MSX to VGA monitor

Yes, indeed, it has a VGA output.

BUT when input is at 50Hz, it will output VGA at 50Hz, which is not widely accepted. And as expected, my available PC monitor does not indeed accept VGA@50Hz (its minimum frequency is 56Hz). It won't be a problem for my MSX2+, but it will be for my MSX2, my 2 MSX1 and my Megadrive.

At this stage, I'm considering going back to a simple CRT. Because otherwise, I'm looking upfront at a 500€+ solution (upscaler + new display). Just to be able to play with my video games ... And that's a bit expensive, to say the least.

For and MSX1 system, why not use the F18A? It also offers many enhanced features for anyone doing new software development.

The OSSC (Open Source Scan Converter) scan doubler and digitiser is ready and available, so I bought one. It arrived in the mail today.

Bye bye crappy Samsung TN panel, deinterlacing artefacts and latency. Hello Dell IPS panel, crisp pixels, low latency and desk space :).

It works like a charm with my Dell Ultrasharp U2312HM monitor, all line doubling modes work (1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x), both PAL and NTSC. Video quality is nice and crisp, and scanlines are looking good as well. In 1x, 2x and 4x modes it displays 16:9 and I have to use my monitor aspect ratio settings, in 3x and 5x modes it displays as 4:3 by default but they can be changed to 16:9. I’m using the 3x mode.

I got it with the power supply included, but I’ve ordered a USB to 5.5 mm/2.1 mm (center +) 5 Volt DC Barrel Jack Power Cable so I can power it off the USB output of my monitor. Oh, and it’s got HDMI output, can be connected to DVI-D as well (I use a HDMI->DVI cable), I think DisplayPort has a DVI legacy mode so with a passive adapter it can be connected to that as well but I haven’t tried it. I feel pretty future-proof now though :D.

Yeah it wasn’t cheap (though cheaper than the Framemeister), but it works very well and I’m glad I got it . The issues with my Samsung 24" TV were really starting to bother me. And actually, that TV cost about as much as the OSSC does, so if only I had been able to get the OSSC back then…

Oh, and I said “more desk space” because I previously had three monitors on my desk (two Dells for my PC / 1chipMSX, and the Samsung for my MSXes), and now I only need two (or one really…).

The output of the MSX is actually very good. The pixel crawl you see in those screenshots is due to the CVBS connection. Use RGB for a superior picture quality, that already makes a big difference and your MSX2 should be able to output it (most MSX1s don’t, though).

And because most LCD TVs have a pretty crappy analog signal processor, with the OSSC the image will be sharper, have no latency, and no deinterlacing artefacts because it supports 240p output. Most (all?) LCD TVs only support 480i with deinterlacing, which looks ok for still images, but looks pretty bad once objects start to move. The OSSC is also a good solution for TVs which don’t have a SCART connector (common in Europe but not elsewhere).

Note that the OSSC does not do any kind of image enhancement, it just outputs every display line twice or more over HDMI, so that it is accepted by modern displays.