djo7613@blake.acs.washington.edu (Dick O'Connor) (03/22/89)
My old ZVM-122 amber composite monitor is still going strong, but I've
been wondering of late if I can get a little better resolution by using
a more modern monitor.
Can a 9-pin TTL monochrome monitor (like Goldstar or Packard Bell or ??)
be plugged into the 9-pin RGB connector (J9) on a Z-100? Would
resolution improve (due to smaller dot pitch, etc.)?
Big question, I guess, is: which monitor/video card combinations are
dangerous to pair up? I recall vague tales of horror out of the past,
but my limited knowledge of all things video-related can't make sense
out of these warnings. Frankly, I'm not worried about blowing an $80
monitor...I'm more concerned about hurting my Z-100!!!
Dick O'Connor
Washington Department of Fisheries
Olympia, Washington 98504
Internet Mail: djo7613@blake.acs.washington.edu
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DISCLAIMER: I speak only for myself, not for the Department. Here, anyway!
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So long, and thanks from all the fish...GUBBINS@RADC-TOPS20.ARPA (Gern) (03/23/89)
Monochrome monitors DO NOT HAVE a Dot Pitch (distance 'tween RGB phospher triads), they are 'smeared' as one continuous phospher mask. The only quality is in the composite conversion to sync and CRT drive. IBM type TTL monochome is fixed at a wierd sync rate, so it would not work on anything other than an IBM MDA card or compatible. An IBM CGA color monitor will work quite nicely (with the Intensity wire tied high) on the Z-100 RGB connector (same cable as the IBM too). An EGA Dual Scan or MULTISCAN (but not VGA fixed scan) will work nicely on the Z-100. I recommend the Mitsubishi Diamond Scan which even matches the Z-100 case perfectly (I run it with PROSCAN video option for VGA+ Resolution). Don't worry about hurting the Z-100, at the very worse, you will fry two $0.25 chips. Cheers, Gern -------