[ajw99uk]

Acer S241HL, known working with I2 (VGA) and Fuel (DVI/HDMI)

[William D]

I'm not sure how modern this one is, but a Samsung Syncmaster 770TFT works great, using it on my O2 now, it has VGA as well as 13W3, so a good deal of utility out of that one.

Can still get them on Ebay too.

[gmcenroe]

Hello there,
Looking for a better monitor for my Tezro I found this  U2412m Dell monitor witch is SOG. 

They look quite well connected to Indigo2 and Indy.

Thanks for your post, after a lot of research this monitor from Dell seems like the best solution for my Indigo 2. I bought a refurbished unit on Amazon with $60 discount for applying for their credit card that I will never use and the total came to $142 , a bargain. Looking forward to bringing my Indigo 2 out of 15 years hibernation. I have an SGI 17" monitor but didn't feel like hauling it out of the garage! Using a 13W3 to VGA adapter cable with dip switches that I found on ebay plus a VGA female to female coupler to make the connection.

[mamed]

I use viewsonics but I have found a lot of monitors that work with my octane.

As long as you are using one of Michael's cables!

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/282825956507?ul_noapp=true


here is what he says on the cable

Hey!! Thanks for being here

Up for sale, my HandWired SGI 13w3 to VGA Adapter Cables.

·  What is special about these cables is that they also route Horizontal & Vertical Sync Signals through the equivalent VGA pins,
thus making sure you get Video out of them on a monitor that does not support Sync-On-Green (like most modern flat monitors & TVs that require
Composite or Separate Sync Signals).

·  They also take care of the DDC Communication between the Graphics Board of your machine & your modern VGA-Capable Display.
That way, the Computer knows whether it is about a Color or Monochrome Monitor, a low or high Resolution panel, etc..

·  The Cables are quite durable, and Signal Integrity is guaranteed, as the wires -especially the ones that carry the Analog Signals- are Thick! (See Pictures).
The Coaxial Contacts are of 75 Ohm Impedance, with two layers of Gold Plating and can easily carry the maximum of 2560x2048, 40-bit RGB, 90Hz resolution that Infinite Reality has to offer.
Very Crisp Image Output. (Assuming you use a high quality VGA Cable, as well).



I am now able to successfully connect my SGIs with all my Flat WideScreen monitors, my KVMs, and a WideScreen TV I got.
In the past, I was using a cheap, Generic 13w3 to VGA Adapter (can be found on ebay) and would get no video to any of this equipment out of my Computers.
The only monitor that worked, was a 4:3 one I had, that did support Sync-On-Green.
The KVM could not see that a Computer was connected to it (because they usually check the Sync Signals) and the TV would not come up.

Well, Problem Solved!

Tested, and working out-of-the box with Indy, Octane & Onyx2 InfiniteReality.
Will work with basically any Indy or newer Silicon Graphics computer.
Please do not use them with Onyx Reality Engine Systems (or anything earlier than the Indy), or Sun Computers, as they do require different wiring.
However, a friend reported that these work fine with the Indigo1 system, as well.

Detailed Specs:

·  Double Gold-Plated, 75 Ohm Impedance Coaxial Contacts

·  Gold-Plated Pins on the 13w3 & the VGA Connector

·  Quality, Metal Thumbscrews on the 13w3 Connector

·  True Female VGA – on-board Hex Lock Bolts on the VGA Connector

·  Thick Wires (Especially the Analog RGB Carriers)

·  Zero Signal Distortion/Interference (used Heat Shrink and well Insulated Cables)

·  Length: About 18cm (7inches)

·  Unique, HandMade Look (if you ‘re into that thing )

Notes:

·  Random color combination will be shipped, unless you include a note with your preference at the time of purchase.

·  In case the video on your monitor appears off-center use your display’s auto-adjust function or adjust the position of the image via the display’s menu.

·  In some cases, you might need to run a terminal and type these commands:
cd /usr/gfx
./setmon -sn 60Hz
That way, you force the computer to output Separate Sync Signal Data from the Equivalent pins.
However, by default Irix is configured to do so.

·  There is a thin chance that you may be able to see Video, but with a Green-ish tint.
This means that your monitor is completely Sync-On-Green intolerant, and it just combines the Analog Green Signal with the Digital Sync Signal,
thus Boosting the Green Channel.
I have not experienced this so far, but it is a possibility in theory at least.
Oh well, in this case just try another WideScreen Monitor. It works with almost all WideScreen Monitors & TVs, after all!

Looks like those cables aren’t made anymore at least they aren’t in the link.

Does anyone know how those cables were made? I’d love to take a crack at it!

[robespierre]

Does anyone know how those cables were made? I’d love to take a crack at it!

I believe these are simply 13W3 to VGA cables that use the more common of the SGI pinouts. (But I am open to correction.)

Most of the adapters and cables on eBay and so forth were made for the Sun Microsystems pinout, which is different and incompatible.

