Questions that do not deserve a thread

[Hoagtech]

What is this thing??

It said 14" RGB monitor and was covered in beautiful yellow plaque.






How would I go about interfacing to RGBs or Scart on this?

I found little info online

Model CTX 1410

[bobrocks95]

Likely a 9-pin CGA connector, which would be digital RGB apparently referred to as RGBI. There may be some active converters to get analog RGB into it but it's not likely to be compatible out of the box

I did find one post about a monitor that was SVGA but had the 9-pin connector for some reason and a passive adapter worked. Going to depend on the age of course, if it came out before VGA even existed then it's definitely a CGA connection.

[Hoagtech]

I was afraid of that.

Im pretty sure with the Monochrom switch modes this will not be a VGA+ monitor.

I heard some CGA sets are limited to low color pallets and are not compatible with 15KHZ Rgbs signal.

If anyone knows of an adaptor solution. I would love to use this as a multipurpose Gameboy / RGBs machine

Could I use a 9-pin to RGBs BNC or does it not work like that?

[maxtherabbit]

I was afraid of that.

Im pretty sure with the Monochrom switch modes this will not be a VGA+ monitor.

I heard some CGA sets are limited to low color pallets and are not compatible with 15KHZ Rgbs signal.

If anyone knows of an adaptor solution. I would love to use this as a multipurpose Gameboy / RGBs machine

Could I use a 9-pin to RGBs BNC or does it not work like that?

They are indeed limited to a palette of 16 colors. Digital RGB cannot be adapted to BNC like that

[kitty666cats]

Yeah, and there aren’t really converters for analog to digital RGB (well, actually they technically have existed - https://youtu.be/_ZQ7Aw_jUmI?si=M7fxXPePjK9zKiTB ) but even if there were any available the image would look awful. That video is definitely interesting and worth a watch, btw

[Hoagtech]

Darn. I was hoping for an RGB option..

What if I wanted to use its Monochrome over Luma?

Any way I could adapt S Video or Scart into green or amber?

I love using my supergameboy and Framemeister on my BW tv but dont like adapting to RF

EDIT: Look at this guys SCART to 9 pin adapter?!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=paeQMxYky ... bml0b3I%3D

[kitty666cats]

Yeah, there's some monitors (like the Philips CM-8833 and its many offshoots like the Commodore 1084, etc etc) which use a 9 pin connector for analog RGB. But the pinouts for all the different branded monitors that have analog RGB over a 9 pin input have wildly varying pinouts, so the one in that video is only gonna work on a very select few monitors.

https://coolnovelties.co.uk/coolnovelti ... 06357.html

Here's one that works on some of the aforementioned monitors

[orange808]

You have to mod a CGA monitor.

Technically there is a "DAC" circuit on CGA monitors (not to be confused with the misuse of the term "CGA" among arcade cabinet enthusiasts). You have to bypass that circuit.

The reason you can't use an adapter in front of the display is simple: the colors are "hardcoded" in that "DAC" circuit inside the monitor. You'd have to force the colors of your source to match the 16 available colors on a CGA monitor. (Yes, the standard supports more colors than a CGA machine usually put on screen.)

[vol.2]

You have to mod a CGA monitor.

Judging from the color and wear on that thing, chances are the tube is going to be pretty worn out. Before attempting anything like that, I would first hook it up to an RGBI source and see how much it's possible to push the contrast before it starts to bloom

[Hoagtech]

You have to mod a CGA monitor.

Technically there is a "DAC" circuit on CGA monitors (not to be confused with the misuse of the term "CGA" among arcade cabinet enthusiasts). You have to bypass that circuit.

The reason you can't use an adapter in front of the display is simple: the colors are "hardcoded" in that "DAC" circuit inside the monitor. You'd have to force the colors of your source to match the 16 available colors on a CGA monitor. (Yes, the standard supports more colors than a CGA machine usually put on screen.)

Where can I find more information about this sorcery?

I have my Hakko ready and would love to go down this rabbit hole and have point of reference to go from.

[orange808]

Where can I find more information about this sorcery?

I have my Hakko ready and would love to go down this rabbit hole and have point of reference to go from.

