Magnavox Computer Monitor 80... what is this?

[phreakindee]

This is more of a question as to what I just found, not sure which forum this should go in...

Just found some varied Mac games and what looks to be a nice condition monitor from Goodwill for a few bucks. It's a Magnavox Computer Monitor 80. It has audio in as well as video in, which I found interesting. It's dated 1987.

I can't seem to find much of any information on it online, but saw somewhere one guy seemed to have one running with an Apple II? Never used one so I don't know if it has a composite video/audio output like this monitor has input for.

Anyone have any more info on what this could be used for exactly? If it's b&w, amber, green display...

Here's two images.

 

[TylerEss]

taking video input on an RCA jack, my guess is that you can feed any NTSC video source right into it... such as a DVD player or a Commodore 64.

I'm going to guess that it's color, and was meant to be used with something like a commodore or the real cheap Amigas.

 

[Temetka]

Looks like a studio monitor to me.

 

[phreakindee]

update: apparently it's a green screen monitor, hooked a NES to it, the sound works fine but all games (like super mario bros 3 here) look like this... would be awesome if it weren't bunched up in the middle like it is. the knobs on the back helped get it to that point, but it gets no better. something out of place perhaps? i have basically no knowledge of tubes..

 

[Unknown_K]

They made color models too that do NTSC, some had digital inputs for the Commodore 128 also and svideo.

 

[tomlee59]

update: apparently it's a green screen monitor, hooked a NES to it, the sound works fine but all games (like super mario bros 3 here) look like this... would be awesome if it weren't bunched up in the middle like it is. the knobs on the back helped get it to that point, but it gets no better. something out of place perhaps? i have basically no knowledge of tubes..

Assuming that you aren't asking it to sync to a vertical sweep rate that is foreign to the monitor, it looks as if there's a problem with the vertical deflection circuitry. It could be something as simple as bad solder joints or oxidized connectors. Can't tell for certain without opening it up and looking around.

 

[phreakindee]

Thanks for the tips guys.. though, hey, I have no idea what I'm doing but oh well. Opened it up, and aside from a bit of corrosion around the power switch things looked normal. As far as a foreign vertical sweep, I'm not so sure because it has the same weird green pattern accumulating in the middle of the screen even when there's no input.

 

[Unknown_K]

What you have is a failing part. Not only do you have a line in the middle of the screen, but it seems like you are missing detail in the middle and the screen is squashed. Sooner or later you will have nothing but a horizontal line and no picture (that will cause screen burn too if you run it liek that).

 

[Bunsen]

It's basically a TV with no tuner. There were heaps of them around in the early home computer days. As most of the early machines were designed to hook up to a TV, at least as a cheap option, this was a simple and effective way to make an inexpensive dedicated monitor.

I have no idea what I'm doing but oh well. Opened it up

In the words of Han Solo, I have a very bad feeling about this.
On the plus side, any TV repair shop will be able to give you a quote for the repair.

I remember watching the original Star Wars on an Apple II greenscreen monitor from a VHS bootleg. Good times.

 

[phreakindee]

In the words of Han Solo, I have a very bad feeling about this.

Haha, my thoughts exactly...

I doubt I'll be going to get it repaired anywhere (for anything much more than free), unless I find that it becomes worth it to me, and right now it'd be an interesting piece to have but not at all necessary or entirely useful.

 

[Quadraman]

If it has the red, yellow, white connectors, it's an RGB monitor. If you have any computers that can use it, hang on to it. I remember back in the 80's you had a choice of using one of those or a television for your Atari's, Commodores, etc. Everyone I knew who had an Atari, actually used the Commodore RGB monitors. it was the only thing we would actually give Commodore any credit for because it was the most readily available color monitor you could buy and was usually a bit cheaper than competing color monitors. A lot of people had monochrome amber monitors from Amdek, but it wasn't the same as a real color monitor. If you have a VCR with the same outputs, you can also use it as a television. I used to use a data switch with mine for use as a television or computer monitor.

 

[Bunsen]

red, yellow, white connectors

-bzzt-

Red: Audio Right

White: Audio Left

Yellow: Composite Video

Standard connectors for the back of a VCR, DVD, TV, etc

Now if you have a set of Red, Green, and Blue ....

 

[Quadraman]

red, yellow, white connectors

-bzzt-

Red: Audio Right

White: Audio Left

Yellow: Composite Video

Standard connectors for the back of a VCR, DVD, TV, etc

Now if you have a set of Red, Green, and Blue ....

Bzzzt

Do Atari 800's or Commodore 64's have stereo output? What need do they have for two sound channels?

