The great LCD in a Color Classic thread. Well, I wish...

[JDW]

@ESM-NL
I do apologize, but I'm still rather confused, perhaps because I've not read all the posts pertaining to this topic (which are mostly on the 68kMLA.)

Are you saying that with the Stock CC Motherboard in combination with the LCD kit, you get only 16 colors at 640x480 (which is the only resolution the LCD kit offers, right?), but if you swap out the CC motherboard for an LC575 or LC550 or LC520 board, you then will get 256 colors, and then by adding the 256K VRAM SIMM, you get 16-bit (32768) colors? Is my understanding correct?

 

[ESM-NL]

Is my understanding correct?

Yes, that's correct. But watch out: there are two versions replacement types ABs: one type that only works for the stock CC/CCII/LC520/LC550 LB and one type that only works with mistic of takky LBs. Lukely for all types of AB counts the same for the VRAM:

VRAM at 640x480:
256k - 512k - 768k
16 colors - 256 colors - 32768 colors

 

[JDW]

there are two versions replacement types ABs: one type that only works for the stock CC/CCII/LC520/LC550 LB and one type that only works with mistic of takky LBs.

So that's the gotcha. You must choose one of two Analog Board types for the LCD kit.

I recently converted my 68.4V standard VGA mod to the 84V 13" Hi-rez Mod. The 68.4V Mod was great for 640x480 at 32,768 colors, but only with my LC575 Mystic Motherboard. Now with the 84V mod though, I can use ALL the motherboards:

• Stock CC
• LC520
• LC550 / CCII
• LC575

Installing the LCD kit would prevent the user from being able to use all 4 types of motherboards. That won't matter for most people, but it will for folks who do a lot of testing on different motherboards.

Thank you for the extremely helpful info, @ESM-NL !

 

[ESM-NL]

Now with the 84V mod though, I can use ALL the motherboards:

Well, that‘s interesting to know, because I have a stock CC since this week. So the 84V mod is the best way to go and still can use all the different LBs.

 

[Piszigri]

Hi guys! Me and Daan are the original designers of this kit. So, here are some in depth details. There are indeed two analog board designs, one was developed to make building a Takky project as streamlined and easy as possible, using the 630/6200 harness "as is" instead of having to rewire the flat cables. Obviusly, this is available to anyone that intends to build a Takky FROM SCRATCH TODAY.
But, for everyone else, that owns a CRT based machine, there is the CC-LCD kit, that simply replaces the original analog board as a "drop in" replacement, using a reverse engineered edge connector.
Which opens up interesting things, like the complete reversibility of the mod, as you can replace all CRT related parts and store them in a box and in any moment in the future, easily restore your Trinitron based machine, and also that it will work with ANY CRT based Color Classic machine.
To be precise, from the original Color Classic, to the CCII, to any version of the Mystic, and finally to any version of the Takky.
The AV board that Daan designed and that is part of the kit allows for resolutions of 640x480 (the numbers of colors is only dependent on the installed VRAM) and 800x600 (again up to millions of colors depending on the VRAM and board used, i.e. from 630 all the way to 6500 logic boards supported), simply by moving jumpers on the AV board itself.
Also, as Daan said, we are experimenting with LVDS displays, there is NO technical obstacle at this time, it's just that we need to make it cost effective.
Read: new panels are not exactly cheap. Plus, they need to be readily available in numbers - not just a one-off.
And yes, we still have a couple kits available for anyone that wants it.

 

[Piszigri]

So that's the gotcha. You must choose one of two Analog Board types for the LCD kit.

I recently converted my 68.4V standard VGA mod to the 84V 13" Hi-rez Mod. The 68.4V Mod was great for 640x480 at 32,768 colors, but only with my LC575 Mystic Motherboard. Now with the 84V mod though, I can use ALL the motherboards:

• Stock CC
• LC520
• LC550 / CCII
• LC575

Installing the LCD kit would prevent the user from being able to use all 4 types of motherboards. That won't matter for most people, but it will for folks who do a lot of testing on different motherboards.

