daemon@rutgers.UUCP (03/12/87)
From: prindle@NADC The monochrome signal out of the 128 (80 column display) displays only 3 levels of intensity: black if the color is black, white if the color is any color other than black and the intensity (I) bit is high, and something in-between (grey) if the color is not black and the intensity (I) bit is low. Thus, with this monochrome output, a light-red text on a light-green background will be invisible! With the RGBI to monochrome converter I designed, 16 levels of intensity are produced on the monochrome monitor, each corresponding to a different color - thus a light-red text on a light-green background, for example, will be perfectly visible. It greatly enhances programs (such as Paperback Writer/Pocket Writer II) which use subtle color differences to outline different portions of a menu and to highlight selections. It also helps where color (not intensity) differences are used to by editors to separate a command/ status line from the text lines. Hope this clears things up - yes you can live with just a cable, but once in a while, the 16 grey level output is a great improvement. Sincerely, Frank Prindle Prindle@NADC.arpa