From the Hardware Developer's Handbook Release 2.0:

Code:

Indigo, Indigo2, Indy 13W3 display port:

A1:        Red (coax)                           --> VGA DE15 pin 1 (core) and 6 (shield)
A2:        Green (coax)                         --> VGA DE15 pin 2 (core) and 7 (shield)
A3:        Blue (coax)                          --> VGA DE15 pin 3 (core) and 8 (shield)
1 :        Monitor Type 3 (in)                  --> VGA DE15 pin 15 (SCLK)*
2 :        Monitor Type 0 (in)                  --> VGA DE15 pin 12 (SDATA)*
3 :        Composite Sync [CSYNC] (out)
4 :        Horizontal Sync [HDRIVE] (out)       --> VGA DE15 pin 13 (core) and 10 [SGND] (shield)
5 :        Vertical Sync [VDRIVE] (out)         --> VGA DE15 pin 14 (core) and 10 [SGND] (shield)
6 :        Monitor Type 1 (in)                  --> VGA DE15 pin 9 (+5 V)*
7 :        Monitor Type 2 (in)                  --> VGA DE15 pin 5 (DGND)*
8 :        Ground (shield for Composite Sync if used)
9 :        Ground (shield for Horizontal Sync)
10:        Ground (shield for Vertical Sync)

Cable is available with 3, 4, 5, or 6 mini-coax and additional twisted or untwisted wires.
Ideally you would use 3 mini-coax for the color signals, and 2 more for horizontal and vertical sync. But it is also possible to run sync over twisted pairs (with each pair carrying one sync signal and ground; despite the mismatch of balanced vs unbalanced, this works in practice). It depends on what cable you can get. Running sync over untwisted wires is probably not a good idea for signal integrity reasons.

* Both SGI's 13W3 and IBM PS/2's VGA started life with hard-wired monitor ID pins (the pins are either floating or pulled to ground inside the monitor). This gives a total of 16 monitor types in both systems, but the definition of the types is not compatible, so there is no point connecting them. Later on, both companies adopted VESA DDC as the scheme to identify monitors, and if you have a SGI that supports it, you can connect those signals in the cable. They are starred in the table above. VESA DDC is descended from ACCESS.bus, a short-lived competitor to ADB and USB that was used on the Personal DECstation.

Even with a cable like this, which takes horizontal and vertical sync from workstations that support it, there can be issues with some monitors. That is because unless the monitor has a "sync trap", the sync signals that are additionally output on the Green (and maybe also Red and Blue) wires will enter its video amp circuitry and disturb the color balance. The more universal solution is to use a sync-conversion box like the Extron 112xi, which strips sync from the color signals, recovers it from wherever it happens to be, and regenerates it internally.

The quoted post's warning about RealityEngine should also be heeded. Some older workstations, like the Crimson and Onyx, do not supply separate horizontal and vertical signals on their 13W3. Additionally, they put out +10 VDC on the pin that this cable connects to vertical sync, which will potentially damage the display. Your only choice for them is a box like the Extron.

[blaiserulez]

I recommend the NEC MultiSync EA193Mi monitor. It's enterprise grade 19" IPS display, LED backlight, it has an analog vga input too with proper sync on green support.
It has 1280x1024 pixel resolution, perfect for my O2. I bought it recently, and I love the classic look.

I have other monitors too, a 20 years old EIZO FlexScan L685 (18" IPS with CCFL backlight) and an even older SGI 1600sw.
Of course, their image quality is miles behind the new NEC image quality.

[jan-jaap]

I recommend the NEC MultiSync EA193Mi monitor. It's enterprise grade 19" IPS display, LED backlight, it has an analog vga input too with proper sync on green support.
It has 1280x1024 pixel resolution, perfect for my O2. I bought it recently, and I love the classic look.

I have other monitors too, a 20 years old EIZO FlexScan L685 (18" IPS with CCFL backlight) and an even older SGI 1600sw.
Of course, their image quality is miles behind the new NEC image quality.

I agree

I just think the plastics of the EA193Mi are a little 'cheaper' feeling than some of the other NEC screens I have, like the NEC EA275WMi and the older NEC LCD2690WUXI2.

I'm usually not sentimental about monitors. The old CRT screens put out a lot of heat, and something like the 1600SW is pretty crappy compared to today's standards. I like the understated look of the NEC LCD screens, and they work well with the SGI systems

[coldbug]

FWIW, I use a Dell U2711b, just needs RGB as it supports SOG. It also has a nice option wether to display true pixel or stretch.

Best - co

[jwhat]

I use a Dell U2412m with an Octane/VPro @ 1900x1200 with no issues. So the prospects are good for a Tezzie working with 1900x1200 Dell 24" monitors.

Also, you might be able to fix your issue with a custom VFO file. The best option is to plug the monitor into a PC, capture the EDID data and make a monitor-specific VFO. This old neko post has a lot of good info: https://web.archive.org/web/201603190712...t=16725716

There also may be a precompiled custom vpro VFO that works better in this zip (warning: direct download link) hosted by larbob: http://mirror.larbob.org/misc/SGI_O2_VPr...arious.zip

Hi Callahan and other SGI'ers,

funny how new "old machines" result in the re-dipping into old and now cold waters...

