amiga lcd monitors price

A computer monitor is a visual interface which displays information coming from the central processing unit. A cable typically connects the monitor to a video card, a device responsible for the graphics. Before the adoption of LCD and the present LED digital displays, monitors from the past used Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) technology. The analog monitors are still valuable to date because of their high build quality, old video game consoles, and just the nostalgic feeling they bring. You can get one from the collection of Commodore vintage monitors available on eBay.

Commodore, a personal computer manufacturer, produced many classic computers that are still treasured to date. Among the models, the most common ones you"ll find are the Amiga, C-64, and VIC-20.Commodore 64 - The third in line for the Commodore computers series was the C64 which was one of the most successful in its time. There are monochrome (black and white) composite monitors and composite color monitors available for the C-64. They feature a special type of composite signal which separates intensity and color. A member of this family is the C128 which can also produce a digital RGB output through the use of a special video chip.Commodore Amiga - The most common monitor developed in this category is the Commodore 1084. It produces a sharp color and features many ports that are used to connect to personal computers. All Amiga monitors come with RGB output and they support S-video. You can connect to picture record players, TV tuners, and video recorders. The monitors are also good with C64s.

What should you consider when getting a vintage monitor?Function - What you intend to use the vintage computer for determines what type of monitor you should get. If you intend to play video games or work with graphics, a colored monitor will be ideal. The less sharp monochrome monitors are great if your interest lies in word processing, spreadsheet or other tasks that involve texts. It also wouldn"t matter much if you intend to have the monitor just sit on your desk for old time"s sake.Power supply - How you are going to power the monitor is key if you intend to have it powered on and functioning. Most of them will not come together with their cables but you can get them separately to start running.

I have a brand new 4:3 15" monitor I got this year that I"m very pleased with. The bonus (for me) is it has an 1024x768 native resolution. The reason that"s special is my Amiga"s graphics card has that resolution as one of its settings.

I specifically wanted a "small" screen, too, as it very closely matches my Commodore CRT screen sizes and angles. It"s actually 1 extra inch, I believe, but it"s pretty close. I have a 19" LCD that my older eyes appreciate, but it does look a bit odd sitting on top of the elegant A3000.

That being said, the 4:3 monitors I have that are non-HDMI and simply work with my Amigas are not brand new. It depends on what you"re going to plug them into, and which cables you get matter, too. Big Box Amigas use one type of cable while the all-in-ones (like the 500) use a different one. Buffered vs non-buffered.

I have a brand new 4:3 15" monitor I got this year that I"m very pleased with. The bonus (for me) is it has an 1024x768 native resolution. The reason that"s special is my Amiga"s graphics card has that resolution as one of its settings.

I specifically wanted a "small" screen, too, as it very closely matches my Commodore CRT screen sizes and angles. It"s actually 1 extra inch, I believe, but it"s pretty close. I have a 19" LCD that my older eyes appreciate, but it does look a bit odd sitting on top of the elegant A3000.

That being said, the 4:3 monitors I have that are non-HDMI and simply work with my Amigas are not brand new. It depends on what you"re going to plug them into, and which cables you get matter, too. Big Box Amigas use one type of cable while the all-in-ones (like the 500) use a different one. Buffered vs non-buffered.

Does this monitor handle 15khz through the RGB port (via VGA)? If so, how does it handle the various modes? I"ve been looking off and on for a really good LCD monitor that I can just plug into my stock A1000.

One of the major issues facing returning or new Amiga users is displaying the video output. This instalment of the beginner’s series touches on the technical issue itself then presents some solutions that people in the Amiga Retro Brisbane use.

This article makes reference to modifying the Amiga or other hardware. While the author believes all the information contained here is correct, please conduct your own research prior to beginning any electronics work and please do not undertake an electronics project if you are not confident and not prepared to risk the destruction of whatever you are working on. CRTs contain high voltages and should only be worked on by experienced personnel. The author and all other members of ARB, and any of our affiliates, do not accept any liability arising from this article including personal injury. All electronics is carried out at your own risk. You have been warned!

The Amiga’s standard video output in Australia, the UK, New Zealand, and Europe, is a PAL 4096 (12-bit) colour at various resolutions with a 15 kHz Horizontal Sync* (being an Australian site we will focus on PAL machines in the beginner’s series). This meant that the Amiga’s video output was compatible with the CRT televisions and monitors of the day. This also means that it is NOT compatible with modern televisions or modern monitors, including most VGA monitors from the 1990s and 2000s, which require a 31 kHz input. The video port itself also presents an issue, being pretty much the only device in the world that uses a D-sub 23 port. Thanks Commodore!

*AGA and ECS Amigas can be made to output a VGA compatible 31 kHz signal, but this is really only useful for software that will run under Workbench 2.0 or greater. It will not work for most games, which are hard-coded to run at 15 kHz.

If price is no object or your Amiga came with the original monitor then use it, that"s what it"s for! Commodore and other vendors produced 15 kHz monitors and multisync monitors (monitors that can display 15 kHz and VGA) that are designed for the Amiga. They are the easiest solution since there is no requirement to make a cable, and they are the only solution to people who are interested in historical accuracy.

