I have an Amiga 500 that I'd like to get up and running again, but the 1084 monitor with which I used to use it has flyback transformer issues.
What options are available to hook it up to a modern display? From what I understand, adapting the 23-pin Amiga analog video to VGA is difficult. I'd like a solution that will display all the same video modes that a 1080/1084 monitor would display back in the day.
The cheapest option is to use the composite output, so it's compatible with any monitor that supports composite but it's only black and white.
Or if you have the A520 modulator (about $25 on eBay), you can get a color image through composite, RF (not recommended), or modify the A520 for S-Video.
If your TV has a standard definition tuner, you may also be able to connect your Amiga 500 through a third party RF Modulator (about $15) but again this is not recommended.
Next up is a simple HD15 adapter ($10), but it outputs a 15kHz horizontal scan rate (VGA standard requires 31 kHz) so it only works with a limited set of modern LCD monitors.
Next is Kipper2K's S-Video adapter, but these are difficult to come by. Or make your own.
An option for component video is the GGLabs A520HD ($80 or build your own with the supplied Gerbers). Like the other options above, it doesn't have a framebuffer so lag is minimized and the picture is sharp, but the Amiga outputs a nonstandard sync signal and so this may not work with all monitors that support component video. To test your monitor, hook up the composite output from your Amiga to the green ("Y") component jack on your monitor and see if you get an image.
On a budget, the ubiquitous Chinese SCART to HDMI adapter (it's sold under different brand names on Amazon and eBay but I think they're all the same) is probably your safest bet. It has good compatibility and gives a good picture but the framebuffer adds some lag so it may not be the best option for fast paced gaming. Just add an Amiga SCART cable.
If your monitor takes VGA or component (YPrPb), Tim Locke's answer is a less expensive alternative ($20-25) but requires a little DIY. It has a framebuffer so compatibility is good. Similarly, the Wei-ya ACV-011 ($65) takes some DIY and trial and error but produces a sharper picture with less lag.
And finally, the Indivision ECS, OSSC, and Micomsoft Framemeister XRGB-Mini provide the best picture quality and the lowest lag.
But please keep in mind that the better-than-composite options won't look right with games that take advantage of composite artifacts to produce more colors. Virtual Karting 2 is one example.
Use/buy a television instead of a computer monitor. They have a wider range of inputs and support 15kHz video on—in order of increasing picture quality—analogue UHF, composite, and RGB SCART. Many sets also support S-Video and YUV inputs but those would involve building extra interface circuitry and a SCART cable is much simpler.
IME, modern televisions do not support 15kHz video on the VGA input, typically complaining that the signal is out of range even though the same signal is acceptable over other inputs. This won't affect you on the Amiga models you list, but is a heads-up for any A1200/A4000 users who are reading this answer and were hoping to use a modern TV as a multisync monitor. The YUV input may be a solution since it often supports both SD and HD video, but I have yet to explore this possibility.
The television will probably cost more money than a monitor. For example, when my PC monitor failed in early 2018 and I went looking for a replacement into which I could also plug an A1000, the candidate monitors (1080p, 22-24") were around the €110–130 mark, whereas the television I settled on was €170.
There exists a device called GBS-8220 that converts on-the-fly from 15kHz line frequency to 31kHz (and more) line frequency compatible with VGA.
It features an on-screen menu to configure it.
You will have to buy an Amiga-compatible connector and solder 5 wires.
Some references:
You can easily find sites to buy some (new and used) online.
I got a 30 year old Grundig CRT television to work with an Amiga by connecting it via a SCART cable that came from a Profex monitor (which apparently used SCART as input) and turning on Teletext with transparent background (i.e. the option to read Teletext while watching TV in the background). Without turning Teletext on, the TV screen remained black.
Teletext would leave a number "100" in the top-left corner of the screen (i.e. the number of the Teletext index page), but I could get rid of the number output by pressing the Teletext zoom button twice, which shows the lower half of the Teletext page (which will be empty here).
It was a PAL-only television, but also NTSC games worked perfectly with it. I suspect the Teletext over TV option must have forced some form of re-synchronization on the side of the TV.
