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[dougal]

I find that my CRT SVGA monitor is too dim when connected to my Picasso IV. It is on full brightness but that is not very bright at all.

Is there some sort of setting for the picasso or something to make it brighter?

I am sure there is nothing wrong with the monitor.

[MastaTabs]

Nope, there isn't.

[LoadWB]

FWIW, I ran into that problem before. It was because the output of the PIV was out-of-range of the capabilities of the monitor. Now, whether it was the refresh rate/resolution or the position of the screen in the output, I do not recall.

Does the screen output center perectly on your CRT? Have you tried the lowest resolution setting and/or fiddled with the output settings? I use P96, so I use the P96 prefs program. If you do fiddle, make notes.

[zipper]

On small screens, 320x240, 640x480 doublescan modes are brighter than normal ones AFAIR. Depends on the monitor how high you can do doublescan.

[dougal]

In OS3.9 i keep the 800x600 24bit setting (16m colors). Its not THAT bright to say the least but its acceptable.

The problem is games (Native Amiga Graphics) which seem dim.

[dougal]

I would really like to solve this problem....

I am stuck here.. could it be both monitors are too "dim" for the picasso iv ?

I am using a standard PC CRT monitor which i found at work

[MastaTabs]

the only thing I could think of is that you have set the PIV to Sync on Green with the sog jumper. Then the green signal is bumped to about 1V instead of about 0.7V. Maybe your screens don't like that.

[Severin]

Originally Posted by dougal

I would really like to solve this problem....

I am stuck here.. could it be both monitors are too "dim" for the picasso iv ?

I am using a standard PC CRT monitor which i found at work

Another problem could be with the CRT's themselves, if they're getting on a bit the Lineoutput Transformer could need tweaking. This is not a job for a beginner though as there are very serious voltages in that transformer.

If you want to attempt it though, take the back off the monitor and you will see a large black bok with a thick wire connected to the tube. On the side of that are 2 controls, one adjusts the focus, the other the brightness. find a long piece of wood (a chop stick trimmed to a flat end like a screwdriver works well) and turn the brightness knob clockwise a little then do the same for the focus as it will be effected by the brightness.

WARNING: touch the wrong thing and you will go flying across the room. only do this if you know what you're doing.

A far safer option is to buy a cheapish 15" tft monitor/tv that has both vga, composite and rf inputs which let you plug several machines into it without having to swap cables all the time.

[coldfish]

Id test the display on a PC, is it still dim?

Then Id test as many other monitors as I could on the card...

I vaguely remember reading something years ago about the Amiga RGB signal being too low for some PC monitors, I dunno if this applies to picasso - iirc people talked about adding a video signal amplifier.

MastaTabs post about sync on green rings a bell too, def worth a try.

Good luck!

[Damion]

Originally Posted by dougal

I would really like to solve this problem....

I am stuck here.. could it be both monitors are too "dim" for the picasso iv ?

I am using a standard PC CRT monitor which i found at work

I agree with Severin - CRTs gradually lose brightness with age, and can appear very dull, especially since you're probably used to looking at LCDs. (Even new, high quality CRTs can look a bit dim in comparison.) Adjusting the LOPT can help, you might want to tweak the focus adjustment(s) as well (usual caveats apply!).

Hopefully that's all it is... the PIV output itself isn't unusually dim compared to other similar cards.

[LoadWB]

So your native PIV modes are usably bright, and the native Amiga modes are dim. It does sound like a problem with the monitor. Where did the second monitor you mention come into play?

I will parrot what others have said: test the monitor on a known-good PC. Also test your Amiga video output on an Amiga monitor if you have one available.

[dougal]

Originally Posted by LoadWB

So your native PIV modes are usably bright, and the native Amiga modes are dim. It does sound like a problem with the monitor. Where did the second monitor you mention come into play?

I will parrot what others have said: test the monitor on a known-good PC. Also test your Amiga video output on an Amiga monitor if you have one available.

I had been using the Amiga until recenty on a Commodore 1084S and the RGB output was good, bright and normal.

These 2 VGA monitors i have tried, well the 1st one was dumped in my basement for about 4 years and the second one has been abandoned/dumped at work for about 2 years.

I will try connecting a PC as you said to the CRT.

I did try connecting the PIV to my current 22" LCD Widescreen and without enough testing the display looked good and bright. But that monitor stays with my PC + only a CRT truely looks good on an Amiga :P