Does anyone know offhand a good source for a nice clean EGA or CGA monitor?
I'm trying to recreate my first PC as a kid - unfortunately the only parts of it I kept were the XT motherboard, but i'm getting there.
The hardest piece to track down is a period correct monitor - even Ebay is seemingly devoid of RGB monitors. I can technically get it to work (maybe?) with an old 1084S i have sitting around, but I prefer to keep that with my Amigas.
As you mentioned, some Commodore monitors support an RGBi signal, but not (to my knowledge) an EGA signal. This is because the C128 has RGBi out. I think RGBi is actually a digital signal, not analog, so it wouldn't work with SCART connections. I could however, be talking out of my arse.
You could also use the composite out, Artifact colours are supported by many games.
I think RGBi is actually a digital signal, not analog, so it wouldn't work with SCART connections. I could however, be talking out of my arse.
No, what you said was just fine. For CGA, magazines published simple schematics of SCART converters to solve that issue (for EGA, sync/resolution was maybe too high).
They consisted of a few resistors (mainly for D/A conversion) and a transistor (for amplifying the combined sync signals).
I even tried to build one of these - wait, here's a picture. 😊
You could also use the composite out, Artifact colours are supported by many games.
That's a good idea, perhaps even better than RGB (albeit much more blurry!). Well, provided the EGA card in question does support this
(some had dummy RCA jacks, but on CGA cards it should be fine). For authencity, someone could also hook up a classic video monitor instead of a modern TV set..
Like those green/amber phosphor monitors from the 70s (like those from the Apple II era) or just a Commodore 170x (because it has that square look).
Or a VHF modulator and an old (B/W) television set - some of them from the 70s/80s looked quite professional also.
DaveJustDave wrote:
The hardest piece to track down is a period correct monitor.
Don't worry, you're not the only one who had issues getting a CGA/EGA monitor.. 😉
Seems this was an issue from the very beginning. See RGBI monitor availability.
"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel
I've managed to acquire a handful of Tandy CGA monitors by catching cheapish complete systems on Ebay.
I set up an ebay alert for "tandy" and every morning I check my email, and over the past three months or so I've seen some good buy-it-now deals pop up.
If you take that route, look for Tandy systems with CM-5 or CM-11 monitors. I'd be willing to bet you could make most of your money back by reselling the rest of the system.
local is going to be your saving grace. I've heard so many horror stories about ebay and jack-offs who don't know how to ship things. To PROPERLY ship one of these old things is going to set you back $50-$100. Resign yourself to that now. Anyone that charges less, don't buy from them. You're just going to get a box of broken glass and plastic shards on your door. Monochrome monitors are easy to find. Color cga aren't rare, but not common either. EGA... Be prepared to fork over cash, and a LOT of it. IBM ones (the 5154) sell easily for $300+ the IBM CGA sells for $100-200. Again those are name brand monitors. Aftermarket ones will be cheaper. But people have a tendency to just trash them, rather than deal with shipping.
i'm lucky to have gotten my color monitor locally.
CGA is not the same as CGA!. The CGA retro computers a talking about is RGBi. The CGA that Arcade guys are talking about is RGB (without the i)
THE GBS-8200 does not convert RGBi. So you first need to convert RGBi to RGB.
CGA is not the same as CGA!. The CGA retro computers a talking about is RGBi. The CGA that Arcade guys are talking about is RGB (without the i)
THE GBS-8200 does not convert RGBi. So you first need to convert RGBi to RGB.
Thanks 😀
Don't eat stuff off a 15 year old never cleaned cpu cooler.
Those cakes make you sick....
