A very popular choice of monitor back in the late 70s for your new Apple II was the Sanyo VM4209/4509 9" security monitor that occupied only half the top of the computer leaving room for Disk II drives on there as well. I love that look. However, those were black and white monitors so you couldn't enjoy the breakthrough color graphics of your new Apple. I've been looking for some time now for a 9" monitor with similar form factor, but have come to realize that the majority of 9" color monitors from the early 80s such as those used in broadcast video applications are VERY deep (like 12" or more). Undoubtedly this has to do with the nature of the color hardware. Anyhow, they don't sit well on top of the computer for that reason.
Does anyone know of a particular model color monitor from that time frame that is compact enough to use for that "old school" look?
An alternative would be compact color TVs from that time period (which would be what many people would've used for color) but then one has to use RF for video which I assume wouldn't be as clean as going directly from the Apple's video out to a monitor's BNC or RCA input.
Anyone?
Howie
PS: Happy New Year to all!
I recommend looking at the Ikegami TM9-1 on eBay or elsewhere. Be advised that just about any *color* monitor this size won't do 80 column text very well, but 40 column is more than adequate. A nice mono model is the Ikegami PM930 which has 700 vertical scan lines for crisp text. These are 'security monitors' just like the Sanyo - so you'll need BNC to RCA conversion (i.e. a trip to Radio Shack).
Here is a mono Ikegami monitor in action on one of my Bell and Howells.
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/405177_10150497698149162_708999161_8643680_544364486_n.jpg
Not necessarily. I've been lucky enough to source a few compact colour TVs on evilPay that have A/V inputs. Admittedly, nothing from the late '70s/early '80s, but my oldest one would not be much after that - and still crisp.
While the TM9-1 certainly looks good from the front, I'm afraid it's several inches deeper than the monochrome model and therefore is like the other 9" color security monitors I've seen...too deep to sit right on top of the Apple II.
Sweet! Exactly the old school look I'm trying to recreate, but with color.
Thanks for the input and for sharing the cool pict.
Howie
Ahhh, but there's the challenge...to find that elusive 9" color monitor that sits atop well but actually *is* from late 70s/early 80s for the sake of authenticity!
Bottom line is I've concluded that no such model existed: people either used 9" B&W security monitors like the Sanyo or Ikegamis that had the perfect form factor, or used 9" compact color TVs that had to be hooked up through an RF adapter because A/V inputs were still several years away from being standard.
Being able to show off the then-groundbreaking 1977 color capabilities of my original Apple II is a key thing to me, so I've actually gone ahead and tracked down an old Sony KV-9000U Trinitron TV set that I will hook up through RF. I suppose the reality is that this would have been exactly how someone in 1977 would've been using their new Apple II in color anyhow, so for authenticity sake it'll be spot-on.
Howie
I guess I don't notice it that much - it's ~3 inches depth difference between the color TM9-1 and PM-930/910 b/w sets I use. I recall 'back in the day' many of the larger monitors and TV sets hanging over a little in the front and/or back, so it's all very retro-like in appearance to me. Everything back then was kind of odd-ball kludged together from whatever was (cheaply/readily) available - nothing matched.
My original Apple II looked like a garage sale dinosaur when the IIe came out, with its complimentary form factor and colored monitors and duodrive options.
Thinking back... I don't think I ever saw a color monitor smaller that 12" and those were very expensive and the color quality could vary wildly from brand (and model) to brand, and even 40 column text was hard on the eyes. Even on the Ikegami TM9-1, 40 column is bad, 80 column is impossible.
Well, here you go...this is my Apple II rev.0 set up with a 1970s Sony KV-9000U Trinitron color TV. You can see the form factor is nearly perfect alongside a couple Disk II drives...the IIe monitor stand helps with a nearly perfect width, and allows me to easily pull the computer out to mess with the motherboard (and prevents scratches on the top). Other than the stand from the early 80s, I imagine this is an accurate recreation of how someone would have set up their Apple in color circa 1978. The Sony has a very impressive picture quality over RF...much better/sharper/vibrant than I anticipated given its age. I guess these old Trinitrons were made really well back then, built to last.
Anyhow, so this is what I've ended up with in my retro color monitor search, and I'm very pleased with it!
Howie