Hantarex videowall monitors (MGG 28 RGB). Problems connecting to 9 pin RGB HV input

aaronangell

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Hello,

first time posting on this forum, hope my question is not too irritating or obscure.

I have recently picked up a number of beautiful old Hantarex crt monitors for a song . As I am an artist and curator, these monitors are the absolute gold standard for displaying video works in a gallery setting. Anyway, my problem is this:

The monitors I have are a rare version modified for mainly videowall use, and as such only have on input; a 9 pin din (or similar) RGB HV connection. Basically they are MGG 28 EQ models, but are rgb only. I need to be able to connect to these monitors as individual units. Ideally with dvd players, but possibly with pc or mac laptops etc. I am no expert and this has kinda stumped me. Have been searching manically around the web for days trying every avenue I can think of. I need to find a solution which does not require changing the chassis to have a SCART input (expensive to get done professionally/I have no idea how to do this myself), or getting an expensive scan converter or whatever, which i don't know if i'd need anyway.

I have the splitter boxes too (ImageMAG Electrosonic) to make a video wall with. These have individual 9 pin outputs to connect to multiple monitors, and y/c BNC composite input (which also says S-vhs above it) and also 6 pin RS232 Din input. I tried today to take a component phono lead from a basic DVD player to a phono-bnc adaptor into the composite bnc input on the splitter, and then took a single 9 pin from the first output on the splitter to a monitor (I hope no-one is laughing at me right now!), I managed to get a pretty stable but quite shaky and bright blue and red image on the monitor.

Another option suggested to me was to get a 9 pin din to S video cable and take this direct from monitor to dvd. I have no idea whether these cables actually exist though. Not much seems to be made for 9 pin din.

Big big thanks in advance for any responses, all feedback is welcome. I hope i'm no amateur-ing up the place too much!


Here are some pictures of the monitors in question, and also the reverse of the imageMAG splitter:

Monitors:

34879_10150203418070051_710150050_1.jpg






The back panel and only input - 9 pin RGBHV?

34438_10150202397795051_710150050_1.jpg







The spec panel (the 'q' on MGG EQ is inked out on all of them, obviously to signify that they are different):

34272_10150203418230051_710150050_1.jpg
 
where abouts are you ? i'm sure folks will respond, but i'd recommend if possible spending a few quid with someone local off the forum to get a professional to come and work it out.... doesn't sound as complex as you make it btw.... so prob not expensive - but you just need the right experience when you start dabbling with pro kit.....

Kev
 
Yes I know they are high spec pro kit, but I have used regular versions before with multiple inputs and they work very easily! I am located in london, so no shortage of people to call on. Just thought I'd try and utilise the wealth of knowledge on this forum first!

thanks,

a
 
Yes the Hantarex ones look as though they will require a sync separator to get HV (Horizontal and Vertical sync). The Barco monitors can handle the combined sync signal from, say, the Composite video output of a DVD player (not to be confused with Component video). So it's just a case of getting the correct cabling.

Firstly with the Hantarex monitors, make sure that the switch near the RGB input is set to Analogue RGB (not TTL). The diagram indicates to do this, the switch nearest to the socket must not be depressed (or must not be in the 'on' position).

I'm not sure about the Sync- / Sync+ switch there, it might be worth feeding it composite sync on pin 6, and trying the switch in either position. My guess is that it will only want HV on pins 8(H) and 9(V).
 
Hi, thanks for the advice. Would a sync separator be something which I would have to build myself, or do you know of anything you can buy off the shelf or online that would do the job external to the monitor?

I found this advice on a previous post regarding barco 2850 monitors, which I also have along with the hantarex. They were all used as part of the same video wall, as they are nearly identical cosmetically, so perhaps the hantarex will behave in the same way. Do you think this would work? The guy who posted the thread about the Barcos thanked the advice given, but I don't know if this means it worked for him or not!:

RGB from your SCART to the RGB pins on your Barco - pins 1,2 and 3.
Pin 19 of the SCART to the S input of your Barco (pin 6 ).
You'll need the screens/grounds from the SCART to connect to the Barco's ground pins too of course.

That may be all you need.
OTOH, if pin 6 of the Barco does not respond to the syncs, you would need to include a sync separator circuit.

Chris Muriel, Manchester


Thanks in advance for any further advice (and patience!)

A
 
I think Maplin used to sell a sync seperator for around £30. It was basically a small box with a SCART input on one end and the 9-pin RGB out on the other end.
Have a search round Google and see what you find. I think there are SCART cables that have the (sync seperator) circuit built in to them available.

As for the Barco setup, yes as Chris rightly pointed out this connection method will work no problem, and no seperate HV sync seperator is needed. It's just the Hantarex ones that are a bit more tricky.
Try out the Barco connection method on the Hantarex, as it might work anyway.
 
Thanks a lot for the advice NST. Tried soldering a scart to 9 pin dsub in the way described but with no joy...I was not sure where to put the grounds at either end however so this may be the problem. Would i need to ground red, green and blue seperately at both ends? The barco pinout only describes 2 ground pins. As the hantarex and the Barco seem to be have been part of the same videowall at some point, do you think they are likely to have the same pinout on their respective 9 pin inputs? The barco showed nothing, but the hantarex at least gave me some sense of a signal (i.e multicoloured lines which responded to me stopping and starting the dvd).

Thanks,

A
 
Hi,
Did you find a soultion? I am thinking of buying some Hantarex with 9-pin inputs and want to use as single units with dvd player. I was thinking I could go RGB to 15-pin VGA to 9-pin, but looking at the Barco thread you were on, this method doesn't look possible?
 
