Hello from a hidden lake in Wisconsin

[AmigaManRetroFun]

The land of beer, cheese, and motorcycles…and one new Amiga 500.

I had a pristine A2000 in 1999 and sold it. ( it was the Amiga or my wife..after much deliberation…well I should have kept it)
So, I just got a A500 (wife still there) recently from eBay. Well it needs work, my video from RGB via SCART has no color, it’s grayscale.

So how do I fix this thing?

 

[Watson]

Welcome to Amibay!

Firstly, I would try a different RGB cable, if not done so already, just to rule that out.

 

[SilkWorm]

If not the cable, maybe PAL / NTSC incompatibilities (if Amiga is PAL and TV set is NTSC) ?
Do you connect SCART directly to TV set, or do you use some kind of device in the chain?

 

[jennadee255]

I'd definitely check what pins are connected on the SCART cable. Some only take the composite signal that's buried in all them pins. And well, I think that'd still be greyscale.

 

[StrongARM]

Welcome to Amibay!

 

[AmigaManRetroFun]

Here is a pic of the greyscale screen. I am using the following: Amiga500 RGB -> SCART Cable -> SCART to HDMI Video Converter-> HDMI display.
Does anyone have the correct pinout diagram for an Amiga SCART cable? I have two SCART cables one gives greyscale the other is just a black screen.
So, I thought to re-wire the SCART Cable to a correct specification.

btw, I have a VGA cable and adapter on the way. If the VGA gives the correct colors then the SCART is most likely bad.

 

[AmigaManRetroFun]

If not the cable, maybe PAL / NTSC incompatibilities (if Amiga is PAL and TV set is NTSC) ?
Do you connect SCART directly to TV set, or do you use some kind of device in the chain?

I have a SCART to HDMI converter connecting it to a normal pc monitor. The device supports PAL and NTSC and it looks like i am using NTSC.

 

[SilkWorm]

I have a SCART to HDMI converter connecting it to a normal pc monitor. The device supports PAL and NTSC and it looks like i am using NTSC.

This is what I use as well, SCART to HDMI converter.

The pinout of the cable I am using looks like on this page.

 

[AmigaManRetroFun]

Update: I tried 2 different “Amiga SCART” cables to the same converter box. The first SCART almost worked but has no color and is very hard to see an image. The second SCART is just black.

So I opened up each cable and compared it to the pinout. The first SCART matches the pinout but still has the bad image. The second SCART is wired correctly but does not have any resistors and therefore a black image.

More cables are on the way including VGA, I will keep you posted.

 

[AmigaManRetroFun]

Question: if I have this SCART to hdmi converter do I still need a monitor with 15htz display?

 

[SilkWorm]

No, all devices that are capable of accepting HDMI signal should display picture from the converter.

This is a device that works for me -> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MUNIVRO
This is another one that did not work, displaying only white screen, still using same RGB SCART cable -> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P5VTCRN

 

[AmigaManRetroFun]

A breakthrough?
I compared the stats of the RGB SCART converter with SILKWORMS recommendation and comment. They are different even though it might be the same physical box. I bought one and it's on the way.

One more thing. I also received a DB23 to VGA adapter, VGA cable, and a cheap $20 used Dell that supports 15 kHz. The Amiga500 works! This thing was in a closet for 13 years and it boots up. So, at least now I have something to work with.

More to follow on the SCART converter...

 

[AmigaManRetroFun]

Success!
A plant in China must produce thousands of the SCART to HDMI converter boxes. No model numbers. But they flash different rom code? So the same converter can be used in many applications just by changing the programming.

One of my SCART cables works with the new converter. Lesson learned, read the fine print.

So now both rgb2vga and SCART to hdmi works. Two methods for video.

Next, a rgb2hdmi is on the way, more to follow…