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From: jhs@MITRE-BEDFORD.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.micro.atari8
Subject: (some) answers to DiMasi's questions on OMNIVIEW and monitors
Message-ID: <8609211645.AA02848@mitre-bedford.ARPA>
Date: Sun, 21-Sep-86 12:51:04 EDT
Article-I.D.: mitre-be.8609211645.AA02848
Posted: Sun Sep 21 12:51:04 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 21-Sep-86 22:13:58 EDT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The MITRE Corp., Bedford, MA
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------- Forwarded Message
> 1. CDY recommends that a non-composite monitor be used with OMNIVIEW for
>  "serious" 80-column work.  Some time ago (last year?) someone posted
>  an article saying that he could easily read OMNIVIEW's display on his
>  TV set! Does anyone else have any experience with reading the display on
>  TV sets, composite monitors, monochrome monitors, etc?

The infamous John Sangster, among others, made that comment after working with
CDY's OMNIVIEW on an old (1969) Sylvania black and white TV set for awhile.
I had originally expected to need to buy a monitor, and was absolutely AMAZED
at how readable the 80-column display was on the TV set.  I have since bought
a monitor and it is even better, but the main reason I bought the monitor when
I did was so guests who were visiting could have a TV set without disabling my
computer.  I would NOT recommend trying to read an 80-column display on a
composite color monitor or color TV set.  I would predict it would be
unusable.  Perhaps David Young could comment.

>2. Does anyone know of any composite monitors with a "high-res" monochrome
>  mode that are currently available?  Is there any way to "tweak" a
>  composite monitor to make it display "high-res" monochrome?

The only thing I would expect to have any hope at all would be to go directly
into the Green video amplifier in the set with a luminance signal.  (You would
have to do something about seeing that the sync circuits got a signal too.)
That would give about the best resolution the screen itself could provide.

>3. Does anyone know if a commercial "box" exists to convert composite video
>  output to RGB (somehow, I doubt it)?  Failing that, has anyone ever
>  built one?  If so, how well does it work (resolution, etc.)?  Are
>  modifications to any circuits inside the computer required?  Can I get
>  plans (please keep in mind that I have no experience in building circuits
>  straight from schematics)?  Do the other graphics modes (I understand
>  that OMNIVIEW uses GR. 8) look any better on an RGB monitor than on a
>  composite monitor?  BTW, thanks to John Sangster at MITRE for letting
>  me know about the existence of the SIGNETICS chip.

I don't know of a commercial "box" at this time.  I keep telling my cousin he
ought to develop one.  His phone number is (205) 539-4637.  He might be
persuaded to do so if he gets a lot of calls about it!
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