Video options for the Apple IIgs

I’ve always abhorred CRT monitors.  They’re bulky, heavy, and they probably emit too much radiation to tire your eyes too quickly.  I’m so thankful that the computer industry, and every other video-related industry has switched over to using LCDs.

Retrocomputing is a hobby of mine.  The Apple IIgs is what I use the most from my collection of vintage computers.  The Apple IIgs made use of an RGB monitor through a DB-15 connector at the back of the computer.  A few years ago, Roger Johnstone provided the schematics to an RGB-SCART cable.  With some LCD monitors having a SCART input, this allowed me to finally get rid of my RGB monitor.  I use a Samsung 730MW monitor and that provides a very clear output from my Apple IIgs.

These LCD monitors with SCART input could start getting harder to find in the upcoming years.  I wanted to look at alternatives to displaying my Apple IIgs output on modern monitors.  It’s been an often-discussed topic in the vintage computer forums.  Ideally, we’d like to be able to use VGA, DVI, or even HDMI-capable monitors (composite-based output would be insufficient for me). For several years, Roger’s SCART cable was the only inexpensive way to do this.  There was a more expensive XRGB/XRGB2 converter that provided good output quality, but that turns out to be more expensive than your standard Apple IIgs investment.

As recent as last year, Nishida Radio from Japan offered an RGB-Component converter.  I recently purchased the converter from him and got a chance to test it over the holidays.  Although I wouldn’t call the output equivalent to that on the SCART cable, it’s pretty darn close.  Look for yourself in the following photos I’ve taken.  My monitor has both a SCART connector and a Component-In connector.

The ones on the left use the SCART cable and the ones on the right use Nishida’s RGB-Component adapter.

Nishida also has some other components for use with vintage computers.  My other purchases include the UNISDISK which emulates a Unidisk drive (attaches to the DB-19 drive connector at the back of the Apple IIgs), and a VGA adapter for the Apple IIc.  See all his stuff here.