Who's interested in having an S-Video Modulator?

[Devilmarkus]

Well I was very rude!
I used a cutter...

[sigh]

Well I was very rude!
I used a cutter...

!!!!!

How did you stop it from splitting the casing?

[Bryce]

Hi all,
      technically there's no problem with connecting both at the same time. As Markus has correctly observed, both pictures will be slightly darker, but this will not damage the CPC, the Monitor or the Modulator and is completely safe to do.

As far as cutting the casing is concerned, I think I would recommend using a small hacksaw rather than a cutters, but that's up to you.

Bryce.

[CPC Oz]

Hi,
If they are still available I am very interested.
Thanks

[Ythcal]

Hi,
If they are still available I am very interested.
Thanks

Then we are two, but unfortunately:

I don't intend building a second batch at the moment, but that might change.

[Pentagon]

I did not received mine 


Regards
Tom

[redbox]

Got mine today and am impressed before I've even soldered it into my Plus.

Can't wait to play Pang on a 32" LCD TV 

[OCT]

    May I ask how you managed to make the hole for the SVideo in 6128? How did you cut the plastic?

Well I was very rude!
I used a cutter...

As far as cutting the casing is concerned, I think I would recommend using a small hacksaw

To "drill" holes into (aging) plastic casings full of electronics, I prefer the manual use of screwdrivers of increasing width.
Start with something like a watchmaker's 0.8-1.4mm flat screwdriver that is typically made to rotate within a ring at its end, then move on to a larger size at every other turn or so, thereby slowly scraping an ever larger diameter, in control of the process, with much less risk (than an electric drill or more crude tool) of damaging the remainder of the case or components.

[TFM]

I did not received mine 


Regards
Tom

Patience is a virtue    Bryce is producing at least 42 of them, so he is currently (lower night) still working on them. Imagine to create that much modulators. Big respect for doing a hell of work

[Bryce]

@OCT, I've used the "screw-driver process" in the past and it does work quite well. However I now just make a small guide hole with the smallest screwdriver and finish the hole with a wood drill-bit. It has the same "scraping" effect as the screw-driver, but only use a drill that has variable speed, and keep the speed as low as possible.

Bryce.

[Gryzor]

Bryce beat me to it - there is a huge variety of hole-opening drill bits...

[redbox]

However I now just make a small guide hole with the smallest screwdriver and finish the hole with a wood drill-bit. It has the same "scraping" effect as the screw-driver, but only use a drill that has variable speed, and keep the speed as low as possible.

This is what I was thinking of doing, so am glad to be on the right track for once 


Just realised I don't have a S-Video lead though.... arrrrrgh!

[Bryce]

S-Video Leads are usually included with lots of different devices (TV Cards, Converters and even DVD players sometimes) So take a look through your "Cable collection" before buying one But even if you don't find one, they cost less than 2€ for a 1.5m cable in most TV shops.

Bryce.

[redbox]

So take a look through your "Cable collection" before buying one

Amazingly found one in the 'box'. 

Now I need to get the connector lead for the PCB. 

[Shredder11]

I'm thinking of installing it inside my MP-1 external modulator, to save molesting the case of my CPC6128.  Apart from a few wires needing to be soldered and a S-Video cable, what else will I require or is that it?  Also where is it best to locate the little board inside the MP-1 to avoid interference etc?

Bryce, should I pay you up front or wait until I have received them?


Thanks.

[redbox]

http://www.reichelt.de/Platinen-Steckverbinder/PS-25-8G-WS/index.html?;ACTION=3;LA=2;ARTICLE=14831;GROUPID=3224;SID=13Tbf0sX8AAAIAABF8N9gdb2968004c08f80ab8428a1adc7eeb35

This cable is no longer available and they've removed the description so I can't see what type you mean.  Do you know of any alternatives so I can buy something similar in the UK?

Also, the S-Video cable I found appears to be 4 pins - is this the right one?  And excuse me for possibly sounding stupid, but does the S-Video output also contain the sound or do I need to do this from the Plus headphone socket separately?

[Bryce]

@Shredder11: It should easily fit inside an MP1. The best position is probably at the rear left side, directly above the original MC1377 PCB, but I would have to open one and check how much space really is available. The RGB and Sync signals can be connected directly where they enter from the CPC, the GND and 5V will also need to be connected where they leave the PCB. That's all.

@RedBox: The connector needs to be a 1x6 connector with 0,8 terminals and a pitch of 2,54. ie: 1 row of 6 terminals and each terminal is 0,8mm wide and 2,54mm apart from each other. There are loads of connectors that fit this description.
And to question 2: No. S-Video is only a video carrier, there's no sound data in the signal, so you'll have to use the internal speaker or additional external ones, the TV won't be making any noise

Bryce.   

[jsa]

Okay installed Bryce's piece of art into 6128+. Adapter seem to work fine but I have some issue that i need to as from you guys whether you have found similar things.

Tested adapter with:
- Sony 29"
- Philips 21"
- Dell 2007fp
- Epson TW-620

First of all Dell 2007 Svideo input did not like adapter at all - no picture, in matter of fact no nothing. Just blank screen.
Philips 21" apparently did not support S-Video on scart so black and white picture in that TV set.
Sony 29" worked quite well but with brief testing for example hires screen in Batman Forever did not sync properly, picture was shown but was there was fair bit of offsetting and interlace effect was not working. Same screen on Epson TW-620 resulted blank screen .


With Epson needed to enforce progressive mode, otherwise screen would jitter somewhat.


Tested few games,but Ghosts and Goblins was odd. With Epson colours were ok in main menu but when game started they "washed" away and I was greeted with black and white screen, until I jumped from one tombstone upwards and colours apparead -> landed back to tombstone -> out of colours again . While scrolling onward, at certain point before first raven and projectile plant picture went away for brief moment.


