any electronics engineers out there?

Birdseye

Birdseye

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do you reckon that the second screen from the twin screen portable dvd player on offer at aldi would take a signal from a laptop chart plotter? Or is it likely that the video formats wont match up like TV and computer normally dont.
 
Unless it has a VGA input with a screen resolution of 1200X720 then it wont.
Most modern plotters require this res...but you can get away with 800X600 on older plotters like C-map and Maxsea 10.
My guess is that it probably only has composite video inputs.
Many have tried and failed (including me many times) to get an acceptable conversion suitable for chart viewing.
With proper12v VGA TFT screens coming down in price all the time I would go for one of these.
PC world have an Advent 14" at £109, CPC have a xerox 14" with anti glare at £79 plus vat.

Steve.
 
The DVD unit will be TV video standard. Some laptops do have analogue TV output signals which are known as composite video. You will be able to use it but it will probably be lower resolution than the normal laptop screen.
 
The specs for the unit state "auto Pal/NTSC" and this could be a RGB signal or could be composite> In any event it is not VGA or SVGA.
I bought a 15 inch flat screen LCD television as I was ordered to by my son, so he could watch England lose the football, but there was a bonus - I was surpised to find that the unit had a 12 volt supply connecting to the mains via small 3 pin transformer.
Took it to the boat, connected and works perfectly as a TV and this definitely has VGA, 'cos we have tried it with an old Laptop.
So for £169 (Asda) I have got a tele, a VGA screen which works on the boat, and earache from the family who wonder where the new TV set is!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Unless it has a VGA input with a screen resolution of 1200X720 then it wont.
Most modern plotters require this res...but you can get away with 800X600 on older plotters like C-map and Maxsea 10.
My guess is that it probably only has composite video inputs.
Many have tried and failed (including me many times) to get an acceptable conversion suitable for chart viewing.
With proper12v VGA TFT screens coming down in price all the time I would go for one of these.
PC world have an Advent 14" at £109, CPC have a xerox 14" with anti glare at £79 plus vat.

Steve.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the suggestions. prob is I want a smaller screen (say about 8 inch) which I can mount in a waterproof box behind the steering wheel.
 
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