A collegue has an old Apple II computer that they inherited from their
grandfather. It still works fine, but the original monitor is broken
and they want to use it with a modern monitor. I was asked to help and
I've searched online and found some solutions, but maybe they are
either too expensive or too complicated for him. Does anyone have any
suggestions on how to connect an Apple II to a modern monitor easily
and cheaply?

Here are some of the things that he's tried or considered:

Using a composite video cable and an adapter: This seems to be the
simplest and cheapest option, but the quality of the image is very
poor and blurry. The colors are also distorted and washed out.

Using a VGA card and a converter: This seems to be the best option in
terms of image quality and compatibility, but it requires opening up
the Apple II and installing a card that costs around $100 or more. It
also requires a converter that costs another $50 or more.

Using an emulator: This seems to be the easiest option in terms of
convenience and functionality, but it defeats the purpose of using the
original hardware. It also requires a modern computer that can run the
emulator software.

Basically he is looking for a solution that is simple, cheap and
effective. Something that can preserve the original look and feel of
the Apple II without compromising its functionality or authenticity.
Does anyone have any ideas or recommendations?

On 3/20/23 2:57 PM, MummyChunk wrote:
> A collegue has an old Apple II computer that they inherited from their
> grandfather. It still works fine, but the original monitor is broken
> and they want to use it with a modern monitor.

It will be significant which Apple II exactly they have. Some of the
earliest ones (pre-II-plus, early II-plus) will be grotty looking even
if you take my advice and find a TV (even an LCD TV) with composite-in
and use that. The later II line (IIe, IIc, and IIgs) won't struggle
quite as hard to project an image on a modern, more finicky LCD TV. The
Apple II line all took "liberties" with signal timing, and early TV
technology was much more forgiving of those transgressions.

So that's my advice at the end of the day - find a cheap LCD TV (or,
heck, use any tube TV still in the basement) that has a composite-in
jack. Unless it's a multifunction monitor or smart (or dumb) TV, it
won't likely stoop all the way down to composite-in. You will find no
joy with an el-cheapo VGA monitor.

Do they still have a VCR in the attic? That can sometimes be used to
cleanse/condition a composite signal a bit on its way to the TV (or
serve as an intermediary to change to another connector type).

ReActiveMicro sells a Composite to HDMI adapter:

https://www.reactivemicro.com/product/reactivemicro-mini-av2hdmi-video-adapter/

It is supposed to work with Apple ///, II, II Plus, IIe, IIc, and IIc Plus.

> Basically he is looking for a solution that is simple, cheap and
> effective. Something that can preserve the original look and feel of
> the Apple II without compromising its functionality or authenticity.
> Does anyone have any ideas or recommendations?

This was reviewed on Adrian's Digital Basement;

https://www.v2retrocomputing.com/analog

I don't know if it qualifies as cheap though.

Hi,

> This was reviewed on Adrian's Digital Basement;
>
> https://www.v2retrocomputing.com/analog
>
> I don't know if it qualifies as cheap though.
>

I'd consider this more mature and somewhat cheaper:

https://a2heaven.com/webshop/index.php?rt=product%2Fproduct&product_id=142

However, both are out of stock...

Regards,
Oliver

MummyChunk <mummycullen@gmail-dot-com.no-spam.invalid> wrote:
> A collegue has an old Apple II computer that they inherited from their
grandfather. It still works fine, but the original monitor is broken
and they want to use it with a modern monitor. I was asked to help and
I've searched online and found some solutions, but maybe they are
either too expensive or too complicated for him. Does anyone have any
suggestions on how to connect an Apple II to a modern monitor easily
and cheaply?

Here are some of the things that he's tried or considered:

Using a composite video cable and an adapter: This seems to be the
simplest and cheapest option, but the quality of the image is very
poor and blurry. The colors are also distorted and washed out.

Using a VGA card and a converter: This seems to be the best option in
terms of image quality and compatibility, but it requires opening up
the Apple II and installing a card that costs around $100 or more. It
also requires a converter that costs another $50 or more.

Using an emulator: This seems to be the easiest option in terms of
convenience and functionality, but it defeats the purpose of using the
original hardware. It also requires a modern computer that can run the
emulator software.

Basically he is looking for a solution that is simple, cheap and
effective. Something that can preserve the original look and feel of
the Apple II without compromising its functionality or authenticity.
Does anyone have any ideas or recommendations?

>

If you can locate someone local who can fix analog TVs, your best bet is to
repair the original monitor.

It’s likely that the failed component is just a few dollars, and that the
graybeard you find will fix it as a labor of love.

Almost every “conversion” device will distort the Apple’s artifact color
from the original intent, which was produced by the design details of NTSC
(analog) color TV. If the original monitor was an AppleColor Composite
monitor, you already have the gold standard. It’s worth fixing.

If it’s beyond fixing (say, the CRT is dead), these monitors are on eBay
for $100 to $200.

If you/he just want a “new” monitor, don’t! No new monitor plus a
converter will ever render Apple II color graphics as they were originally
intended.

--
-michael - NadaNet 3.1 and AppleCrate II: http://michaeljmahon.com

Groovy hepcat MummyChunk was jivin' in comp.sys.apple2 on Tue, 21 Mar
2023 05:57 am. It's a cool scene! Dig it.

> A collegue has an old Apple II computer that they inherited from their
> grandfather. It still works fine, but the original monitor is broken
> and they want to use it with a modern monitor. I was asked to help and
> I've searched online and found some solutions, but maybe they are
> either too expensive or too complicated for him. Does anyone have any
> suggestions on how to connect an Apple II to a modern monitor easily
> and cheaply?
>
> Here are some of the things that he's tried or considered:

[Snip.]

> Using a VGA card and a converter:

This is the way to go. But not the way you were thinking.
You can get adaptors that can connect composite video output to a VGA
monitor. Go on Ebay and search for "composite video to vga converter".
No opening up the machine. No installing expensive video cards. No
paying large amounts of cash. Just connect your Apple's composite
output to the device and the device's VGA output to your monitor.
Nothing could be simpler.

--

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