ST to RGB Scart Success...

[redhawk668]

Hi,

I've got my ST connected to a LCD TV with a RGB scart cable which I got from Retrogamingcables. Results are quite good.

TV used: Medion MD7223TH 23" LCD TV with RGB scart. (quite old, not even HD-Ready)

Low Resolution:

IMG_0259.JPG

Medium Resolution:

IMG_0260.JPG

Image quality is much better than my old portable CRT with composite video (really awful).

I've tried a video to VGA converter with a scart converter on a 17" TFT but that didn't work, I got the green desktop, but no horizontal sync. Gave up on this...

Well, the TV I used is actually the bedroom TV... I needed a test subject to test my scart cable .... works allright

As this is a litte too big, I will get myself a 19" LCD TV/VGA monitor combination, so it's still usable with a PC. This will be my display for my ST's and my 130XE and PC's.. Will post results of this too. I will make myself a custom scart cable for the 8 bit...

[Shredder11]

Check out a topic on here with a similar title to yours from late 2009, which has a lot of info on how to connect to both CRT and LCD type monitors. I'm also going to get another video converter board to try; check out Ebay Item number: 250675162632 and then search for posts about it on this forum.

[Dal]

I've also had my eye on that board for a while. Using the RGBS connector as an input, it should work. The price made me consider how effective the upscaler circuitry is though. It seemed too cheap to be true to me.

I'd be keen to see what you make of it.

[redhawk668]

Well, I agree with Dal. I already had a video converter and didn't have any luck, and this seems to cheap to be true. I've seen a very nice 19" SVGA TFT monitor which has all of this circuitry built in for a nice price here in the Netherlands. It costs a bit more than the converter board, but I know for sure that it works, and can be used as a PC monitor if it's necessary.

[alexh]

That board works with Amiga and Atari. It has been tried in lots of places. Check over at EAB.

[Dal]

Really? In that case it's a surprisingly cheap solution. Unusual in our world

[Shredder11]

The previous sticky topic titled "ST to VGA - Success " is the one I was refering the opening poster to, and all nine pages of it can be found here http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=17488

As for the GBS-8220 converter board pictured above, there are one or two members on here who got it working with the STE. I think they concluded that you need v4 of the board with the single VGA output. Apparently the v3 board with dual VGA does not work.

http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.ph ... 25#p152387

http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.ph ... 50#p174778

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6v89LahLc8

http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.ph ... 50#p183778

http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.ph ... 50#p187430 *** ST/F ***

[Shredder11]

Also noticed some Amiga users discussing their machine AND the Atari ST! http://eabmobile.abime.net/showthread.php?t=59374

RedskullDC 18:04 01 June 2011
Hi All,

The adapter boards arrived today.
(Seller on Ebay appears a bit shonky, but my stuff arrived pretty quickly. Use Paypal to cover yourself in case!).


They came with no instruction manual , but it wasn't too difficult to find one online: http://info-coach.fr/atari/hardware/video/GBS-8200.pdf

Wired up the Red, Green, Blue, HSync, VSync, Gnd signals to the 8 pin plug supplied (P11), after carefully moving the Gray HSYNC wire to the correct place on the connector. Mine came with the grey wire connected to the composite sync pin.

Plugged it into my small Phillips test monitor, and got the dreaded "pink flickering that Calgor mentioned in a post above.

Then I disconnected the HSYNC and VSYNC lines, and just tried using the composite SYNC line from the Amiga RGB port to the composite SYNC line on the 8-pin P11 plug. Fired it back up, success!!

Couple of pics attached to show the unit in operation attached to the 1200.One in PAL HIRES, the other in PAL SUPER-HIRES LACED.
The LACED modes are de-interlaced when displayed.

Yes, it does happily sync up to both NTSC(60Hz) and PAL(50Hz) signals!
When switching modes from PAL <> NTSC, the unit did get "lost". A quick push of the 'auto' button brought it back in sync.

The PAL modes required a minimum of 800x600 output from the unit, whereas the NTSC modes would work ok on 640x480 output.
The higher resolution modes required a correspondingly higher output mode. Some playing around may be required to establish the best screenmode/output mode combinations.

The quality on screen is very good actually, the pics I have attached don't really do it justice. (ignore the herringbone patterns for example, just an artifact of the crappy monitor/campera combo...
Desantii's photos above look far better than mine

I haven't noticed any of the lost sync problems that Desantii mentioned, though I haven't run it for any length of time. The chip with the heatsink attached did get a little warm, so it may be heat related. A small fan may be the go.

All in all, a very cheap solution which provides a good quality output.

