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Old 24th Aug 2021, 12:00 am   #11
SiriusHardware
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK.
Posts: 11,484
Default Re: ZX Spectrum Issue 2 / new TVs

Neat trick, using a VCR as an analogue RF to AV converter.

Well, the good news is that people practically (or in fact, actually) give old CRT TVs away, although they do tend to be the larger ones. Something like a 14" colour Ferguson 37149....

https://www.golden-agetv.co.uk/img/equipment/285b.JPG

...would be a perfect period match for a Spectrum, if you can find one.

To be honest the RF-video output from the original Spectrum was never very pretty. As always, what you can do about that depends on how deep your pockets are. For example, this plug-in multi purpose interface made by the redoubtable Paul Farrow...

http://www.fruitcake.plus.com/Sincla...aInterface.htm

...extracts the screen information directly from the buses, bypassing all of the original video circuitry without modifications to any of it, and outputs it as a clean SCART RGB signal. It's worth looking through the whole site which has a lot of interesting stuff for ZX80 / ZX81 and Spectrum.

http://www.fruitcake.plus.com/

Another way to get a nice picture from a Spectrum is to get one of the later ones (Spectrum 128, 128+2, etc) - unlike the original Spectrum they have RGB-out as standard - I think it's TTL-level RGB, but easily converted to 'linear' RGB levels with a suitably made interface / lead.
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