Commodore 128, 80 column mode displayed on modern monitors

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TyrionXavier
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Commodore 128, 80 column mode displayed on modern monitors

Post by TyrionXavier »

Greetings and salutations.

I've recently re-obtained a Commodore 128. Oddly, it was the same one that I had in my youth. The gentleman I sold it to still had it, and it sold it back to me at the same price I sold it to him. However, the monitor was broken, and I have no way to display the 80 column mode. I have been looking around online, and I know it's an RGBI signal that the 128 outputs, but I'm having a hell of a time finding a device to convert that signal for a VGA input. I did find this: https://www.serdashop.com/MCE2VGA - but I don't know if that will be sufficient for the 128, because quite frankly, I'm not very verse when it comes to technical specifications, and the website doesn't mention the Commodore 128 at all.

Can anyone help me out here, either about this device, or another that I am unaware of?

Thanks.
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rbernardo
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Re: Commodore 128, 80 column mode displayed on modern monitors

Post by rbernardo »

It sounds like an expensive option... and it doesn't say anything about the brown fix to correct for the C128's 80-column video colors. I'd rather go with the less expensive, brown-fixed, C128 Video Dac from http://www.bit-c128.com/

Truly,
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LoneWolf33
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Re: Commodore 128, 80 column mode displayed on modern monitors

Post by LoneWolf33 »

Hello,

I've faced the similar problem a few months back.
I've bought an RGBI (CGA) to RGB adapter from gglabs (https://gglabs.us/node/2022),
and created a SCART adapter cable to it, so it can be used with any TV set that have RGB capable SCART input.
It works nice, but doesn't looks too fancy, since it doesn't have casing...
I've also tried this adapter with the famous demo "Risen from Oblivion" without problems.

This setup also requires an external 5VDC power supply
Attachments
Proof of Concept
Proof of Concept
gglabs_on_C128_PoC[1].jpg (231.91 KiB) Viewed 7287 times
Proof of Concept
Proof of Concept
gglabs_on_C128_PoC[3].jpg (209.78 KiB) Viewed 7287 times
80 columns displayed on LCD TV
80 columns displayed on LCD TV
80col_on_TV.jpg (174.47 KiB) Viewed 7287 times
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