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Dragon and VGA Monitor

Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 3:15 pm
by geirhovland
Below is a picture of using a Dragon 64 with a flatscreen VGA monitor (Acer AL511) and the Grandtec Video To VGA Converter (model GVC-1000).
The normal TV (UHF) output does not work, but the PAL output on the monitor plug works, see http://www.dragonwiki.com/wiki/index.ph ... itor_cable for schematics.
Four resolutions are possible: 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768 and 1280x1024. On the Acer monitor, 800x600 seems to give the best result. The Grandtex also has a VGA input port, so a single monitor can be shared between the Dragon and a PC and switching between the two is just one key on the Grandtec.

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Re: Dragon and VGA Monitor

Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 5:23 pm
by robcfg
Nice setup!

I also used those schematics to make a cable for the Dragon. I usually watch it in my old 14" Trinitron TV.

Congratulations, and thanks for sharing!

Re: Dragon and VGA Monitor

Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2011 8:05 pm
by sixxie
Nice. That certainly looks from your picture like a better PAL decode than any of my LCD monitors do natively for their composite video inputs. On one, the red is shifted vertically several scanlines, and the other doesn't sync at all - I know the Dragon's "PAL" is a bit dodgy, but still...

Do you have any NTSC machines to test this with? If it can do the NTSC cross-colour effects without seeming to halve the horizontal colour resolution, that would pretty much sell one of these to me.

Edit: no mention of what latency this thing introduces in the PDF linked from here.

Re: Dragon and VGA Monitor

Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 2:55 pm
by geirhovland
I have no way to test the NTSC to VGA conversion, sorry. I live in the former "PAL zone". Regarding latency, there was no information in the manual, and I have not found any information on the net either. But, when using it, it is better than any colour TV I have ever used with the Dragon. There is only a slight blur and no noticable latency. I bought this device brand new on eBay for $76.22, see this link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dl ... 0786447839
There are still two available from the same supplier. Note that the Grandtec only comes with a US 110V plug, but since the power supply also works with 230V, 50Hz, a standard US travel adapter solves that issue.

Below is another screenshot demonstrating the graphics quality of the video to VGA conversion:
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Re: Dragon and VGA Monitor

Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 1:58 pm
by geirhovland
My Dragon Tano has arrived, and the Grandtec GVC-1000 is able to handle the NTSC video, see the pictures below. The NTSC to VGA conversion is a bit blurred and worse than PAL to VGA in colour mode, but in black and white mode the conversion is very sharp and there is no noticable latency. The power supply from California Digital only works with 110V, 60Hz, so I had to use the old supply for the Dragon 64, which is 220V, 50Hz. Thankfully, the powerplugs at the back of the 64 and the Tano are identical.

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