Many other computer systems of the day, including Apple II and Atari ST machines, as well as arcade machines, use a 15 kHz video output. Monitors from these machines can be made to work with the Amiga provided a suitable cable can be obtained or manufactured.

The Amiga video output is able to be used with the European SCART input, and in fact some versions of some Amiga monitors such as the 1084 came with a compatible SCART cable. Unfortunately SCART is not common in Australia. If a SCART TV or monitor can be found all that is required is a suitable cable. While the construction of such a cable is outside the scope of this article this may be the subject of a future article. In the meantime just ask and we can help, or look up Amiga SCART on your favourite search engine.

While they are not common some modern LCD monitors and TVs will accept a 15 kHz RGB signal. All that is required is the 23 pin to 15 pin buffered adapter (these are reasonably cheap, try AmigaKit or eBay) and a VGA cable. A list of monitors that MAY be compatible with the Amiga’s RGB signal can be found at http://15khz.wikidot.com/. Be careful choosing one as some monitors do not let you adjust the aspect ratio or horizontal width and can force the Amiga"s video to display widescreen.

Back in the 1980s Commodore often bundled the A520 with the A500 and they are fairly common even today. The device connects to the video port of the Amiga and output a composite and RF signal for display on a television. While composite (and its RF derivative) has a poor picture quality by nature (six signals are being compressed onto one analogue line), if the only aim is to play games it is a low-cost solution. The A520 can also be modified to output S-Video for a much clearer output (S-Video being an intermediate step between RGB and Composite), refer http://members.iinet.net.au/~davem2/overclock/A520.html and note that this has not been ground-truthed by the author. Also note that there are PAL and NTSC editions of the A520, in Australia we need PAL.

There are other options that connect to the Amiga’s video port. The Author is aware of at least two S-Video adapters. The first is based on the ADZ724 video encoder, and there are many versions of it on the internet including this one https://www.everythingamiga.com/2017/02/amiga-rgb-to-s-video-adapter.html (note that the schematic is for NTSC but it’s easy enough to change to PAL, also not ground truthed but no reason why it wouldn’t work).

There is an open source RGB to component (YCrCb) adapter called the A520HD by GG Labs https://gglabs.us/node/983. While it does output component video the Amiga’s output is only 240p and is not compatible with all televisions.

The Amiga 3000 has a built in flicker fixer/scan doubler based on the Amber chip. It’s the easiest way to get VGA from an Amiga – it does it from the factory! Commodore and other vendors also made internal scan doublers for the other big box machines (2000 and 4000). These are the most historically accurate scan doublers and are a good solution if budget is not a concern.

The big news of 2021 was the release of an open source HDMI video adapter for OCS and ECS Amigas (i.e. A1000, A500/+, A2000, A3000, A600, CDTV). It"s built around the Raspberry Pi Zero, which takes the digital outputs from Denise and outputs them to its HDMI port.

It is possible to modify most if not all TVs made in the 1990s and 2000s to accept an RGB input. This involves intercepting the signal between the microprocessor and the jungle chip and inserting the Amiga’s video output there instead. This option is definitely the most budget option as it uses about $10 worth of parts (plus a cable to the Amiga). This may be the subject of a future article but in the meantime try Googling “RGB hack”. Do not attempt this if you do not know what you are doing as CRTs have extremely high voltages that may still be present after the set has been unplugged; refer the disclaimer.

Australian company Microbee makes a D23 to D9 cable http://www.microbeetechnology.com.au/store/amiga-video-cable-kit-23pin-male-to-9pin-male.html suitable for some 1084 monitors, the GBS 8220, and the Red Keg SVideo adapter mentioned above. It is preassembled for $22 plus postage and is recommended as an easy solution. Amiga SCART cables can be found on eBay for roughly $30 delivered from Europe.

CRTs can be abundant if you have good places in your local community to look, but they are getting trickier to track down each passing year. And while nothing’s stopping you from using a modern LCD for retro gaming, you may want to track down a square-shaped LCD (mostly 4:3 aspect ratio) so your classic content seems a bit more “at home” — avoiding those black bars.

So whether you’re looking for a cheap 4:3 LCD to use with your MiSTER FPGA setup, have a classic personal computer, or just want something for watching “full screen” video content or a emulation box to run on, I’m hoping this guide is helpful in your shopping.

Granted LCDs, especially older models, aren’t ideal for retro gaming compared to CRTs. LCDs often down’t have as deep of black colors and there is input lag involved among some other issues.

However, LCDs are easier to move around and store and use less electricity. And even though there are many die-hard CRT fans out there, there are also many long-time retro fans that have been using the recommended monitors below for a while and been happy with their performance. I’ve even quoted and handful of enthusiasts to give you a good perspective on these recommendations. And don’t forget, eventually LCDs might be much easier to find and purchase remotely then the CRTs counterparts.

Early LCD monitors may show a lack of technical maturity, however, near some of the later ones that we are focusing on have some decent IPS technology with reasonable color and response times.

In the end, I thought this would be a fun, lighthearted look at some options for those that are interested. If you have any commentary on the matter, please share your thoughts and suggestions in the comments section below. Just be respectful — not looking for CRT vs LCD wars