Commander X16

On 10/21/2020 at 2:07 PM, markboston36 said:

what kind of monitor are you using?

I have two old Samsung "SyncMaster" 19"  4:3  VGA monitors.  A 190s and a 912n.  They both work very nicely; one of them is an auxiliary monitor to my Mac Mini.  I reckon the X16 may share that monitor via a switch, perhaps.

I'll have to look up the specs to see if they're a multiple of 640 x 480.  I assume they aren't of course.

Ah yes, they're both 1280 x 1024.  So, not quite, and so maybe a little blurry and stretched.  H'm.

16 minutes ago, rje said:

Ah yes, they're both 1280 x 1024.

640 * 2 = 1280

480 * 2 = 960

So if by any chance your monitor can add 32 pixels black bars on top and bottom, that would be rad.

I have an 8" LCD TV with VGA input. And while it does not have apect ratio function, it has option to manually change visible area.

Too bad such functions almost never mentioned in monitor (or TV) specs, and you need to get a hold of device to realize if they are implemented.

A 640x360 resolution, would that be possible? It’s supposed to be an 8-bit system for the modern world right? So a 21:9 ratio would be ideal. These old monitors might not live forever.

This might require two different ratio modes though.

I’m just brainstorming.

I was able to find a prefect LCD match for X16 - Orion TV 812 - screen format is 4:3, resolution is 640 x 480 pixels, VGA input.

I found it in local sale announcements, and now it's my treasure. )

Thanks for the tip! I bought one too that I found on German Ebay. It was not the easiest to understand the German I can say but ”bieten” obviously meant what I was hoping for : ).

If you are really concerned about pixel perfect on an LCD monitor, a 1440p 16:9 monitor with a 4:3 display setting allows pixel perfect at 3x3 physical pixels per display pixel.

I have a really bad experience about how VGA signals are handled by LCD monitors. Most of them is unable to display with the highest possible integer upscale, centered in a black frame, pixel perfect and with low latency. The best option seems a RetroTink with Composite or S-Video. Anyone knows better?

2 hours ago, SzieberthAdam said:

I have a really bad experience about how VGA signals are handled by LCD monitors. Most of them is unable to display with the highest possible integer upscale, centered in a black frame, pixel perfect and with low latency. The best option seems a RetroTink with Composite or S-Video. Anyone knows better?

The Commander will put out a 640x480 video signal, so you need a monitor that runs at some multiple of 480 lines. As Bruce suggested, a 1440P monitor is the best choice, since it can integer scale a 480p signal up to 1440p. 

Back when I upgraded to 32" monitors, I picked up several Asus PA and PB monitors; they turned out to be a great choice. in my office, I use a PB328Q, which has DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, and VGA inputs. On my retro desk, I use a PB277Q with a variety of devices. 

They all look fantastic with everything I've thrown at them. I don't think I've tried this with a 480p signal lately, so I'll dust off my DOS computer and plug it in, to see what it looks like. From what I remember from the last time I had that machine hooked up, it looked great on my 1440P display, but that's been a couple of years.

Unfortunately, the only thing I wish could be revisited is the 640x480 resolution, just because it's proving hard to find new monitors that will natively support that resolution. Folks support 5:4 multiples close to that, and 16:9 multiples close to that, but when it comes to 4:3, the closest you tend to see is 800x600 or 1600x1200. I don't understand why monitors worked out that way, but... well, they did. A pity.
That's hindsight for you, though.

Almost all modern displays even if they don’t state so, do support 640x480. It’s not hindsight. A lot of thought was put into that.


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knew i wasn't crazy for thinking it had composite. the preliminary search i did yesterday didn't turn up much but ill keep looking. i wonder if any company especially Chinese still make CRT monitors? ill do some searching and if i find anything ill post it here. i still think the easiest thing would be to include a monitor as an option it doesn't have to be very big but something.
I did buy a 7 inch monitor from amazon for my rpi and now that im thinking about it i think it had multiple outputs on it.  

Why would you need a CRT? Any LCD with a VGA input will work. No need to overcomplicate it.


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