Cheers,
Red
Attached: IMG_0517.jpg (295.7 KB) IMG_0521.jpg (384.1 KB) IMG_0518.jpg (262.0 KB)
[Rep]

[Shredder11]

A quick search reveals that model ADR-S801 is a single VGA output version, but the date on this board is 2009 which is likely to be a non working v3 board. Maybe most of the photos on the web are old and not updated, so perhaps in 2012 if you order most GBS-8220 or similiar based boards you will receive v4 or higher?

[redhawk668]

I won't take the risk . I'm going for the 19" LCD TV option... Next week is my birthday, very convenient

Next project is also finished, scart cable for Atari 8-Bit...

Results:

IMG_0263.JPG

IMG_0262.JPG

Running on the same Medion LCD TV. Image quality is actually quite good. Very usable for the occasional retro gaming.... Ive used the composite output and wired the sound to both channels on the scart so both speakers play sound. The photographs don't represent the actual image, they're a bit blurred....

For the people interested in the pinouts:

Atari --> Scart
Pin 4 - Pin 20
Pin 2 - Ground - Pins 13 & 17
Pin 3 - Pins 2 & 6

Actually quite easy, only soldering those little wires is horrible.... But it's working.

[Shredder11]

I hope to get a nice 800XL someday at a cheap price. Last couple I saw went for approx £24 and £32 on Ebay recently.

[Shredder11]

I've asked a few Ebay sellers what version of the board they are selling and they all say v4.

[jokker]

I've been meaning to post my results with this particular board (GBS 8200 v4 single vga) and it's been pretty impressive honestly...

I also posted a small video on youtube playing Starglider. My setup is a little messed up right now so I didn't have anything else handy to play.
http://youtu.be/kQHMASaTJBI

I have to say the quality is good and the only issue I really notice is wherever the mouse cursor is on the desktop as it moves you can see some noise as the scaler tries to keep up but it's quite minimal. I think these boards are pretty decent for the price but they obviously need to be put through some paces to make sure it's a viable 100% solution.

[Shredder11]

Very nice thank you for that! I see yours is the GBS-8200 model which I presume is the earlier one to the GBS-8220? I seem to remember reading about the differences on a thread the other day, but forget what they were now.

[jokker]

I think the 8220 is just the dual VGA board but otherwise they are the same.

[calimero]

@jokker

from pictures I would say that GBS 8200 have same DIN 13 connector for RGB/Sync input as Atari ST??

does anybody know where you can order this connectors?

EDIT: my mistake! I see now that you have some kind of video spliter for Atari ST (first picture)

[Dal]

I get mine from here

[redhawk668]

Ok, I've finally got a nice flatscreen to use with my ST's and 130XE, it's a Samsung SyncMaster T200HD, 20" TFT TV and computerscreen in one Bought it second hand from an internet auction site.. I've connected it to my STE and the results are quite good. Very usable in low resolution and medium resolution too. It runs perfectly in 50 hz and 60 hz, sound is a bit muffled, but you can't expect high quality stereo sound from those little speakers inside the device....

I am very happy with it

Startup Screen:

IMG_0265.JPG

Low resolution:

IMG_0266.JPG

Medium resolution:

IMG_0267.JPG

Thalion intro Screen:

IMG_0274.JPG

Wings of Death 1:

IMG_0275.JPG

Wings of Death 2:

IMG_0277.JPG

My STE-Setup:

IMG_0278.JPG

[calimero]

I get mine from here

Thanx Dal! I send them email with question if they will send package to Serbia...

[Dal]

If they won't ship, send me a pm.

[DrCoolZic]

I have bought the 8220 and I never had success with it. I have tested all possible connections (with capa/resistor/...) proposed by Anemos but without success.
see http://info-coach.fr/atari/hardware/vid ... nerate_vga

From what I understand what really make the difference is whether or not the the ST or STE is equipped with an RF modulator because this changes drastically the composite signal generated.
see my schematic http://info-coach.fr/atari/hardware/vid ... -schematic

I would like to know from people that have succeeded with v4 of the board if they are using a ST or STE with or without an RF modulator?

[DarkLord]

I'll have to look and see what version it was that I bought last year. I tried
it with a couple of ST machines here, none of them had RF modulators,
and I never could get it to work.

I had started a thread about it somewhere on here:

http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=17153

[Shredder11]

I'll probably grab a GBS-8200 the single VGA version shortly, as I have been meaning to do so since last year but it was but on the back burner of things to do. My three STE do have RF tuners so in theory they should work with this converter.

I will buy it from here:

Ebay Item number: 120806675555


There is also this other converter that has been mentioned on this forum before, and it seems to be half the price now:

Ebay Item number: 120766380038

[Shredder11]

Okay GBS-8200 is bought and hopefully should arrive in about four weeks from now.

[DrCoolZic]

If you have RF modulator (lucky man) you should be OK. It was also working with v3