Re: Using an RGB monior w/ an Apple //c

[Mitchell Spector <mitch2gs@hotmail.com>]

"Joseph Stevenson" <ikvsabre@comcast.net> wrote:

>I have an AppleColor RGB Monitor, model #A2M6014.  I've tried using it with
>my Apple //c, but the //c won't boot when the monitor is plugged in.  The
>connector on the back of the //c is the same as on the monitor (the RF
>modulator is not plugged in, obviously), so it seems like it should work,
>but it isn't.  Am I doing something wrong?

    What's at issue is the Apple IIc does not have an RGB port, the 15-pin
connector on back is a video expansion port. It provides the raw signals
for a specialized plug-in adapter to decode and generate a video signal--
you cannot simply plug in a monitor or wire a cable.

    The only display that works directly with the port are the two primitive
(and quite rare) LCD displays Apple and a third party manufactured. And
of plug-in video adapters, the only two I can think of off hand of would be
the IIc RF-modulator and the Video-7. The latter supported digital and at
least one version did analog RGB, but only at NTSC frequency, which is
what the AppleColor RGB above uses (analog RGB, 15.75 kHz).

    Why Apple engineers choose to use the same D-15 plug (with an RGB
icon above it, no less) that is identical to the Macintosh, Apple III and
IIgs is beyond me. For what it's worth, I tried the same thing 16 years ago.
I also tried it on an Apple III, though that, by pure coincidence, somewhat
works apart from incorrect color information. :)

Mitchell Spector