I just checked my Commodore 1702. White is Audio, Red is Chroma, Yellow is Luma.

http://www.myoldcomputers.com/museum/perif/pics/1702b.jpg

 

[25whynot]

Thefirst monitor I owned was the same model you have. I bought mine in 1988 for a Coleco Adam Computer, I later used that monitor with a Commodore Amiga 1000.

Yours should say "80" in the monitor name on its front side. The "80" means it is capable of displaying 80 columns of text per line. Some Apple IIe computers came with 80 column text cards and some other computers (such as the Coleco Adam and Radio Shack Tandy computers) also had video which could display readable text at 80 columns/characters per line on a suitable composite video monitor.

The Commodore Amiga line of computers include stereo audio using left and right RCA jacks, the Commodore 64/64C/128/128D had only mono audio.

It is currently the standard to use Red for Audio Right, White for Audio Left, and Yellow for Color Composite Video on DVD players, VCRs, TVs, etc., but it also true that the Commodore monitors with the separated video outs with mono sound output used the colors differently as previdously mentioned by another poster.

Did you try adjusting the picture using the knobs (if any) under the front flap (if any)?

I have a "Magnavox Professional RGB Monitor 80 [Model Number 8CM515 0741]" which I have listed for sale on Craig's List at https://accounts.craigslist.org/post/shwpst?pii=813385419&db=lv . It has color composite video, mono audio, TTL RGB, and lin. RGB. One of the RGB jacks is for digital RGB (probably CGA and possibly the kind used by the Commodore 128D) and the other is for analog RGB (which is compatible with the Commodore Amiga). It works fine, except the colors are not quite right. The resolution, sync, and audio are working fine. The RGB connectors on that monitor are round.

 

[phreakindee]

Thefirst monitor I owned was the same model you have. I bought mine in 1988 for a Coleco Adam Computer, I later used that monitor with a Commodore Amiga 1000.
Yours should say "80" in the monitor name on its front side. The "80" means it is capable of displaying 80 columns of text per line. Some Apple IIe computers came with 80 column text cards and some other computers (such as the Coleco Adam and Radio Shack Tandy computers) also had video which could display readable text at 80 columns/characters per line on a suitable composite video monitor.

The Commodore Amiga line of computers include stereo audio using left and right RCA jacks, the Commodore 64/64C/128/128D had only mono audio.

It is currently the standard to use Red for Audio Right, White for Audio Left, and Yellow for Color Composite Video on DVD players, VCRs, TVs, etc., but it also true that the Commodore monitors with the separated video outs with mono sound output used the colors differently as previdously mentioned by another poster.

Did you try adjusting the picture using the knobs (if any) under the front flap (if any)?

I have a "Magnavox Professional RGB Monitor 80 [Model Number 8CM515 0741]" which I have listed for sale on Craig's List at https://accounts.craigslist.org/post/shwpst?pii=813385419&db=lv . It has color composite video, mono audio, TTL RGB, and lin. RGB. One of the RGB jacks is for digital RGB (probably CGA and possibly the kind used by the Commodore 128D) and the other is for analog RGB (which is compatible with the Commodore Amiga). It works fine, except the colors are not quite right. The resolution, sync, and audio are working fine. The RGB connectors on that monitor are round.

Thanks very much for your reply! A lot of the info I'd been looking for here.

I wish it made much of a difference adjusting the knobs... the only ones up front are Volume, Brightness and Contrast. The back ones help a bit (for horizontal/vertical adjustment, etc) however not enough, I'm still stuck with the weird image scrunching problem.

 

[madmax_2069]

i use to have one of those, it finally went south on me, but it was a good monitor to watch DVD movies and play video games on if you dont have a TV to use even if it didn't scale to well watching them.

maybe it was because it was going out was the reason it was a bit blurry.

a old woman gave it to me for helping her out. it lasted me for about 4 years before it went.

but mine was color. the picture you show of the screen bunching up on it is what mine started to do before it went out.

 

[Bunsen]

-bzzt-

Once more, corrected I stand. Thankyou. I've never seen that configuration before.
That's the great thing about standards - there's so many to choose from

 

[Bunsen]

I have a "Magnavox Professional RGB Monitor 80 [Model Number 8CM515 0741]" which I have listed for sale on Craig's List at https://accounts.craigslist.org/post/shwpst?pii=813385419&db=lv .

That's the secure link from when you were logged in to your Craigslist account. The rest of us can't see it

 

[25whynot]

I have a "Magnavox Professional RGB Monitor 80 [Model Number 8CM515 0741]" which I have listed for sale on Craig's List at https://accounts.craigslist.org/post/shwpst?pii=813385419&db=lv .

That's the secure link from when you were logged in to your Craigslist account. The rest of us can't see it

You are right, however that link no longer matters because I sold that monitor a little more than 7 hours ago and then I deleted that ad.