bought it for 480p and it also had tremendous 480i, but yeah, I was bummed none of my retro-systems worked on it. You cant test for everything on site.

That said-- when I bought my first F4500 plasma, I brought a Wii into Walmart and connected it to several different TVs, testing everything (especially 240p!) I could. I tested to the point where Wal Mart employees were giving me strange looks / hassling me, despite the fact that I got permission to do so.

The testing was worth it though-- despite the bright showroom lights which generally make plasmas look bad in comparison to LCDs, the 4500 easily thrashed all the other LCDs on the wall that I connected the Wii to. The only set that came close was a 60" PN60F5300 pentile-matrix screen Samsung plasma. The pentile, despite being bad for PC text, etc, actually makes 1080p sets look more natural with 480p sources than full RGB 1080p sets, I later found out.

Did you use the 240p test suite with your wii? I recently tried burning a copy for my dreamcast but the DC would not run it even though it's an early unit that should be able to read cd-rs

[tacoguy64]

Yes, cd:r works well with the DC.
The 240p test suite works like a charm.
What method and programs did you use to burn the cd?

[soviet conscript]

Yes, cd:r works well with the DC.
The 240p test suite works like a charm.
What method and programs did you use to burn the cd?

I used ImgBurn on my PC with a CD-RW from a company called GQ

maybe I should just try a Memorex CD-R?

and wow, people on craigslist and such have no idea how to sell things....I found a Samsung CRT HDTV real close to me last night on Offerup. again not the best TV but it did 480P, was widescreen and 30'' so it was only about 130LB. anyways the lady wanted $65 which I felt was way to much for a TV like this. so were talking and I'm asking questions and she seems real nice. When it comes to price time I asked if maybe she could do $40 and that was it. contact terminated. I guess I insulted her with my offer or something? Hell I felt even $40 was to much but I was being nice. I would of even gone up to $50 but apparently people have no idea how to make counteroffers. On that subject still no response from the NEC guy. oh well, the search continues.

[bobrocks95]

and wow, people on craigslist and such have no idea how to sell things....I found a Samsung CRT HDTV real close to me last night on Offerup. again not the best TV but it did 480P, was widescreen and 30'' so it was only about 130LB. anyways the lady wanted $65 which I felt was way to much for a TV like this. so were talking and I'm asking questions and she seems real nice. When it comes to price time I asked if maybe she could do $40 and that was it. contact terminated. I guess I insulted her with my offer or something? Hell I felt even $40 was to much but I was being nice. I would of even gone up to $50 but apparently people have no idea how to make counteroffers. On that subject still no response from the NEC guy. oh well, the search continues.

Craigslist for my town is kind of a shit-show as well. So many instances where I've had to work incredibly hard just to give them my money, it's like they don't actually want to sell anything. One time I was trying to buy the Ocarina of Time Master Quest disc from a guy, we negotiated a price and I said I'd meet him on Friday which he said was fine. Thursday night I emailed again to make sure Friday was fine and got nothing back. Emailed Friday, nothing. Emailed a few days later just asking if he sold it, nothing. I then watched for at least a month as he re-listed his available games over and over, and included on the list was Master Quest at the price we had negotiated before.

[tacoguy64]

Yes, cd:r works well with the DC.
The 240p test suite works like a charm.
What method and programs did you use to burn the cd?

I used ImgBurn on my PC with a CD-RW from a company called GQ

maybe I should just try a Memorex CD-R?

and wow, people on craigslist and such have no idea how to sell things....I found a Samsung CRT HDTV real close to me last night on Offerup. again not the best TV but it did 480P, was widescreen and 30'' so it was only about 130LB. anyways the lady wanted $65 which I felt was way to much for a TV like this. so were talking and I'm asking questions and she seems real nice. When it comes to price time I asked if maybe she could do $40 and that was it. contact terminated. I guess I insulted her with my offer or something? Hell I felt even $40 was to much but I was being nice. I would of even gone up to $50 but apparently people have no idea how to make counteroffers. On that subject still no response from the NEC guy. oh well, the search continues.

