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MDA/CGA/EGA to VGA Converter Released!

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Reply 260 of 341, by retrocanada76

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keropi wrote:

Well, as you can see the monitor does display a working composite image

The only thing I can tell is the card is failing the expected pattern for the mce2vga. What is the difference I can't tell as I don't have an old CGA card.

Reply 261 of 341, by retrocanada76

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Ok try now the latest FW. Oddly enough the Tandy 1000 suffers from the same ill but the MM1988 runs in native tandy mode this is why I didn't notice it before.

Well Old CGA and Tandy 1000 generates the CYAN/MAGENTA in low intensity for both palletes: low and high. You don't get light cyan/ light magenta on it as expected on a new CGA or EGA clones.

But I will be probably generating the wrong colors, so please type this program below on basica and take a picture of the composite output (CRT) of the screens - press enter for each screen:

(no my Tandy 1000 generates funky composite colors)

10 CLS
20 SCREEN 1
30 FOR X = 0 TO 63
40 FOR C = 0 TO 3
50 LINE(X*2,C*32)-(X*2,(C+1)*32-1),C
60 FOR I = 0 TO 3
70 LINE(X*2+1,C*32+I*8)-(X*2+1,C*32+(I+1)*8-1),I
80 NEXT I
90 NEXT C
100 NEXT X
110 OUT &H3D9,0
120 IF INKEY$=""THEN 120
130 OUT &H3D9,16
140 IF INKEY$=""THEN 140
150 OUT &H3D9,32
160 IF INKEY$=""THEN 160
170 OUT &H3D9,48
180 IF INKEY$=""THEN 180
200 GOTO 110

Reply 262 of 341, by keropi

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I somehow missed the above post - I will try that ASAP and report back...!

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Reply 263 of 341, by keropi

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I just tried with the latest firmware:

MM 1988 improved a little , there is a solid color on the logo and background now

p1nOSoxl.jpg

bAgQo8fl.jpg

1989 version seems the same as before to me

gU5JWDAl.jpg

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Reply 264 of 341, by retrocanada76

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take a picture of the 4 patterns generated in my basic program I posted. Something is off in your board and I cannot identify by your pictures and maybe I will never figure out because it makes no sense to me anymore...

Reply 265 of 341, by dJOS

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RC, I just tried the latest commit from GitHub (~4 days ago) and it looks great - I no longer have to play with phase on power up* and the colours look excellent! Oh and the scanlines are MUCH nicer now too!

Great work! 😎

*I just have to hit auto-adjust on my LCD for every mode change, but I can live with that.

The impossible often has a kind of integrity which the merely improbable lacks.

Reply 266 of 341, by keropi

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Here are the shots retrocanada76 , if more are needed just ask. I hope this helps!
Colors ofcourse are better in real life - the camera doesn't want to do them justice...

u2DRdzgm.jpg

UQVjSdJm.jpg

y2RahfWm.jpg

I hope this isn't the same mode as KQ1 for example as it always worked fine... also the colors are not calibrated - if it's the same as KQ1 then they are wrong...

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Reply 268 of 341, by retrocanada76

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dJOS wrote:

*I just have to hit auto-adjust on my LCD for every mode change, but I can live with that.

For CGA:
Adjust your monitor clock to fit extra 8 pixels. Then using MODE CO80 find the leftmost position. Adjust the MONITOR Hor. Position and set the screen to the left, allowing extra 8 pixels to the right border. Now the screen will be visible every screen change.

For EGA the text mode and hir-res are pretty fixed position but the mid-res and CGA modes have a wider random position. Use the same technique above but allow more pixels.

Reply 269 of 341, by keropi

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retrocanada76 wrote:

No they aren't. KQ1 uses 640x200 in mid-bright. These are 320x200

All right! Do the shots help? Are they good?

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Reply 271 of 341, by dJOS

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retrocanada76 wrote:
For CGA: Adjust your monitor clock to fit extra 8 pixels. Then using MODE CO80 find the leftmost position. Adjust the MONITOR H […]
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dJOS wrote:

*I just have to hit auto-adjust on my LCD for every mode change, but I can live with that.

For CGA:
Adjust your monitor clock to fit extra 8 pixels. Then using MODE CO80 find the leftmost position. Adjust the MONITOR Hor. Position and set the screen to the left, allowing extra 8 pixels to the right border. Now the screen will be visible every screen change.

For EGA the text mode and hir-res are pretty fixed position but the mid-res and CGA modes have a wider random position. Use the same technique above but allow more pixels.

Lol, I have no idea how to "Adjust your monitor clock to fit extra 8 pixels" - But I'm happy with the results regardless. 😎

The impossible often has a kind of integrity which the merely improbable lacks.

Reply 273 of 341, by dJOS

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retrocanada76 wrote:

Go to the manual settings. There should be a clock option there. Most of them have, this option will stretch or shrink the image horizontally, doing pixel interpolation.

Ah ok, i'll have a look, cheers.

The impossible often has a kind of integrity which the merely improbable lacks.

Reply 274 of 341, by keropi

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retrocanada76 wrote:

Keropi, are you adjusting the H.POS on the fpga? like 1,2 or 3 pixels to the left / right ? Does it change anything ???

If you mean if I have to adjust the image with the buttons then yes , it is needed every power-on (and it is also kind of annoying because it takes many presses)

With both the monitor and mce2vga in default settings:

RNlwhaJl.jpg

I have to adjust H.POS LEFT direction 40 times before I can press the auto-adjust on the monitor and get a proper image:

UW0gp8el.jpg

Same as with KQ1 for example, defaults are these:

fHITyFwl.jpg

moving 25+ H.POS to LEFT direction I get this - I can center it more but I don't bother

tmWrUwdl.jpg

My monitor remembers the settings but still each mce2vga power-on I have to move the image LEFT

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Reply 275 of 341, by retrocanada76

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But i did the h.pos on the maniac mansion to see if the colors cycle ?

You can change the FGPA and set the initial ctrl_params that suits you. But I recommend before a decent blaster to not have to flash it everytime...

Reply 276 of 341, by retrocanada76

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keropi, can you make a video ? start Maniac 1988 in composite mode. Press the composite button on FPGA and then press left/right on the FPGA toa adjust the screen . I want to see the patterns how they behave when you move the image left/right.

I still can't figure out what is the problem with your old CGA

Reply 277 of 341, by keropi

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I will look into "ctrl_params" - I also have a proper usb blaster that dreamblaster sent me so it's not an issue anymore.
I'll also make the video but it will have to wait until tomorrow as everything is at my office and I left for the day 😀

edit:
here is a pic of the 2 usb blasters - top is the old eBay one , bottom the one dreamblaster sent me.
I don't think I need to comment on the situation 🤣

3wrf4rKl.jpg

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Reply 278 of 341, by keropi

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Allright I made the video. First I centered the screen, ensured I get correct colors with KQ1 and recorded MM1988 in composite mode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8XSFA9Yduo

I hope the video is good - anything else just ask retrocanada76 😀

🎵 🎧 PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 279 of 341, by dJOS

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keropi wrote:

Allright I made the video. First I centered the screen, ensured I get correct colors with KQ1 and recorded MM1988 in composite mode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8XSFA9Yduo

I hope the video is good - anything else just ask retrocanada76 😀

It looks like your screen is stretching the image horizontally, is it a 16:9 screen?

The impossible often has a kind of integrity which the merely improbable lacks.