What are the correct monitors for various LC and Performa models?

[Rick Dangerous]

I am trying to find a period monitor to go with my LC III.  Is there a list anywhere of what monitor models match various LC and Performa models?

I recall the LC monitors would mostly sit right on the pizza box itself wheras the performas usually had a little stand in between them.

Have been keeping an eye out on ebay but these are getting somewhat hard to come by..

Thanks in advance!

 

[Yodd]

I would like this kind of info too!

I’m waiting to receive a Performa 475 and would like to find the correct matching monitor.

 

[sstaylor]

The Macintosh 12" RGB monitor M1296 was a popular choice for LC owners at the time because it was cheap and it was the same width as the LC and looked nice perched on top. They're cute, and they can be tough to come by anymore because everybody hated them at the time but wants one now.  

The drawback is that it's a 512x384 pixel display.  It's small, even by the standard of the time; it's the same resolution as the built in display on the Plus, SE, Classic, Color Classic etc.  640x480 was pretty typical unless you were serious about desktop publishing and had the big bucks for a big display.  Many games won't even run on 512x384.

Anyway, monitors were generally sold separately so lots of people chose other monitors for their LC and especially LC475 because monitors were coming down in price at the time.  In fact the 12" was discontinued about six months before the 475 was introduced.  There was a Performa Plus Display (M9102), the Basic Color Monitor (M9103) and the Macintosh Color Display (M1212) with little to differentiate them. 

 

[TimHD]

Per the LC Series User Manual  Macintosh LC Series/ Quadra 605 - tim.id.au there's a few to choose from.

You could google for images to get a look at what they look like and whether they'll go with your LC 475:

LC and LC II provide built-in support for many monitors, including: 

• Apple High-Resolution Monochrome Monitor (M0400) 

• AppleColor High-Resolution RGB Monitor (M0401) Rev 2 (M1297)

[SIZE=10pt]• Macintosh 12-Inch RGB Display (M1296)
• Macintosh 12-Inch Monochrome Display (M0400)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]• Macintosh Color Display (M1212)[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]• Apple Basic Color Monitor (M9103)[/SIZE]

LC III, LC 475 and Quadra 605 provide up to 16-bit support on 12-, 13-, and 16-inch monitors and 8-bit support on 15- inch portrait and 21-inch monitors. LC III, LC 475 and Quadra 605 support all Apple monitors available at CPU introduction dates, including:

[as above plus] 

• Macintosh 16-Inch Color Display (Macintosh LC III only)

[SIZE=10pt]LC III, LC 475 and Quadra 605 support NTSC and PAL. [/SIZE]

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

I've always wanted the 12" Monochrome pizza box topper, it's 640x480 Grayscale which is huge step up from SE/SE/30 territory. I've got a pair of the 12" RGBs in what appears to be an almost identical case. They look fabulous, but I'd love to have the Monochrome version, that 512x384 pixel limitation was the cost of being low cost and color in that day.

The Macintosh Portrait Display looks AMAZING on a Quadra 605 and very jaunty atop the LC475. Portrait res is the bombe and grayscale is oh so easy on the eyes.

YMMV, I'm also addicted to 21" TPDs running at 24bit.  :

 

[Byrd]

I've always wanted the 12" Monochrome pizza box topper, it's 640x480 Grayscale which is huge step up from SE/SE/30 territory. 

I picked up one of these recently (yellowed to the extreme), but it's a nicely designed monitor with tabs to hold the monitor cable securely inside the housing when transported.  It also weighs a fraction of the weight of 12 and 13/14" Apple monitors!

JB

 

[Rick Dangerous]

I noticed two people on ebay were advertising their 12" monitors as 14"s....wrote them to correct that..lol.

What about the M1298?  Even though that is 832 x 624 there is no reason it shouldn't do 620 x 480 if I plug it into my LC III right?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Depends whether it's MultiSync or not. A lot of early Mac monitors only ran one single resolution. everymac has info on displays, check the specs there.

 

[Rick Dangerous]

Depends whether it's MultiSync or not. A lot of early Mac monitors only ran one single resolution. everymac has info on displays, check the specs there.

So would this 16" M1298 not support 640 x 480 for older games then? 

http://www.everymac.com/monitors/apple/classic_monitors/specs/apple_mac_16_color.html

Would love to find a 14"-16" inch monitor for my LC III as the 12's just seem a tad small to me these days. 

