Category: Display Equipment

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New automatic scart switchers

As much as I love my Hydra Scart switches, they are a tad on the pricey side. I’ve got a few of them for the main bulk of my consoles/computers in the lounge, but I have two more TVs in the bedroom that require a Scart switch solution.

I did try building my own a while back and they kind of work, but I get some weird interference sometimes which needs a re-design on the board I made to overcome the issue. But before spending any more time on that I had a look around on Aliexpress to see if there were any new options on the market.

That is when I came across these:

They looked to be exactly what I was after as they are fully automatic and also have some additional output options such as a 3.5mm audio which I needed as the speakers on my CRT are terrible!

The other thing that appealed to me was the fact it uses relays to switch the sources. This may seem like an old-fashioned way of doing it, but it means the system will likely be robust and minimises the chance of any interference as it will create a physical air gap. The hydras come with a warning (my version did at least) that connecting consoles whilst the unit is scanning could result in the chips being damaged. It’s not the end of the world, but I just think the setup on this unit is a bit less likely to fail.

I have connected one of these up already and have it switching between a Playstation 1, PS2, Sony VCR and a Digital TV box. It just works absolutely perfectly, automatically switching when a new console is turned on, then falling back to the previous source when turned off.

I purchased my units from here https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003688535345.html and they took about 3 weeks to arrive in the UK which isn’t too bad really. So far I am extremely happy with them. I’ll be sure to update everyone if I find any additional features or any issues in the future.

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Build guide for the mini CGA Monitor

I’ve had quite a lot of people interested in my mini CGA monitor build so have put together a build guide to show what components I used. I have also uploaded the 3D printable files so anyone with access to a 3D printer can build their own.

I do still need to complete the wiring diagram for one of the cables which I will do shortly, I just forgot to take a photo of it before I put everything back together!

Click the link below to find out more, or head over to the “Projects” section of my website.

http://localhost/wordpress/mini-crt-cga-monitor/
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Amstrad PPC gets a DIY CGA colour monitor

I was originally going to replace the green screen LCD on my PPC512 with a modern LCD colour screen. But there was nothing physically wrong with the built in monitor apart from the horrible motion blur. It seemed a shame to butcher a fully working device. So instead I opened up my CAD program and designed and built a mini “CRT” monitor for it. It holds an 8inch LCD panel and a RGBtoHDMI board for doing the CGA conversion. I will do a write up soon with instructions on how to build your own, including the 3D stl files to print your own.

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Casio TV-980 Portable LCD TV

Along with my collection of computers and consoles, I also collect various other bits of old technology. I recently picked up this “new” portable LCD TV for a bargain price. Obviously, these devices only pick up analogue signals which are no longer transmitted in the UK. But with the help of my HackRF (Software Defined Radio) and a brilliant little program called HackTV, I am able to broadcast analogue TV along with Teletext signals within the walls of my own home.

I know it’s kind of pointless, but I’ve enjoyed playing around with it. And what better show to be broadcasting than the entire series on Games Master 🙂

I can now turn on any of the old CRTs and tune them into GamesMaster whenever I want!

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Sony Trinitron 14inch TV

So after a few attempts on eBay to pick one of these up (When will people learn that you can’t just wrap a CRT in a single layer of bubble wrap and ship it in a single cardboard box 🙁 ), I finally have a working Sony Trinitron 14″ Flatscreen TV to replace my old “no-name” brand. The picture quality on this one is absolutely gorgeous, so it will now be the main display for a bunch of my consoles/computers such as the Spectrum, CPC464, CD-i, Master System, Mega Drive, Saturn and XBOX.

Shown above: Rayman running on the Sega Saturn 🙂

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Wonderswan Color gets a new screen

After trying to use the Wonderswan with its new flash cartridge (Flashmasta) I purchased. I decided that I wasn’t going to spend much time with it using its original display screen. It’s one of those annoying ones where you need to get the light hitting it in exactly the right direction to stand any chance of it being visible.

I try to keep as many devices I own as original as possible, but in this case, I decided it was desperately in need of a little modernisation. So I opted for a nice backlit LCD display. It was actually a really simple installation procedure on this one with just two wires for power that needed soldering.

