CM-5 RGB emulation is getting closer. I'm working on tweaking little nuances:

Unfortunately my monitor is not high enough resolution(1920x1080) to use curvature without severe moire patterns, which detract from 16 color scenes.

I have achieved proper excessive brightness, but cannot refine the pinpoint brightness of each individual pixel without more resolution. The pixels on the real CM-5 resemble a sun behind black construction paper with a pinhole poked through. They are quite striking.

Also, it is funny to play VGA games using this setting. They absolutely do not look right! As they would on the real thing, too, the monitor simply wasn't made for more than 16 simultaneous colors.

Speaking of VGA, here is another picture of my latest VGA tweaks:

The whole purpose was to move from the older system of overlays to the newer, active bezel system that the MEGA Bezel shader packages provide.

That Ultima screenshot is exactly as I remember it.

I continue to tweak for further clarity and proper graininess.

I think the results are getting closer to a real CM-5, despite the inadequate resolution for proper justice.

Mr_Blastman wrote on 2023-03-17, 03:37:

I continue to tweak for further clarity and proper graininess. […]
Show full quote

I continue to tweak for further clarity and proper graininess.

I think the results are getting closer to a real CM-5, despite the inadequate resolution for proper justice.

It looks great.
Not suggesting that you should change it, but my crappy CM-5 has some flaws that your image does not have;-)

• Black is not black in a lit room
• The shadow mask is slightly visible in black areas
• The CRT and the frame alignment isn't so perfect (slightly angled and much larger border)
• The CRT isn't flat

rucuk0kt wrote on 2023-03-18, 18:04:

It looks great. Not suggesting that you should change it, but my crappy CM-5 has some flaws that your image does not have;-) […]
Show full quote

Mr_Blastman wrote on 2023-03-17, 03:37:

I continue to tweak for further clarity and proper graininess. […]
Show full quote

I continue to tweak for further clarity and proper graininess.

I think the results are getting closer to a real CM-5, despite the inadequate resolution for proper justice.

It looks great.
Not suggesting that you should change it, but my crappy CM-5 has some flaws that your image does not have;-)

• Black is not black in a lit room
• The shadow mask is slightly visible in black areas
• The CRT and the frame alignment isn't so perfect (slightly angled and much larger border)
• The CRT isn't flat

Just asking because of curiosity: Is it a bright black, as seen in those screenshots by any chance?

https://www.vintagecomputer.net/tandy/cm-5/

I'm not very familiar with this monitor model, hence I looked for photos online. 😅

Jo22 wrote on 2023-03-18, 21:00:

Just asking because of curiosity: Is it a bright black, as seen in those screenshots by any chance? […]
Show full quote

rucuk0kt wrote on 2023-03-18, 18:04:

It looks great. Not suggesting that you should change it, but my crappy CM-5 has some flaws that your image does not have;-) […]
Show full quote

Mr_Blastman wrote on 2023-03-17, 03:37:

I continue to tweak for further clarity and proper graininess. […]
Show full quote

I continue to tweak for further clarity and proper graininess.

I think the results are getting closer to a real CM-5, despite the inadequate resolution for proper justice.

It looks great.
Not suggesting that you should change it, but my crappy CM-5 has some flaws that your image does not have;-)

• Black is not black in a lit room
• The shadow mask is slightly visible in black areas
• The CRT and the frame alignment isn't so perfect (slightly angled and much larger border)
• The CRT isn't flat

Just asking because of curiosity: Is it a bright black, as seen in those screenshots by any chance?

https://www.vintagecomputer.net/tandy/cm-5/

I'm not very familiar with this monitor model, hence I looked for photos online. 😅

Yes, my CM-5 looks about the same if the room lighting is on.
The CM-5 in those images is a 25-1043A from may 1988. Mine is a 25-1043B from august 1990, which has just the text 'TANDY CM-5' on the front.
I tried to take some pictures, but failed at creating good ones. I found some nice ones on twitter by Pinot W. Ichwandardi: https://twitter.com/pinot/status/1425872343457533959
The first photo is of a CM-5 like mine. It shows the problem with black. I've attached a small section from the photo:

After examining the photo, I believe my previous statement 'The shadow mask is slightly visible in black areas' is wrong. The dark areas are showing vertical lines and the lighter lines might be the areas with phosphor.
The image also has an area with black and white checkerboard pattern. The black pixels are much less visible that the white pixels and some pixels are discolored.

Edit: I used a different camera and was able to take a picture of the vertical r/g/b lines. The colours in that picture are off, but that's a camera issue:

I've added another picture that has more accurate colours but no vertical lines:

My CM-5 is even worse than I remembered. I counted only 19 phosphor groups per cm in horizontal and vertical direction, so that's about 0.52 mm dot pitch.

rucuk0kt wrote on 2023-03-18, 18:04:

It looks great. Not suggesting that you should change it, but my crappy CM-5 has some flaws that your image does not have;-) […]
Show full quote

Mr_Blastman wrote on 2023-03-17, 03:37:

I continue to tweak for further clarity and proper graininess. […]
Show full quote

I continue to tweak for further clarity and proper graininess.

I think the results are getting closer to a real CM-5, despite the inadequate resolution for proper justice.

It looks great.
Not suggesting that you should change it, but my crappy CM-5 has some flaws that your image does not have;-)

• Black is not black in a lit room
• The shadow mask is slightly visible in black areas
• The CRT and the frame alignment isn't so perfect (slightly angled and much larger border)
• The CRT isn't flat

All great observations and suggestions! Thank you.

The flat part bothers me the most because at the moment I cannot use curvature or there will be severe artifacting of the image. I need a higher end monitor to get more resolution for this. I'd love to improve here.

The phosphors distinct on the CM-5. Mine has vertical grey lines that are definitely visible when off, and midly so when on. That will be more difficult to produce.

Thanks for the photos, they are excellent and very helpful. 😀

At the moment my Tandy 1000's 20 megabyte hard drive has decided to stop working, so the only thing I can do with the machine is boot up into Deskmate. I can't even play games. 🙁

I'm wondering if there's a way to hook up a USB stick through a port in the back, similar to what folks do on Amigas and C64s.

Mr_Blastman wrote on 2023-03-21, 02:24:

The phosphors distinct on the CM-5. Mine has vertical grey lines that are definitely visible when off, and midly so when on. That will be more difficult to produce.

On my picture the r/g/b line colours are visible, but they look grey to me with the naked eye.

Mr_Blastman wrote on 2023-03-21, 02:24:

At the moment my Tandy 1000's 20 megabyte hard drive has decided to stop working, so the only thing I can do with the machine is boot up into Deskmate. I can't even play games. 🙁

I'm wondering if there's a way to hook up a USB stick through a port in the back, similar to what folks do on Amigas and C64s.

Maybe use a GoTek USB Floppy Emulator if you only use programs that fit on floppy. Should work on a Tandy, but may require some modifications for some models / floppy cable types, because those have different wiring (e.g. dangerous 12V power). Note that I've not tried it myself.