hirai@cs.swarthmore.edu (Eiji Hirai) (02/11/89)
Howdy folks. Is there any reason why we can't use an ordinary
15pin cable bought from a computer shop as the video cable connecting
the video card inside a Mac II to the RGB monitor? It seems like a sham
to buy an official Apple video cable when we can buy the same thing
elsewhere for a cheaper price.
More importantly, can I just use any RGB monitor instead of the
standard one which comes with the Mac II, provided I get all the pinouts
correct on the cables, using the same standard video card?
Apologies for my lack of hardware knowledge, but I just wanted
to save some money since we ain't no megabuck corporation...
-a.g.
disclaimer: I speak only for myself
in this article.
--
Eiji Hirai @ Visual Geometry Project, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore PA 19081
Internet: hirai@cs.swarthmore.edu | "All Cretans are liars."
Bitnet: hirai@swarthmr.bitnet | - Epimenides
UUCP: {rutgers, att}!bpa!swatsun!hirai | of Cnossus, Cretekaufman@polya.Stanford.EDU (Marc T. Kaufman) (02/12/89)
In article <2415@tulum.cs.swarthmore.edu> hirai@cs.swarthmore.edu (Eiji Hirai) writes: > Howdy folks. Is there any reason why we can't use an ordinary >15pin cable bought from a computer shop as the video cable connecting >the video card inside a Mac II to the RGB monitor? It seems like a sham >to buy an official Apple video cable when we can buy the same thing >elsewhere for a cheaper price. You make the mistake of thinking that all cables with 15 pin connectors on the ends are the "same thing". The video cable needed between the Apple video card and the monitor is different from data cables in that it contains 3 coaxial cables, one each for R,G,B, rather than 15 individual wires. You CAN, in fact, buy the "same thing" from other places, more cheaply than from Apple, and in longer lengths. Just be sure it IS the "same thing". > More importantly, can I just use any RGB monitor instead of the >standard one which comes with the Mac II, provided I get all the pinouts >correct on the cables, using the same standard video card? Yes, you can use OTHER RGB monitors, but not ANY RGB monitor. The monitor must have Analog input and be able to run at the correct scan rate. The NEC Mulisync and SONY CDP-1302/3 work fine, but require different cables because the monitor pinouts are different (see previous comment). Marc Kaufman (kaufman@polya.stanford.edu)