19 May
2024
19 May
'24
1:59 p.m.
My personal experience with DTV boxes (and I do have a small assortment I use routinely),
is that the analog pass-through only functions with the box off (RF in->RF out), so no
chance of A/V extraction in that case. The majority of newer boxes have eliminated the
pass-through option entirely.
While not ideal if the goal is to reduce size, an old VCR is certainly smaller than a CRT
TV and could provide this functionality. While prices are now climbing on these, it should
be easy enough to obtain one with a non-functional transport for almost nothing. A handful
of the DVD/VHS combo units even had HDMI output.
Do keep in mind that some of the early home systems bend the rules with NTSC timing, so
what looks good on your CRT may not be acceptable on an LCD, and buyer-beware on the
published specs of off the shelf converters. -C
On May 19, 2024, at 8:31 AM, CAREY SCHUG via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
I presume the "digitial tv converter boxes" will pass through an analog signal,
and suspect at least some of them provide a composite output.
<pre>--Carey</pre>
> On 05/19/2024 6:59 AM CDT Will Cooke via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
>
>
> I have a couple of 70s/80s "home" computers (e.g. Radio Shack Color
Computer) that are intended to connect to a TV set. They don't have easily available
composite video, even internally, only modulated RF output. Currently I have an old CRT TV
that I use with them, but for various reasons that isn't practical long-term.
>
> Does anyone know of a small TV tuner that tunes old analog TV channels (US NTSC) and
outputs composite or VGA or HDMI signals? I've looked around a bit but haven't
found anything. It's relatively easy to build one, but I would prefer a pre-built
solution. And I'm sure others have run into this same problem.
>
> Thanks,
> Will