There are a number of different versions of the RGB2HDMI. Some are built for analog RGB but the ideal version to use on the PET is the digital RGB version, or one made for MDA, CGA, EGA & Commodore 128. Most sellers are out of stock but I do see one on EBay now and on sellmyretro. The CPLD chip used is XC9572XL-10VQG44C or XC9572XL-7VQG44C. Mouser & Digikey have 0 at the moment but you can have them notify you when they have some in stock.
a schematics with the cable realized would be nice, following the wire in the video is not easy I realized apparently the same cable, installed the profile on the sdcard on the cga connector pin green has the video signal, HSYNC the horizontal synchro, VSYNC the vertical synchro, and the osciloscope says that it's ok but the rgb2hdmi keeps telling me "no sync detected" I'm using a commodore 8032 with 80col screen.... any idea ? thanks
Sorry, I do show the connector pinouts, you can pause the video on those or they are easy to look up online. On the 8032, some of the signals are inverted so you may need to edit the profile to account for that. See @06:00 and try to adjust the Sync Type for H and V to + or - as needed. also @06:25 make sure you don't have Sync on Green enabled. Last, double check your connections. Some online sources of the User Port pinout have the Horizontal and Vertical outputs reversed.
You mentioned a rom for the PETs, that enables ntsc video. Do you have link to a website about it? Im looking to get a video signal for a normal Monitor for a 8032 Mainboard that I have.
Look up the Commodore PET 'composite adapter' or 'video mixer'. There are a few schematics and one that was made by D'asaro designs. For a 12" PET which have CRCT chips, you need to initialize the CRTC to run at NTSC (or PAL) frequencies. For that, look up 'Steve Gray Editor ROM Project' Some have also had success using an MDA monitor at the normal CRTC frequency of 20KHz, though it depends on the monitor since MDA is normally 18KHz. The 9" PETs normally run very close to NTSC frequencies (60.01Hz), though they are a little off and may not sync well depending on the monitor.
Sir, this is really great! Coincidentally, I started looking into a rgb2hdmi-solution for my A500 yesterday. It still seems a bit daunting with all the hardware considerations, but watching a successful project is inspiring.
I'm very surprised at how well this video is doing. I've never had a video with 1K views in less than 48 hours. Most don't have 1K views after 6 months. No clue why it's getting so many views but I appreciate it.😁
Nice work Chuck! It might be time to take a look at how portable the RGB2HDMI CPLD stuff is, to use an available part. Never know when or if it will come back in stock.
The CPLD chip used seems to be the AMD/Xilinx XC9572XL-10VQG44C or XC9572XL-7VQG44C. I would have no idea what could be used in it's place and there's a good chance that any equivalent part will be just has hard to find. There were early versions that used discrete logic instead of a CPLD but that might limit the build to work only on a specific platform.
Excellent video and thanks for sharing. Finally got my unit and noted that the cable should be a network cable with twisted pairs. If not, the signals bleed over and video is off. Just my observations.
Yeah, even though the signal isn't balanced, twisted pair will definitely help reduce cross-talk. Just be sure to pair them properly so one of the pair is always ground. Separate shielded cables might also be an option.
Great video Chuck! I've been after a RGBtoHDMI for my Commodore PET 2001 however TexElec has been out of stock for a while now. The supply chain issues for electronics is no joke.
Yep. Nobody seems to have any at the moment. There's a CPLD chip that is hard to find right now but keep checking and I'm sure someone will get some chips in soon.
There are a number of different versions of the RGB2HDMI. Some are built for analog RGB but the ideal version to use on the PET is the digital RGB version, or one made for MDA, CGA, EGA & Commodore 128. Most sellers are out of stock but I do see one on EBay now and on sellmyretro.
The CPLD chip used is XC9572XL-10VQG44C or XC9572XL-7VQG44C. Mouser & Digikey have 0 at the moment but you can have them notify you when they have some in stock.
