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 Post subject: PC-88 Monitor Questions
PostPosted: August 9th, 2016, 12:36 am 
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Joined: July 29th, 2016, 11:54 am
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Hello, this is my first post, so I'm excited to be on this forum!

I just bought my first PC-8801 system (and then it broke) and so now I have two more, a 8801 Mk.II SR and an MR. I also bought an NEC PC-TV 354 monitor/TV combo. It has 21pin RGB and 15pin, 2row analog, and can do 15khz and 24khz modes. My problem is that when I run the PC-88 system/games, instead of being full screen with a gap line in between each pixel line, it's instead running like a widescreen TV with all the lines together in the middle of the screen and large borders on the top and bottom. (I'll post a picture later)

I'm sure some people might like this mode, as there's no extra gaps between the lines, but it looks too small on the already small 15inch monitor. I tried it with another 15khz monitor (the school I work in has a PC-98 still hooked up under a desk in one of the classrooms) and it does the gap line doubling. I'm wondering if there's any way to make my PC-TV 354 do this, or is it only going to display this one way? It doesn't matter if I plug it into the 15pin analog or the RGB using a 15pin to 21pin RGB cable. Would it be different if I used a digital RGB DIN to 21pin RGB cable instead? (Note that my MSX2 displays correctly using RGB, although obviously the MSX has different screen resolutions than PC-88)

If not, what would be a good monitor to look for that will display this fullscreen? I occasionally see FM Towns/X1 monitors on Yahoo Auctions that seem like they'd work, but I don't know. Also there's a PC-TV 453 that's for sale right now, but I imagine it would have the same issue.


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PostPosted: August 10th, 2016, 9:43 pm 
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Joined: May 15th, 2010, 1:35 am
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Welcome to the forum. :)

Is the PC-8801 main unit set to 15kHz or 24kHz output? IIRC the PC-8801 needs to output in 15kHz mode to get rid of the line doubling.

Also keep in mind that PC-88/98 screens are naturally 16:10 aspect ratio, even on original 4:3 monitors. You can adjust the CRT beam to fill the monitor horizontally, but there should still be black bars on the top and bottom. If you adjust the picture to fill the entire monitor screen, the graphics will be distorted. If you run a circle command in BASIC, like CIRCLE(320,100),175, the output should look... circular.


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PostPosted: August 11th, 2016, 7:12 am 
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Joined: July 29th, 2016, 11:54 am
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Ahhh, thank you! Setting it to 24khz and using a 15pin to JP21pin (as opposed to straight 15pin to 15pin) got me the line doubling that I wanted! Of course it's still not 4:3, but it looks way better than it did before. Call me crazy, but I just adore that line doubling effect!


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PostPosted: August 11th, 2016, 8:02 am 
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Joined: July 29th, 2016, 11:54 am
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One more question. I have a Framemeister and I want to use it to stream the PC-88. Is it possible for the PC-88 to output from two outputs at once, so I can use my monitor? Say for example, connecting the monitor to the analog output and the Framemeister to the digital? (If so, I'd need to buy a digital DIN8 to RGB cable. Unless the pinout is the same as the MSX2...)


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PostPosted: August 11th, 2016, 10:10 pm 
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Joined: May 15th, 2010, 1:35 am
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There aren't any jumpers to switch between the display outputs, so dual output should be possible I think. It's worth a try.


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