Adding HDMI to a stock Macintosh Classic

With this little modification, you can have crystal clear HDMI output from a stock Macintosh Classic. It's almost hard to believe but it actually works!
-- Video Links
Buy a RGB2HDMI board:
github.com/hog...
RGB2HDMI Github: (Ian's Fork with improvements -- see releases for latest Beta)
github.com/Ian...
Original project:
github.com/hog...
Adrian's Digital Basement ][ (Second Channel)
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Support the channel on Patreon:
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Mail Call episode where I first tried the RGB2HDM:
• The TTL RGB2HDMI Raspb...
Retro Hack Shack: (Aaron donated the RGB2HDMI to me)
/ @retrohackshack
Mac Repair-a-thon series:
Part 1: • Mac Repairathon Part 1...
Part 2: • Mac Repairathon Part 2...
Part 3: • Mac Repairathon Part 3...
Part 4: • Mac Repairathon Part 4...
Part 4.5: • Rejuvenating a Macinto...
Part 5: • Mac Repairathon Part 5...
Part 6: • Mac Repairathon Part 6...
-- Tools
Deoxit D5:
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O-Ring Pick Set: (I use these to lift chips off boards)
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Elenco Electronics LP-560 Logic Probe:
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Hakko FR301 Desoldering Iron:
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Rigol DS1054Z Four Channel Oscilloscope:
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Head Worn Magnifying Goggles / Dual Lens Flip-In Head Magnifier:
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TL866II Plus Chip Tester and EPROM programmer: (The MiniPro)
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TS100 Soldering Iron:
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EEVBlog 121GW Multimeter:
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DSLogic Basic Logic Analyzer:
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Magnetic Screw Holder:
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www.harborfrei...
Universal ZIP sockets: (clones, used on my ZIF-64 test machine)
www.ebay.com/i...
RetroTink 2X Upconverter: (to hook up something like a C64 to HDMI)
www.retrotink.com/
Plato (Clone) Side Cutters: (order five)
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Heat Sinks:
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Little squeezy bottles: (available elsewhere too)
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--- Links
My GitHub repository:
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Commodore Computer Club / Vancouver, WA - Portland, OR - PDX Commodore Users Group
www.commodorec...
--- Instructional videos
My video on damage-free chip removal:
• How to remove chips wi...
--- Music
Intro music and other tracks by:
Nathan Divino
@itsnathandivino

[@Breakfast_of_Champions]

When the video adapter has 1000x the computing power of the host computer

[@Codeaholic1]

Given how much is done in software I wonder how much the arm cpu is utilized. Eg. Could a slower clocked core still handle this?

[@stevethepocket]

That's probably what it takes to have zero latency!

[@ph1losopher]

@@Codeaholic1 It's probably using dedicated counters/dividers and interrupts on the SoC to generate the timing rather than CPU instructions due to strict timing requirements of HDMI, so it probably could run on a slower CPU if it had the same counters.

[@thomasbonse]

@@stevethepocket Wouldn't that be Pi-Zero latency? 😉

[@htfkid2000]

The best way to look at it is, think of the video adapter as a magical black box. Doesnt matter it's compute capability, it's just there to facilitate video lol

[@RetroHackShack]

Ha! I knew you would find some cool uses for the RGBtoHDMI, but I never expected HDMI from a Mac. Awesome job!

[@ironhead2008]

This is gonna give life to a WHOLE lot of old Macs with busted screens.

[@rayproductionsbackupchanne3862]

hm. would be amazing to make third party after market cases for them too then. instead of it being a mac classic it'll look like one of those small performas. or. replacing the crt with a LCD

[@TheSkytherMod]

@@rayproductionsbackupchanne3862 Many options for that, with help I'd be willing to attempt something. Could make laser-cut, 3d-printed, extruded etcetera. Whilst I cannot produce the physical items I'm plenty capable of making the cad files

[@tetsujin_144]

I think there's not nearly so many compact macs with busted screens as there are with battery-bombed logic boards...

[@Codeaholic1]

"I'm going to do less videos..." does way more. Haha. I started with a classic Mac. This old Mac stuff warms my heart. Kudos.

[@spykillergames8402]

ya i dont think the "do less" worked out for him XD

[@ClintTheriault]

These are videos that he's probably already filmed when he made that announcement. He's likely going to start to release less videos in a week or two.

[@tonanornottonull7132]

Shhh don't make him realize he's doing more haha

[@fredsretrocoding1421]

This is awesome! I will finally be able to build myself a se30-based home cinema!

[@benholroyd5221]

For extremely short black and white films?

[@fredsretrocoding1421]

​@@benholroyd5221 I am (slowly) completing the next version of macflim (www.macflim.com) with sound and smaller files! Unfortunately, the encoder doesn't really support movies longer than a few minutes, so I'll settle for 80s music videos :-)

[@benholroyd5221]

@@fredsretrocoding1421 Oh wow. I thought you were being sarcastic, (well more sarcastic). Impressive that you managed to get it running in a window, I'd have thought you'd have to bypass the os entirely to stand a chance.

[@fredsretrocoding1421]

​@@benholroyd5221 I thought the same thing at the begining, but at the end, the windowed version is 4x less data. I align the window on a multiple of 8, so copybits doesn't have to rotate, and it goes well enough (I had other ideas, but they were not necessary). Won't work with the audio version, though, due to timing issues with sound and disk, so I 'll probably limit sound to full screen.

[@benholroyd5221]

@@fredsretrocoding1421 surely don't need sound from multiple videos anyway. I am seriously impressed. I wouldn't even have tried this, and I have a habit of thinking " there must be a simpler way" and very quickly realising why X is like it is.