Thank you for the extremely helpful info, @ESM-NL !

And, JDW, that is incorrect. The CC-LCD kit supports ANY CRT BASED MACHINE EVER BUILT. including Takkys built following the guides available online that use the CRT.
The only other use case is: I have in a recently purchased color classic a burned analog board, and maybe a bombed logic board. So I only have the plastics and all internals that are fine; I want to build a Takky. I find myself a 6500 logic board, a 630/6200 harness, and a Takky-LCD kit from us.

 

[JDW]

I’m afraid I’m now back to being confused.

I think you’re saying I’m incorrect about the need for choosing one of two analog board types which drive your LCD?

So… There’s in fact only one analog board type that you have made and sell?

Saying it another way, how does someone place an order with you to make sure what they order works with the Color Classic configuration they have, be that a Takky or Mystic (LC575 motherboard) or LC520 MB or stock CC MB?

Next question…

@zigzagjoe found an amazing, tack sharp, native resolution 640 x 480 LCD for his SE/30 color kit. It blows me away every time I look at it. I can only assume you did not consider that exact same LCD because you would need to supply a black 3-D printed bezel to cover the edges and you felt that screen would be too small in the CC?

The reason that question is important is because I have the understanding that the LCD you’re using now is about at the point where it’s no longer available and you need to consider alternatives.

 

[Piszigri]

Hi JDW.
OK, I have developed two analog board replacements - and they are both available at this time. The LCD kit is separate and is the same for all kits.
The CC-LCD kit is the one that works on every Color Classic. This is the one to order if all you want to do is replace your CRT with a LCD no matter what machine you have- CC with a 16mhz 68030 or a Takky with a 6500 board with a 500MHz G3 Crescendo Cache upgrade.
It has a edge connector, so you can drop it in a Color Classic that is presently working with an analog board driving a CRT.

The Takky-LCD (or "Takky from scratch") does NOT have an edge connector, as we use a normal IDC header connector, to accomodate the IDC header on the 630 flat cable that goes to the "AV Card out" present in all 6xx/6xxx machines, from the 630 all the way to the 6500. So you order this kit if you're a tinkerer that wants to build a Takky but presently have only a bunch of parts - if that makes sense.


So, I believe an image is better than a looong description. Unfortunately, I have right now only one image where both AB are compared - and they are both sort of prototypes, as a matter of fact, the production PCB is now Purple for the CC-LCD.
In the pic with both AB pcb, the right one has a white edge connector, just like the original AB has. The other one does not and obviously cannot be used in a working color classic.

 

[Piszigri]

As for your "next question", we had a LOT of luck in the early stages of design where we found a cache of 20-25 NIB 800x600 LCD displays that costed us a bargain price. I had decided for this display as it is compatible with the Takky, being 800x600 and also 8.2" so that it fills neatly all the available window of the CC. The black bezel is already included in the LCD kit as there are about 2mm of silver frame visible anyway, so that wasn't a problem; plus, the frame is responsible for holding the curved Lexan front lens to simulate the Trinitron cylindrical CRT.
We already found a viable 800x600 replacement as mentioned... but we are working in making it affordable.....

ETA - there are in fact three "kits" I have available: one kit, that includes a bezel, frame, front lens and LCD Display is the actual LCD and is always the same. You order this kit with either the CC-LCD Analog Board kit., or the Takky-LCD Analog Board kit. I can also sell the Analog Board kit stand alone, while the LCD Display is only available if you purchase an AB kit. Hopefully this clears the confusion.

ETA again... I believe some confusion also arose from the fact that i had not, in fact, tested the kit with a 575 board initially. Now, we have and it's perfectly compatible!!

 

[Piszigri]

So here's a pic with the present CC-LCD kit. It is the kit with LCD Display and frame plus mounting hardware, an analog board for the Color Classic, and all accessories.