Can someone recommend a small screen with composite input ?

Discussions about Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81 Hardware
Trevor_B
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Can someone recommend a small screen with composite input ?

Post by Trevor_B »

Can anyone recommend a smallish flatscreen to work with zeddies / minstrels with composite output?

I bought one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1 because it's advertised as supporting composite input, but so far I've not been able to get it to recognise a composite signal.

I've used a composite -> HDMI convertor on my normal PC monitor but the charm of the zx81 output is lost on a 43" 4k curved screen (but 3d monster maze takes on a whole new dimension!).

I'm looking for something a bit more aligned to the size of the zeddie and i'd rather do straight composite input rather than use a convertor.

Any suggestions folks?
Lardo Boffin
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Re: Can someone recommend a small screen with composite input ?

Post by Lardo Boffin »

I have a relatively small flat screen LCD TV - 17” I think. Just an early low res TV. Its a Mikomi. Who? No idea.

I got it from a charity shop (my local air ambulance) for less than £20. It has composite, SCART and s-video as well as a pretty good tuner being quite old. It works really well with zeddies and Spectrums and is very forgiving.

Always worth a look if you have a fairly large charity shop near by.

Couple of photos of a Spectrum with an s-video mod:

47292C8D-973F-4D80-8049-0DAD1F1F2109.jpeg
2A983E5C-5DE4-4717-872F-EB61C578E2CE.jpeg

It looked superb and had no dot crawl.
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Moggy
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Re: Can someone recommend a small screen with composite input ?

Post by Moggy »

Just to add to what Lardo says.

I use cheap and cheerful LCD TV's , 15 inch or there about and they need not have AV inputs just SCART then all you need to do is get a SCART to phono lead like this ( there's tons on the web) and all is well no need to complicate the issue with specialist monitors for such a simple computer..
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Lardo Boffin
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Re: Can someone recommend a small screen with composite input ?

Post by Lardo Boffin »

I have a bag of those ready to bundle with zeddies that I definitely don’t sell too many of. :D
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TS 1000 iss 3, ZXPand AY and +, ZX8-CCB, ZX-KDLX & ChromaSCART
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Spectrum 16k (iss 1 s/n 862)
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Moggy
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Re: Can someone recommend a small screen with composite input ?

Post by Moggy »

Lardo Boffin wrote: Fri Jan 21, 2022 11:52 pm I have a bag of those ready to bundle with zeddies that I definitely don’t sell too many of. :D
That's because people seem to want a complicated answer to a simple question or is it just me? :lol:

(sorry for being terse it's whisky night and the tenth glass is just kicking in.)
Last edited by Moggy on Sat Jan 22, 2022 1:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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mrtinb
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Re: Can someone recommend a small screen with composite input ?

Post by mrtinb »

I think the answer is getting something with a CRT. These are old enough to support the ZX81. I found an old black/white CCTV surveillance monitor.
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Moggy
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Re: Can someone recommend a small screen with composite input ?

Post by Moggy »

Those old B/W surveillance monitors are superb, I once had one but had to adapt the lead from the zeddy as it used an old style "CB radio" type connector, a hell of a good picture though.


As previously stated I find these days that cheap flat panel 12-15 inch LCD TVs like the ones you buy for the kitchen or the kids room do quite nicely and if they don't have AV inputs you can always use the SCART socket with the type of lead already mentioned.

Plus these cheap TVs, in my experience, tend not to show up things like "jail-bars" and other artifacts as readily as expensive monitor solutions.
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1024MAK
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Re: Can someone recommend a small screen with composite input ?

Post by 1024MAK »

Lardo Boffin wrote: Fri Jan 21, 2022 11:31 pm I have a relatively small flat screen LCD TV - 17” I think. Just an early low res TV. Its a Mikomi. Who? No idea.
Mikomi was a brand that was used by Argos Limited (in other words, an Argos own brand) before Argos was acquired by Sainsbury’s.

I have two 4:3 aspect ratio 15” Mikomi LCD TVs, model LCD15796BF both bought new from Argos, they were the last that the store had so I think they were end of line at the time. They may have been in a sale, I can’t remember, other than I specifically bought them for use with old computers because they were 4:3 aspect ratio LCD TVs.
Mikomi LCD TV, model LCD15796BF - logo on front
Mikomi LCD TV, model LCD15796BF - logo on front
Mikomi LCD TV, model LCD15796BF, label on rear
Mikomi LCD TV, model LCD15796BF, label on rear
Not helping with being small (because it’s not), but I normally use a Sharp Aquos LC-19D1E-BK LCD TV for my ZX80, my ZX81’s, ZX Spectrums, QL’s and various other 1980s and 1990s ‘home’ computers. It’s been discontinued for years now, I got mine from eBay around 2011 or 2012.

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1024MAK
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Re: Can someone recommend a small screen with composite input ?

Post by 1024MAK »

Lardo Boffin wrote: Fri Jan 21, 2022 11:52 pm I have a bag of 1000 of those ready to bundle with zeddies that I definitely don’t sell too many of. :D
Corrected for you :P

Mark
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:!: Standby alert :!:
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GCHarder
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Re: Can someone recommend a small screen with composite input ?

Post by GCHarder »

I've had good results from a couple of cheap portable DVD players I bought at Goodwill. Just make sure they have a video in lead, not all do.

Here's a video showing one of them starting at 1:25.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsgqFKky3a0

Regards;

Greg
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