Question about CCTV and VGA LCD

Hello, I'm new to using Groups and I'm also legally blind. I got a CCTV Low Vision Magnifier without a monitor, very cheap. I thought I would use it with the VGA LCD panel I use with a laptop. Whn it came it has a 9 pin output, I believe that's RS-232, while the panel has 15 pin input. I found a 15 pin to 9 pin cable in junk but it doesn't work.

Is the cable bad or are they incompatible? Any solution?

Ron Royal

Reply to
royalrster
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The 15 pin plug from your laptop is set up for VGA. You would need to find out what kind of monitor the magnifier was set up for. Serial (as in RS-232 like your computer) is not likely, just too slow for driving a monitor.

A couple possibilities are NTSC video (same as a VCRs output with different connector) or CGA computer (like very old computers).

After you figure out what it is, then you can figure out how to view it. If it happens to be NTSC, a simple plug change will let you use an LCD TV monitor.

Reply to
B Fuhrmann

We need to know more about the output of the camera. Got a model number or anything specific?

Some of these devices are 420 or 480 line B&W composite and are meant for hi-rez monitors like those used for CCTV surveillance. Could be NTSC, could be SECAM - could be anything. Not likely you'll be able to hook it to your monitor *directly* either cheaply or easily.

A PVR video card like the Leadtek with a composite input would probably be your cheapest solution, but you would need an empty PCI slot and a machine with a decent video card. I've seen such cards new for $40. In your case, with a laptop, you'd need a free USB port and USB video digitizer and they're about $70+.

[Unrelated rant: It would be nice if modern DVD players had VGA outputs so that people could use their LCD monitors as hi-rez viewers, but Senator Hollywood and friends probably passed a law against it.]

-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

Reply to
Dave Houston

9 pin could be anything. On computer monitors 9-pin was used for CGA/EGA displays. 9-pin is also commonly used on RS-232 serial. It would seem rather unlikely that a magnifier would be putting out a serial signal. The question you're asking can't be answered without a bit more info about the Magnifier. What make/model is it? What does the label on it say?
Reply to
Bill Kearney

Thanks, I really did'nt expect to get a response and waited several days before checking back. The CCTV is a Spectrum, made by Optelec.

I have a Spectrum Jr. with users manuel. I wrote to them at theaddress in the manuel and it was returned undelived. I sent an email to the sales address on their website, no response in 2 weeks.

The Spectrum Jr. works fine but has a 14" screen with the moniter attached to the magnifer. I weighs 69 lbs and is top heavy. I disconnected the Spectrum Jr. moniter and ran the signal from the Spectrum to that moniter. It works fine.

That's about the extent of what I know.

Thanks, Ron Royal

Reply to
royalrster

Reply to
Dave Houston

Ron,

The camera's used on CCTV's use standard composite video output via coaxial cable. You can not simply connect them to displays like those used on computers. You would either need to obtain a monitor that has a composite video input or obtain a conversion unit that converts composite video input to RS-232 output. I don't know of any such unit that wouldn't cost more then simply buying a standard TV monitor with a composite input.

Dennis

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Reply to
Dennis

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