Having just got IR4 up and running with my O350 , I realised that I did not have any monitors supporting 1920x1200 resolution with SOG.
All of my other SGI machines now have DCD / DVI interfaces and so SOG had become a thing of the past.

So I needed a new 1920x1200 with SOG capable LCD and found a Dell U2412M on ebay for local pickup for just $100.

I was really excited to plug this into IR4, having dug up old 13W3 / VGA 15pin cable but got a big shock when the graphics come up ...

They were S#@T quality !

Blur'ey fonts that were almost impossible to read , I was not impressed. Then after some playing around with various alternate .vfo files (I had lots of them due to having Discreet SW installed), I found I could no longer get Monitor to sync at 1920x1200 @ 60 and had to reset system to 1280x1024 @ 60.

So time to play around with the Video Format Compiler to see if this could help fix the problem.

I read through various historical recondas postings from Nekochan and generated a new .vfo for the Dell U2412M.
The graphics quality is now comparable to what I was am getting via DCD / DVI connected monitors.

The trick with this is getting the required EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) for your monitor.
I found the old "powerstrip" Windows program referenced by recondas and also a Linux utility called "read-edid" (available as Ubuntu package).

The Ubuntu option worked perfectly for me, as I have spare Intel server that is sitting next to O350, so it is easy to plug in monitors and read the EDID data from them.

So steps to generate new .vfo for LCD are:

1. Plug monitor into Ubuntu server and read out EDID "modeline"


>> $ sudo apt install read-edid
>> $ sudo get-edid | parse-edid
>> [sudo] password for XXXX:
>> This is read-edid version 3.0.2. Prepare for some fun.
>> Attempting to use i2c interface
>> No EDID on bus 0
>> 1 potential busses found: 1
>> 128-byte EDID successfully retrieved from i2c bus 1
>> Looks like i2c was successful. Have a good day.
>> Checksum Correct
>> 
>> Section "Monitor"
>> Identifier "DELL U2412M"
>> ModelName "DELL U2412M"
>> VendorName "DEL"
>> # Monitor Manufactured week 24 of 2012
>> # EDID version 1.3
>> # Analog Display
>> Option "SyncOnGreen" "true"
>> DisplaySize 520 320
>> Gamma 2.20
>> Option "DPMS" "true"
>> Horizsync 30-83
>> VertRefresh 50-61
>> # Maximum pixel clock is 170MHz
>> #Not giving standard mode: 1280x960, 60Hz
>> #Not giving standard mode: 1280x1024, 60Hz
>> #Not giving standard mode: 1600x1200, 60Hz
>> #Not giving standard mode: 1680x1050, 60Hz
>> #Not giving standard mode: 1920x1080, 60Hz
>> Modeline "Mode 0" 154.00 1920 1968 2000 2080 1200 1203 1209 1235 +hsync -vsync
>> EndSection

2. Put data form EDID extract into .vfs file

I have put my example for Dell U2412M on github: https://github.com/zebity/sgi-vfc

EDIT #1: recondas used a "subtract by 2" rule to compensate for vfc arithmetic round up. This results in a .vfo that does not exactly match the Modeline spec (but totals of V Sync + V Back Porch still add up correctly). To get a .vfo spec that exactly matches Modeline I used "subtract by 1's" for both V Sync and V Back Porch. This then generates matching spec, as vfc rounds these both back up by 1. I have updated github .vfs files and documented details in my blog: https://tips.graphica.com.au/sgi-irix-notes/

3. Compile to your specific graphics architecture (this example is IR/KONA) to generate .vfo file:

>> $ vfc -a ascii=1920x1200_60-u2412m.info -c board=/usr/gfx/ucode/vfc/rules/dg4.def,chip=voc1.def -o 1920x1200_60-u2412m.vfo 1920x1200_60-u2412m.vfs

4. Move .vfo file into standard directory and use setmon or ircombine to load


I hope this is helpful to others who are using LCDs with SOG on SGI boxes.

The improvement in image quality makes it well worth going to trouble of generating a new .vfo

Next will be the IBM T221 monster ... ;-) that Hamei has been trying to get going.

#EDIT #2: My hope of maybe using DG5-2/TVO to generate high res TDMS signals for T221 is dashed. Testing found that the TVO outputs generate a pair of TDMS feeds at half resolution / half refresh frequency for the alternate interlaced outputs (ie for 1080i @ 59.94 -> 2 x 1920 x 540 @ 59.94 / 2 = ~29 Hz).

Cheers from Oz,


jwhat/John

[secundis200]

Any recommendations for a sync on green monitor would be great. I currently use a NEC multisync but want a new monitor that is led back light not fluorescent tube . Will be used with Onyx,Octane thru 13w3 to vga and if it works vga to dvi if possible. :Indigo: :Octane: :O2: :Indigo2-IMP: :Indigo2: :Onyx: :Indy:

Hi There,

I have an Indy and I use a SamSung TC191, it's not a wide screen.
In fact this monitor suits very well my Indy because the monitor max resolution matches the Indy max resolution so the image is not stretched
.

The monitor is not only a monitor but a thin client which I don't use it. However its perfect and it has SOG plus other sync capabilities. I had to use a 13W3 to VGA and its working fine.