Would modding my 1702 to accept RGB decrease its value or vice versa?

[bluejay]

My flat screen tv(RGB capable) was shattered due to my stupidness. Now all I have left is my broken RF only woodgrain Magnavox, a tiny silver Toshiba, and my 1702. None of them have RGB. It's been sharing the composite cable with my PS1 for the time being, but it's really inconvenient. I was thinking modding my 1702 for RGB when my old self came back and told me, "You blithering idiot! You'll ruin that monitor by modding it!" Would you pay more for an RGB modded 1702? If you were me, would you mod the tiny Toshiba or the 1702?

Thanks!

[ApolloBoy]

I'm not sure you can do an RGB mod to a 1702 like you can with newer CRTs as it doesn't have a jungle chip to easily inject RGB signals into. You would have to find a way to inject RGB into the neckboard, build a circuit to properly attenuate the RGB signals, and have it so that the composite and Y/C inputs still function. I think your Toshiba would be a better choice for this kind of thing.

 

Also goes without saying that I hope you take precautions because modding a CRT isn't trivial, even for just adding RGB input.

Edited April 14, 2020 by ApolloBoy

[Bratwurst]

The 1702 has a higher line count than most consumer grade CRTs. With chroma/luma input available in the back, in my opinion you're already getting comparable performance to a PVM. There is no need to RGB mod that set. For the effort in that case, not worth it.

 

I've RGB modded several of my televisions but I'd love to get a second 1702, they are durable workhorses.

[Keatah]

I dislike things modded. And when given a choice I always take the un-modded item.

[bluejay]

20 hours ago, Bratwurst said:

The 1702 has a higher line count than most consumer grade CRTs. With chroma/luma input available in the back, in my opinion you're already getting comparable performance to a PVM. There is no need to RGB mod that set. For the effort in that case, not worth it.

The thing is, I'm not trying to get better video quality, I'm trying to get more ports to connect more systems.

16 hours ago, Keatah said:

I dislike things modded. And when given a choice I always take the un-modded item.

But in that case, I'll mod the Toshiba then.

[Keatah]

If you just want more ports. That's easy. Use some sort of external ABCD switcheroo box thing.

 

[Bratwurst]

Then get an RGB to s-video conversion board.

[bluejay]

36 minutes ago, Bratwurst said:

Then get an RGB to s-video conversion board.

That's a solution, since the LCA port on my 1702 is no longer occupied(RIP vic-20)

 

51 minutes ago, Keatah said:

If you just want more ports. That's easy. Use some sort of external ABCD switcheroo box thing.

 

They're pretty expensive. I'd rather add a mod or just plug and unplug cables than buy one of those for $20.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I don't know...to me the $20 is worth the saving in time to not have to do anything special. So I would totally buy the AV switcher if I only needed more ports over trying to mod a display to add more inputs than it originally came with or was designed for.

 

[bluejay]

9 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

I don't know...to me the $20 is worth the saving in time to not have to do anything special. So I would totally buy the AV switcher if I only needed more ports over trying to mod a display to add more inputs than it originally came with or was designed for.

 

Getting a switchbox won't help me since my PS2 will still be sharing a cable with my PS1, and modding means more soldering practice for me. Sure I could get another composite cable, but I'd rather do the RGB mod to my Toshiba for future use as well(If I get other systems that use RGB).

Also, @-^CrossBow^-, I don't exactly have a lot of money to burn, so I'd rather buy a copy of Zelda II than a switchox if I had $20.

Edited April 16, 2020 by bluejay

[jhd]

 

Why do you need both a PS 2 and an original PlayStation hooked-up? With the exception of a very small handful of games, the PS 2 is backwards compatible. 

[bluejay]

3 hours ago, jhd said:

 

Why do you need both a PS 2 and an original PlayStation hooked-up? With the exception of a very small handful of games, the PS 2 is backwards compatible. 

Because my PS2 is Korean(NTSC-J) and PS1 is American (NTSC-U/C).

[2600Ibarelyknewher]

On 4/16/2020 at 3:58 PM, bluejay said:

Because my PS2 is Korean(NTSC-J) and PS1 is American (NTSC-U/C).

just get a modded ps3 with CFW.......

Edited May 2, 2020 by 2600Ibarelyknewher

[bluejay]

2 minutes ago, 2600Ibarelyknewher said:

just get a modded ps3 with CFW.......

