The Commodore 1084 is a versatile, inexpensive monitor on the used
market. It has composite, Y/C, analog and digital RGB inputs with
front-panel switching, as well as built-in audio (the 1084S is stereo).
The Commodore 1702 is an older model that should be even cheaper. It
has composite and Y/C connections switchable only on the rear panel, and
monaural built-in audio.
I'm sure both of the above were available in PAL versions, probably with
the same features.
Many older systems can be wired to use Y/C connections (e.g. Atari 8bit,
C64) by using a custom cable on the video DIN connector instead of the
Ch3/4 TV output. Y/C connections (also known as S-video) will yield a
_much_ higher quality picture. The Commodore monitors use dual RCA
connectors instead of the mini-DIN4 connector more commonly associated
with S-video, but electrically it's the same. If you had a newer system
with S-video output (e.g. PlayStation/Saturn) it would be simple to make
a mini-DIN4-to-dual-RCA adapter cable.
I use a Commodore 1084S for my Amiga, Atari ST and IBM CGA/EGA
applications; a (ultra cool) Samsung GXTV (
http://sosimple.com/gxtv.htm)
for various systems, including those that have only Ch3/4 output (e.g.
Mattel Aquarius, Timex-Sinclair ZX) and for watching TV in the computer
room :), and a Sony PVM-2030 broadcast stacking monitor for the modern
video game systems.
I'd like to find a Sony GVM-1311Q, which is a 13" monitor that accepts
composite, Y/C, digital and analog RGB, the latter at up to 1024x768.
That covers just about everything except Hercules Mono.
Kai
> ----------
> From: Pete Robinson[SMTP:Pete_at_madhippy.demon.co.uk]
> Reply To: classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu
> Sent: Thursday, May 29, 1997 12:15 PM
> To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
> Subject: monitors for use with old computers.
>
> I'm fairly new to the collecting scene and I'm looking for a monitor I
> can use with some of my systems. I'm mainly interested in the 8bit
> home
> computers, spectrum, c64, atari, dragon, bbc etc
>
> I'd like to know if there is a particular type of monitor that can be
> used on the above machines. I'd like to buy, say one, I can use with
> all
> of the above.
>
> I know there seems to have been a few different methods used in
> producing the video signals and, from reading newsgroups, I get the
> impression that it is sometimes possible to select video
> outputs/monitor
> inputs such that, even if the monitor is not directly compatible, a
> reasonable result can be obtained.
>
> Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.
> --
> Pete Robinson
> pete_at_madhippy.demon.co.uk
> http://www.madhippy.demon.co.uk - faqs, emulators, links, web
> utilities.
>
Received on Thu May 29 1997 - 18:32:12 BST