Heads up for people in the UK looking for a flat screen for their Amiga

[motorollin]

I went in to ASDA wondering if they had a decent LCD TV, one with both SCART and VGA inputs. I found a 15" one for £169 and bought it. It was branded "Dual" and the model number is DLCD1501.

1024x768 from my Voodoo looks great, but I was initially a little bit disappointed with the SCART display as it looked in a way too good - you could see every pixel and it was a bit blocky, whereas on a TV it looks a bit softer. Then I found that the SCART input has an optional sharpening filter which was enabled. I set it to normal, and instantly games looked much softer.

I would definitely recommend this screen for Amiga users who have a graphics card and want a monitor to display all screenmodes, and also those who are looking for a cost-effective solution for the scandoubler problem.

The only problem is that you have to manually switch from VGA to AV with the remote, but it's a small inconvenience.

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moto

[Hyperspeed]

That sounds tempting!

I was going to give a heads up for the ones in Woolworths but I'm not sure they're as good.

· Crown 20" LCD TV
· Maximum resolution 640x480
· PAL 50/NTSC 60 compatible
· SCART input
· Phono input
· £299.99

As you can see, 640x480 probably isn't even good enough for Hi-Res Laced but maybe I'll try it. They'll give you a refund if you're not happy!

I'll definately check out the ASDA one but 15" isn't that big is it...

Does it have different channel memories that can store different screen settings/sizes? That'd rock for switching between PAL demos and NTSC games etc.

[motorollin]

I would prefer a slightly smaller screen with a higher resolution personally.

I don't understand what you mean by channel memories. SCART doesn't have channels, it's just an RGB or composite signal. The display size on the screen is determined by the signal, unless your screen allows you to stretch it (this one doesn't).

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moto

[Hyperspeed]

Yeah me too!

The thought of staring at a low resolution blur at 20" isn't too appealing.

What I mean by channels is, buttons to switch between say preset 1, preset 2 etc.

preset 1 could be 640x512 stretched to fit the whole screen, whereas preset 2 would be 640x400 NTSC with the display moved to avoid overlapping etc.

Digital memories I suppose would be the CRT phrase.

Screen resizing would be essential to me as neither PAL/NTSC are perfect 4:3 aspect ratio and I prefer to watch TV where people don't look like either Lauryl or Hardy!

:-)

I think Woolies did a 32" widescreen LCD too for £600 which was really nice, don't know what resolution was though.

Does the Asda one have speakers?

[Colin_Camper]

That's good news. No, actually it's great news!

I have been meaning to buy the new scandoubler/flickerfixer from Amigakit - I still might.
Do you get flicker on this TV - or is it solved with being LCD?

Shame about manually switching from VGA to SVGA/XVGA

I might check out the similar priced TV in Tescos just in case it automatically switches! However if you still get flicker - I'll just go with Amigakit and use a 17" LCD monitor!

[Hyperspeed]

I don't think you'll get the flickering of a CRT but 60Hz NTSC will move smoother than 50Hz PAL.

[motorollin]

There is no flicker. The TV doubles the scan rate and stabilises the image so it displays perfectly on the LCD. And yes it does have speakers built in, but I don't know what they sound like as I'm using external ones.

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moto

[nasty]

This sounds interesting is there any screenies  :-)

[motorollin]

nasty wrote:
This sounds interesting is there any screenies  :-)

In progress :-)

--
moto

[Hyperspeed]

Hey there's a Beastie Boys album called 'Hello Nasty' and a mobile phone slogan 'Hello Moto'...

[JaXanim]

I've just bought a Dell 19" TFT display (200 UKpounds) for my peecee. My A1200T with a Voodoo5 running under Picasso 96 can output at least one screenmode (1120x832x32bit at 60Hz/59KHz)which is within range of the Dell. It (the Amiga screen)is superb. Anything that insists on outputting native modes can be promoted to the Dell using NewMode (Aminet), a top notch utility. No Early Boot Screen of course, but I have a very old Microvitec if I need to see that.

Don't know very much about it all, but spending 250 pounds on an LCD tv sounds like the wrong move. Sorry if I've misunderstood, but can't see why expensive tv's should be used for Amigas.

Cheers, JaX

[Hyperspeed]

What I don't understand is you having a 19" LCD on your desk with a Microvitec just to display the early boot menu!

:-)

Surely it'd be best to kill two birds with one stone?

If you can get an LCD TV that accepts TV, DVD, Amiga AND PC then it's gotta be good thing.

Phase5 messed up when they left out a scandoubler/FF from the BlizzardVision/CyberVision PPC because everyone had to buy a monitor switcher/dongle and keep two different screens on the desk. CRAZY!

[JaXanim]

@Hyperspeed

I don't. The old multiscan is in the shed in case I need it. The Dell TFT is 3 inches thick and also displays TV (via Amiga & pc tv cards), DVD, Amiga native (promoted) and PC.

My desk space is full of papers instead of hardware! I guess you pays your money and makes your choice.

Mmm, the Phase5 legacy.... I only used a Picasso 4 (also in the shed) so the SD/FF issue didn't arise, but with a Mediator/Voodoo5/Picasso96 setup, you don't need a SD/FF anyway.

Cheers, JaX

[Hyperspeed]

Displaying TV through a PCI TV card is hardly making it 15Khz compatible and thus not only can you not see the Amiga's bootup menu but you'll be unable to see 99.996% of the games and demos!

The reason the Picasso-IV whooped the CV64 was because it had a fabulous 15KHz integration via the video slot. Ignore the custom chips at your peril!

What is your P-IV doing in the shed!? I'd swap that for a Voodoo any day, they're going for £150+ on eBay!

[JaXanim]

You're right, I miss the demos. Games? I was always useless...spent too much time learning LightWave to bother with games. But remember I still have the Microvitec should I fancy getting behind the wheel of the Lotus Turbo again..

Yep, the Picasso 4 is Fabulous and worth all of £150 today.  Today that is......

Cheers,  JaX