Help with portrait / full page displays

[pcamen]

Going through all my CRT's to see what works, I don't quite understand what is necessary to use the portrait and full page displays.

I've never had the opportunity to use any of the portrait / full page displays before, so I don't quite know what is necessary.  I do have two Radius FPD90 Nubus cards, but they have a standard Mac video connector one it, nothing like the ones on these displays. 

I have the following (see pictures):

Macintosh Portrait Display

This one has a 13w3 connector.  Those cables are in unicorn territory, like this one.  That one says it is for a two page display, but looks like it connects a standard Mac monitor cable type to the 13w3 type.  Would any old card work to drive a portrait as long as it can put out the correct resolution?

I also see Sun 13w3 to VGA adapters.  I'm wondering if I might go Mac to VGA to 13w3 with that adapter.  Anyone tried this?

Radius full page displays

I have tow and they both appear to have what looks like EGA type connectors (the predecessor to VGA if my memory serves me).  One has a male connector, the other female; what is up with that inconsistency?

What the heck is that?  Is the the full page display card connector?  Will a standard serial cable of that type work?  I have some but I believe they are just serial cables. 

I do have one card labeled just Radius Full Page Display that has one of these connectors. 

Radius Full Page Display/gs

You can't see it well in the picture (too dark) but the connector appears to be idential to a VGA connector. What kind of card does this need?  What can get me from a standard Mac

Can anyone help?

 

[pcamen]

I also discovered a card for the SE/30 that has a label on it that says PDS/30 dual page display; it has the same two row 5 over 4 video connector. 

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Check out the Radius Q&A, there were several flavors of the TPD with different interfaces.

http://archive.retro.co.za/mirrors/68000/www.vintagemacworld.com/radiusmain.html

 

[Compgeke]

Radius full page displays

I have tow and they both appear to have what looks like EGA type connectors (the predecessor to VGA if my memory serves me).  One has a male connector, the other female; what is up with that inconsistency?

What the heck is that?  Is the the full page display card connector?  Will a standard serial cable of that type work?  I have some but I believe they are just serial cables. 

I do have one card labeled just Radius Full Page Display that has one of these connectors. 

Yeah, a straight through serial cable will work. Note you'll get ghosting without a shielded cable though. I picked up a 9 pin straight through cable meant for video on a KVM of sorts I've been meaning to try but haven't got around to it yet.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

That's quite an envious collection of classic DTP CRT Displays. Any chance of doing a photo shoot so we can see them lined up and from all angles?

edit: check out that Q&A before firing the Radius monitors up. Early models operated at two different frequencies and required properly matched video cards. I wouldn't try a gender changer to use the same DE-9 "serial cable" interface display with different cards for example.

That FPD/gs sounds like a beautiful thing. :approve:

 

[pcamen]

That's quite an envious collection of classic DTP CRT Displays. Any chance of doing a photo shoot so we can see them lined up and from all angles?

Sure. 

The /gs does seem a lot nicer than the others.  Has a more solid feel like the Macintosh Portrait Display.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I intended to say enviable, but more accurate word choice tripped off the fingertips.  Even after I got an inexpensive B&W TPD for the used IIx back in the day I still lusted for the original FPD/SE. Years later, after I'd been Portraitized the pictures I saw online of the earlier FPD cases had less allure. How similar is the Macintosh Portrait Display to the /gs from Radius? Word on the street was that Radius designed/OEM'd the Portrait?

 

[elbaroni]

I have one of the unicorn cables - I’ve run my portrait from a IIci built in video, a Macintosh Display Card 8•24, an LC475. I’ve ordered a 13W3 cable which I hope to use from my Nubus portrait card. I think you either need the cable or a Nubus card and a 13W3 cable. The latter might be cheaper...

 

[pcamen]

Here are some pictures of all of them. 

I did find one 9 pin shielded cable.

 

[pcamen]

 

[pcamen]

 

[pcamen]

Sorry for all the submissions.  I seem to have trouble with uploading images to 68kMLA often.  They are standard iPhone 6S Plus images, but it seems to reject some until I size them down a tad.

