Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

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rubber_jonnie
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

PhilC wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 2:47 pm @rubber_jonnie I was just waiting for your review of petsci robots.

My IIe works on a 43" 4k TV through the start but when I use it with my composite to vga adaptor it looses sync all the time.

Am interested in an RGB solution if possible as the composite mode is pretty "special " to put it politely
Some sort of RGB solution would be ideal, am having a dig around on other forums.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
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Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
Tomswork
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by Tomswork »

If you're looking for a rgb solution for a apple 2e i use a ramworks clone and a vga card plug in on it from a2heavan.com the parts are popular and you have to check a lot to get them as they sell out a lot

Tom
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

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Tomswork wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 3:05 pm If you're looking for a rgb solution for a apple 2e i use a ramworks clone and a vga card plug in on it from a2heavan.com the parts are popular and you have to check a lot to get them as they sell out a lot

Tom
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Cool, thanks Tom, I will definitely check that out.

BMOW (FloppyEMU) has some info on his site and had been discussing a new solution, though I don't think it has moved very far.

EDIT: Just checked out a2heaven and they are out of stock.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
Tomswork
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by Tomswork »

@rubber_jonnie

Yes they sell out all the time I just kept checking the site and you may be able to email them and reserve one

Tom
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PhilC
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by PhilC »

@Tomswork @rubber_jonnie shame they are out of stock. Is there any kind of DIY option? Gerbers etc to build your own?
If it ain't broke, test it to Destruction.
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

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PhilC wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 3:41 pm @Tomswork @rubber_jonnie shame they are out of stock. Is there any kind of DIY option? Gerbers etc to build your own?
Not sure, but I will be going to have a look.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by stephen_usher »

The biggest problem with RGB solutions for the Apple ][ is that it uses artefacts to fool the display into displaying certain colours using pixel frequencies which to the video decoder in the display are the same as the chroma signal in a composite video signal. Any RGB output system would have to interpret these fringes and produce a block colour instead. Of course, this also means that if the converter sees the same pixel changes, such as in text, you get erroneous colouration effects.
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ZX81->Spectrum->Memotech MTX->Sinclair QL->520STM->BBC Micro->TT030->PCs & Sun Workstations.
Added code to the MiNT kernel (still there the last time I checked) + put together MiNTOS.
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by PhilC »

@stephen_usher yeah I'd read about how the Apple II's colour was created by using video effects and it explains a lot about the multi coloured text you seem to get with whites on a PAL screen.

The VGA solutions apparently takes this into consideration by reading the video and then converting it I believe?
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Tomswork
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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by Tomswork »

@PhilC @rubber_jonnie
I just kept checking the site again and sent them a email to get one they work great.
There is also a hdmi card for the apple 2e in the US but is is super pricey I will see if I can find the info on it as well

https://pcweenies.com/2019/11/17/vidhd- ... pple-iigs/

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Re: Oops, my obsession with computers from my childhood strikes again!

Post by rubber_jonnie »

stephen_usher wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 3:53 pm The biggest problem with RGB solutions for the Apple ][ is that it uses artefacts to fool the display into displaying certain colours using pixel frequencies which to the video decoder in the display are the same as the chroma signal in a composite video signal. Any RGB output system would have to interpret these fringes and produce a block colour instead. Of course, this also means that if the converter sees the same pixel changes, such as in text, you get erroneous colouration effects.
Yep, IIRC it's called artifacting, and the Atari 8 Bits do have the same issue for some software that uses it, but I opted to not worry about that with my VBXL and just have a nice crisp display, and not worry about loss of artifacting.

I suspect what you're describing may be why the display is so fuzzy on the A][, but it is rather annoying as I want to use a single display for multiple machines, and this is stopping me doing that since the display on the TV keeps dropping out using the A][ composite.

It isn't the end of the world by any means, just annoying.
Collector of many retro things!
800XL and 65XE both with Ultimate1MB,VBXL/XE & PokeyMax, SIDE3, SDrive Max, 2x 1010 cassette, 2x 1050 one with Happy mod, 3x 2600 Jr, 7800 and Lynx II
Approx 20 STs, including a 520 STM, 520 STFMs, 3x Mega ST, MSTE & 2x 32 Mhz boosted STEs
Plus the rest, totalling around 50 machines including a QL, 3x BBC Model B, Electron, Spectrums, ZX81 etc...
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