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

LOL! 14/15 seemed more than a tad small to me when the iMac was released. I love the 12" Za'Topper form factor. If techknight gets the 640x480 RGB hack accomplished, the cute little thing will be perfect.

Looks like it won't support anything but that oddball 16" Mac resolution, it's from the period when Flicker Free and WYSIWYG trumped compatibility within the Infinite Loopiness. Considering that DTP had been the one saving grace of the Macintosh it's understandable. 15" was obviously the sweet spot for the iMac, even in the period when 17" was coming into general use in the business market. They got it right with the eMac, if a bit late.

Check out the Video Matrices on Gamba for some possibilities. "MultiScan" in the name of an Apple display would appear to be your search term.

 

[Rick Dangerous]

Okay, I think a M1212 with a stand is actually what I am looking for.  Fits perfectly on a LC III and is color, will do 640 x 480.  Now to find one!  lol

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

LOL! Interesting if less than useful gamba link! Sorry: Home Page of Gamba

Looks like this Matrix on gamba is the only place I can find with model names and model numbers together. Can't find model designations on everymac's database, very strange.

I'd keep my eye out for the 13" M0401 AppleColor High-Res RGB if I wanted to risk shipment of a CRT. Looks like it has a 12.8" image diagonal as opposed to the 11.5" everymac has listed for the 14" M1212 Macintosh Color Display. IIRC, the 13" RGB should work with the early universal base, but I think it looks better without. Looks fab sitting on a IIfx that way and ought to look jaunty on your LC. To my eyes T/S bases look just awful on the LC's sloping deck. For me it's 12" designed to fit, my Portrait or nothing.

When my Portrait's not on the Dock+ it's sitting atop the 475 or 605.

 

[Rick Dangerous]

Thanks for the tip I will keep an eye out for a M0401

I do want a base, though I know what you are getting at from a visual standpoint.  I want the base for two reasons:

-Nostalgia (had one with my Performa 450 growing up)

-Ergonomics-I'm 6'5 so actually having the monitor up a bit help me to not slouch, etc.

 

[Dimitris1980]

I use my macintosh color display (m1212) on my lc475 or on my performa 6116. It has fixed resolution 640x480 and the quality is really great. Retro games like monkey island look so nice. The width is the same like the lc475 and looks very nice on it.

 

[djhaloeight]

Its my opinion that the best monitor for the LC pizza box Macs is the above mentioned 12" Apple RGB M1296. It looks the best, IMO. Fits the computer perfectly. I'm lucky I found mine for less than $50 shipped a few years back on eBay. There are still some on eBay, at various prices. I'm considering having mine recapped soon.  It still has great image quality and is very bright, but I'd like to keep it around for the foreseeable future.

 

[Scott Baret]

Count me as another vote for the 12" for the pizza box LCs (and IIsi). I agree, have it recapped. I'm in the process of having that done for all of my 12" monitors to either correct or prevent focus issues down the line.

A few general guidelines for each monitor if you want to keep things period-specific:

1. The Hi-Res monitors were sold from 1987-1992. They require a VRAM upgrade for 256 colors (8 bit) on an original LC or LCII, but the III can drive one without a problem. However, they were generally not sold with the LCIII.

2. The 12" RGB was sold from 1990-1993. Some early LCIIIs did get them, but more were sold with the larger monitors.

3. The Macintosh Color Display replaced the Hi-Res in 1993. I've seen plenty of IIIs with these.

4. The Color Plus and Apple Basic Color Monitor were sold to a lot of schools from 1993-onward with LCs.

 

[boitoy1996]

Why such low resolutions?  I happen to have a Gateway 2000 CRT made in just 1995 that can do up to 1280x1024.  

 

[Bolle]

1995 was way later than the screens we are looking at in here.

Also they were meant to accompany the LC models... those were supposed to be low cost which did not go well together with having big high resolution screens back then.

 

[Scott Baret]

There were two other constraints here:

1. The amount of VRAM installed in these machines was usually 256K, upgradable to 512K.

2. The LC monitor was designed with its resolution to be better compatible with the IIe Card and, to some extent, educational software (so it would run in full screen mode if it were designed for compact Mac screens).