Was this comment really necessary? If I wanted to just get a new system, I would have done that. I posted this here because I wanted to mod a monitor, not just get a goddamn PS3. That's like buying a new car because I can't fit a giant box in the trunk.

[2600Ibarelyknewher]

1 minute ago, bluejay said:

Was this comment really necessary? If I wanted to just get a new system, I would have done that. I posted this here because I wanted to mod a monitor, not just get a goddamn PS3. That's like buying a new car because I can't fit a giant box in the trunk.

It would just allow you to play both with one console and HDMI. Sorry just thought you hadn’t heard of it. 

Edited May 2, 2020 by 2600Ibarelyknewher

[bluejay]

1 minute ago, 2600Ibarelyknewher said:

It would just allow you to play both with one console and HDMI. Sorry just thought you hadn’t heard of it. 

Then I would have to mod the 1702 for hdmi.

[2600Ibarelyknewher]

You don’t have an HDMI on your Toshiba ? 

[bluejay]

1 minute ago, 2600Ibarelyknewher said:

You don’t have an HDMI on your Toshiba ? 

Nope. It's just a small 9" semi-portable dvd/crt combo with 1 composite input and 1 rf input.

[2600Ibarelyknewher]

Just now, bluejay said:

Nope. It's just a small 9" semi-portable dvd/crt combo with 1 composite input and 1 rf input.

Sorry I just had this aha moment, was modding a couple ps3s and found out they can play all region games.

[+DrVenkman]

If you just want more composite inputs, there’s no particular challenge or expense. Just buy something like this for less than $20. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/HONONJO-Composite-Switcher-Selector-Switch/dp/B07K8G1S4Z/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?

 

In fact, I might pick up something like this for myself: 4-in/2-out composite + S-video switcher. I can connect a bunch of retro stuff up to my RetroTink 2X-Pro at the same time and switch between them at need.

 

https://www.amazon.com/C2G-28750-S-Video-Composite-Selector/dp/B0032ANC8M/ref=sr_1_3?

[+DrVenkman]

On 5/2/2020 at 10:11 AM, DrVenkman said:

In fact, I might pick up something like this for myself: 4-in/2-out composite + S-video switcher. I can connect a bunch of retro stuff up to my RetroTink 2X-Pro at the same time and switch between them at need.

 

https://www.amazon.com/C2G-28750-S-Video-Composite-Selector/dp/B0032ANC8M/ref=sr_1_3?

So in the interest of full disclosure, I bought this little gadget and while it works great as a composite switcher, it adds a BUNCH of junky noise to S-video, which is a damn shame, since at least some of my retro-stuff is S-video and more will be modded in the future. It was cheap enough that rather than return it, I’ll probably pop it open and see if I can figure out WTF it’s doing to a clean chroma/luma signal to make it so messy on the outputs. 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

It is possible they actually have the s-video tied off the composite in some way for Chroma usage? I would think if they have a dedicated s-video input they wouldn't need to do this, but who knows? I've owned AV out cables that had composite and s-video on them and found out they just wired the composite into the chroma side of the s-video output?! Ugh...

 

 

[carlsson]

I understand the quality difference between S-Video and RGB is almost negligible so that is a good suggestion to get an external converter if you can. Smashing RGB into composite video though sounds like a waste of quality.

 

Another idea is to see if anyone has e.g. a 1084 or equivalent monitor and would want to swap with your original 1702.

[+DrVenkman]

On 5/14/2020 at 10:42 AM, -^CrossBow^- said:

It is possible they actually have the s-video tied off the composite in some way for Chroma usage? I would think if they have a dedicated s-video input they wouldn't need to do this, but who knows? I've owned AV out cables that had composite and s-video on them and found out they just wired the composite into the chroma side of the s-video output?! Ugh...

 

 

Yeah, I've got an S-video cable like that. Interestingly, when I run a clean S-video source (my 1088XEL or XLD computers) into my usual S-Video TV (an early 00's Toshiba CRT), the TV filters that crap right out and I get a gorgeous S-Video image. Easily as sharp or sharper than my 1702 monitor (which is pretty razor sharp itself).  However, that same cable into my RetroTink 2X-Pro is terrible. 

 

This weekend I think I'm going to take this switchbox apart and see how it works inside. I'll see if I can trace the chroma/luma signals, and if they're doing any craptacular mixing to the outputs, I'll cut traces if I have to.