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Apple iigs setup

Papichulo

Well-known member
Hello I just got a working apple iigs for $65 with the floppy and keyboard. I cant seem to find a iigs monitor at a decent price anywhere. Can i use any mac monitor? Is there a vga adapter available? What about the apple composite monitor? Thanks
 

Andy

Well-known member
You cannot use a Mac monitor as they work on different horizontal frequencies. Shame on Apple for using the same connector.

Any composite TV should work, I don't see why the apple composite monitor wouldn't. As long as you use the composite video port on the IIgs. It will be lower resolution then using the IIgs RGB monitor, but should work in a pinch.

There are some adapters around if you have a VGA monitor that supports 15Khz. Though I've never used them. There is also a video card that supports HDMI. That's basically recreating the entire video circuity. Never tried it though. https://pcweenies.com/2019/11/17/vidhd-modern-video-output-for-the-apple-iigs/
 

magnusfalkirk

Well-known member
Another option is an Apple IIGS to SCART cable, SCART to HDMI converter with an HDMI cable and then a flat screen monitor that has HDMI input. Not necessarily a cheap solution but I think it works very well with my GS.
 

volvo242gt

Well-known member
Yeah, the A2M6014 is kinda scarce these days. That's why I went with the A2M6016 monochrome monitor for mine. Will work well for the time being until I find a decent A2M6014 that's not priced to the moon.

This might work, if you want to use a VGA monitor...

-J
 

Papichulo

Well-known member
I was able to get it to work by hooking up a composite cable to the tv and it worked. I will try the vga adapter suggestion at some point. Now I just need software..
 

Skate323k137

Well-known member
Another option is an Apple IIGS to SCART cable, SCART to HDMI converter with an HDMI cable and then a flat screen monitor that has HDMI input. Not necessarily a cheap solution but I think it works very well with my GS.
I concur, when I don't want my desk crushing PVM out, or original IIgs monitor, I use a SCART cable and retrotink hdmi converter with scanline emulation enabled. It looks really nice display wise though aesthetics are another matter.
 

NJRoadfan

Well-known member
RetroTink 5X Pro will work. I've used a OSSC (my current solution) and a Micomsoft XRGB 2plus from back in the day with good results.
 

ironacetop

New member
RetroTink 5X Pro will work. I've used a OSSC (my current solution) and a Micomsoft XRGB 2plus from back in the day with good results.
If you don't mind the basic question, how do you connect the IIGS to OSSC... ? Is it a DB15 to SCART cable or something else ?
 

Skate323k137

Well-known member
If you don't mind the basic question, how do you connect the IIGS to OSSC... ? Is it a DB15 to SCART cable or something else ?
Yes, you can get SCART cables for the IIGS which would be the normal way to connect to any upscaler with a SCART input.
 

NJRoadfan

Well-known member
I use a Belkin Mac-to-VGA adapter and the VGA input (AV3) on the OSSC. If you do this, you likely have to set the OSSC to "Sync-on-Green", (AV3_RGsB). SCART RGB (AV1) would work with the correct cable as well, with the added bonus of a low-pass filter.
 

ironacetop

New member
Yes, you can get SCART cables for the IIGS which would be the normal way to connect to any upscaler with a SCART input.
Cool... Since OSSC is suffering from shortages, would a SCART + one of those "cheapos" SCART to HDMI from Amazon (such as this one) would work or does it need to be special (maybe has to support 240p 15KHz input) ?
 

ironacetop

New member
I use a Belkin Mac-to-VGA adapter and the VGA input (AV3) on the OSSC. If you do this, you likely have to set the OSSC to "Sync-on-Green", (AV3_RGsB). SCART RGB (AV1) would work with the correct cable as well, with the added bonus of a low-pass filter.
Ah, I had forgotten about those adapters... Thanks !
 

Skate323k137

Well-known member
Cool... Since OSSC is suffering from shortages, would a SCART + one of those "cheapos" SCART to HDMI from Amazon (such as this one) would work or does it need to be special (maybe has to support 240p 15KHz input) ?
I like the Retrotink 2x SCART, it works well enough for the IIgs for me and I like the scanline option.

Works well with 240P input, I also use it with an Amiga 600.


signal-2022-10-28-14-25-30-202.jpg
 

Skate323k137

Well-known member
I still prefer the original IIgs monitor - love the form factor.
Same honestly, but mine takes ages to warm up even after I recapped and worked on it. Eventually I'll find a new tube but for now this works. The retrotink is also nice for the Amiga 600 I have, since a PVM would fold that desk in half 😆
 

cruff

Well-known member
An Extron RGB-HDMI 300(A) is usable in a pinch for IIgs video, which is at the extreme low end of the range of frequencies the RGB-HDMI 300 will handle. The best I was able to do was to display the IIgs video with some artifacts at the edge of the display, but it could be used to verify the IIgs video output is working. See this discussion Good & reasonable HDMI scaler: Extron RGB-HDMI 300(A)
 

Skate323k137

Well-known member
An Extron RGB-HDMI 300(A) is usable in a pinch for IIgs video, which is at the extreme low end of the range of frequencies the RGB-HDMI 300 will handle. The best I was able to do was to display the IIgs video with some artifacts at the edge of the display, but it could be used to verify the IIgs video output is working. See this discussion Good & reasonable HDMI scaler: Extron RGB-HDMI 300(A)
Whoa, I hadn't even thought about that. I use a lot of Extron and Key Digital stuff, and a lot of it does support 240p even if undocumented. I don't know if I have the cable chain on hand to try my IIgs with the RGB-HDMI 300 I have, but this is awesome info.
 
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