Terrible video quality on LCDs ?

[Mark Smith]

Hi there,

I've a nice fancy 32" Samsung LCD (1080p etc etc), if I plug in the s-video output of my C128 I get hideous artifacts on screen ... almost like if you encode video with MPEG at a low bitrate.

Anyone else have this issue ?

I've turned off the "dynamic" smarts of the LCD but still the same.

Using the s-video output on a CRT is of course great (apart from the nasty vertical bands on the VIC-II output .. whch seems to be part of the C128)

The LD is also fantastic with other s-video outputs from the DVD player and of course via HDMA and the PS3 with Blu-ray is like comparing VHS to DVD :-)

Mark

[Mark Smith]

It's possible the svideo signal is overly strong, was reading a usenet posting about someone who hacked a c64 to output svideo by removing the RF modulator, he had to tame the luminance (I think) with a resistor.

Think that could be it ?

[commodorejohn]

How much like MPEG artifacts are we talking, here? If it's fine on a CRT but chokes on a digital LCD, maybe the converter in the LCD TV for some stupid reason compresses the image? Is there another digital TV you can test it with?

[zap]

This seems common, i have connected many c64 and c128 to LCD TV monitors and found the picture to be shaky and or blurry I have also found the best way of getting great picture quality is by using a svideo to c= lead. these can be found on eBay for around $15. eBay item hope this helps.

[maraud]

I've found the "best" solution is a LCD TV, with a VGA input.  I got a 15" LCD TV (which handles the composite input) and then to a CGA-VGA conversion with the Arcade board (details on this site).  Good news is that I found that board on eBay new for about $50 and then with $4 in parts from radio-shack....  All good!

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