Apple Video Player at 800x600: is full screen an option?

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Quick question: I haven't tried that config since the630 and 6390 was the rugger's bedr00m A/V system the Nineties. I don't have a Performa video system set up for testing ATM. ISTR it being a play in window (640x480?) only kinda deal? Is that the case or is full screen available at that resolution?

Problem: My HDTV exhibits s - t - r - e - a - t - c - h at 640x480@60Hz input but does a fabulous job of letterboxing 800x600/24bit@60Hz and 1024x768/16bit@60Hz as a main display. The annoying thing doesn't seem to have traditional VGA monitor input controls for setup/centering etc. I'm just happy it does what it does so well so I can use it, keeping the bedroom hack hutch workbench surface free of display impediments.

If someone could test that it would help a lot make for useful documentation in this forum.

Related question: When the 6500's VRAM was doubled from the 6360/6400 machine's 1MB to 2MB, 1024x768/16bit@60Hz output became an option. Was AVP upgraded to display Video Input Card output on the system display at that resolution? IIRC playback was never possible at 16" on the earlier 1MB systems due to lack of a 60Hz option and 1024x768 was limited to 8bit and inadequate for Video Input Card AVP display.

 

[Cory5412]

I don't think 60Hz has anything to do with it. AVP works fine on the Macintosh Color Displays and those typically run at 67Hz. (They are, in fact, "fixed sync" displays.)

Based on my observations of the Beige G3: full screen is probably only possible at 640x480. If your display is a multi-sync/multiple-scan display, just switch to 640x480 when you want to use full screen video through. If your display is a fixed-sync display (such as the 16" Macintosh Color Display I use with my Beige) then you are pretty much out of luck, you can only use AVP in a window unless the OS will let you display a letterboxed 640x480 display. (the AudioVision, at least, can show 512x384 this way). I don't recall if my Beige shows that on the 16", with 9.2.2.

If you just want to display a video source on your TV, you could consider using the TV's composite input. Check the manual if you have it or can find it online: sometimes TVs that "only" have component support composite by connecting video to one of the ports (often "Green" if I remember correctly) and if ther's only one port you can use a switch selector if needed.

However, as I said elsewhere, if I remember correctly the Wings comes by way of the Quadra and Power Mac video systems, not the Performa 630 one, and so that detail may be different.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I got the HDTV dialed in for 640x480 @60Hz to letterbox correctly after a download/RTFM session. Funny thing is I'd thought it was a 60Hz limited panel, but it supports some of the oddball "flicker free" timings of the ancient Mac world. It's very odd to see those specs pop up onscreen when it syncs up. I've only ever seen that kind of thing on the LCD readout on the 21" MAG Innovision CRT I use for testing. It says Mac H x W @ xxHz, but what can you expect from something this new? Nice surprise that!

The Q630 system is rudimentary, but plenty good enough given its place in time and price. 60Hz at 640x480 or 800x600 is a real deal for it, The only displays the Performas shipped with were pretty much VGA monitors, no? I've only ever used the video setup on 17" to 21' multisync CRTs until I tried it on the big screen over the last week or so. It's up and running and halfway torn back down already. Time to clear the decks of the bench for the PCI riser project, so the sub, fancy amp/video output board and video system are headed off the bench and back into the project box.

I've got a VCR feed converter (digitizer box) that outputs HDMI straight to the TV, but that 6500 sub coupled with the TV's speakers sounds really sweet. :/

 

[Cory5412]

Most inexpensive LCD panels just down-convert higher refresh rates to 60Hz in their electronics, so if it "supports" say 1152x870@75Hz or 640x480@67Hz or anything similar to those, it's probably purely for legacy compatibility.

With what, I don't know. It could be shared parts with something meant to be a little more industrial where a Mac or something like a Mac was being used as signage

It would be interesting to see what happens with a Performa on a 67Hz display. I"ll have to look, or get the bits later on, I'm expecting to get my hands on a 6200 variant in the mid-near future, and if it has the video system, I"ll give it a go in a few configurations.

As for Apple's performa-specific monitors: Most of them were fairly low end. EveryMac doesn't list a refresh rate for some of the low end monitors, it's known that they are often rebadges of PC OEM or generic monitors, and in the interest of saving some money if that meant that Performa displays were 60Hz instead of the more comfortable 67Hz provided by their higher end monitors, I can see Apple doing it.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Interesting, that makes sense, it should be a lot easier to produce general purpose Analog to Digital setups. That function is implemented in my fairly inexpensive VGA to HDMI converter box. Same hardware would be implemented in an HDTV with VGA inputs.

*** Looks like they're fixed 67Hz, but could very well be re-badge runs of baseline VGA dreck modified to 67Hz.

Apple Performa Display

Apple Performa Plus Display

*** For the gang: everymac has a monitor specific info section from classic to current Apple displays.

 

[Cory5412]

Whoops: Gonna pretend that when I was literally looking at that specific page yesterday I noticed the refresh rate listed as part of the resolution support.

Thank you for making sure of that!

So, the limitation is probably more about pixel dimensions than refresh rate, especially given the way IIRC the Performa video subsystem uses DMA to dump the video signal directly into VRAM.