Connect Your Amiga 500 to a VGA or HDMI Monitor: Quick & Easy Setup!

[@m0nde]

I just got an Amiga 1200 which only came with component cables. The picture was horrible. I've sourced an rgb db23 to db9 cable and it's a marked difference, but I do think vga or hdmi is the way to go, so I don't have to use a dedicated 1084 monitor.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Nice, I need a 1200.

[@retrofriends]

Thank you for featuring my products in your video 🙂 Proper link in the description to my store as well. Much appreciated 👍

[@FloppyDeepDive]

You are welcome! I use it all the time.

[@electronicsworkbench]

Good video to help keeping these old beauties back in operation. You provide value to the retro-community offering up this kind of information. I'm 57 now but still have my C64 from 1983 and two Amigas from 1987 (A500 Rev.5 and A2000B Rev 4.4). I hope I can get another few decades out of them after their restoration is complete. For anyone curious why newer monitors can't show video from Amiga/64/and others, it comes down to timing, horizontal sweep, and vertical refresh frequencies required by the vintage RGB and Composite video sources. In a CRT type TV or monitor, the electron beams that struck the phosphors on the inside of the tube need to sweep from side to side (roughly 15kHz) at a constant per-second rate of time for graphics cards and circuits on a computer to make predictable use of the time the beams move. They also move vertically at a known frequency. The vertical frequency is 50Hz PAL (most other continents except North America) or 60Hz NTSC (North America and parts of Japan and maybe some others) in those days. This is the rate at which the beams move from top to bottom per second. This came about from electronics equipment and television industries and how the signals were encoded on the carrier. If you slowed down the beams you could actually see the images produced in a kind of diagonal pattern as the H and V frequencies aren't matched but are timed to work together. So why can't the old computer and gaming systems work on modern monitors? Because almost every monitor and TV built in the last ten years does not support the old 15kHz horizontal sweep frequency standard. There are no modern day devices that require such a slow horizontal frequency. Basically, all now are built to support 30kHz and up. There are devices that were called ScanDoublers and Upscalers to mitigate the problem early on. Flicker Fixer was a technology that modified the signal going to the monitor but did not change the horizontal sweep frequency of the monitor. A modern day device manufactured now is called an OSSC (Open Source Scan Converter) but is fairly expensive. It takes the signal from the computer/console system and uprates the driving signal frequencies to work with modern monitors. Devices like the one featured in this video are not that expensive and are an invaluable tool to the retro-computer/gaming world. These are needed as quality CRT monitor replacement parts are hard to find or no longer exist like some Flyback transformers that powers the 20kV+ high voltage stage to allow the CRT to function. Kudos to those manufacturers and the KZbin community for bringing information like this into focus for the rest of the retro-world. May 8-bits live on!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Thank you for the kind comments. I’m just trying to give back to a community and hobby that has brought me so much joy! Thank you for your detailed comments. Love being educated!!

[@JimmyHandtrixx]

just watching your intro.....can you still run MCS-820 Printer? what ink & paper do they use?

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Yes I can, you can still buy the ribbon online.

[@paulsweeney9342]

hi. i just got my amiga 500+ out the attic. the blue connector that comes from the monitor and into the amiga,. there is no connectors at that size. i last played it 20 years ago so im a bit rusty. it is the original monitor made in 1991. thank you

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Hey Paul! Congrats on pulling out your Amiga again. I would think if it is the original Amiga monitor it should connect without issue. Not having that kind of monitor myself I would have to see it.

[@codehunter77]

I wonder how a500 mini would look on a crt monitor via VGA

[@FloppyDeepDive]

🤔

[@codehunter77]

@@FloppyDeepDive Since they announced an amiga maxi I thought about this because would be the perfect setup imo but no one tried it with the mini on yt, would be a nice test to watch

[@tcaldwe]

i was using an older viewsonic LCD TV with RCA in and svideo in. easy to make a cable to go from C64 to S video.

[@ArttuTheCat]

Hey, this is absolutely brilliant 😺👍. I use the SCART RF cable from my Amiga 500 to 32" LCD TV. Thanks for an awesome retrospective video. 😺👍🕹️.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

We don't have SCART connections in the US.

[@naviamiga]

Nice. Thanks for the useful ebay links, always on the hunt for more Amiga bits.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

You are very welcome.

[@Examigan]

I found an Amiga-Kit adapter that was around $21 and converts to VGA. It works great!

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Awesome!! Send link

[@Examigan]

Nearly $100 seems a bit expensive...I'd like an alternative. Are there any others like this but maybe for $20-30 (or so) less?

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Nothing that I am aware of, this is what I use so it's all I know.

[@aussie_retro_dude9253]

Thanks Tom . Im having issues getting a colour picture to my VGA monitors hooked up to my C64s. Im using a converter but can't get a good picture.

[@MattKasdorf]

The HDMI adapter is $99us + $15us shipping to Canada + $10us in fees because the seller is using the eBay Global Shipping Program.

[@retrofriends]

I am now using ebay international shipping - a little cheaper now.

[@giuseppelavecchia775]

Bel video,hai fatto bene a far vedere il vga adapter,mi interessa molto,ottimo

[@Foebane72]

You didn't demonstrate the HDMI adapter.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

It's been a while since I made this one I will have to go back and watch it to recall what I was up to.

[@padistedor]

Will this work if the A500 has the PAL chip?

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Yes sir!

[@tschiemingli]

Where to buy?

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Here is the link ebay.us/gSCCdc

[@crveni_eu]

Hi, you can go much cheaper, eBay, Aliexpress ... AV converter SCART to HDMI , or arcade EGA / CGA /VGA to HDMI, work perfectly with my Amigas. Do not waste your money, use google. :D Have a nice day.

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Do you have any links? I just know this works and what I use but I’m always open to share cheaper options with my subscribers. Thank you!!

[@retrofriends]

Thank you so much for featuring my adapters on your channel. In response to the previous comment, just make sure what you are buying contains all the cables and is "plug and play" as the author of this video states. In particular, the DB23 cable that comes with my adapter is hard to find. Thanks

[@FloppyDeepDive]

Yep, that’s what I love about it, it just works! Everything comes with it and was so simple to hook up. Worth every penny!

[@Veksta]

It’s just a gbs8200 and the hdmi variant they sell for $15 and $25 AUD respectively. Db23 to db15 cable is another $25 AUD (with proper db23) and are fairly easy to find these days compared to a couple of years ago due to someone doing a massive production run on the db23 and them being readily available through places like sordan. All in all the gbs units are very good for the price but benefit greatly from the “known mods” which bring them closer to (but not equal to) that of the OSSC.