Video Testers

In the last while I’ve been working a lot on arcade cabinets, TVs doing mods and conversions and also looking for 15kHz capable VGA LCD monitors. I desperately needed something that was portable and easy to use, and couldn’t really find anything that I wanted to buy so I decided to give myself another project and make some. A few iterations, bug fixes an enhancements later and these are the result.

TVs, arcade monitors and VGA monitors require a slightly different connection, signal and relevant set of tests so to make testing simple I ended up creating four different types of testers, each one fine tuned for their respective application.

All four testers operate on a similar principle. Using a micro-controller, we generate a video signal relevant to the set of tests we are trying to perform. The difference between the testers is the video signal levels and format, sync frequency and type, the type of tests that are included and of course the form factor and connectivity.

Each one is battery operated using the same battery, with approximately the same battery life (about 5 hours of on time). Being battery powered, they are all easy and safe to use, portable, and most importantly inexpensive.

Here are some images of the testers.

There is more information on each one of these at the links below.

On this page here, is a list of tests that are available with each one of these testers, and information on how to use them to verify that the monitor works and tips for adjustments.

To purchase a tester and help support my projects, please visit my eBay page here.

As far as generating video with a micro-controller, to build your own video tester or to simply generate a video signal for your own project, I put together the following guide.