Oulainen Multimedia Group

is proud to present

CRT Terminator Digital VGA Feature Card ISA DV1000

A digital video expansion for your IBM PC/XT and PC/AT and compatibles.

Say goodbye to CRTs and analog video, and enjoy a pixel perfect digital output from your existing VGA adapter!

Introduction

CRT Terminator is an 8-bit ISA add-on card that outputs a native DVI-D video signal sourced from the digital VGA Feature Connector bus available on many VGA adapters. A 26-pin ribbon cable is used to internally bridge the VGA adapter and CRT Terminator to produce a clean artifact free digital video signal from your existing video card.

CRT Terminator then upgrades this video signal to be compatible with modern digital flat panel displays.

Features

CRT Terminator provides:

Digital video output from 8-bit & 16-bit ISA, and 32-bit ISA VLB and PCI VGA adapters containing a Feature Connector interface (AGP adapters are not supported)
Supports both VGA edge connector and pin header Feature Connector models
Wide compatibility with quirks of nonstandard Feature Connector behavior on different VGA adapters
Input resolutions up to SVGA 800x600 (max vertical rate 75Hz and pixel clock 37.5MHz)
Input color modes up to 2, 4, 16 and 256 colors (CGA, EGA, VGA)
Outputs a DVI-D video signal (lossless 24-bit RGB)
Output resolutions up to 1600x1200* (max vertical rate 75Hz* and pixel clock 118.8MHz)
(*combinational restrictions apply)
Upscales VGA Mode 13h 320x200, Mode X 320x240 and SVGA 800x600 resolutions up to 1600x1200 in a pixel-perfect aspect ratio preserved manner for viewing on a 1600x1200 or 1920x1200 display in 4:3 mode
Unlockable core multiplier for overclocking support
Passthrough mode for sub-millisecond output latency (on compatible displays)
MultiMode output feature with dynamic output video resolution selection for best possible aspect ratio upscaling quality from different VGA input modes
Vsyncless and triple-buffered Vsync-locked video upscaling modes for latency-controlled output
VGA border detection and removal support
A patent-not-pending StutterStop feature for stutter free video upscaling with refresh rate matching up to a thousandth of a Hz (available on certified displays only)
Dual view video from CRT Terminator and VGA adapter outputs (display cloning e.g. for simultaneous viewing and stream recording)
No driver installation required! (although PCI VGA adapters do need a small VGA adapter config program to run in AUTOEXEC.bat)

Supported Resolutions

Input:

CGA Mode 00h, 01h	360x400 @ 2/16 colors
CGA Mode 02h, 03h	720x400 @ 2/16 colors
CGA Mode 04h, 05h	320x200 @ 4 colors
CGA Mode 06h	640x200 @ 2 colors
MDA Mode 07h	720x400 @ 2 colors
EGA Mode 0Dh	320x200 @ 16 colors
EGA Mode 0Eh	640x200 @ 16 colors
EGA Mode 0Fh, 10h	640x350 @ 2/16 colors
VGA Mode 11h, 12h	640x480 @ 2/16 colors
VGA Mode 13h	320x200 @ 256 colors
VGA Mode X	320x240 @ 256 colors
SVGA Mode 5Fh	640x480 @ 256 colors
SVGA Mode 58h, 5Ch, 6Ah	800x600 @ 16/256 colors
Nonstandard CRTC	≤ 800x600 @ ≤ 256 colors

Output:

Passthrough

1280x720 (16:9) up to 75 hz

1024x768 (4:3) up to 75 hz

1280x1024 (5:4) up to 75 hz

1440x1080 (4:3) up to 70.7 hz*

1920x1080 (16:9) up to 53.6 hz*

1600x1200 (4:3) up to 57.4 hz*

MultiMode

* overclockable

Screenshots

The following 1600x1200 resolution images were captured using OBS with a StarTech.com USB3HDCAP DVI-D video capture box from software running on the 486 PC shown above.

For those interested in peeping pixels close up, here are two shots of the pixel grid taken from an ASUS ProArt PA248QV display.

For video modes that do not have the possibility of pixel perfect upscaling, CRT Terminator's MultiMode feature carefully tunes a balance between aspect ratio and pixel correct upscaling.

Availability and Pricing

CRT Terminator is currently under development. ~~If everything goes well, we should have some availability during this year 2023~~. Price is estimated to be around ~200€ + shipping (from Finland).

Update Aug 2024: We are getting closer to shipping. While we sort out the last hurdles, check out the new written CRT Terminator user manual!

Update Feb 2024: As you now might have guessed, we did slip from the initial end of 2023 target. The PCB design is finished, but we are still waiting for FPGAs, which hopefully should arrive not too long from now.

While we have been somewhat quiet late 2023, discussion has been lively over at the Vogons forums. Hop on to the CRT Terminator announcement thread at Vogons, or email us at oummgr@gmail.com for any comments.