Need to test with Sony TV whether same happens there as well .


Edit: well not exactly like that . Colors with Sony were more or less off but then on similar places as with Epson colors returned to black and white and then back to normal for brief moment of time.


Ran thru Sappy and no problems with colors, need to test more as this is bit odd..

[Bryce]

Hi all,
     a few things to remember. In certain demos where overscanning and other CRTC tricks have been used, the TV won't be able to handle these changes. These tricks only work with "real" Amstrad CRTs, so there will be flickering or jagged edges. On a "normal" CPC screen everything should work fine.
If you are connecting to the TV through a SCART adapter, you may have to use a particular SCART input to use S-VHS and you may also have to manually tell the TV that it's to use the S-VHS signal, otherwise it may go to Composite and will probably be black and white.
Try to keep all connections as short as possible (a 10 Metre S-VHS cable is not a good idea, nor is 10 Metres of cable for the RGB).
The GND connection of the Modulator MUST be connected to the CPCs Ground, so if you are using a separate power supply for the modulator, the GND still needs to be connected to the GND of the CPCs Monitor socket.

Hope this solves any issues anyone has had,
Bryce.

[jsa]

Yeah newer TV sets can be tricky, need to build some adapters and retest again same sets with pure RGB. (Okay, scratch Dell from list as it does not have proper connectors. Ghosts and Goblins kinda suprised me as it does not seem to use any special screenmode nor crtc tricks but apparently it is doing "something".
Atleast visual comparison between RGB and adapters picture quality did not reveal any difference to my eyes, so I am happy with it .

Anyway big thanks for Bryce for creating it, sure makes things bit easier

[MaV]

I tested the S-Video-Modulator on three TVs, two of them LCDs (LG) and one a CRT (Daewoo).

The Daewoo had an S-Video input, everything went fine with a very nice picture (unfortunately, that one's in the bedroom and too big for my hobby room).

The LGs both had the same problems although one was definitively listed as having S-Video (Bryce and I were checking on that). Neither had an S-Video input, but each of them two Scarts.

The Picture with scart was a crisp black and white. For a colour picture I bought an S-Video to Scart cable, which had a switch for FBAS (= composite). I opened the Scart plug to find that it had a capacitor.

The bottom line is: If you have a tv that shows a black&white picture with scart, try to find a menu item that activates S-Video on Scart. If that doesn't help try the composite pins + the capacitor as described in the wiki. The picture won't be as crisp, but at least you have colour.

Alternatively buy a TV with a real S-Video connector.

MaV

PS: It's sad that TVs are sold with specs that they can't deliver because the manufacturer doesn't implement it for cost reasons. I'm sure they can get away with it because there are not many people which need s-Video. 

[arnoldemu]

Tested few games,but Ghosts and Goblins was odd. With Epson colours were ok in main menu but when game started they "washed" away and I was greeted with black and white screen, until I jumped from one tombstone upwards and colours apparead -> landed back to tombstone -> out of colours again . While scrolling onward, at certain point before first raven and projectile plant picture went away for brief moment.

Welcome jsa!

Excellent feedback about Ghosts and Goblins. The same is reported when using Amstrad modulator with a television.
It's down to the method used to smooth the hardware scroll (it uses a crtc trick here)
It switches between hsync lengths, one length shows colour and the other must make it go to b/w.

So this confirms to some degree that using this type of scrolling is not always good.

[Bryce]

The Ghosts and Goblins issue is annoying, but also quite rare on older games. Newer Demos also use CRTC tricks to enhance the graphics and animation. These tricks are fine-tuned to how the original Amstrad Monitors works, so no matter how good your SCART Cable / Modulator is, the effects probably won't work on other displays.

As MaV said above, anyone who is considering buying a small LCD TV for their CPC should try to get one with a REAL S-Video input, ie: the small round 4 pin socket and not rely on the SCART S-Video, in many cases these don't work as advertised. Strangely, it's often the cheaper no-name devices that offer this option, the more expensive devices seem to have already moved to Component Video which is not compatible with this Modulator (or any modulator I know of in fact).

If anyone is really looking for a suitable small TV, this 15" TV can be found for around €90 and offers real S-Video:
http://www.odys.de/web/web_lan_de_hmp_1_mp_4_an_X810046_sw_ja.html

Another option is to use an S-Video to VGA converter (as I do), so that you can then use a standard PC VGA Monitor. The advantage being that you probably have a VGA monitor already and the device is generally pretty handy for connecting all sorts of devices to the display (and it's cheaper than a TV too): http://www.pollin.de/shop/dt/OTA4ODcyOTk-/Computer_und_Zubehoer/Hardware/Monitore/Video_zu_VGA_Konverter_Box_PREMIUMBLUE_V2V.html

Bryce.

[arnoldemu]

The Ghosts and Goblins issue is annoying, but also quite rare on older games. Newer Demos also use CRTC tricks to enhance the graphics and animation. These tricks are fine-tuned to how the original Amstrad Monitors works, so no matter how good your SCART Cable / Modulator is, the effects probably won't work on other displays.

Yes. I wanted to say more about my post:

Bryce's hardware is very good and works very well, the problems that may been seen are due to crtc tricks used in demos (and a small number of games) AND the television/display you use.

So it's not Bryce's hardware that is the problem.

I think the vast majority of software will work fine.

[MaV]

The S-Video to VGA-Converter may be the cheapest option.

Another interesting fact: On my LG TV the CPC's screen shows 480i if I press the info button, though it should be 576i for PAL. 

Anyway, I'll have a look at the internals of the scart connector to see which resistor and capacitor did the trick with my tv. The cheapest S-Video to Scart connectors don't have them, and there's no need to buy a new cable like I did, when you can just solder to parts worth a few cents.