My eyes!! My eyes!!

[ArthurDent]

Hi all!

After finally getting my PC to talk with my Amiga using a Null-modem cable, I'm planning to say goodbye to my social life for a while and to irritate my girlfriend by spending large amounts of time with my Amiga. :-) There is, however, a slight problem that crops up every time I try to bring my plans into action. You see, my Amiga is connected to a TV set. And I'm sitting very near it. I tend to see scan-lines every time I switch it off, wich is kind of unsettling.

Apart from solutions like moving the TV further away, I've heard it's possible to attach several kinds of monitors. So far, I've considered these options:

1). A multiscan monitor, wich would enable me to view all modes without difficulty. I have seen one for sale, however, and it proved to be rather expensive.

2). A Commodore 1084 or likewise monitor. I've been told these work raher well, only they can't display all workbench screenmodes etc. I'm trying to find out wether this is true or not.

3). A SVGA monitor from my PC. Now, this is were things get vague. I seems one cannot attach an old monitor without special hardware. I've heard about 'flicker fixers' and 'scandoublers' and other arcane devices that would be able to be of assistance.

Can someone please inform this humble newbie wich method is most costeffective and efficient? I'd be very gratefull for some insight in these things!

[whabang]

A 1084 without doubt.

[Kronos]

1)"Multiscan" in this sense means that it can do 15-xx kHz and 50-xx Hz, something that isn't trues for practilly all new monitors.

2) Will do all old games, unsuitable for modern apps.

3) A scandoubler will only make sure all modes can be displayed on a VGA-monitor without changing the quality of the signal
A FF will do the same and remove the flicker from interlaced modes.

[adz]

whabang wrote:
A 1084 without doubt.

I'll second that, the only screen modes you won't be able to use AFIAK are, DblPAL/NTSC and the productivity screen modes. In the end, it would be best if you could get your hands on a scandoubler/flicker fixer, nothing beats using a miggy on a 17" flat screen monitor.

[Kronos]

4) route the Amiga-output through a TV-card installed in your PC

[leirbag28]

 I agree with Kronos.If you have an ATI card that has Video input (or another VVideo card)then just plug your Amiga into the Video input of tha card and open up the TV viewing window and watch your Amiga right there Flicker Free!

 If you dont have that........the next best and Free solution is to Download:

VISUAL PREFS--- (put double borders on the edges and less bright shine and less dark shadow)
TOOLS DAEMON  (No more opening drawers after this)
MAGIC MENU  (makes Tools Daemon look alot nicer)

if you have and older Amiga that does not have AGA, then get MagicTV from Aminet web site. It will turn your Workbench into Flisker free! as long as your running your Workbench in 16 colors or 8 colors.


 ALL are free............Visual Prefs may need registering later :-)

[downward_s]

I'm using my A1200 through a PC with a TV card atm, and it works well. I can use 640x512 interlaced with overscan, and the PC automatically removes all of the flicker.

It's not that sharp, but it's useful to be able to flick to windows now and again while the amiga is working.

[ArthurDent]

Right.

Thanks for the replies!! It seems I will either scour the local secondhand-shops for a used 1084 monitor or get myself one of those nifty TV-video-card combos. Regarding the latter... do I need any special cables?

 

[BigBenAussie]

You better have a pretty good TV card though. You may find it loses pixels, smudges the colours and updates slowly.

[X-ray]

Is a 1084 better than a Microvitech M1438s?

[downward_s]

>Is a 1084 better than a Microvitech M1438s?

No. The 1084 is a basic video monitor which only accepts 15kHz modes (from the standard amiga chipset). It's been around since the beginning of the Amiga, almost, and in many different variations.

The M1438 is a multisync which can handle both Amiga native chipset modes and higher frequency rates, and so is much more useful.

[Bezzen]

@Kronos

Hey... why haven't I thought about that. I've got one of those tv-cards that get a pretty good picture through composite, but I never actually thought about getting something useful out of it. Too crowded on my desk for two monitors so my 1200 has been gathering dust when it's not connected to the TV for a game of Settlers.

Perhaps it's time to give it a boot and try out that PCMCIA-network card I got for it a couple of months back.

One of the best Amiga monitors is the Commodore 1942.
It has a dot pitch of  0.28.
So it gives a very sharp picture.
I owne one, and I think it's much better than the
"plain old 1084" or the Philips CM8833.

 :-D

[leirbag28]

@ArthurDent

Funny.you ask questions you already know the answer to.....haha.you knew no matter what that you still want a 1084s Monitor...........you just wanted people to agree with you more so that you could feel good about getting it! :-)

its a good idea anyway buddy................but I got news for you..........the 1084 flickers as much as a TV except you will see the Flickering more clearly and crisper hehe.

the Software I suggested is the only hope now, unless you buy a FlickerFier which If you do, I recommend you get the 1942 monitor instead....which looks Identical to the 1084s D2 but it also can display VGA and DblPAL and DblNTSC, so the Flicker fixer Scandoubler will work with this monitor passing a clear stable picture to it.

Another simple solution..........get a Genlock with S-Video (Y/C)   and connect it to a TV with S-Video and you will get a picture almost identical in quality to a 1084s Monitor, but just on a bigger screen...........I suggest a PHILIPS TV as many of them can disply PAL even adjusting the picture automatically.

[ArthurDent]

Oioioi leirbag28, slow down! :-) I'm new to this stuff and I'm getting dizzy! :insane:

Please let me elaborate: I own an A1200, on wich I use the Workbench a lot. I'm looking for a costeffective solution that's easy for a noob like me to install and doesn't ruin my PC-spoilt 85+ hertz vision. ;-) I figured the 1084 is perhaps the most common monitor used for Amiga's, so it must be able to display most/all of it's modes. Besides the TV-card, it looks like a good option since there must be lots of them still around. I'm not looking for confirmation, just good advice. As for the tv-card... a local store next door to me sells one relatively cheap, that I hope will be good. I'll probably get that one first, since it'll be even less expensive (Hey, I'm just a poor student).

I don't know anything about DoublePAL, productivity modes or special programs yet. I'm just starting to figure things out. :-) And these Genlock things, aren't they used for video-editing? They're probably hard to come by I guess..

Cheers,
Arthur