23 Oct
2003
23 Oct
'03
11:08 p.m.
I have four Timex Sinclair micros sitting in my basement and I've been
thinking about turning one (or more) into the world's slowest
"franken-laptop" using one of those portable LCD TVs that seem to be
on sale at every second-hand store & pawn shop for $10-$20.
Has anyone had any experiences in the quality of the TV tuner in
these portables? Will I have to keep re-tuning it every 10 minutes
or should I look for one with some method of locking into a channel?
(or are they too fussy to bother with?)
How about screen resolution? Will I be able to make out the 32 characters
per line on such a tiny screen?
Thomas
24 Oct
24 Oct
1:52 a.m.
TV has a max resolution of about 640 / 8 = 80
characters per line. There are extra factors...
pulling the resolution down:
sending the signal through RF and not a true
video "monitor" jack will cause the loss of
maybe 1/2 of total resolution.
LCD's because they are small typically don't
have all the pixels there anyway. 640 x 480 =
307,200 pixels. Cheap small LCD's might use
120,000 pixels.
screens are typically "overscan", meaning
the edges are clipped off and lost.
Computers meant for home use were built for
this and compensate.
pushing the resolution up:
your eyes and the screen work with analog
information. Your brain can add some perception
through signal loss, given a context.
For example G00D can be percieved as GOOD,
even though technically it's wrong.
portable LCD TVs that seem to be on sale at
every second-hand store & pawn shop for $10-$20.
$20? Jeepers, no big loss. Try one and see for yourself.
Bottomline I think 32 characters per line is pretty easy to
get through.
John A.
9:41 a.m.
The LCD screen from an old car TV/nav system will probably be bigger,
cheaper and have a better picture-maybe you could use the complete TV setup,
as the Timex only has a VHF output?
Probably not relevant in this case but more recent systems have external AV
inputs as well as the RF/tuner input. The screens in the later ones have an
external DC supply jack too so can be easily separated from the rest of the
nav system.
DaveB
----- Original Message -----
From: "Thomas Dzubin" <dzubint(a)vcn.bc.ca>
To: <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2003 12:08 AM
Subject: experiences with portable LCD TVs for classic micros?
I have four Timex Sinclair micros sitting in my basement and I've been
thinking about turning one (or more) into the world's slowest
"franken-laptop" using one of those portable LCD TVs that seem to be
on sale at every second-hand store & pawn shop for $10-$20.
Has anyone had any experiences in the quality of the TV tuner in
these portables? Will I have to keep re-tuning it every 10 minutes
or should I look for one with some method of locking into a channel?
(or are they too fussy to bother with?)
How about screen resolution? Will I be able to make out the 32 characters
per line on such a tiny screen?
Thomas
26 Oct
26 Oct
7:06 a.m.
Hello Dave --
Lots of folks have added LCD screens to their ZX81s and TS1000s.
Please see http://www.fischerkai.de/zxteam/zx96_e.htm for a complete
description of
Kai Fischer's ZX96. The standard display on this machine is an LCD.
Later --
Glen Goodwin
0/0
Want to save money on TV/stereo repair parts and other electronic
components?
http://www.acme-sales.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dave Brown" <tractorb(a)ihug.co.nz>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Friday, October 24, 2003 4:41 PM
Subject: Re: experiences with portable LCD TVs for classic micros?
The LCD screen from an old car TV/nav system will
probably be bigger,
cheaper and have a better picture-maybe you could use the complete TV
setup,
as the Timex only has a VHF output?
Probably not relevant in this case but more recent systems have external
AV
inputs as well as the RF/tuner input. The screens in
the later ones have
an
external DC supply jack too so can be easily separated
from the rest of
the
nav system.
DaveB
----- Original Message -----
From: "Thomas Dzubin" <dzubint(a)vcn.bc.ca>
To: <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2003 12:08 AM
Subject: experiences with portable LCD TVs for classic micros?
>
> I have four Timex Sinclair micros sitting in my basement and I've been
> thinking about turning one (or more) into the world's slowest
> "franken-laptop" using one of those portable LCD TVs that seem to be
> on sale at every second-hand store & pawn shop for $10-$20.
> Has anyone had any experiences in the quality of the TV tuner in
> these portables? Will I have to keep re-tuning it every 10 minutes
> or should I look for one with some method of locking into a channel?
> (or are they too fussy to bother with?)
> How about screen resolution? Will I be able to make out the 32
characters
per line on
such a tiny screen?
Thomas
7728
days inactive
7730
days old
3 comments
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participants (4)
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