Amiga 1200 questions

[CdreCommodore]

It's been a long time since I had an A1200 (and I still don't have one, but I thought I might like a new toy in the future).  I was wondering if I could bounce a few questions off of the forum members here...

Were there separate PAL and NTSC versions of the A1200, or was there a motherboard jumper for this, or what?

What options are available today for scandoubling/flickerfixing so that I wouldn't have to keep a 1084 monitor on hand?  How hard are they to come by?

Were there different motherboard revisions, and are there revisions to avoid like there were with the big box Amigas?

Thank ewe...

[CyberStorm]

Getting an new A1200 is no bad idea, but also take a look at the new Amiga One, if you haven't already.

Yes, there is different versions for PAL and for NTSC.

You may use VGA without any problem on an standard PC VGA monitor, all that is needed is an adapter, as the connections are not the same. No flicker fixer or scandoubler is needed.

But if you want to make use of the SVGA resolutions then a flicker fixer is recommended, to avoid the flicker.

Also the standard HiRes Laced is faster than VGA modes, so using a scandoubler wiht flicker fixer could be an idea even here. And if you are going to play games and demos, well then a scan doubler is needed if you are not to use the 1084 or a TV set.

It's possible to find flicker fixers for the A1200, but they cost as much as the A1200 itself, maybe better then to think about a solution with a PCI graphic card, well even more expensive but also better.

I think, the mother board revision is not that important, but if you may find an A1200 with kickstart 3.1 that is of course better.

[RacerX]

Were there separate PAL and NTSC versions of the A1200, or was there a motherboard jumper for this, or what?

I believe there are separate PAL and NTCS versions, but they should both be capable of displaying both screen modes.  You can switch between PAL and NTCS in the 'early startup' screen, and you can also set screen mode in Workbench prefs.

What options are available today for scandoubling/flickerfixing so that I wouldn't have to keep a 1084 monitor on hand? How hard are they to come by?

There were at least 2 different ones when I got mine (but that was a few years ago).  One had a couple sockets that went over the video chips and the other is a box that plugs into the video-out port.  I don't remember what their names were.  Try searching the CompuQuick and Software Hut sites.

Were there different motherboard revisions, and are there revisions to avoid like there were with the big box Amigas?

dunno.

Thank ewe...

Yer welcome...

"Git-R-Done, Smeghead" - RedNeck Dwarf ;-)

[CdreCommodore]

Yes, there is different versions for PAL and for NTSC.

Is there a hardware modification to change from one to the other?  I seem to recall that the A500 could be handled this way...

You may use VGA without any problem on an standard PC VGA monitor,

Err, are you sure about that?  I'm pretty sure the A1200 spits out a 15khz signal by default, requiring a 1084 or equivalent monitor.

But if you want to make use of the SVGA resolutions then a flicker fixer is recommended, to avoid the flicker.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say "SVGA resolutions" when talking about an Amiga 1200.  Are you referring to the DblPAL/DblNTSC modes?

It's possible to find flicker fixers for the A1200, but they cost as much as the A1200 itself, maybe better then to think about a solution with a PCI graphic card, well even more expensive but also better.

Nah, I have no desire (or money) to build a towered system with PCI, etc.  I just want the original A1200 desktop with a PCMCIA network card (I already have the TCP software) and I want to be able to plug it up to my KVM and use it on the same monitor as the rest of my computers.

Thank you for the response.

[SamuraiCrow]

I'm pretty sure the A1200 spits out a 15khz signal by default, requiring a 1084 or equivalent monitor.

It does but if you use the VGAonly driver it will display flicker-free on a VGA monitor with only a simple adapter.  If you want to run games that hit the hardware directly and run in NTSC/PAL modes then you need a scandoubler to display them on a VGA monitor.

You can get an internal scan doubler for the A1200 at Software Hut but it isn't cheap.  It'll cost you as much as the A1200 or a used monitor.

[CdreCommodore]

@SamuraiCrow

Without a 1084 monitor on hand, how would you be able to boot up and get to ScreenMode prefs to change to the 31khz mode you'd need for a VGA monitor?

[Ilwrath]

Without a 1084 monitor on hand, how would you be able to boot up and get to ScreenMode prefs to change to the 31khz mode you'd need for a VGA monitor?

A TV works fine for this purpose.  The A1200 has a built-in composite video output, as well as an RF output.

[CyberStorm]

I'm not sure what you mean when you say "SVGA resolutions" when talking about an Amiga 1200. Are you referring to the DblPAL/DblNTSC modes?

When saying SVGA I'm refering to the 800x600 pixels resolution. It works on a standard VGA monitor without scandoubler, but as it's interlaced, it's better used with a flicker fixer.

Standard VGA isn't interlaced, and can be used without anything more than the VGA adapter.

I have used my Amiga 1200 on a VGA monitor since it came, and would never been thinking of the 1084, other than for some videoworks, and for watching demos.

[gromar]

Regarding the revisions of the A1200 there was 7 revisions, of witch 5 were end user versions.

If you take a look at this page I think you will find what you are looking for.


http://www.amiga-hardware.com/

[CdreCommodore]

@llwrath:

Aha!

[Ilwrath]

@llwrath:

Aha!

Heh... I had my A1200 hooked to a VGA-only display and a TV for a while.  While I liked the lack of flicker, it was annoying to have two displays on-hand.  But I was a poor student on a tight budget.  I scavenged the VGA display for like $20 and the TV was actually the display I used to use on my C=64.  :lol: