What is your VIC "video solution"?

[JohnnyRockets]

I just bought a cable to hook up my VIC to one of today's flat screen TV monitors.

You know the kind of cable that goes to yellow/red/white from the VIC's video port end...

I expect this to work nicely with a newer flat screen TV monitor, although I do not have it in my possession quite yet.

Any thoughts on using this kind of cable? Pitfalls, etc?

Also, this got me thinking, what do all of you use as your VIC "video solution"?

1) Original Commodore monitor
2) Tube type TV
3) Flat screen TV
4) Other

[Jeff-20]

I use a tube tv. They're getting rare. A 20 inch Sony. A commodore monitor would be nice, but I prefer the slightly larger screen and stereo sound because I use it with all my game consoles (some with multi channel sound).

[JohnnyRockets]

Hi Jeff,

I there any problem hooking right up to a modern flat screen?

Right now I have an OLD 20" tube, but a flat screen would give me more space.

[buzbard]

To me, the low-res video oof the VIC on a hi-res flatscreen gives a kind of fuzzy unfocused look. But I guess it's a matter of taste.

I still prefer a CRT over a flatscreen.

[JohnnyRockets]

To me, the low-res video oof the VIC on a hi-res flatscreen gives a kind of fuzzy unfocused look. But I guess it's a matter of taste.

I still prefer a CRT over a flatscreen.

Hey Buzbard,

Well that's a good point! My 20" screen CRT is pretty decent, so I'd had to drop $300 US to get a nice flat screen and have it not be that great... Maybe I'll hold on that thought a bit longer...

[16KVIC20]

We had a 20 inch CRT TV until recently. It was great for the VIC 20 and all my other retro machines. We now have a 32 inch LED flat screen, which is great, but not so great for 8 bit computers.
Luckily I also have a Panasonic portable TV, which fits the bill perfectly.
Would have been even better if we had the space to keep the 20 inch as well, but I do have to throw things away occasionally.

[Boray]

I have an old Philips 8833-II monitor. I think I would prefer a LCD or LED though, for the reduced radiation and the lack of the high frequency tone all CRTs produce.

[rhurst]

I've posted these pics before of my HP LP2475w display. The bottom picture also shows how crisp a simple composite video cable can look on LCD -- the key is to adjust your VIC's video POT as described in the Wiki here.

You can avoid really chunky pixels if the LCD can enforce 4:3 aspect ratio, else you get pixels the size of your pinkie's nail in stretched widescreen, like (click to enlarge):

[16KVIC20]

I can get 4:3 on my LED TV with the VIC 20 no problem, and it looks quite good.

Somehow the VIC 20 just seems "right" on a CRT TV though; at least in my opinion.

[JohnnyRockets]

Thanks everyone!

Although I don't love that high pitched noise the CRT produces, I am going to try it hooked up to the Yellow/Red/White cable that I recently purchase first.

Then, maybe I will eventually go up to the LED monitor down the road.

[Jeff-20]

I just don't like large screens for routine tv viewing or gaming or computers. It spoils the eyes. I have a projector for the occasional movie or desire for large views, but 20 inch is perfect regular tv needs.

[andorvic]

Hello.
I use an old PC with a TV capture card. I connect video and audio and it works fine.

[PaulQ]

That's interesting.

The cable you describe sounds like the Commodore 64/128/16/+4 version which normally has 8 pins. The Vic 20's I've come across (both the "Gold Badge" version and the "Rainbow badge" CR version) only have a 5 pin video port. Perhaps you have a Commodore 64 in a Vic 20 case?

To answer your question, I removed the cable from the RF modulator that came with the Vic 20, and split off the video and audio signals to separate RCA style jacks, connected to the front of my 1701 monitor.

[Barney]

I use a tube tv. They're getting rare. A 20 inch Sony. A commodore monitor would be nice, but I prefer the slightly larger screen and stereo sound because I use it with all my game consoles (some with multi channel sound).

Jeff, trust me - there isn't a commodore monitor out there that competes with a good old tube tv. They give the best picture for the Vic-20 in my opinion. The 1701, 1702, Commodore 1080, and 1084 all look questionable (fuzzy, ghosting and all around not too pretty). Get a good 10 inch Sony TV, and you will get a stunning picture.

There is one monitor I do like though. Many years ago, I had a 12" NEC green screen monitor. Now that was a nice monitor that I wish I would have never gotten rid of.

[ral-clan]

I've posted these pics before of my HP LP2475w display. The bottom picture also shows how crisp a simple composite video cable can look on LCD -- the key is to adjust your VIC's video POT as described in the Wiki here.

You can avoid really chunky pixels if the LCD can enforce 4:3 aspect ratio, else you get pixels the size of your pinkie's nail in stretched widescreen, like (click to enlarge):

The only problem with that picture rhurst is that you're getting some sort of checkboarding effect / dot crawl. I've experienced this when feeding my brand new LCD anything that gives it a low resolution interlaced picture (like one of those Jakks Pacific video game plug-n-play joysticks featuring Pac-man).

I use a 1702 monitor and it's fine (they are very durable), but I would also be happy with a colour TV, probably. The resolution of the VIC-20 is low enough that a TV's resolution is fine in most cases - especially if that TV has RCA video/audio inputs.

I actually prefer that my VIC-20 not be too crisp. It looks strange - not the way I remember it when I was a kid. For instance, I didn't like using VICE to play VIC-20 stuff until they implemented the CRT artifacting like blur and scanlines. It now looks GREAT!