All I can offer is breadcrumbs. You'll have to sort out the internals of your specific monitor with some extremely careful investigation. Please take extra care, it's dangerous in there...

Here's a link about modding the Commodore 1902A that we used for 80 column mode back in the day. It's become an old post though. (Doesn't seem like it's been that long.)

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=26440.0

[Hoagtech]

Thats pretty straight forward and simple actually.

Thanks for that. Im gonna crack it open.

[maxtherabbit]

Any way I could adapt S Video or Scart into green or amber?

Even if you did, it would still be "all on" or "all off" for that specific color. No gradients or grayscale

[bobrocks95]

I get the appeal of weird tech but you can get a 14 CRT PC monitor and combine it with a linedoubler and not have to mess with the internals of a beat up horribly yellowed probably won't work with analog display.

[orange808]

I get the appeal of weird tech but you can get a 14 CRT PC monitor and combine it with a linedoubler and not have to mess with the internals of a beat up horribly yellowed probably won't work with analog display.

Yellowed plastic doesn't say much about the monitor internals. It really depends on the individual display.

If it has low usage hours, it should display 240p consoles and a lot of arcade PCB's very well.

Modding a good CGA monitor makes a lot of sense, because you can get analog input and buy external adapters to feed IBMPC CGA, Laser 128, and Commodore 128 signals.

[bobrocks95]

I get the appeal of weird tech but you can get a 14 CRT PC monitor and combine it with a linedoubler and not have to mess with the internals of a beat up horribly yellowed probably won't work with analog display.

Yellowed plastic doesn't say much about the monitor internals. It really depends on the individual display.

If it has low usage hours, it should display 240p consoles and a lot of arcade PCB's very well.

Modding a good CGA monitor makes a lot of sense, because you can get analog input and buy external adapters to feed IBMPC CGA, Laser 128, and Commodore 128 signals.

I got the impression that getting it to work with analog signals is still a very questionable "maybe". Just wouldn't get my hopes up.

[Hoagtech]

I get the appeal of weird tech but you can get a 14 CRT PC monitor and combine it with a linedoubler and not have to mess with the internals of a beat up horribly yellowed probably won't work with analog display.

Its mainly Aesthetics for me. You cant replace a perfectly funky and boxy look with a 90's monitor. Also newer VGA's require Scalers like you mentioned and don't have native 240p support. Generally speaking. These monitors are razor sharp for command line usage for corporate tasks.

Coincidentally I also got a NEC multiSync 50 14" monitor at the same time (All free)

I have been retrobriting alot lately and you should have seen this Saturn before. It was dark gray and yellow/brown

I have a hookup on H202, 5 gals of 35% for $40 makes 15 Gals of retrobrite solution, and this monitor is very sturdy and made of thick plastic.




Just look at its puppy eyes...



So let's begin shall we?

The monitor was blindingly bright when I plugged it in. Good sign.



It's a Phillips m34EAq10X tube https://tubular.atomized.org/tube/M34EAQ10X



The SCREEN and FOCUS on the flyback as well as the tube mounts were factory glued which is great sign as well.

After Disassembly I traced the RGBi cord back to its connector and trace on the chassis. Time for some Continuity!

It traced the RGB lines and they led to the this Custom chip?





(there is another custom above this chip as well..

Can anyone confirm its most likely the DAC or a method of finding out?

After tracing the HV pins and 5V power source. I should be able to close the book on this one!

Help appreciated

[terrorinstinct]

That's not a custom chip. It's a TTL hex inverter with buffers.

[vol.2]

Can anyone confirm its most likely the DAC or a method of finding out?

After tracing the HV pins and 5V power source. I should be able to close the book on this one!

