Atari SM124 monitor mods

Enlarging the display and swapping out a critical capacitor in my Atari SM124 mono monitor

[@welliben]

Great video, very useful info. It is worth mentioning the SM124 has that small screen size due to the screen being set up to have a specific DPI (dots per inch) amount (which iirc was 72dpi, the same as a Mac Plus/ 512k etc). This was useful for DTP work as it was directly translatable allowing accurate depictions on screen and in print. I think GDOS also expects this. Nowadays the extra screen real estate is more useful I would think :)

[@backroomboy4420]

Yes, thank you, that is a very good point and as you say, nowadays, we're probably happier with a bigger display than a 1:1 screen and print ratio! Thank you for watching and for your kind comments :)

[@zxrenew5642]

Really enjoyed that, well done! Need to dig out my SM124.

[@backroomboy4420]

Thank you and thank you for watching! The SM124 is a great monitor :)

[@slaapliedje]

I only recently got an sm124. I had no idea about the huge borders until then. But the 1:1 ratio makes sense. Still, the 640x400 just looks so good in black and white on the ST!

[@backroomboy4420]

Absolutely! It's a much-underated screen that is actually pretty reliable too other than the cap swap, and that's a simple task. Thank you for watching :)

[@jay3fox]

Hey, Great video, I have one of these monitors and the picture is stupidly small. Can I send it to you for you to work your magic? I don't like working on CRT's they scare the hell out of me! lol

[@backroomboy4420]

Thank you for your kind comments but I would be very reluctant to work on someone else's precious monitor for fear of damaging it. Follow along with the video, be sure to discharge the tube (search KZbin for lots of videos showing how) and you'll be fine. Good luck and thanks for watching :)

[@brianwild4640]

Just show any local electronic or tv repair shop the clip of video and they will do it you

[@swiftxrapid919]

are you going to make part two where you get it how you want it setup?

[@backroomboy4420]

TBH there's not a lot more to say about it but I'll try to do a quick update once I've sourced some proper alignment tools to replace the kebab skewers! Thanks for watching.

[@fzzybash5915]

@@backroomboy4420 would be very nice!

[@HansCampbell]

DO NOT adjust the display size !!!! The Atari SM124 monitor screen is set up for WYSIWYG, which is perfect for desktop publishing. The Atari SM124 is a monochrome VGA monitor. They were also used with the Atari PCs. Standard VGA is 640 by 480. The Atari ST computers high res mode is 640 by 400. This is the reason for the larger black bars on top and bottom of the screen. When you adjust the screen size, you not only lose the WYSIWYG image, you also distort the picture by stretching it. Only stupid people adjust an Atari SM124 monitors screen size. 🤔