Re: Commodore to S-Video or HDMI video?

From: silverdr_at_wfmh.org.pl
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2018 17:46:30 +0200
Message-Id: <89CD2CE3-2390-4E67-B523-5AD2EA0C3E22@wfmh.org.pl>
> On 2018-07-17, at 15:35, Raj Wurttemberg <rajaw@c64.us> wrote:
> 
> Great information. Thank you All. This is the modification I was looking at:
> 
> https://amazingdiy.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/c64-s-video-mod/

IMHO this makes sense only if you have the 5pin DIN socket. Otherwise I don't see much added value. The lines you need for S-Video are available on the 8pin socket without the modification.

Replacing the modulator with video amp of your own makes OTOH sense if you have the very poor modulator, which blurs the picture. Some of the very early C64s (this may coincide with 5pin socket) have this kind of modulator. The later variants have mostly improved modulator, replacing which doesn't improve the quality THAT much. Especially the narrow boards. So if you have the blurry modulator, it's best to replace it with an amp board. I have a proven design based on Gerrit supplied information.

> How is the video quality on the composite video?

Depends on the modulator you have installed. From blurry to pretty OK.

> I do have a Commodore to SCART cable and SCART to HDMI adaptor, but the video quality is pretty bad (SCART ports are not on US TVs unfortunately).

This may not be caused by your C64 signal quality at all. That's the "hit'n miss game" I wrote about. The signal C64 generates does not conform to any TV/Video standard. It is surely out of specs in several aspects. Yet - for analogue controlled CRTs - it was "good enough" to make them display things in virtually all cases, not only with CBM branded ones. For a modern, digital device, which expects the incoming signal to be norm-compliant you may get all kinds of distortions or no output at all when you feed such device with C64 output. And unless you get a converter device that is verified and confirmed to work with a C64 and its output, you will never know upfront what you eventually get on the screen, if anything at all.

Solutions in order of _my_ preference, related to the amount of added latency / fidelity to the original look:

- get a quality CRT (like SD-broadcast studio display in acceptable shape)
- get a quality broadcast studio LCD designed to work with SD analogue signals
- get a proven (confirmed to work with C64) converter/upscaler to feed your LCD/Plasma/whatever

Once you have one of the above and it works, only then start work on improving the C64 output quality. Otherwise you may spend lots of effort and still not being able to see acceptable (blue-on-blue) picture...

-- 
SD! - http://e4aws.silverdr.com/
Received on 2018-07-17 18:00:04

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