prindle@NADC.ARPA (Frank Prindle) (08/31/89)
A recent message suggesting adding an 8563 chip said that "unfortunately, the 8563 needs an RGBI monitor". In this case, "needs" is a relative term. With a few transistors and a handful of resistors, the R, G, B, I, HSYNC, and VSYNC signals can be combined into a nice monochrome composite video signal with 16 grey levels. Or they can be combined into a 3 grey level monochrome signal as done inside the C128. In either case, it will drive a cheap $50. green or amber monitor with no problem, and text will look better than it would on an RGBI monitor. Don't forget that the 8563 needs (in this case, really "needs") at least 16K of video memory (2 4416 RAM chips) connected externally. Sincerely, Frank Prindle Prindle@NADC.arpa