I also have an Amiga 500 (3 500 models) in addition to 3 C64 (2 Breadbin/1 C64C). All are NTSC.
For fun I attempted to connect my Amiga 500 using the Composite out on the A520 to my Samsung 75" Smart TV (UN75J6300) and lo and behold IT WORKED!!! I was shocked as I expected it to fail...I then tried my C64 and it to with some minor hue being off (fixed via tv settings) it also worked.
So would appear that some of the Samsung Smart TVs support 15khz which is awesome. I have been playing games on that 75" tv and let me tell you eve in 2018 the music/Mods sound fantastic. For example, Battle Squadron through theater speakers on that 75 was a slice of nostalgic heaven!!!
I'm in Australia, and I wasn't too sure how to get a decent Amiga monitor.
Within a short while of thinking about this, I found an old TV on the side of the road which had a UK power plug and SCART input on the back.
I grabbed it, and took it home, and using the RGB->SCART cable that I'd bought in anticipation, I plugged it in and it works great!
That cable was called "Amiga RGB Video / Audio SCART Cable (1 Meter)" which I got from an eBay seller (https://www.ebay.com.au/usr/ikonsgr74) from Greece for about US $15 delivered.
The TV I found was a Sony Bravia KDL-26S3000. It's a 26" 1366 x 768 TV.
It's the only SCART monitor I've tried and it worked great.
So that is just an example of what could work for you. But bare in mind, I have an Australian Amiga, and it's a UK TV, and both are PAL regions. So that may not work so well for US / NTSC residents.
I had also bought an "Amiga RGB to VGA" adapter (https://amigakit.amiga.store/product_info.php?products_id=183) but none of the monitors I've tried it with support the required 15 kHz input. I've tried searching on eBay for lots of the monitors on the list of 15 kHz monitors, but they're either really expensive, or none turn up. (I do still hope to maybe just stumble across one in a thrift store one day, though!).
So for me, I stumbled onto a SCART TV, and it just worked with the cable I bought.
Thought these tales might help someone.
A little addendum about PAL - it's the standard for the signal from the aerial and separates the audio and the video signal. Different PAL regions separate the two by differing frequencies.
However, SCART puts the RGB signal in after the tuner (on old CRT TV's it would put them right onto the gun) so accepts the RGB as it is.
I would strongly recommend, if you're okay with tinkering, to just order one of the co0perdragon designs and install it internally. It's a raspberry pi 0 (not even W) powered board that you plug in between Denise video chip and your motherboard and it allows 12bit RGB video to be displayed through HDMI port on RPi. I have this done on all my Amigas from 500 to CDTV. No hassle, just plug na play. Compared in price to indivision or even some RGB to HDMI adapters it does marvelous job.
The best option is an "Indivision ECS V2", a scan doubler with flicker fixer that also adds new screen modes usable in workbench friendly applications and games. SHOP: https://icomp.de/shop-icomp/en/shop/product/Flickerfixer_Scandoubler.html INFO: http://wiki.icomp.de/wiki/Indivision_ECS_V2
Modern televisions still support 15kHz analog signal produced by Amiga chipset for compatibility. You can connect your amiga with composite or custom made SCART cable to a TV but they will upscale the image to their native resolution (e.g.: 1080p) in an unpleasant way.
There are HDMI convertors like GBS-8220. These works better than TV's internal upscaling and also be used with monitors as well as televisions. But GBS-8220 will also produce muddy output.
Popular solution nowadays is homebrew hardware called RGBtoHDMI. This device, created by a user known as LinuxJedi, connects to the Denise port and outputs HDMI using a Raspberry PiZero or PiZero2. There are versions for the Amiga 500, 1000, and 2000.
Below is the link to project page: https://github.com/LinuxJedi/AmigaRGBtoHDMI
PCBWay page to get the pcb made for you: https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/Amiga_500_CPLD_RGBtoHDMI_v2_fb52eff9.html
You can also buy ready made hardware online if you google "Amiga RGBtoHDMI Adaptor"
