8 Jun
2008
8 Jun
'08
2:29 a.m.
Eric Smith wrote:
The problem with the Apple II is that it does NOT
produce NTSC video,
but rather something close enough to fool an analog television set or
monitor. The timings are deliberately wrong, especially the frequency
and phase relationships of the color subcarrier to the horizontal
sync.
Converters use commodity NTSC decoder chips that get confused
by signals with significant deviations from standard NTSC.
Just to follow up on this thread (back before it diverged :)): I've
done some testing of the composite->VGA adapter I have with a bunch of
my classic computers & video games, in case anyone's interested. The
results are:
Work fine:
- NES
- C64
- VIC20
- Amiga 2000 (mono composite)
- "Modern" video games (Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, PSX, etc...)
Do not work:
- Atari 800XL
- TI 99/4A
- Sega Genesis
- Atari 2600 (w/composite hack...)
- Apple II
- Panasonic JR-200U
The converter in question is a Geniatech "V2V Pro." It's unfortunate
that it's so incompatible, it's pretty well built, relatively
inexpensive (cost me $30) and supports decent VGA resolutions (up to
1680x1050, not that it matters much since it's converting an NTSC
signal...). The picture quality is pretty good when it's working
properly. Looks like I'll be sending this one back, though. Alas.
Josh