Re: Can the IIgs output colour on its composite monitor output?

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

ralmin <xbiber@bigpond.net.au> wrote:

> David Empson wrote:
> > As you are in Australia, the problem is almost certainly that your
> > composite monitor is expecting a PAL colour source (like the UK/Aus/NZ
> > version of the IIe and IIc).
> 
> I've got three reasons to think that this is an NTSC monitor.
> 
> 1. My IIe is the International Platinum version, whose motherboard is marked
> NTSC also, yet that displays colour on this monitor.

Ah, yes.  Another one of Apple's strange decisions.

(Points 2 and 3 deleted.)

I quite agree - you definitely have an NTSC monitor, but I can't explain
why the IIgs isn't showing colour on it.

I see from later in this thread that the IIgs actually is outputting
PAL.  The existence of a PAL version is news to me.

I was able to dig out one of the IIgs machines I have here (a ROM 3
given to me by a friend, which was purchased in New Zealand) and try it
on my TV, but the end result wasn't conclusive because my TV supports
both PAL and NTSC input, with a selector to force PAL or to auto detect.
If I tell it to use PAL mode, it shows black and white, with occasional
flashes of colour (I get the same behaviour if I connect an NTSC-only
IIc to this TV).  If I tell it to autodetect the mode then it always
shows colour.

Unfortunately, the computer's power supply died (overload/underload
protection shutdown, by the sound of it) before I had a chance to do any
more extensive tests, and I don't have any other working IIgs machines
here.  I can't find my ROM 1 - it should be around here somewhere, but
is probably buried rather deeply.  My ROM 3 is at work right now.


A couple of side points which might be adding confusion for anyone else
trying to repeat these tests:

- The Monochrome/colour setting in the control panel must be set to
colour in order to enable colour composite output.  (It has no effect on
the RGB output.)

- If displaying a text-only screen, the IIgs always displays monochrome
on the composite output.  You must be displaying a graphics mode
(lo-res, hi-res or super hi-res) to get any colour.  (Split screen
lo-res or hi-res with four lines of text will have coloured text on the
composite output, assuming colour output is enabled.)