Steve Judd wrote:
>
> Hello Hackers!
>
> As you may recall, the V-Box is a device for hooking up an NTSC/PAL source
> to a VGA monitor. I received one today, and thought you might like a
> mini-report. Note that there are several other similar devices out there,
> like Jam!!, but I have no experience with them.
>
Here is My review of Jam (originally posted comp.sys.cbm on 2000/08/07):
Today I picked up an intersting device, it is called Jam!!! This is one
of those Composite/svideo to VGA adapters that was previously mentioned.
The unit originally sold for $79 at toys-r-us, but I found one heavily discounted.
What it is mainly designed for those PlayStation and Nintendo 64
owners to play on a quality monitor or use their PC monitor instead of
having to get another TV/composite monitor for the game. The device
plugs into your
multi-sync monitor and speakers, and you plug your computer video and
audio output into the device (some cables included), when it is powered
down or off it passes your Computer's
video normally (and audio to your speakers), when it is on it will
convert any composite or s-video input (NTSC or PAL) to a 30 - 31.5khz
signal horz. and 50 or 60 Hz vert (depending on PAL or NTSC
respectively) and channel the game's audio as well. (a special cable is
provided for Playstation interfacing)
I plugged it in and tested it with a 64 and Plus/4, - I wasn't able to
try separate video as the Jam needs an s-video mini-den connector -
fortunately a
RCA composite adapter was provided. Picture was maybe a tad better than
composite on a good commodore monitor, still a little fuzzy, but ok. I
am sure it
will improve with s-video. No scaling featues (beyond the monitor's own
scaling controls) and no zoom modes, it does have a volume control,
which I didn't try either.
Essentially what it does give you is the ability to use an already
in-use VGA monitor as a composite/s-video display! The box also says
you can use it with your VCR, Laser Disc, etc. will try that later. So
if you have a good multisync and composite monitor for testing you can
just get
away with a multi-sync and add in PAL compatibility too (=)).
to clarify previous speculation it does not 'clean' the signal much
(which many classic owners may prefer because the 'composite blur' is
sometimes 'a good thing') but provides the conversion promised and enables
you not to need an extra multi-sync monitor around if you already have
one in use.
--
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Larry Anderson - Sysop of Silicon Realms BBS (209) 754-1363
300-14.4k bps
Classic Commodore pages at: http://www.jps.net/foxnhare/commodore.html
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