A500/1000 monitor questions

[roguebeck]

I hooked up with an Amiga 500, and I finally found some Kickstart/Workbench disks for my A1000. Now I've realized that  I need a monitor instead of using a TV (ok TV card really).

  What type of monitor would you recommend? If I go with a commodore monitor, which ones are best for the Amigas? Will I need a special cable? If so which one?

 I am heading to ebay to search for a monitor (and a mouse, the Amiga Key + cursors is a pain), but I wanted to check before I purchased.

TIA

[motrucker]

With the A1000 and A500 you are pretty much limited to the 1080 or 1084 type. The 1084S has stereo speaker in it (for what they're worth).
The thing is that both of these machines sync to 15 KHz. You could use a vga monitor if you find an external FF/SD (Flicker Fixer/Scan Doubler).
all in all the 1080/1084 aren't bad choices for these old machines.

[Lando]

Philips CM8833 MkII or a C= 1084S are both good monitors and fine for games and light Workbench use etc.  Although, they're both RGB monitors, and you can get the same picture quality from a decent modern TV and an RGB Scart lead (I assume you're currently hooking your A500 up to the TV card via RF).

[roguebeck]

Yes I am using RF to my TV card, and the quality is poor (and on the A500 monochrome too). I'd like to be able to have a dedicated monitor for my Amiga(s). So I need a 1080 or 1084?
 (hopefully they come with the proper cable to hook to my Amiga)

Are these any good
http://cgi.ebay.com/AMIGA-Sync-Strainer-For-Regular-Computer-Monitors_W0QQitemZ8710112440QQcategoryZ4598QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[InTheSand]

Hi,

I'm not sure that this'll do what you're after...

The "Sync Strainer" has an entry here in the Amiga Hardware Database and the last point states "the Sync Strainer is not a scandoubler, the analog RGB signal is passed through unchanged".

Real Amiga scan doublers are $$$ expensive and they're quite hard to get hold of apart from on eBay where they sell for silly prices.

 - Ali

[roguebeck]

Well poo. (pardon my language).

 It seems that ebay is pretty slim pickings for 1080's and 1084's currently... Ah I am cursed to use RF it seems.

[InTheSand]

Hi,

You could get hold of an A520 modulator and at least use colour composite video - this should be a bit better than RF.

Otherwise, what sort of TV do you have? I guess SCART connections aren't common in the US but if they are, you can get an RGB lead to go straight from the Amiga.

Other alternatives are the multi-sync monitors that appeared when the A1200 and A4000 were current, such as those made by MicroVitec (still available new in the UK at least).

Or you could try finding an LCD monitor that will synchronise down to the 15KHz modes of the older Amigas.

Or finally, get hold of a cheapo VGA box and you'll then be able to use a standard PC monitor - be aware that this is still restricted to the Amiga's composite video output though, so quality won't be great.

 - Ali

[roguebeck]

I am using a hauppauge wintv-pci tv card via RF in. It's super fuzzy though. Is there a place that lists the compatible monitors for an A500 or A1000? I see alot of amiga stuff in the UK but shipping on a monitor to the US would be Expensive.

Is this monitor compatible:Commodore: 1950
http://www.amiga-hardware.com/showhardware.cgi?HARDID=856

[Zac67]

I've bought a Super Video genlock at eBay for $8 - much better output than CVBS (or even RF :-P), close to RGB quality and works nicely with the SVideo input of my WinTV card.

(I don't use the genlock function at all, just the RGB-to-SVideo conversion.)

Yes, the 1950 will work (with the appropriate cable).

[Managarm]

Or you could buy a Magic VGA box and then use any PC monitor. I got one and the quality's quite good.

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-86-70-4s4.html

[Zac67]

That's CVBS - yuk! :crazy:

[Managarm]

CVBS, que???

http://www.cvbs.org/

 :-)

[jjans]

Hello there, I have a spare 1084 monitor that I may be willing to part with. I think shipping something as heavy as a monitor may be expensive, but it is an option.

Any way, if you wish more info you can pmail me.

[InTheSand]

Managarm wrote:
CVBS, que???

http://www.cvbs.org/

 :-)

 :-D   Tweet, tweet!

Try this definition instead!

 - Ali

[humppa]

Nope, the box also provides S-Video input. Should give a much better picture when converting from RGB->S-Video using a genlock an then plugging it into the Magic VGA box.

If you want to use RGB without signal conversion, then the XRGB-2 might be something for you. There are also relatively cheap VGA boxes available that provide Component input. Unfortunately, converting from RGB->Component is not easy. But it should theoretically further improve signal quality.