Re: monitors

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article shack@onyx.southwind.net (Randy Shackelford) writes...

>Mitchell Spector (spec@vax2.concordia.ca) wrote:
>
>: >I wasn't aware there was a mono monitor made specifically for the IIgs.
>
>:     Yep, there was one, simply called the "Monochrome Monitor". It
>: looked virtually identical to the AppleColor RGB display, although
>: it was a plain everyday composite monochrome display with RCA jack.
>
>Actually my recollection is that it looked the same as the //c composite
>color monitor. That's not so different from the IIgs monitor though.

    I just pulled out an old Apple IIgs ad booklet and had a close
look. At first glance it looks 100% identical to the AppleColor RGB
(minus the color). Looking closer though, it appears as though the
screen may be slightly larger with a thinner plastic border around
the glass area.

    All in all, it looks kind of like a cross between the AppleColor
RGB and the Color Composite IIc (though leaning closer to the RGB).

>:     I've never seen one in person, though from what I recall, it
>: used white phospher making it a black and white display. I doubt
>: it was very popular as one of the most exciting features of the
>: IIgs was its *color* capabilities. Two years later however, Apple
>: had a stand produced for it and made it the standard monochrome
>: display for the Apple IIc Plus.
>
>It had a light blue colored phosphor I think. The old user group in my
>home town had one on their official group IIgs until they got a cheap
>RGB, then they put the mono on the box running the group's BBS.

    Hmmm, the photo in the ad booklet show a light blue background
with black text. However, in the text describing, it reads, "If you
plan to work strictly with words and numbers, you might choose our
black-and-white monitor." Someone else in this thread just claimed
they had white phospher, so maybe there were two models sold--A
white phospher and blue phosher model?

    Speaking of that, I was reading my old Apple Monitor II users
manual and it mentioned it came in either green phospher or amber
colored phospher. There wasn't an amber version of the Monitor II
that I missed, was there?

>Plus composite color monitors make good TV monitors. A Mac using buddy just
>picked up a memory expandable //c, color monitor, and IW II for $15 at a
>thrift store because he had a //c color monitor in use as a TV but the
>color was washed out. He spotted me the //c and IW II and his old color
>monitor. That was pretty nice of him.

    Yep, the Apple Color Composite IIc makes a nice display for a
VCR--good color and sharpness if I remember (I had one back in '89).
I thought I heard they used Trinitron picture tubes, which would
certainly explain it. The old Commodore 1702 color composite my
brother uses with his PC-to-TV-out has even better color, I wonder
what kind of tube it used.

>:     One thing I would recommend though is that you go into the
>: Control Panel, and under the Display option, change 'Type' from
>: "Color" to "Monochrome". What this does is allow the IIgs to
>: display graphics in 16 shades of gray (this also works with any
>: 8-bit II+/e/c graphics modes, replacing dot patterns with hues).
>
>I'd recommend that for any composite monitor on a IIgs. It doesn't affect
>color in native software and it makes DHR programs easy on the eyes.

    I'd only recommend it for color composite displays when your
using a DHR program meant to display only B&W graphics (like for
example MultiScribe, MouseDesk, MouseCalc, GEOS, etc). In games
and productivity stuff like 816/Paint, your going to lose color.
Double-Hi-Res is pretty messy though, so it's tempting to want
to switch it into B&W. :)

>Of course, any composite output is mediocre except coming out of a VOC.
>Its output looks pretty good on a composite color monitor.

    I kind of wish Apple gave the GS a normal composite out port
so you wouldn't require a VOC. The Amiga, C64 and SuperNintendo
can certainly display their resolution and color using a color
composite monitor or TV set _without_ the need for an expensive
Genlock device. Ah well, its in the past now.

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca