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Post by VectorX on Sept 20, 2011 13:13:26 GMT -5
Here's an interesting, cheap project to do, and it doesn't include doing anything technical like hooking your Vectrex up to a bigger screen or anything. Basically you just need a reading aid (a page magnifier or a fresnel lens) and something to position it with and wha-la, you can make your screen appear bigger. Just be aware you have to position it around and usually the effect isn't going to have the sharp vector lines that you're used to with your Vectrex though, as they'll probably appear slightly distorted (if not more so depending on the game). vectrex.wikia.com/wiki/How_to_enlarge_your_Vectrex_screenIn case that article looks really long, you can just skip down to the bottom to view how a few dozen games measured up. Some can have pretty interesting results!
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Post by sj on Sept 21, 2011 8:47:02 GMT -5
...or you could put on a big pair of spectacles and sit a little closer...
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Post by VectorX on Sept 21, 2011 9:07:52 GMT -5
Heh, whatever works!
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Post by gamezone on Oct 7, 2011 12:37:14 GMT -5
Very interesting ideas.
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Post by thexder on Oct 12, 2011 8:20:41 GMT -5
Does anyone know if any efforts have been made to use an arcade vector monitor with the Vectrex?
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Post by vectrexmad on Oct 12, 2011 15:59:48 GMT -5
Well, this has been of interest to me as part of an ongoing quest for a few years now. My quest is to find a way to make a full size Vectrex arcade cabinet. For me a big screen is the key to making a successful arcade cabinet - otherwise the little Vectrex screen would look darn silly in a full size cab. The ideal solution would be to use a vector monitor. A few persons over the years have reported on rec.games.vectrex that they were developing an arcade cabinet with a Vectrex and a vector monitor, but I have never seen the conclusions of their development. Although a potential issue, forget about the electronic circuitry changes required to the Vectrex in order to operate it with a larger sized vector monitor. The bigger problem for me is that I’ve been searching for more than few years and just can’t find a vector monitor anywhere. I suppose now vector monitors are so far and few between that nobody wants to part with one, if they had one they would rather keep it in their original Vector game. I've looked at other options too. In the past I have seen a couple of photos on the web of the results of a guy who converted an old black and white TV into a Vectrex monitor. However, there are no contact details for him. I've made investigations into alternatives. I've used the same technique that DarrylB used - the (Fresnel) lens method. But I've found it less than satisfactory. There are a lot of prism effects if you don't view the screen from the correct angle. Last year I also put on YouTube something I called the VODE (Vectrex Optical Display Engine): Basically, I took an old 640x480 pixel digital camera operating in video mode and pointing at a standard Vectrex console. The live video from the camera was connected to a standard CRT TV. But I was also disappointed with this technique. Perhaps it would have been better if I used a higher res camera. But I still think the magic of the Vectors is lost as the resulting graphics are still pixelated. More recently, Pavel Urbancik published on his blog ( Vectex.itherm.cz) information of his Vectrex clone. Of specific interest to me was an electronic board that he developed that converted the vector x & y signals from the Vectrex into a signal that could be displayed on a projector or LCD screen. Of course the change is from vectors to raster scan, so again the beauty of vectors is lost, but the current resolution 512 x 480 could have the potential to go even higher. So I'm biding my time to see what technology I can investigate next.
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Post by VectorX on Oct 12, 2011 16:40:08 GMT -5
The ideal solution would be to use a vector monitor. A few persons over the years have reported on rec.games.vectrex that they were developing an arcade cabinet with a Vectrex and a vector monitor, but I have never seen the conclusions of their development. Well, damn...that's a blasted shame I hadn't heard about those, but then I guess I'm not missing anything anyway if they can't complete it! Although a potential issue, forget about the electronic circuitry changes required to the Vectrex in order to operate it with a larger sized vector monitor. The bigger problem for me is that I’ve been searching for more than few years and just can’t find a vector monitor anywhere. I suppose now vector monitors are so far and few between that nobody wants to part with one, if they had one they would rather keep it in their original Vector game. Hopefully some year you'll just run across some warehouse full of games that a person's selling without any knowledge of what's what/what they should charge for what. Same way I'm hoping to run across a 3D Imager for only $5-10 at a garage sale or resale shop at some point (or at least just a Vectrex, since I only have one!) I've looked at other options too. In the past I have seen a couple of photos on the web of the results of a guy who converted an old black and white TV into a Vectrex monitor. However, there are no contact details for him. Isn't that freakin' annoying? There's this Great Game Database where they have many Vectrex homebrews that are missing from it, along with some errors in others that I've spotted elsewhere on the site (oh yeah, that classic Berzerk...platformer for the Atari 2600? It's not a platformer!). Through a glitch of some sort it won't let me start up an account: I fill in a name, I get this red asterisk saying that I can only use alpha and numeric characters. That's all I AM using!! I tried it with two different browsers to the same crap. There's no contact listing anywhere on the site; I found where one of their top collectors' names is associated with a site that sponsors them, so I sent them an e-mail months ago to...nothing. Gee thanks, here I can update the hell out of their site but they won't let me I've made investigations into alternatives. I've used the same technique that DarrylB used - the (Fresnel) lens method. But I've found it less than satisfactory. There are a lot of prism effects if you don't view the screen from the correct angle. Yep. That's still fun to mess with though just to see how the games look being "bigger", but won't work as a practical/permanent matter.
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Post by thexder on Oct 13, 2011 7:50:19 GMT -5
The ideal solution would be to use a vector monitor. A few persons over the years have reported on rec.games.vectrex that they were developing an arcade cabinet with a Vectrex and a vector monitor, but I have never seen the conclusions of their development. I've also had problems in locating a vector monitor. I've found them online but they're just too expensive to ship. I've seen Pavel's work in creating a Vectrex clone and it certainly does sound promising. It's too bad the use of lasers didn't produce better results because that would have been badass.
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Post by gliptitude on May 7, 2012 23:08:08 GMT -5
This old thread interests me. I too would love to rebuild a Vectrex with a larger monitor (and a more attractive and monumental case/cabinet). Mostly a pipe dream, especially with everything I've got on my plate at the moment. I've looked at other options too. In the past I have seen a couple of photos on the web of the results of a guy who converted an old black and white TV into a Vectrex monitor. However, there are no contact details for him. I read that the initial Vectrex game development took place on oscilloscopes. Also read that the standard Vectrex monitors are converted from a stock of regular BW televisions. I think this much is common knowledge. I don't know how oscilloscopes vary, but I see that the vast majority of them are very small screens, much smaller than the Vectrex monitor. Anyway, I found this project for converting a television into an oscilloscope, with minimal expense: www.instructables.com/id/Fully-Functional-Television-Oscilloscope/I never thought of how a different monitor would change the console electronics. Maybe it can be configured with an output from the Vectrex and the monitor could have a separate power supply. .. eh I really don't know what I'm talking about. But I wonder if this "instructable" could help somebody execute a Vectrex experiment?
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Post by VectorX on May 7, 2012 23:16:15 GMT -5
This old thread interests me. Thanks for the bump! I'm going to be updating that wiki page soon since I have Gravitrex Plus on the way. So I'll have to see how those games go with "blowing" them up But I wonder if this "instructable" could help somebody execute a Vectrex experiment? Vectrexmad sounds like your best choice, but unfortunately the people in that one thread he mentioned probably haven't completed their probjects that they said they would tackle. (Sucks when that happens, as inquiring minds want to know, dammit!)
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Post by gliptitude on May 7, 2012 23:24:55 GMT -5
Vectrexmad sounds like your best choice, but unfortunately the people in that one thread he mentioned probably haven't completed their probjects that they said they would tackle. (Sucks when that happens, as inquiring minds want to know, dammit!) Did you look at what I linked? What I was hoping was that the DIY oscilloscope project detailed on instructables.com would help solve the mystery of how the guy vectrexmad referred to was able to make Vectrex monitors out of old televisions. He said in his post that he was never able to contact that person.
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Post by VectorX on May 8, 2012 0:06:44 GMT -5
Yeah I know about that since I had found an old black and white tv here, but of course it's not a good idea to send something like that overseas. Plus the screen was too small. And he had said there was one part he never could figure out how to do to get a vector display to work on it (as this was months before I started these forums, as he hadn't heard back from that guy).
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Post by vectrexmad on Jul 30, 2012 15:48:46 GMT -5
Yeah I know about that since I had found an old black and white tv here, but of course it's not a good idea to send something like that overseas. Plus the screen was too small. And he had said there was one part he never could figure out how to do to get a vector display to work on it (as this was months before I started these forums, as he hadn't heard back from that guy). Looks like somebody in old blighty has (nearly) managed to get a Vectrex working with an old TV! Just a few more tweaks and he is almost there.
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Post by VectorX on Jul 30, 2012 15:59:38 GMT -5
Heh, yeah, I immediately thought of you when I saw the video pop up on YouTube today for a search on "Vectrex"
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Post by gamezone on Jul 30, 2012 23:04:24 GMT -5
Can I get excited yet? Thanks for posting this vectrexmad!
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