My personal experience with DTV boxes (and I do have a small assortment I use routinely), is that the analog pass-through only functions with the box off (RF in->RF out), so no chance of A/V extraction in that case. The majority of newer boxes have eliminated the pass-through option entirely.
While not ideal if the goal is to reduce size, an old VCR is certainly smaller than a CRT TV and could provide this functionality. While prices are now climbing on these, it should be easy enough to obtain one with a non-functional transport for almost nothing. A handful of the DVD/VHS combo units even had HDMI output. Do keep in mind that some of the early home systems bend the rules with NTSC timing, so what looks good on your CRT may not be acceptable on an LCD, and buyer-beware on the published specs of off the shelf converters. -C > On May 19, 2024, at 8:31 AM, CAREY SCHUG via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> > wrote: > > I presume the "digitial tv converter boxes" will pass through an analog > signal, and suspect at least some of them provide a composite output. > > <pre>--Carey</pre> > >> On 05/19/2024 6:59 AM CDT Will Cooke via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org> >> wrote: >> >> >> I have a couple of 70s/80s "home" computers (e.g. Radio Shack Color >> Computer) that are intended to connect to a TV set. They don't have easily >> available composite video, even internally, only modulated RF output. >> Currently I have an old CRT TV that I use with them, but for various reasons >> that isn't practical long-term. >> >> Does anyone know of a small TV tuner that tunes old analog TV channels (US >> NTSC) and outputs composite or VGA or HDMI signals? I've looked around a bit >> but haven't found anything. It's relatively easy to build one, but I would >> prefer a pre-built solution. And I'm sure others have run into this same >> problem. >> >> Thanks, >> Will