Why not a Ferrari for a turtle?
a schematics with the cable realized would be nice, following the wire in the video is not easy
I realized apparently the same cable, installed the profile on the sdcard
on the cga connector pin green has the video signal, HSYNC the horizontal synchro, VSYNC the vertical synchro, and the osciloscope says that it's ok
but the rgb2hdmi keeps telling me "no sync detected"
I'm using a commodore 8032 with 80col screen....
any idea ?
thanks
Sorry, I do show the connector pinouts, you can pause the video on those or they are easy to look up online.
On the 8032, some of the signals are inverted so you may need to edit the profile to account for that.
See @06:00 and try to adjust the Sync Type for H and V to + or - as needed.
also @06:25 make sure you don't have Sync on Green enabled.
Last, double check your connections. Some online sources of the User Port pinout have the Horizontal and Vertical outputs reversed.
You mentioned a rom for the PETs, that enables ntsc video. Do you have link to a website about it? Im looking to get a video signal for a normal Monitor for a 8032 Mainboard that I have.
Look up the Commodore PET 'composite adapter' or 'video mixer'. There are a few schematics and one that was made by D'asaro designs.
For a 12" PET which have CRCT chips, you need to initialize the CRTC to run at NTSC (or PAL) frequencies. For that, look up 'Steve Gray Editor ROM Project'
Some have also had success using an MDA monitor at the normal CRTC frequency of 20KHz, though it depends on the monitor since MDA is normally 18KHz.
The 9" PETs normally run very close to NTSC frequencies (60.01Hz), though they are a little off and may not sync well depending on the monitor.
Sir, this is really great! Coincidentally, I started looking into a rgb2hdmi-solution for my A500 yesterday. It still seems a bit daunting with all the hardware considerations, but watching a successful project is inspiring.
H Offset
V Offset
How come you didn't adjust those?
I did. Adjusting them too far either way will break sync for some reason.
This is awesome! Can you do a video showing Petscii Robots game?
I did a video on Petscii Robots about a year ago but didn't have the RGB2HDMI back then.
I'm very surprised at how well this video is doing. I've never had a video with 1K views in less than 48 hours. Most don't have 1K views after 6 months.
No clue why it's getting so many views but I appreciate it.😁
Can you run it in amber-screen mode?
That is a color option yes, but I would never do that myself.
Nice work Chuck! It might be time to take a look at how portable the RGB2HDMI CPLD stuff is, to use an available part. Never know when or if it will come back in stock.
The CPLD chip used seems to be the AMD/Xilinx XC9572XL-10VQG44C or XC9572XL-7VQG44C. I would have no idea what could be used in it's place and there's a good chance that any equivalent part will be just has hard to find.
There were early versions that used discrete logic instead of a CPLD but that might limit the build to work only on a specific platform.
That's really great, Chuck! Lots of potential with this for sure!
Nice work! Would it be hard to make it as a passthrough PCB so you can daisy chain the Stupid PET Tricks cartridge?
I could make a PCB, or,
twitter.com/HutchCA/status/1536811609997209600
Nice video. I should have a go at this sometime when there is stock.
Excellent video and thanks for sharing. Finally got my unit and noted that the cable should be a network cable with twisted pairs. If not, the signals bleed over and video is off. Just my observations.
Yeah, even though the signal isn't balanced, twisted pair will definitely help reduce cross-talk. Just be sure to pair them properly so one of the pair is always ground.
Separate shielded cables might also be an option.
Great video Chuck! I've been after a RGBtoHDMI for my Commodore PET 2001 however TexElec has been out of stock for a while now. The supply chain issues for electronics is no joke.
Thanks. I guess I got lucky and checked their web site at just the right time to catch one in stock.
These are sold out, but looking forward to getting one if they start making them again. Good video ;-)
Yep. Nobody seems to have any at the moment. There's a CPLD chip that is hard to find right now but keep checking and I'm sure someone will get some chips in soon.