I used disc juggler if i remember correctly. You can look it up on youtube. You should be able to download a free version.

Craigslist is very hit or miss for me. Usually I try not to discuss price until I'm in person. Though you do run the risk of walking away empty handed, but it does give you the chance to haggle. People should always expect low ball offers but act as if their shit is worth the asking price. It's always best to have some knowledge of items you are trying to buy or sell. Try looking around websites to see what some items have sold for recently. Ebay is good for a lot of items that are not old video games. And always ask questions. Any information they give you can be used for your advantage.

And I still wouldn't give up on the NEC until he calls you back. Try again the next day at a different time. If it sold already he should have taken the add down.

[soviet conscript]

Yes, cd:r works well with the DC.
The 240p test suite works like a charm.
What method and programs did you use to burn the cd?

I used ImgBurn on my PC with a CD-RW from a company called GQ

maybe I should just try a Memorex CD-R?

and wow, people on craigslist and such have no idea how to sell things....I found a Samsung CRT HDTV real close to me last night on Offerup. again not the best TV but it did 480P, was widescreen and 30'' so it was only about 130LB. anyways the lady wanted $65 which I felt was way to much for a TV like this. so were talking and I'm asking questions and she seems real nice. When it comes to price time I asked if maybe she could do $40 and that was it. contact terminated. I guess I insulted her with my offer or something? Hell I felt even $40 was to much but I was being nice. I would of even gone up to $50 but apparently people have no idea how to make counteroffers. On that subject still no response from the NEC guy. oh well, the search continues.

I used disc juggler if i remember correctly. You can look it up on youtube. You should be able to download a free version.

Craigslist is very hit or miss for me. Usually I try not to discuss price until I'm in person. Though you do run the risk of walking away empty handed, but it does give you the chance to haggle. People should always expect low ball offers but act as if their shit is worth the asking price. It's always best to have some knowledge of items you are trying to buy or sell. Try looking around websites to see what some items have sold for recently. Ebay is good for a lot of items that are not old video games. And always ask questions. Any information they give you can be used for your advantage.

And I still wouldn't give up on the NEC until he calls you back. Try again the next day at a different time. If it sold already he should have taken the add down.

I'll give it a try with the other program and a better quality CD. Yea, we could probably write a book on crazy Craigslist/Offerup experiences here but Bobrock hit they nail on the head when he said its like sometimes you have to practically fight to get people to take you money.

I'm not giving up on the NEC. its to cool of an item. I'll find a way to transport and place it even if I have to toss something out to make space.

[BazookaBen]

I'm not giving up on the NEC. its to cool of an item. I'll find a way to transport and place it even if I have to toss something out to make space.

That's the spirit!

[darcagn]

Yes, cd:r works well with the DC.
The 240p test suite works like a charm.
What method and programs did you use to burn the cd?

I used ImgBurn on my PC with a CD-RW from a company called GQ

maybe I should just try a Memorex CD-R?

The Dreamcast will not read CD-RWs without modification.

[Josh128]

Mine does. I bought it used from Ebay about 5 years ago, and there was no indication it had been modded, but I am able to burn DC images onto discs using a certain program (dont remember, may be the one indicated above), and the games work fine. Have about 4 or 5 CD-R games.

[darcagn]

Have about 4 or 5 CD-R games.

CD-Rs or CD-RWs? We're talking about CD-RWs here.

Dreamcast will read CD-Rs fine unless you have an extremely rare late model revision of the BIOS that removed MIL-CD format support (which CD-based booting used). CD-RWs are a problem however due to laser strength. The potentiometer on the laser needs to be adjusted in order to read CD-RWs.

[Josh128]

Sorry, I read it as CD-R's. Never tried an RW.