From the front views, the Portrait is on the left, the FPD/gs is on the far right, and the other two are in the middle.  The gs does look a little in shape and size like the Portrait. 

 

[pcamen]

Ah, one of those is a Raster Ops.  That is why the two middle ones look so different.  That is the one with the 9 pin male connector.

 

[pcamen]

Does anyone know if the Full Page Display/gs model 0424 is color (seems doubtful) grayscale, or B&W?  I know the Portrait display is Grayscale. 

I've got cables on order for the portrait display and the FPD/gs, and have one shielded 9 pin to 9 pin for one of the two other full page displays.  Can probable use a gender changer for the other if I have one. 

I hope to be testing these out soon. 

 

[pcamen]

Here is the manual for the FPD/gs it appears.  I'm also attaching some other related manuals in case they are useful for anyone.

FPD card for Mac Se manual

FPD software manual

Two Page Display manual

View attachment Radius FPD Interface Card For the Macintosh SE (ocr).pdf

View attachment Radius_Full_Page_Display_User's_Manual_(ocr).pdf

View attachment Radius_Software_for_the_Full_Page_Display_User's_Manual_(ocr).pdf

View attachment Radius_Two_Page_Display_1988_(ocr).pdf

It is interesting that nowhere in the user manual does it mention the resolution (1152x870 for the /gs) or whether it is B&W or grayscale (or it is greyscale ...).

But, the software manual has some good info:

The GS can do up to 256 shades of gray (as they write it, not grey).

The normal FPD monitor is just B&W. 

 

[pcamen]

I think the last mystery is the cable standard for going from the DB-9 Radius FPD, Rasterops Portrait Clearvue/15 (turns out that is the full name) to the DB-15 Mac standard video.

It seems this would be possible because both Radius and RasterOps seem to indicate compatibility of their FPD and Clearvue/15 displays with standard Mac video. 

I know I can at least use the Radius FPD with some FPD cards I have, but would be nice to use them with a standard Mac video output on like a IIci or Q700.  Not sure of the RasterOps will work with a FPD card.

Amazing how much non-work related stuff I am getting accomplished since my Macbook Pro is in the shop getting a new battery, top case, keyboard, and trackpage (they all come as a single unit).  Hopefully it is the new 4th gen butterfly keyboard. 

 

[K Trueno]

Here is the manual for the FPD/gs it appears.  I'm also attaching some other related manuals in case they are useful for anyone.

FPD card for Mac Se manual

FPD software manual

Two Page Display manual

View attachment 28014

View attachment 28015

View attachment 28016

View attachment 28017

It is interesting that nowhere in the user manual does it mention the resolution (1152x870 for the /gs) or whether it is B&W or grayscale (or it is greyscale ...).

But, the software manual has some good info:

The GS can do up to 256 shades of gray (as they write it, not grey).

The normal FPD monitor is just B&W. 

Wow these manuals are really cool, fun to go through old docs like this.  Thanks for sharing!

 

[elbaroni]

My ClearVue/SE has a space for a standard DB-15 monitor connector to the little breakout box that holds the ports on the back of the SE, but the cable from the logic board of the expansion card is hard-wired into the 9-pin port. Not sure if the 9-pin port is compatible with a standard apple signal or if the different cable is necessary. That said, only one port on the logic board itself. If anyone can find some old Rasterops pin outs or has one with a 15pin connector they could photograph I’d be eternally. An SE with a portrait display is a dream machine. 

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

The one with the foot stuck to the top must be the second version of the FPD love of my life. I'm thinking FPD II as I have a NuBus card with DeclROM labeled for that version with a DE-9 connector interface. First rev. was BNC like the TPD/SE card I've been obsessing over for a few days. First rev was pre-tilt/swivel base. Looked just PERFECT sitting next to an SE in the ads.

Information about my FPDII/NuBus card and proprietary DE-9 connection afflicted VidCards for the SE in this thread: