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No Tandy CM Monitor, what are my options for best video?

Smack2k

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Jan 8, 2013
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Have a 1000HX and a 1000SL.

The SL I can toss an ISA VGA Card in correct?

For the HX, what are my options? 8-BIT VGA card I have read, but any other options to get the best video outside finding CM-5?
 
You can add VGA only cards, or VGA/EGA cards.

Some background on the available monitors for Tandy's:

The Tandy came with the possibility using a CM-5 or CM-11 monitor (there may have been others, but these were the main ones). The CM-11 had a lower dot pitch and therefore a sharper image. There was also a few extra resolutions for software that supported it (I believe mainly spreadsheet programs might have supported this, but I haven't looked extensively). The CM-5 was a more common monitor, as it was cheaper, and for most was sufficient for the time.

In an effort to remain authentic, I would suggest you get a VGA/EGA combo card. You can then use VGA with a modern monitor, but if you come across a Tandy monitor or an EGA monitor, you can hook that up for a more 'authentic' experience. Most VGA/EGA cards can support Tandy monitors, and there were even some programs that supported 16 color EGA, but not Tandy 16 color. Most all 16 color games did support EGA though, and Tandy monitors can display EGA.

This is probably more information than you need, but I think going with a VGA only card will limit you, and if you find a Tandy monitor, you will end up having to remove the card again just to use the older style tandy monitors (and waste the money you spent on a vga card).
 
Tandy's onboard video will work with any CGA or EGA monitor, as well as the first few generations of NEC, Mitsubishi, Sony, and other multisync monitors which support 15.75 kHz RGB video.

And by pressing a key combination (Ctrl-Alt-Shift-V) or changing a setup option, the 1000SL can be switched to Hercules monochrome mode, which will work with an MDA monitor (or again, early multisync monitors). Press Ctrl-Alt-Shift-V again to switch back to CGA mode.
 
The 1000HX has no ISA slots. Even if you made an adapter from plus card to ISA you still need the upgrade memory card with DMA. So not a cheap or easy option.

The old NEC multisyncs would be 2A, 3D, 3Ds era.
 
I own a Nec-MultiSync3D and an Mitsubishi Multiscan.
But I think that the Picture is best with an Commodore 1084. (which is a CGA Monitor :) )
 
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