How to hook up your Commodore 64 to a VGA Monitor in 2023 (Updated!)

This video will show you how to hook your Commodore 64 to a VGA Monitor. One of the things I had to figure out when I pulled my Commodore 64 out of the attic was what to hook it up to for a monitor. This video shows you how to hook your Commodore 64 to a VGA Monitor and not break the bank. The 8-pin cable can hook up to a TV with an S-Video connection.

If this video helps you, buy me a cup of coffee

Links to Hardware:
How I capture my Commodore 64 video

"Commodore 64/128 Audio Upgrade: Affordable PC Speakers Setup Guide!"

⚠️ 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐄 ⚠️

I often review or link to products & services I regularly use, and you might find them helpful. Wherever possible, I use referral links, which means if you click one of the links in this video or description and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission or other compensation.

[FloppyDeepDive]

"Commodore 64/128 Audio Upgrade: Affordable PC Speakers Setup Guide!"

[dungeonmastertyler]

Man you’re a life saver. Was researching how to connect my Commodore 64 to VGA and it seemed like a ton of jumping through hoops till I found this video. Thank you so much and I can’t wait for my proper cords to arrive

[michaelb]

Thank you FDD and William Campbell for your video and comment which solved my problem! I bought a unit which looks like the one in the video, but it was a knock off. The bad unit had a velvety soft rubber casing, the VGA IN and OUT were reversed and it came in a bag. The correct unit linked above has a hard case, screws on the bottom, VGA IN on the same side as AV IN and SVIDEO IN, a nice swipe effect when changing modes, and it came in a box. The correct unit works great for my Apple IIe, my Atari 800XL, and my Plus/4.

[wc]

Works great. Thanks! But beware of knock-offs. Buy the video converter in the link. I bought another one that looked just like it, but it didn't work at all. I returned it and got the exact product at the link in the description, and that one the picture looks great with the 8bitClassics cable (with resistor). I realized the first gadget was a knock-off when I re-watched this video, and another one, and noticed the in and out VGA ports were swapped on the first unit. Not that attaching any different fixed the problem. The darn thing just didn't work no matter what I did, even trying composite instead of S-video. The video converter in the link works great. Get that one. Thanks again.

[RandomBitzzz]

I can't believe I hadn't watched this video all the way through. Thank you for doing all the hard work of finding out what works well with what. Seems like a lot of folks dig SCART connections, which are like unicorns here in the states.

I had been hooking my 64 up to my LCD TV via RF (yes, I have an LCD TV with an RF connection). I'd much rather use an old 4x3 Dell monitor that I've been saving.

Thanks!

[michaelalvey]

I look for commercial grade displays (LCD or CRT)
when I am hunting 2nd hand market; NEC and Planar units in particular.

These unit have an on-board scaler and will typically accept composite, s-video, component, RGB, RGBs, and RGBi over the 15- pin port. You will need a VGA to RGBHV cable to do the breakouts.

[DavideNastri]

Thanks for this video!
I also bought one and I was BLOWN AWAY by the crazy bang I got for the buck.

The composite is...
Quite bad but svideo is just shiny.

Thanks!

[alerey]

For an old recycled lcd monitor you got a super sharp 0% artifact-interference picture with that converter! I have noted the model to get one myself, thanks!

[painkillergko]

Regarding original power supplies. I agree with you. A year ago, such a power supply damaged 2 C64Cs.

[be]

Nice. Now I wish they made a (cheap) device like this for Commodore 128's 80-column output mode to VGA monitor... The ones I've seen look complicated and rare and expensive.

[mcd]

It's a good idea - my only comments would be that you can probably pick up old CRT monitors that are cheaper than old LCD monitors and the C64 was designed to work with CRT not LCD, so you get a better picture. Some of the "converters" can also have lag issues with them.

[bobsbarnworkshop]

Exactly what converter I bought and it works great!

[ArttuTheCat]

Hey, this is absolutely brilliant 😺👍.
I use the SCART RF cable from my
Commodore 64 to 32" LCD TV.
Thanks for an awesome retrospective video. 😺👍🕹️.

[mlongval]

Excellent video! Great info. Thanks for this. Cheers from Canada!

[marco-S]

That the original power brick can have a defect 5v regulator was not known by a certain eBay seller. He used a working c64 to test other bricks. It was until he had a defect one killing the working one. If that one is sold, than maybe not easy to repair. Electrocuted parts.

[technischemaschinenfabrik]

Now you can also use an VGA to HDMI adapter additionally. So you can connect it to every new TV set. An advantage are the calibration switches on the back of the video converter to resize the picture.

[johandenhertog]

Did the easy way with the Turbo Chameleon 64 V1 for VGA on my C64. Have sell the biggest part of my C64 collection. Use the money for my AMIGA 1200 projects. Seek now the SIDFX for the C64 Reloaded MK1. I’m always busy with the C64, AMIGA 500 and the AMIGA 1200. There is always things to experience and to collect.

[giuseppelavecchia]

Anche io sono un grandissimo appassionato dei monitor 4×3, ma i monitor CRT, si vedono alla perfezione.io sono appassionato del C64 e DELL'AMIGA, ci vado matto!.hai fatto un bel video, complimenti

[pkpkpk]

this one really works - there are some minor issues with sprites dough

[PikaStu]

Awesome, I have a lovely LG CRT VGA monitor… I bet the C64 would look great on it!