Hey guys... I've run into a snag at work, and I'm hoping that someone here can offer a solution. (Sorry - this thread is not laser related.)
We've got a positively *ancient* distributed control system at work that we use to run a whole crapload of equipment. This stuff is expensive to buy, and even more expensive to configure, so it's not going away anytime soon despite the fact that it's 25 year old technology.
Ok - the video output of the console driver is standard 640x480 VGA, but the signal is output via 3 BNC connectors. (Normally you see 5 BNC connectors: Red, Green, Blue, Horizontal sync, and Vertical sync.) Well, our particular unit combines the two sync signals and piggybacks them on the green signal. (This is known as "composite sync on green".) We run 75 ohm coax from the console driver to the monitors; three runs of coax for each monitor. (Red, Green+sync, and Blue)
We've got 4 separate video feeds coming out of this console driver upstairs. Each one runs down to the control room to feed one of 4 large 21 inch CRT monitors. These monitors have the standard 5 BNC input connectors, but they also support the special "composite sync on green" mode as well.
Three of these monitors are Hitachi CAD monitors that haven't been manufactured since the mid 1990's or so. The fourth one is a replacement that we purchased a few years ago from Samsung. It's the model 1100 MB, and we really like it. (Great picture, 100% compatible, and very economical at only $550.) Unfortunately, this monitor is now out of production as well, and out of stock at every retailer I've checked. Furthermore, Samsung no longer makes monitors that support BNC input conenctors.
So here is my dilema: I've got 3 more old Hitachi monitors that are at least 10 years old, and one of them is now dying. (The red gun in the tube is shot) So I need to find a replacement VGA monitor that has BNC input conenctors on the back *AND* supports composite sync on green input. This has been... difficult. Can anyone recommend such a monitor?
Alternately, a better solution would be to purchase some sort of video converter or switcher that would accept VGA input on the 3 BNC (composite sync on green) connectors and output that same VGA signal on a standard 15-pin VGA port. That would allow me to connect virtually any monitor I wanted... But again, finding such a device has proved difficult.
So, anyone here have any suggestions? I'm looking for either a source for the replacement monitors, or the video converter device. Replacing the hardware that generates the video in the first place is absolutely not an option.
Adam