WTB: Scandoubler / Flickerfixer

[Damion]

Fixer wrote:

skurk wrote:
If you have a LCD TV, try this SCART cable from Amigakit.  I'm using this one on my A600, and it gives a picture quality almost as good as scandoublers.

I've been wondering what would happen if you plugged AmigaRGB straight into an LCD TV using Scart, and then tried the interlace modes for higher resolution.

Would the deinterlacing and digital processing on the LCD TV get rid of all that annoying flicker?

Has anyone tried this?

That's a good question. Naturally, refresh flicker will be eliminated, but flicker produced from alternating "fields" (interlaced video) will still be present on older/cheaper LCDs. Better LCD TVs DO have deinterlacing hardware built in (f.e, an LCD TV which states "displays all signals at 480p" should deinterlace), although the methods and quality vary. I'm getting ready to do some experimenting (with either a neobitz or a jrok board) so hopefully I'll have a little more info to share in the near future.

[Damion]

Some LCDs (better LCD-TVs that is) convert any input signal to its own native resolution. In Europe, you should be set with a good LCD TV and a SCART cable.

Here in the US, our best option is component. My idea is to use an RGB -> component converter in conjunction with a good 15 or 17" LCD TV. If the scaler hardware is decent, it should look great. To me, a 15" LCD TV with a 640x480 resolution seems ideal, as that's close to standard amiga resolutions anyway... and there are a few LCD TVs here that handle both NTSC and PAL via component, and display ALL signals at 480p. (So there shouldn't be any flicker in laced modes.)

I thought about buying an older LCD TV/Monitor (like a Samsung 171MP), which apparently can handle 15 Khz through the VGA port. However... there's no image scaling involved, so chances are amiga video would have that undesirable blocky/blurred effect you describe. In that case, I'd rather stick with a 1084, LOL.

Granted, I have yet to actually try anything... so in reality, a neobitz/jrok board + component + good LCD TV may look terrible. I'll just have to wait and see. ;-)

[Damion]

Merax wrote:

-D- wrote:
My idea is to use an RGB -> component converter in conjunction with a good 15 or 17" LCD TV.

Do you know where I could get a converter like that?  I'd like to give it a try.  

www.neobitz.com -- The s-video version is tested and works fine. It's available as a kit, keeping the cost down a bit. AFAIK, no one has tried the component version with an amiga, but it should work. The component version is not available as a kit. Email the guy, he should mail you back after a while with pricing/ordering info.

www.jrok.com -- This is the one I ordered, it hasn't been tested with the amiga yet. Similar to the neobitz, but it has adjustable RGB pots and jacks on the board. (Remote "jacking" can be done also.)

Both are NTSC through the s-video and composite jacks. There's a PAL version of the jrok, the neobitz can be modified for PAL (both products' encoder chips are capable of either w/ minor modification).  Component output should work fine with either PAL or NTSC (component output doesn't use the encoder), as long as your display device supports both.