Getting better picture with A1200 (at low cost)

[hayashi]

Hi,

I just decided to try my Amiga on interlaced 640x512 through composite video on my LCD TV, which looks far better than it did on my CRT (less flicker), though the flicker is still noticeable and the actual screen quality is quite unclear. (The quality could also be better in non-interlaced and low-resolution modes) Since I use my Amiga a lot for DPaint and the like, I'm really hoping to rectify this.

I saw a RGB SCART cable on eBay for the Amiga. As far as I know, my TV is capable of doing RGB SCART, so I'm considering getting this, but would it actually make a great difference over the current picture quality?

Also, are there any other ways to noticeably improve picture quality over standard composite, and/or reduce flicker in interlaced modes, without having to pay eg over £100 for a scandoubler/flickerfixer/etc and VGA cables? Also, if I were to get a monitor (multiscan?), what sort of monitor should I be looking for?

[NovaCoder]

Hi,

I just decided to try my Amiga on interlaced 640x512 through composite video on my LCD TV, which looks far better than it did on my CRT (less flicker), though the flicker is still noticeable and the actual screen quality is quite unclear. (The quality could also be better in non-interlaced and low-resolution modes) Since I use my Amiga a lot for DPaint and the like, I'm really hoping to rectify this.

I saw a RGB SCART cable on eBay for the Amiga. As far as I know, my TV is capable of doing RGB SCART, so I'm considering getting this, but would it actually make a great difference over the current picture quality?

Also, are there any other ways to noticeably improve picture quality over standard composite, and/or reduce flicker in interlaced modes, without having to pay eg over £100 for a scandoubler/flickerfixer/etc and VGA cables? Also, if I were to get a monitor (multiscan?), what sort of monitor should I be looking for?

To answer your question(s), it really depends on what you are trying with you Miggy.

Let's start off with the BEST possible (non-RTG) classic WB picture and work back from there.

MultiSync+VGAOnly (640x480) to a 17" or 19" flatscreen CRT will give you the best WB picture but you probably won't be able to run much software without an Indivision which can increase the refresh rate further in WB but not the actual picture 'quality'.  With an Indivision you can also run in all the other modes without flicker (a monitor that can go down to 50hz is a must if you want smooth scrolling in games which you would).

A cheap option is RGB to SCART to a TV and will be much better than composite in most cases.

I got a nice flatscreen 19" CRT off eBay for 10 quid because nobody wants them anymore.

[Khephren]

Running through RGB scart will reduce flicker and sharpen the picture. You could also run in NTSC and overscan that, NTSC runs at 60 Hz rather than 50, so you get less flicker out of it.

If you have an A1200, you can run in double PAL or double NTSC, slightly slower, but high resolution, and flicker free. (you might need to connect the miggy to the VGA in on your LCD)

[utri007]

Some LCD-TVs works as a flicker fixer.

You can allso try analogig-tv, connect it to your PC and get scart -> s-video adapter, so that you can connect your amiga to TV-card s-video input.

TV-cards has a some sort of flicker fixer build in.

[skilgannon]

I bought an RGB SCART from AndyC the other night and the picture on my TV with it is great.  My TV is a 1080p Samsung 40" and can't remember the resolution but it was one of the interlaced resolutions and was indeed flicker free and stable.  Very clear.

If you can get your hands on certain Archimedes monitors (ones that came out with the Archi 3000), they can do 15hz natively so would act nicely as a proper monitor and they are pretty cheap.  There are also some NEC Multisync monitors (I think it is the NEC 3D) that do the magical 15hz but I think they are rarer.

[tone007]

Full RGB SCART does sound good, not that I'd know as I'm in the US and they don't have SCART here.

Amiga.org member 1985BMWK75 has created some affordable RGB to composite/s-video devices that would most likely give a performance improvement over composite output if for whatever reason SCART doesn't work out.

[blakespot]

I know it's an Amiga 1000 that's featured in the video, but have a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDP8cvIXtFY

The same device should work for an Amiga 1200, but I don't personally know where it would need to be soldered in.

Cheers.



blakespot

[lionstorm]

or you can use MagicTV (from aminet) but you will be limited to 8 (16? cant remember) colors...

[mike-]

You could do what i've done here, using linux and tvtime to de-interlace the signal from the amiga in sw, i havent tested on windows as i dont have windows, its a hercules card. But any will do. Im not 100% happy about the picture quality tho, so i've already placed an order for one of those rgb > svideo things, that _should_ improve things, i hope. Im not entirly sure i get to keep my screenmode and overscan tho(?)
http://i26.tinypic.com/33dwcgg.jpg

Taking it one step further, you could output the picture via your tvout on your puters gfx card to your tv/projector/whatever ^^

[Cammy]

The NEW PAL/NTSC RGB adapter from http://www.amigamaniac.com will give you a rock solid, crystal clear S-Video picture from your Amiga. It plugs into any Amiga with a video port (except for the CD32 which doesn't have a video port but has S-Video built in). It has a switch on it to select if NTSC or PAL, so it's compatible with any Amiga from around the world!

Say goodbye to dot crawl, colour rolling, ghosting and blurry pixels!