VOGONS


First post, by BitWrangler

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Hey folks,

Seeing a place clearing out some CRT security monitors. They have BNC mono and a switch for DC clamp, I am assuming it's designed purpose is to cope with cameras that get a power feed over coax. Anyway, if it cuts everything down to 1V p2p, then maybe some old cards without composite, and some portables where it's hard to swap video hardware, could use this as a "lazy" external monitor, no conversion other than wiring mono pin or green to BNC, presuming you can put card into a 15khz mode plus or minus the analog fudge factor, that it will sync.

Several decades ago, I had a very worn out mono security monitor, very dim and fuzzy, and I was a lot more of a n00b at PC hardware at the time. Somehow I had that working with a couple of machines in mono, but maybe had the assistance of a composite output, probably doing mono CGA. That monitor was so bad though, that output was actually sharper going through a VCR composite input, through the VCRs RF convertor to a color TV... which as you know isn't super ideal for sharp computer output.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone messed with a mono security monitor with a DC clamp and tried putting a bigger than 1V signal into it to see if the clamp helps or doesn't. I've probably got a few solutions around for normal composite mono, just wondering if the monitors with this feature offer any advantage for retro abuse.

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Reply 1 of 3, by mkarcher

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You should be aware that these security monitors require a "composite input". While obviously they don't require a color composite signal (which is often implied when calling a signal "composite"), this input requires the video signal and the sync signal (both horizontal and vertical) combined on that BNC input. So you will not get around some kind of wiring adapter (possibly just mixing green, hsync and vsync using resistors) to make a security monitors work on a TTL graphics cards like MDA or CGA.

Reply 2 of 3, by BitWrangler

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Good point, synch combiner probably required. I guess I got spoiled a couple of years after that when I was messing around with Tomi Engdahl's VGA2TV and the Trident and CL cards I had did synch on green.... Then I have been spoiled the last ~20 years with dirt cheap monitors and forgot all the details of the video class monitor hacks.

I am trying to dredge it all back up now for pre-VGA though since monitors for those are super hard to find. I have one mono and one color, but I've never seen anything like a KVM switch for pre-VGA/TTL, though I guess since it is TTL then something with 74 series logic shouldn't be too hard to work out. Another outside possibility is that I have spotted one or two LCD with TTL input... or needing a 3.3V or 2.5V level converter, but all the same, digital.

Unicorn herding operations are proceeding, but all the totes of hens teeth and barrels of rocking horse poop give them plenty of hiding spots.

Reply 3 of 3, by Tiido

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Like the mentioned sync combiner, you adapt the TTL etc. video signal with a few additional resistor(s) too. The arduino people who bitbang composhit outputs use a simple two resistor method, 1k on sync and 470ohm on the luma signal, with 75ohm in the TV/monitor completing the circuit. This works if you have a Csync available, with separate HV sync you're gonna need another resistor if you can get positive Vsync and negative Hsync and if you need to combine the other color channels into the luma too, you'll need 2 more resistors. I cannot comment on the exact values, since this isn't something I have had to do myself but in the end you'll need to get sync pulses stay between 0...300mV and video signal part from 300...1000mV for a compliant video signal for the monitor. Video can go higher but eventually it'll clip the input stages and then you're gonna get trailing artifacts as the transistors involved recover from saturation.

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