The end result is simply amazing and I will now be checking out some of the great titles available for the device thanks to a few language translation patches available on the net.

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Sony – KDL22PX300 a.k.a. Sony PS2 TV

Something a bit different and I think fairly rare in the grand scheme of things. The Sony Playstation 2 TV was released in 2010, very late in the PS2’s life cycle and after the launch of the PS3. Apparently, Sony had a bunch of PAL PS2s they needed to shift so came up with the idea of combining the PS2 with a 22inch Bravia LCD TV. I don’t think these were ever sold outside of the UK, so are rare in the global market.

The PS2 is built into the base of this TV and is wired internally using a component video connection so the picture quality is as good as you can get natively from a PS2. The PS2 itself is the latest version of the console so unfortunately can’t be hacked with the standard Free McBoot mod. But it can be modified to run the Fortuna hack.

I am currently using Funtuna which basically combines the Fortuna hack with Free McBoot so you get all the same functionality. The only difference is it doesn’t automatically launch the hack when you turn it on, you instead have to go into the PS2 browser and press a few buttons. Not really the end of the world.

I have set this one up now booting games over the network from a Netgear ReadyNAS drive. This is faster than booting from USB since the PS2 only has USB 1.1 ports.

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GBA SP IPS Screen Mod

After fitting a new case to my £4 car boot find GBP SP, it was looking as good as new. But the screen on these things isn’t exactly the best. They are front-lit LCD screens and as such, they are not very vibrant. Since this GBA SP was never going to be kept as an original example of the console, I decided to treat it to a modern LCD replacement.

Click the images below to see a close up of the picture quality.

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This screen was £31 from China and I think the results speak for themselves. It looks gorgeous now and has become a very useable device.

Fitting was very easy and no soldering is actually required, but you can solder a single wire to have the brightness control working. I also had to do some minor modifications to the insides of the case to allow the top part of the shell to close together. But even with that, the fitting took no longer than 30 minutes.

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Sony Bravia KDL-15G2000

I recently connected the Atari 2600 up to a spare small LCD TV I had kicking around, but this TV really was garbage picture quality. You had to look at it straight on otherwise the colours would go inverted. Needless to say, that is now going to the great recycling centre in the sky.

But I did like the idea of having the Atari 2600 on its own TV screen and with a bit of juggling around, there is probably room for another console in the same area. So this meant I needed a good TV to take its place.

Luckily I knew exactly what I wanted as I already have one in a different room with the MSX hooked up to it. The Sony Bravia KDL-15G2000 15″ LCD TV.

The picture quality is really good on it, the TV is nice and compact, and it has SCART, Component, composite and VGA inputs on it.

Next step will be to wall mount it so it sits a bit further back, then I can lower the shelf it currently sits on and maybe move the GX4000 here to free up an RGB Scart port in the lounge for something different.

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My ZX81 gets its own CRT :)

Since I purchased it, I have to admit I haven’t powered on the ZX81. It’s currently standard so only has an RF output and although I have TVs that still have analogue tuners they are just not in a convenient location to set this up. My plan was to do the composite video mod to make things a little easier but that was on my list of things to do.

Then, the other day I was browsing YouTube and came across a video where someone had bought a small 5″ CRT from Aliexpress and was connecting it to an Apple II computer. The TV he had was from an old video doorbell or something and was designed to be wall-mounted so not really what I was after. But the thought sat in my head that a small black and white CRT would be perfect for the ZX81 since it didn’t do colour anyway.

So a quick eBay search later I found a perfect condition 5.5″ Chinese monochrome CRT with a built-in RF tuner and radio for £11.99!!

And here it is, a match made in heaven!

I still need to find somewhere to set it up for display but this is a much more manageable size to deal with. The ZX81 also needs a new keyboard as the ribbon cable is perished on this one and is a bit flakey for typing programs on. I’ve also ordered a TZXDuino to help loading tape files into the older computers. I know I could use my mobile phone but these devices look so much cooler 😎