Question(s) About Commodore 64

[Gapporin]

I don't have much experience with the PC's of yore, so this might sound a little stupid, but I've got a question to ask about the C64:

Can it be hooked up to a TV via RF, or does it need it's own special monitor?

And, while were at it, what's so special about a Commodore 1751(?) monitor? I hear people all the time talking about how they plugged in their NES, DC, etc. into it. I just assume it had A/V jacks or something similar. Is that the case?

[Flack]

I don't have much experience with the PC's of yore, so this might sound a little stupid, but I've got a question to ask about the C64:

Can it be hooked up to a TV via RF, or does it need it's own special monitor?

And, while were at it, what's so special about a Commodore 1751(?) monitor? I hear people all the time talking about how they plugged in their NES, DC, etc. into it. I just assume it had A/V jacks or something similar. Is that the case?

The C64 can be hooked up via either RF or AV jacks, depending on the video cable you get.

Commodore monitors are nice simply because they look good, have AV inputs, and some have RGB inputs as well.

[Avatard]

Yea, my C64 monitor was my display of choice in the late 80's. Nice AV plugs on the front to match the AV plugs on the side of my NES. I knew nothing else. Having my NES right next to my C64 drive was a dream system back then. Nice display too, small but not bad considering I sat as close to it as a computer monitor. In fact I'm looking to buy a new one, gonna go to my school system's next surplus sale to pick one up for around 50 cents.

[Mayhem]

Ah yes RGB inputs LOL

Excuse the word filter here... what we mean is (R)(G)(B) input (and yes I did see you'd filtered spacing and hyphenating them too you gits ;) ), the best you're gonna get for any console pre-component days video wise.

[vulcanjedi]

Hey

I bought my first Commodore 1702 monitor in 1985 for $250 to use the split video on my Atari 800xl.

At the Philly Classics show I think I counted more than 20 of these monitors being used.

They must have been well made because mine still works also. Before I got my VGA switchbox/scan doubler I had the 1702 right next to my computer monitor.

VJ

[zektor]

I used a TV for the longest time with the C64, and then I got ahold of my first actual Commodore monitor, the 1084S. It was released with the Amiga. What a great monitor! You can hook pretty much anything with RCA's up to it. And the "S" stood for stereo sound :)

[Pantechnicon]

What a great monitor! You can hook pretty much anything with RCA's up to it. And the "S" stood for stereo sound :)

Amen. Stereo sound. On a good day a 1702 can be had for $10 at a thrift. Commodore made a virtually identical monitor for the Amiga but the sound is mono :shameful: . Given a choice, always go with the 1702.

[Ze_ro]

Can it be hooked up to a TV via RF, or does it need it's own special monitor?
No one has actually mentioned it yet, but Commodore's 8-bit machines are not only capable of both RF and composite, but can also do what they called "Seperated" video where luma and chroma are seperated... which is basically the same as S-Video, except using two RCA jacks instead of the S-Video jack used today. This will give you a better picture than composite alone, but you'll need the proper cable, and a Commodore monitor to do it.

If you want to hook the C64 up to a TV, all you'll need is a standard male-to-male RCA cable. If you want to hook the C64 up to a Commodore monitor, you'll either need a composite cable or a seperated cable... both make use of the C64's video port, so these are special cables that may or may not be hard to find depending on your town (I find them fairly regularly, so they're not super rare or anything)


And, while were at it, what's so special about a Commodore 1751(?) monitor? I hear people all the time talking about how they plugged in their NES, DC, etc. into it. I just assume it had A/V jacks or something similar. Is that the case?
Commodore released a surprisingly large number of monitors, and named them all with 4-digit numbers, but I'm guessing you mean the 1702 monitor. Despite what people are saying here, there really isn't anything that special about the 1702 except that it's relatively easy to find for a good price, and is a relatively good monitor. It only has composite and seperated inputs from what I remember. I haven't seen a 1702 in the thrift stores around here in a really long time though, so the part about it being easy to find might be a thing of the past.

The REALLY special Commodore monitor that you're probably thinking of is the 1084S. This was a much later product that was intended primarily for Commodore's Amiga line of computer (although it will work just fine with a C64). The 1084S not only has composite and seperated inputs, but is also capable of R.G.B input (the 1702 does NOT do R.G.B... the 1902 also does NOT do R.G.B*) which will give you essentially the best picture you can possibly get out of a console (It is equivalent to, if not better than component video). The 1084S also has stereo speakers, which is very nice. Note that the S in the name is what designates that it has stereo speakers... there is another model simply called the 1084 that does NOT have stereo speakers.

--Zero

* - The 1902 actually has "digital" R.G.B inputs, while the 1084S has "analog" R.G.B inputs. However, digital R.G.B inputs are useless as far as game consoles are concerned. The 1902 is essentially an EGA monitor. I found this out the hard way when I spent a good chunk of time trying to create a cable to hook my Jaguar up to a 1902 R.G.B port only to find out that it was essentially impossible.