apple ii monitors, video out

[nahuelmarisi]

Hi, unfortunately i have no tv (i don't want to pay the tv license!), which means I find it complicated to use apple IIs. I have the posibility of getting a IIe but it has no monitor. I was wondering if all apple II monitors are compatible. FOr example, can I connect an apple IIc monitor to an apple IIe (might be able to get my hands on one of those). Also, if I can't really get a mnoitor, is there some kind of video card with video in that would work on my macbook and it will allow me to connect the apple II to it?

 

[aftermac]

The IIe will connect to any monitor that has a composite (RCA/phono) connector. I have mine connected to a 20" Dell LCD. Not all Apple II monitors are compatible. Some have a DB-15 video connector, similar to older Mac's. I believe the 9" IIc monitors were composite. You might want to verify what connector the monitor has before acquiring it.

 

[Twilight_Rodent]

Well I do not know that much about PAL monitors. But if you get one that works for the IIc (composite) it should work on the IIe video out as well. There are some monitors (composite) that are green screen (B&W) for 80 col text, and with the push of the button you can have color for other things. But now the 80 col text is not that readable.

Nothing that I know would work with the Macbook unless it was connected to a LCD that also had a composite, input for video. Also called RCA type plug. Just a single type cable wire input. You would be able to use the color pictures and 40 col text. 80 would be blurry. The LCD would have to sync down to the apples signal. How well it does I am not sure.

Hope that helped some.

 

[luddite]

Also, if I can't really get a mnoitor, is there some kind of video card with video in that would work on my macbook and it will allow me to connect the apple II to it?

I imagine any video capture device which supports composite video should work, assuming it can display input to the Macbook's display in real time.

IIc and IIe monitors are fully interchangeable. The IIc monitor generally has a very bright and crisp picture... I prefer it to the IIe monitor or the colour composites.

 

[aftermac]

That's true... I didn't think about a video capture device or TV tuner (w/composite, of course). You would want a USB 2.0 of Firewire device, and make sure there there is no encoding delay. Otherwise, there could be a 2-5 second delay before output appears on your Macbook. I have a USB 1.x TV tuner and there is a several second delay before I get video. Flipping through channels sucks and it's completely useless for video games.

 

[Charlieman]

Have a look around for a video monitor used for CCTV or analogue video production. You may find it useful for use with a DVD player or VCR or many older computers.

 

[MacMan]

It may be worth having a look about for generic composite monitors if you don't mind having a non-Apple one. I found a great little 9", black & white Mitsubishi monitor in a skip once - I think it was part of an old CCTV system. It works very well as a monitor for my BBC Micro!

Some folk use midget TVs as monitors too (the small, cheap ones designed for caravans and trucks). However, since you don't have a license I'm not sure how legit that would be. Those little TVs are available incredibly cheaply these days though and you often see them at jumble sales or on eBay with very low prices. Some have composite ports on the back of them , some do not, so bear that in mind.

 

[nahuelmarisi]

I'm still looking for an option. The most plausible one seems to be getting a composite monitor. So far i haven't found any that was cheap enough on ebay. I do like the idea of getting a composite video capture for my macbook. However, I haven't found any for mac that are not worth more than £50 ($100). There are extremely cheap ones on ebay but they don't seem to be mac compatible. Perhaps one of you could recommend me an extremely cheap composite to usb adapter for mac?

 

[nahuelmarisi]

I've never seen composite to vga adapters. However, I've seen Scart to VGA, and composite to SCart. My question is: By hooking up both adapters, could I use my VGA monitor with the apple II? Or hooking both adaptors together won't work?

 

[MacMan]

I did a bit of messing about with this in the past and in short, no. The Scart to VGA adaptors use the RGB lines in the scart cable which are not the same as the composite signal line. The composite to Scart adaptors use the composite lines. Therefore using that kind of setup would result in no signal to the monitor, unfortunately. I believe there are boxes of electronics that exist to convert composite signals to RGB signals that are compatible with VGA monitors, however they are generally expensive and hard to find.

Sadly composite monitors don't appear on eBay very much as most people threw them out long ago or don't consider them worth selling. However, keep a look out and you may strike lucky.

 

[MacMan]

Just another idea: if you could find a Performa 6xxx or 5xxx machine with a video-in card (or indeed any of the AV Macs) then you could hook an Apple ][ up to the inputs and use the Mac to display the Apple ][ picture. A bit of a round-about way to do it but it would work and would also be a good excuse for getting another Mac!

 

[nahuelmarisi]

i will keep on looking for composite monitors. Do you know anything about composite to usb adapters for the mac?

 

[MacMan]

i will keep on looking for composite monitors. Do you know anything about composite to usb adapters for the mac?

Sadly not, sorry! Most of my kit is pre-USB.

 

[Scott Baret]

Just another idea: if you could find a Performa 6xxx or 5xxx machine with a video-in card (or indeed any of the AV Macs) then you could hook an Apple ][ up to the inputs and use the Mac to display the Apple ][ picture. A bit of a round-about way to do it but it would work and would also be a good excuse for getting another Mac!

Yes, finally a use for those Road Apple 5200s!!!