Possible Cheap Scandoubler/FlickerFixer!

[mfletcher]

SUCCESS!

Brought my A1200 home tonight and plugged it into my Samsung SyncMaster 225MW Monitor, using a KWorld Blazing Orange TVBox 1920x1200.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...607&CatId=1427

Works really well as a scandoubler/flickerfixer... Unfortunately I was running composite to the TVBox so the picture isnt the best. That and my shoddy camerawork with an iPhone  I've uploaded some sample pics to my website here:

http://www.markfletcher.org/amiga/

I'm going to keep experimenting with other programs to see how well they work, but so far Ive tested

Extreme Violence
Pong
World of Commodore 92 Demo
Naughty Ones AGA
Poliezai demo AGA.

I've only just discovered that it also accepts VGA as an input! Unfortunately AmigaKit is on holiday, so it looks like its going to be a while until I get a VGA adapter to try out the VGA input.

I'll let you know how I get on!

Mark

[mfletcher]

AlexH,

Then what would *YOU* suggest as an alternative?

The only alternatives I can see are:
1) Buy an expensive scandoubler / flickerfixer on Ebay for anywhere between $400 to $900. Way too expensive!
2) Buy a Commodore monitor. But what happens when it breaks? Back to square one!
3) Nothing. Im screwed.

Im looking for a solution that is cheap and easy to source. The KWorld TV Box might not be the best scandoubler / flickerfixer on the market, but it sure as hell makes more sense to spend money on it, instead of paying for some overpriced effort on Ebay. If it breaks, well Kworld will still be in business that I can source a replacement.

So Alex, illuminate me with your wisdom, what would you suggest?

[mfletcher]

Nasty,

Actually Im quite happy with the results. :-)

Sure workbench looks a bit fuzzy, but games, demos etc works fine. I was playing Naughty Ones last night and there was no ghosting while playing it.

TBH, when I owned my Amiga the first time round, I never really went into Workbench all that much.

Im just perplexed that AlexH couldnt come up with an alternative... kinda diminishes his contribution to the thread otherwise.

Mark

[mfletcher]

AlexH,

Thanks for the info... I wish I had known more beforehand about what options are available. I think for people getting all nostalgic about their Amiga days, and looking to re-invest in an Amiga, its invaluable.

My own process was something like this:
1) Look for an A1200... Oh Great! AmigaKit sell them!
2) Ok, get monitor adapter. Wha?!? Most monitors dont work with the Amiga, I need this... scandoubler / flickerfixer thing.
3) They're expensive, well at least the ones made by this Jan fellow are. Look for alternatives.
4) Settle on KWorld TV Tuner, as it was the only big brand I could get from Amazon/TigerDirect, with a hope of a refund if things dont work out.

I dont know the back history as to why these (the ones made by this Jan fellow) Scandoublers are no longer available. And I do understand that the R&D required to produce a new design may be cost prohibitive. So why cant the design for this device be made public? That way anyone could get the reference design and produce them in sufficient quantities when there is a significant demand.

Do the rights to the device belong to some company that does not want to license it?

Its a shame, as it would be the ideal solution. But at the same time its lack of availability could be a real barrier for people looking to get back into the community.

Personally, I'd love to see some kind of S-Video solution... at least it would be better than composite. But not having any electrical engineering skills, Im going to just have to wait and see.

Mark

[mfletcher]

Although it says signal input, I fear that it may be just a passthrough input, like the one on mine.

Actually I havent confirmed it, but after reading the manual and reading AlexH's post it might be likely. Nevertheless Ive ordered a VGA adapter so that I can connect my amiga to it. Hope springs eternal and all that!

[mfletcher]

da9000 wrote:
@mfletcher:

To Alexh's and my defense, you have to understand that this topic of SD/FF (scandoubler/flickerfixer, but also of 16bit vs 24bit SD/FFs, yes, go read about it, else another 'caustic analysis' might come your way) has been a very hot one, and we're sometimes assuming people have been following/reading/searching (searching? HA!) at least one of the 10,000 threads on it.

da9000. Understood, and I can understand the frustration if the question has been asked a bajillion times.

Actually the best solution would be to create a sticky thread that has the problem, and the work arounds so far (ie KWorld box, Roys box, etc etc. Is there a mod or someone that could do this? Or I could start a new thread summarising this info?

[mfletcher]

alexh wrote:
Unfortunately you are in the USA but for us PAL users there is a simple and quick mod you can do to an A520 modulator to make it output SVIDEO.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~davem2/overclock/a520.html

Thanks I'll give it a look. I intentionally bought a PAL A1200 with UK PSU (and a US PSU to drive it here), in case I return to the UK (Im an expat).

I can still use it to hook it up to my monitor here though.

[mfletcher]

alexh wrote:
If you have an A1200 then you probably don't have an A520.

Well, um... of course! Thanks for stating the obvious... :roll:  :-D I'll have to buy one at some point.

[mfletcher]

alexh wrote:
This is the same product as the Orange box thingy just a different name.

The "out of the box" Amiga compatible inputs are composite video or (worse) RF. Both of which will give suboptimal results.

Would it be possible to use the RGB -> VGA adapter and then a VGA -> Component Cable? The box does accept component through an adapter.

[mfletcher]

The TV Gamer Box also accepts component RGB.  The most ideal solution would probably be to connect the Amiga to an RGB>Component converter, then connect that to the TV Box.

Having said that, I'd still prefer an all-in-one RGB>VGA solution.  Hopefully Roy or Jens will be solving that for us.

I was going to try a combination of the RGB -> VGA adapter thats available from AmigaKit, then VGA -> Component cable plugged into the TV Box. Probably wont work but worth a try.

[mfletcher]

- A1200 internal, plugs over Lisa, no other chip-connections (other internal flickerfixers used an additional Alice-adapter)

So, a complete numpty like me could install this mod without soldering?