Following the trend of getting costly display solutions, I’ve replaced the Commodore 1084 with a Bang & Olufsen MX4002. A television that was 1.500 EUR in 1992 (roughly 2.500 euros in 2020). I used the 1084 to play Nintendo 64 games on it, but although it looked great, it was a bit too small to see from across the room. In between, I had it replaced with a 24 inch LCD television, but the display was just too horrible. As a last resort, I ordered a N64 to s-video cable and a HDMI adapter for it, but that didn’t make it any better. I simply don’t understand the people on YouTube that claim that such a solution offer a big improvement over regular composite video output.

The B&O is 21 inch and size wise that’s definitely a big improvement over the 14 inch 1084. Now if I get some more N64 controllers the split screen co-op games can be played again in full glory. Full glory also meaning better sound. The composite/s-video to HDMI adapter made it also possible to play N64 games on the big screen downstairs. But that’s definitely not full glory because of the horrible display of N64 games on modern displays. Simply connecting either composite or s-video to the AV receiver resulted in a green screen, so the adapter wasn’t a complete waste.

If I even get other N64 controllers, the big screen downstairs will probably the place where multi player games will be played, because the kids can’t stand the high pitched humming the B&O outputs. Because of my age, I can only just make it out. But it doesn’t annoy me. Or maybe it just doesn’t bother me because that’s what I was used to as a kid (I remember the static electricity on the tv screen). Luckily the display is rock solid and doesn’t waver like my old Commodore 1701 monitor does. I doesn’t matter how much I like the aesthetics of that monitor, I just can’t stand the slight tremor to the display, let alone the loud humming of the beast.

The composite/s-video to HDMI adapter is one way only and not reversed. That would have been cool, because now that the B&O has replaced the LCD, I can’t connect the SNES mini to it anymore. I feel another adapter is soon making it’s way to the game room any day now… Or maybe even a real SNES…

The B&O has a high firmware version. This makes it possible to enter the service menu to adjust settings without having to open the whole television.

I was a bit hesitant about getting the B&O, because it came without a remote. And not every universal remote works with it. The BEO4 remote that it came bundled with is quite expensive, so I’ve settled with a Logitech Harmony One remote for now. That’s not ideal, because the One is also used downstairs. What would be ideal, would be that the other universal remote that I have, the Harmony 300 (or is it 350?), would work with it. I have managed to make it turn the tv on, but choosing the right input doesn’t work yet.

Another strange thing about controlling the B&O with either a Logitech Harmony One or Harmony 300 is that pressing a button once, will be interpreted by the tv as three button presses. This causes some inconvenience with adjusting settings. If there are less or more than three options this is manageable. You just have to press multiple times and you will get there eventually. It becomes more difficult when there are exactly three options. The solution to this, is to press and hold the button on the remote and let go after a time. I will see if there’s a solution for this occurrence other then getting a real B&O remote.