4:3 Monitors which support Composite video

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unumlapis
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4:3 Monitors which support Composite video

Post by unumlapis »

I'm currently looking into getting 4:3 flat-screen monitor to be used both with my Dragon and as well with some other vintage computers (Amiga, C64, etc.) and for now I've found a Beetronic 17" 4:3 screen which offers the following input: HDMI, VGA, BNC and RCA. So it does support composite video signal from the Dragon computers, but the question is then how good is actually the signal from the Dragons?

Also, from my perspective I'm looking to connect Amiga 1000 which has the following resolutions: 320x256, 320x512i och 640x256, 640x512i. The monitors support resolutions from 480i/576i Up to 1200P. These are displayed flicker free and can be scaled to a full screen image. Lower resolutions are unfortunately not supported or has not been tested so not sure how it reacts to those resolutions. Most important the screen supports 15kHz which is necessity for the Amiga. Downside could be said that it doesn't support s-video which is the cleanest signal from the C64 so here I might end up using Framemeister or OSSC (Open Source Scan Converter) box.

Has anyone in this forum have had the opportunity to test out any of the Beetronics monitors?
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CaptainNemo
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Re: 4:3 Monitors which support Composite video

Post by CaptainNemo »

Until you test one of those Beetronics yourself, you wouldn't know how good the internal video scaler really is or how bad the input lag is. You don't want to spend over £300 and then realize it's not what you expected...

The industry is moving forward and doesn't care for us retro-junkies, and since new hardware stopped supporting old standards, I would:
• get a Framemeister or a good alternative (research!)
OR
• find an NEC Accusync 71V, a BenQ BL912 or a BenQ BL702A -- all recommended by retro-gamers
OR
• find a previous-generation Dell UltraSharp which includes inputs for composite + component + vga + dvi + hdmi + DisplayPort

I own a U2711 and it handles everything you could throw at it -- Dragon, Amiga, Atari, Playstation, SparcStation, Silicon Graphics and old Apple shit...
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tormod
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Re: 4:3 Monitors which support Composite video

Post by tormod »

BTW we started on a list of compatible (or not) monitors here:
http://archive.worldofdragon.org/index. ... e=Monitors
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unumlapis
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Re: 4:3 Monitors which support Composite video

Post by unumlapis »

Good idea, also, this list, http://15khz.wikidot.com/, is worth looking at as well to find 15kHz screen which works with other system such as Amiga, etc. But, regarding the screen mentioned above, I haven't ordered a screen yet, but it's on my todo list.
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rolfmichelsen
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Re: 4:3 Monitors which support Composite video

Post by rolfmichelsen »

I gave up on the composite monitor a while back and settled for a normal HDMI screen with an Atlona AT-HD12D video converter and scaler. Works really well.

-- Rolf
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unumlapis
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Re: 4:3 Monitors which support Composite video

Post by unumlapis »

As mentioned, I've been looking at this Beetronics screen as I really wanted to have a true 4:3 screen and I finally came around to fix the Dragon 32 that I have. So with this unit working and getting the right cables from Retro Computer Shack it was time to plugin the system and as well I also tested it with a C64 that I recently got and here is the current result via RCA CVBS input (I haven't tried BNC CVBS input). The screen supports PAL/NTSC/SECAM when it comes to CVBS input.

Haven't played around with this screen yet, so it's quickly plug-in and test that the computer worked, snap a photo, and that's it - For now at least. But, just wanted to share my finding with this screen.
Beetronics17_Dragon32_C64.jpg
Beetronics17_Dragon32_C64.jpg (521.23 KiB) Viewed 11317 times
And a few photos of the screen itself...
Beetronics17-4-3.jpg
Beetronics17-4-3.jpg (994.96 KiB) Viewed 11317 times
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unumlapis
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Re: 4:3 Monitors which support Composite video

Post by unumlapis »

Right, finally got the missing screws to mount the VESA monitor stand so the D64 got it chance to show of again even if it has significant more banding issues compared with the D32. So that something I'll need to see if this can be improved. While the Beetronic screen has some various pre-settings modes which can get ride of most of the banding and make the overall black look more like proper black. So overall nice screen to have and best of all - It's a proper 4:3 screen which I really enjoy!
Dragon64_Beetronics17.jpg
Dragon64_Beetronics17.jpg (5.97 MiB) Viewed 11051 times
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