Help appreciated

I think at this point, you should A) move this to it's own thread and/or B) move this to the RGB mod thread

It looks promising, but you really need to check the focus voltage situation if you want to determine the wear on the tube. What you do is put up a focus pattern (or just a image with a good amount of detail), and you push the contrast until the image blooms, and then back it off until it stops. You can adjust the focus voltage when this happens and try to get it as sharp as possible. This is generally done with the brightness at the top of it's range. The middle of the brightness range should be where a black background is totally 100% black in a pitch black room (lights off, curtains drawn) so there is absolutely no glow from the areas of the tube which are supposed to be black

I typically do it so that point is a tiny bit higher than center, but it's personal preference. In any case, once you get the brightness at that point by tweaking the screen voltage on the flyback (and sub bright if that exists), then you do the contrast thing and push it until blooming occurs. The "correct" screen pattern for this procedure is a white rectangle on a black background, because it's easier to see if the white rectangle is blooming; essentially the rectangle will appear to "grow" or get slightly bigger at a certain point; that is the bloom, and you have to back off the contrast until that stabilizes and the rectangle is totally consistent in size.

Once you get to that point, you will have a good idea of the tube wear if it's still a bright enough image in a regularly lit room or not. If it's too dark to see without the rectangle blooming, it's probably not worth your time to do all the retrobrighting and RGB modding and all of that; time to move on to something else

[Steven]

I have an MSX2+ sitting in my house unused and I want to use it. What are my options for non-SCART and non-JP21 video cables? I want either YPbPr (I have a feeling that, unlike the HD Retrovision cables for various non-YPbPr-capable consoles, such a cable probably doesn't exist for this computer) or DB15 because those are what my CRT and PC monitor accept. I do have a composite cable for it somewhere, but I don't want composite.

[Bassa-Bassa]

I don't think you can get an MSX series computer to output other than composite or 15khz RGB without modding, so you'll need to transcode RGB into YPbPr (so get a good transcoder and then the cables it requires). If your RGB CRTs are 31khz only, there's always the option of upscaling, and doing it with some scanline effect to mimic 240p, which may or may not satisfy you, mind.

[Steven]

Well, the whole point of the HD Retrovision cables is that they convert RGB to YPbPr or something like that. I highly doubt that such a cable exists for MSX, but it would be nice. I don't have any 31khz CRTs, though I did consider putting one in my Astro City for a short time.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Yeah, being HD Retrovision a US company, it's unlikely they'll support the MSX series.

Which is that CRT with DB15 you mention, a 15khz arcade monitor? Let us know exactly which displays you have and the answers will be better suited, I'm sure.

[Steven]

None; it's my PC monitor from 2013, an Asus MX279.

[Bassa-Bassa]

DB15 because those are what my CRT and PC monitor accept.

...?

Also, which is the YPbPr display you want to use? Isn't it a CRT either?

Honestly, finding good 21-pin RGB cables for the MSX these days must be hard enough already, I'd discard getting anything different out of the market unless it's custom-made, which in the end can easily be more expensive than a transcoder or upscaler chain as these can be of use for many other matters.

Now, if you can actually use a 15khz RGB CRT somehow even if it's DB15, that'd change the answer altogether.

[Steven]

I have a Sony Trinitron that has YCbCr, D-terminal, S-video, composite, and RF. Now that I think about it, I think the Trinitron might actually do 480p, but it's limited to only the D-terminal. I'd have to read the manual again.

I do have an amazing 15khz CRT, though; it's in my New Astro City. That's JAMMA only, of course.

[Bassa-Bassa]

There're means to plug consumer RGB sources into a JAMMA monitor, but if that can't be contemplated in your case and if the Sony TV is a nice 4:3 set with no picture postprocessing (so you'd rather find out it's not 480p-compatible), I'd definetely get myself a good SCART RGB-to-YPbPr transcoder (even for the D-terminal with a trivial adapter) - many consoles/systems can benefit of it as you'd basically have a 15khz RGB SCART monitor.

[VEGETA]

hello

i am about to get PAL GameCube and its SCART RGB cable from RGC.

I plan to softmod it to use swiss but my question is: if I plan 60hz ntsc game with it, will it output 60hz or convert it to 50hz?

what I want is 60hz 480i for my consumer trinitron crt, not 480p. while pal games are 567i 50hz

[Kez]

It will play in 60hz.

[bobrocks95]

Any 15 pin D-Sub options available currently for Genesis 2 or NESRGB pinouts? Retro-Access made all my DSub cables but she appears to have hit quite a rough patch personally. I know there's community adapters floating around like the SyncBaby's though not seeing anything for NESRGB's 9-pin miniDIN (haven't looked for Genesis 2 yet).