Hi,

yes i did manage to get them working with cheap individual dvd players. It was quite simple in the end. It is jus a case of:

1. making sure the dvd player is outputting rgb on its scart (the monitors will only take an rgb signal)
2. building your own cable which goes from the rgb pins of the scart (standard scart RGB pinout) to the pinout of the hantarex d sub connection. If you want the pinout for the hantarex dsub it can be found on the hantarex website in the pdf manual for the MGG series. Even if you're no good at soldering this is a piece of cake.

Hope this helps. Worked with the barcos too.

A
 
That's really helpful, thank you.
The dvd players have rgb outputs, so I guess I could build a cable that went from those to the dsub 9?
 
I'm not sure if that would work, as it is necessary to ground r, g, b and also the composite sync pin. And more importantly, composite sync must also be provided and the only way I can think of doing this is from the scart. You could give it a try though.
 
I'll try the scart first.
I had a look at the hantarex pinout diagrams you mentioned, you'll have to excuse my ignorance; which pins need to connect from the scart to the 9-pin? I don't know what the common is?
Do I need to use 20-way scart cable?
Thanks for the help,

andrew
 
Okay heres what you have to do:

follow this pinout for the scart end:

SCART RGB interfacing

So you just use the one row, the bottom row are not connected to anything. you have to use a normal scart plug though yes.

So buy some 9 core cable (8 sheathed cables inside, and one unsheathed cable) and connect the scart end like this:

5 RGB Blue Ground
7 RGB Blue Signal (0.7Vpp 75 ohm)
9 RGB Green Ground
11 RGB Green Signal (0.7Vpp 75 ohm)
13 RGB Red Ground
15 RGB Red Signal (1Vpp 75 ohm)
17 Composite Video Ground
19 Composite Video Out (1Vpp 75 ohm)

Use the black wires inside the cable for grounds so as not to get confused. Finally connect the unsheathed wire (you will understand what I mean after you cut open a 9 core cable) to the clip which attaches to the casing of the scart plug.

At the hantarex end, connect red to red, green to green and blue to blue, then for the grounding, strip and twist together all four ground cables and solder them all to the one 'common' pin. Then connect what was the composite video out wire at the scart end to the 'hor sync/sync on g' pin.

Finally, at the hantarex end, fold back the foil layer inside the cable main sheath and wrap the unsheathed wire around this and put the whole thing in a snap case or whatever.

Hope this helps, if you have any more questions just ask.

a
 
Hi Aaronangell,

Thank you so much for your information. I still have one question though. When I search the web, all I can find are converters that converts the video/composiet signal to vga signal.
Your solution seems to be just a custom made cable. Is the custom made cable really the only thing I need (aside of the RGB setting on the dvd player)? Or is there still some kind of convertion needed?

Thanks in advance,
Anne
 
Hi Aaronangell,

Thank you so much for your information. I still have one question though. When I search the web, all I can find are converters that converts the video/composiet signal to vga signal.
Your solution seems to be just a custom made cable. Is the custom made cable really the only thing I need (aside of the RGB setting on the dvd player)? Or is there still some kind of convertion needed?

Thanks in advance,
Anne

Hi Anne, I made some cables based on Aaron's advice and they worked very well. In fact we had a technician in from hantarex and he was really impressed. I used them for an installation at tate britain last year, it was up for a few months with no issues.
You just need scart and dsub-9 plugs and some scart cable.
Andrew
 
Hi!

I am looking to purchase a set of Hantarex monitors for an upcoming show. But it is rather hard to find. Do you guys have any suggestions on where I can purchase them in the New York area?





Hello,

first time posting on this forum, hope my question is not too irritating or obscure.

I have recently picked up a number of beautiful old Hantarex crt monitors for a song . As I am an artist and curator, these monitors are the absolute gold standard for displaying video works in a gallery setting. Anyway, my problem is this:

The monitors I have are a rare version modified for mainly videowall use, and as such only have on input; a 9 pin din (or similar) RGB HV connection. Basically they are MGG 28 EQ models, but are rgb only. I need to be able to connect to these monitors as individual units. Ideally with dvd players, but possibly with pc or mac laptops etc. I am no expert and this has kinda stumped me. Have been searching manically around the web for days trying every avenue I can think of. I need to find a solution which does not require changing the chassis to have a SCART input (expensive to get done professionally/I have no idea how to do this myself), or getting an expensive scan converter or whatever, which i don't know if i'd need anyway.

I have the splitter boxes too (ImageMAG Electrosonic) to make a video wall with. These have individual 9 pin outputs to connect to multiple monitors, and y/c BNC composite input (which also says S-vhs above it) and also 6 pin RS232 Din input. I tried today to take a component phono lead from a basic DVD player to a phono-bnc adaptor into the composite bnc input on the splitter, and then took a single 9 pin from the first output on the splitter to a monitor (I hope no-one is laughing at me right now!), I managed to get a pretty stable but quite shaky and bright blue and red image on the monitor.

Another option suggested to me was to get a 9 pin din to S video cable and take this direct from monitor to dvd. I have no idea whether these cables actually exist though. Not much seems to be made for 9 pin din.

Big big thanks in advance for any responses, all feedback is welcome. I hope i'm no amateur-ing up the place too much!


Here are some pictures of the monitors in question, and also the reverse of the imageMAG splitter:

Monitors:

34879_10150203418070051_710150050_1.jpg






The back panel and only input - 9 pin RGBHV?

34438_10150202397795051_710150050_1.jpg







The spec panel (the 'q' on MGG EQ is inked out on all of them, obviously to signify that they are different):

34272_10150203418230051_710150050_1.jpg
 

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