[comp.sys.mac.hardware] Do the new 8.24 color cards from Apple output to VCRs ?

Sundar_Prasad@mtsg.ubc.ca (Sundar) (08/21/90)

I read in the April 1990 issue of 'Macintosh Aided Design' that the new 
8.24 (Picasso) and the accelerated 8.24GC (Monet) video cards from Apple 
support interlaced video output to TVs and VCRs. My local Mac dealer seems 
to know nothing about this. Can anybody confirm/squash this information ?

Sundar_Prasad@mtsg.ubc.ca  <Internet>
userffa3@ubcmtsg           <Bitnet>
Civil Engineering
UBC, Vancouver V6T 1W5
CANADA

dmwr@GNU.AI.MIT.EDU (Mutha Funkenstein) (08/21/90)

In article <9211@ubc-cs.UUCP> Sundar_Prasad@mtsg.ubc.ca (Sundar) writes:
>I read in the April 1990 issue of 'Macintosh Aided Design' that the new 
>8.24 (Picasso) and the accelerated 8.24GC (Monet) video cards from Apple 
>support interlaced video output to TVs and VCRs. My local Mac dealer seems 
>to know nothing about this. Can anybody confirm/squash this information ?
>
>Sundar_Prasad@mtsg.ubc.ca  <Internet>
>userffa3@ubcmtsg           <Bitnet>
>Civil Engineering
>UBC, Vancouver V6T 1W5
>CANADA

As far as I know, they do not directly support interlaced video
output.  But, a company called Computer Video based in Massachusetts
sells a box for $395 (I think) that will take the output of the board
and convert it to NTSC.  The quality, which I have seen first hand, is
incredible.  With the 8.24 card it was good enough to use a TV as your
mac monitor.  Not a bit of flicker (even on the window drag regions).

Damian

    /----------------------------------------------------------------/
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jeff@sgi.com (Jeff Mock) (08/21/90)

>In article <9211@ubc-cs.UUCP> Sundar_Prasad@mtsg.ubc.ca (Sundar) writes:
>>I read in the April 1990 issue of 'Macintosh Aided Design' that the new 
>>8.24 (Picasso) and the accelerated 8.24GC (Monet) video cards from Apple 
>>support interlaced video output to TVs and VCRs. My local Mac dealer seems 
>>to know nothing about this. Can anybody confirm/squash this information ?
>>
>>Sundar_Prasad@mtsg.ubc.ca  <Internet>
>>userffa3@ubcmtsg           <Bitnet>
>>Civil Engineering
>>UBC, Vancouver V6T 1W5
>>CANADA
>
>As far as I know, they do not directly support interlaced video
>output...

I can't speak for the 8.24, but the 8.24GC does support NTSC/PAL.  In fact,
Apple uses a customized version of a Brooktree RAMDAC that does some simple
filtering of adjacent scanlines to make things like 1-pixel horizontal lines 
look better on interlaced monitors.  It's quite a piece of work.  I don't 
believe the GC card encodes RGB into a composite NTSC signal, but it 
does generate good interlaced timing.  I can't remember if it will genlock.

jeff mock
jeff@sgi.com