[rescue] The other question...need Amiga advice!?!

[Peter Corlett]

Curtis H. Wilbar Jr. <rescue at hawkmountain.net> wrote:
[...]
> Don't the A1200's have a VGA connector ?

Nope. They have a DB23 (that's right, not 25) connector that contains
analogue RGB suitable for a SCART TV. They also have a video output on a
phono socket that is in the local standard, i.e. PAL for the UK models.
There is also an output suitable for plugging into a TV. Again, for the UK
models, this is a UHF PAL-I signal (normally on C36 or thereabouts).

For all intents and purposes, Amigas sold in Europe and Australia output PAL
video, and those to the USA output NTSC. VGA output on the Amiga is
basically a software hack, and only works with OS-legal programs.

There is a small adaptor shipped with the A4000 that converts the DB23 video
to HD15 suitable for plugging a VGA monitor into. It's no more than a bit of
TTL though, and won't magically make the machine output VGA - this requires
said software hack.

Unless I'm mistaken (and I'm still too scared to look in the junkbox :), I
believe I have about thirty of said DB23 connectors that are of absolutely
no use to me at this time.

> Wouldn't they work with a VGA monitor (possibly requiring a "flicker
> fixer" thingy (which is a scan doubler no ?) ?

It is possible to sample each PAL scanline, and output it twice at double
the speed to produce a signal that VGA monitors will usually lock on to.
These are not generally cheap devices. You might prefer a unit that is not
specific to the Amiga, so you can adapt other video devices to display on
VGA monitors.

> The voltage thing isn't a realy problem.

Well, yeah, that's the easy bit. If all else fails, you merely need a PSU
that provides +5v, +12v and -12v. A standard AT supply can easily be
modified to do this.

> As for only being able to play games without an expanded one... .that is
> one of the big reasons I'd want an Amiga... there were some facinating
> games for those that were way way way ahead of their time.

Pretty much *every* game expects a PAL display . They mostly boot the OS out
of the way and program the video hardware directly assuming PAL - the
developers have never seen a NTSC Amiga.

Hanh on, did I mention that an Amiga newbie doesn't want to attempt to hook
one up to a VGA monitor because it won't work properly? :)

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