flash@lehi3b15.UUCP (Stephen Corbesero) (03/19/88)
Our department chairman has an AT&T 6300+ computer, which is a "mostly" PC-Compatible machine. Currently it has the original monochrome monitor, but appears to actually be a black and white monitor since I can get graphics and simulated shades. Has anyone sucessfully been able to put a real color monitor on this machine. Can it be done by just making a special cable? -- Stephen Corbesero flash@lehi3b15.UUCP VLSI Design Automation Lab usgcorb@vax1.cc.Lehigh.EDU Computer Science And Electrical Engineering, Lehigh University
bradd@gssc.UUCP (Brad Davis) (03/23/88)
In article <354@lehi3b15.UUCP> flash@lehi3b15.UUCP (Stephen Corbesero) writes: >Our department chairman has an AT&T 6300+ computer, which is a >"mostly" PC-Compatible machine. Currently it has the original >monochrome monitor, but appears to actually be a black and white >monitor since I can get graphics and simulated shades. Absolutly right. Your machine can drive either a color monitor or the black and green you have now. Your software cannot tell which kind you have attached. When a program uses "colors", this is displayed as either gray scale or as the true intended color depending on the monitor. > Has anyone >sucessfully been able to put a real color monitor on this machine. If you wanted to see what you are seeing now in actual color, you need to go buy a color monitor of some type. There are four options that I am aware of: 1. AT&T's own color monitor, which is kind of spendy 2. Amdek makes an equivalent, which I think is alot less 3. Nanao makes a multisync-type monitor that handles AT&T's video (this is unusual for a multisync-type monitor). This is perhaps even more expensive than AT&T's, but you can plug this monitor into darn near anything and it will work great. It'll take CGA,EGA,VGA,many of the new DGIS boards and even the Macintosh II. 4. Disable the built in video so you can mount a standard EGA or CGA clone card. This would allow you to use standard monitors, which might save you money. Since this may involve quite a bit of work - think twice before embarking. I have used options 1,3 and 4 at various times. The AT&T monitor is nice (not as sharp as the mono though), the Nanao is as good, and I have enjoyed the my current EGA/Nanao combination so much I'll never go back to AT&T again. >Can it be done by just making a special cable? Sorry, no chance. The AT&T video is a very non-standard frequency as well as a strange connector. So strange in fact that even most multisyncs can't handle it very well. You're going to have to buy one of the three monitors above unless you opt for option 4 (which would let you use most any monitor, but you'll have to buy a card as well). ====== ====== ====== US MAIL: Brad Davis, Firmware Division == == == 9590 SW Gemini Dr. == == == == == == Beaverton, OR 97005 == == == == PHONE: (503) 641-2200 ====== ====== ====== UUCP: tektronix!sequent!gssc!bradd The Graphics Experts Disclaimer: I'm a mushroom.
gjh@dale.acc.virginia.edu (Galen Hekhuis) (03/30/88)
The AT&T 6300+ (and the 6300) both use a 25khz signal for the monitor, and a DB-25 connector. While these have been characterized as 'strange' and 'non-standard', they are fairly common. The NEC Multisync can be used quite easily with the 6300 or 6300+, requiring only a simple modification of the DB-25 connector to 9 pin connector. If you want a color monitor, get one that can do 25khz scan rate (multisync or single scan rate) and do a simple cable modification (if necessary). BTW, the mode bw80 command can force your monochrome monitor out of the color emulation mode and into a black & white mode for some software (Norton Utilities comes to mind) where the difference in shades of colors do not provide enough contrast on the AT&T monochrome monitor. If you need help converting a 9 pin to a 25 pin configuration, call or write and I'll help. As I am away from my phone a good deal, e-mail is probably best. -- "I just said I'd fix it. I didn't say I knew how it worked." Galen Hekhuis, UVa Medical Center gjh@virginia.BITNET Box 449, Jordan MEB, Charlottesville, VA 22908 (804) 924-0172
bradd@gssc.UUCP (Brad Davis) (04/02/88)
In article <239@dale.acc.virginia.edu> Galen Hekhuis writes: >The NEC Multisync can be used quite easily with the 6300 or 6300+, requiring >only a simple modification of the DB-25 connector to 9 pin connector. If you >want a color monitor, get one that can do 25khz scan rate (multisync or single >scan rate) and do a simple cable modification (if necessary). Galen is only half right. With a simple cable modification, you *can* display your AT&T video on a NEC Multisync. But your picture will be a square in the center of the tube, about 9" across diagonally. NEC warned me about this, but I was still disappointed when I saw it. Usable? Certainly. Worth buying a Multisync for? No way. The problem is that the horizontal size can't adjust out far enough to expand the 640 pixels across to anything near 10". While 25khz is well within the Multisync's range, it seems that the horizontal blanking interval is much higher than NEC considered or was willing to allow for. Even on the Nanao (which is the only multisync(tm)-type I know of that advertizes AT&T compatibility), you must throw a switch on the back of the monitor to get the horizontal size out far enough. This may not be a problem with the Multisync XL, Multisync Plus or even the Multisync II, but you sure won't like the results on a Multisync I. So the moral is: don't assume that a multisync-type (there's alot more out there than NEC, you know) will handle AT&T/Olivetti just because it can handle 25KHz and is rated above 640x400. Brad Davis ====== ====== ====== US MAIL: 9590 SW Gemini Dr. == == == Beaverton, OR 97005 == == == == == == == == == == PHONE: (503) 641-2200 ====== ====== ====== UUCP: tektronix!sequent!gssc!bradd The Graphics Experts Disclaimer: I'm a mushroom.