Composite A/V Mod Kit

The Coleco’s ADAM Composite A/V Mod Kit by Arcade Collecting (often logged under collector reference number CVH-0185) is a targeted internal video upgrade kit. It is designed to clean up the notoriously noisy, distorted display signal of the Coleco ADAM home computer system when connected to standard composite monitors or modern television sets.

The Problem It Solved

While the standalone ColecoVision console featured a native proprietary 5-pin DIN connector for composite output, the all-in-one ADAM Memory Console routed its internal video signals differently across its revisions. Many factory units suffered from severe "jailbar" artifacts, color bleeding, and audio buzzing.

This interference was caused by inadequate shielding around the factory RF modulator and poor isolation of the composite traces on the motherboard, which sat directly next to high-current power traces powering the internal Digital Data Pack tape drives.

The Arcade Collecting Kit Features:

The Arcade Collecting modification bypasses the noisy factory video mixing sub-circuits entirely to capture a clean, unadulterated feed straight from the source:

• Direct Tap Architecture: The kit taps video signals directly at the pins of the native Texas Instruments TMS9928A Video Display Processor (VDP) chip.
• Active Amplification: It routes the raw video through a small, custom-engineered internal amplifier circuit board. This board balances the impedance and boosts the luminance and chrominance signals to standard 75-ohm consumer composite specs.
• Audio Isolation: The kit includes an independent audio filtering sub-stage that isolates the sound line, permanently cutting out the annoying high-pitched background hum generated by the ADAM's internal power rails.
• Clean Breakout: It outputs clean, separate RCA jacks (Yellow for composite video, White/Red for audio) that mount cleanly onto the rear plastic housing of the ADAM console.

Modern Successors & Availability

While the original boutique kit from Arcade Collecting is a vintage community reference, modern retro-hardware developers have created highly advanced, drop-in replacements that completely surpass basic composite video:

• Component & S-Video: The Console5 ColecoVision / ADAM S-Video and Composite Mod Kit provides a massive jump in text clarity, making 40-column and 80-column text perfectly readable without composite color bleed.
• Digital HDMI Out: For the crispest possible display, the open-source TMS9928A RGB/Component modification or the Tindie F18A MKII Digital Video Board drops directly into the VDP socket, outputting pixel-perfect modern video to flat-screen displays.