[@CDE.Hacker]

I would love to see you put a LCD or LED in an old Macintosh. Imagine how many machines could have life again. 🤯

[@AngeloTelesforo]

My first Classic for instance! I broke it’s crt neck… 😞

[@NielsenWill]

I've been looking around for information do do exactly this and boom, this video pops up

[@darthbukowski6894]

I was going to post the same thing.😂. That would be an awesome upgrade.

[@Codeaholic1]

I'm curious how you're going to handle fitting the flat lcd panel in to the curved opening the crt went in to? Are you going to make the opening flat by removing plastic or add on an extension to take up the extra space between the opening and the panel?

[@darthbukowski6894]

@@Codeaholic1 , some case modding will need to be done for sure, maybe a 3D print something. Also depends if you could get a screen, maybe a laptop one, to be a form Factor that would fit the space.

[@JLsoft]

Heh, I just realized when he pulled the external output up that I used to think, back when I first used an original Mac, that the rounded corners were actually missing pixels on the built-in tubes and not just the way the Mac's desktop is drawn as a design choice :/

[@Spelter]

Maybe they did it because of the corners and do it so it's not outside a few pixels ?

[@maighstir3003]

@@Spelter I'm fairly certain the corners are rounded because Jobs wanted them to be, not because of any technical reason (even indirectly). Look up the story about Steve Jobs and "roundrects", though that one specifically concerns QuickDraw I would be surprised if the rounded corners of the screen (which were on the Lisa as well) weren't born from a similar idea.

[@MotoRideswJohn]

There are not enough thumbs up in the world to express how freakin' cool that is!

[@bsvenss2]

Use a TD2TU converter.

[@millomweb]

HDMI is such a terrible thing ! NEVER again !!!!

[@millomweb]

@@blitzwing1 The connectors are rubbish and the connections affect the way the laptop works ! Turning the sound off and reconfiguring desktop layout !

[@lobizonxp]

I've never seen a device generate content quicker than this RGB2HDMI! That little guy must be freaking awesome! Great video, Adrian!

[@RetroWK]

No reason to do this sounds perfectly fine to me!

[@kuillus]

So cool! I wanted HDMI or VGA out on the compact old Macs for so long. Thank you for the video and settings! HDMI for all retro Macs one day :)

[@Colaholiker]

The whole adapter wiring is far more colorful than the image passing through it. :-D

[@1BitFeverDreams]

Inspired by you, I built my own 2 units of RGB2HDMI and successfully hooked it up to my own Mac Classic 1. I can intercept the HDMI signal to a cheapie USB stick capture device. I'm probably gonna set up a Mac plus in the same way, to reach compatibility with older games from 1984-1986. I set up a channel called '1Bit Fever Dreams' to show off my captured game sessions! Thanks Adrian!

[@StephenArsenault]

Looking forward to a review of the BlueSCSI :)

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Yeah I have one -- definitely need to do video capture when I do.

[@wazhoola14]

Stephen's comment and Adrian's answer are both showing as being posted 2 weeks ago!

[@StephenArsenault]

@@wazhoola14 glitch in the matrix!

[@stephanemignot100]

@@wazhoola14 Patreon's privileges I guess!

[@thebyteattic]

How can 7 people NOT like this? I mean, really?

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Heh, a few people have posted angry(ish) comments :-)

[@VenomStryker]

@@adriansdigitalbasement Not sure why anyone would be angry...lol. Always a few bad apples I suppose.

[@millomweb]

Possibly cos HDMI is so terrible !

[@omarhammoud7223]

@@adriansdigitalbasement angry about what ??? this is was fantastic !!!

[@devttyUSB0]

Oh wow, how cool to see a pixel perfect capture of that mac on my Thinkpad. Brings back memories man. That's a really cool project, that RGB-to-HDMI pi-thing.

[@NaokisRC]

I used a custom wire adaptor and resistors to get a "VGA" signal out of the mac classic i had to make sure the motherboard was outputting video to the CRT. Mind you this only worked because the Eizo multi scan monitor I have supports 24KHz even tho the mac classic is 22.5khz, it threw a warning but still displayed it enough to verify the mac was working

[@richardbanks2669]

Does it understand Apple //c lcd panel weird digital video output? I'm working on my own project for that, but I'd love to see how well it might work :)

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

I have an upcoming video on this too -- let's just say at this point other solutions aren't worth doing. :-)

[@Codeaholic1]

I believe supporting anything beyond NTSC composite video from the //c video port is going to require some additional logic to derive the video signal. I don't know if the cpld on the rgb2hdmi could do this or not. apple2.org.za/gswv/a2zine/faqs/Csa2MONITOR.html#022 Re: Adrian, excited to see it

[@RetroHackShack]

Apparently it is possible now. github.com/hoglet67/RGBtoHDMI/issues/209

[@richardbanks2669]

@@adriansdigitalbasement I have one of Plamen's //c VGA adaptors, but sadly that outputs 720x480, which looks nice on a crt, but horrible on an LCD because of the integer scaling issue - I've been working on getting a PiPico to convert directly from //c digital lcd output to LVDS signals to directly drive an LCD panel - I love the idea of the system you've been using, but for my own satisfaction I'm keen to build a '100% digital, minimum overhead' LCD interface - going to HDMI, using the PiZero SoC HDMI circuitry and then back to whatever the panel uses natively feels like 'cheating', hence wanting to try it on a much more basic microcontroller, at a more fundamental level. Yes, it's a silly idea. Looking forward to seeing how well your setup handles //c video, especially artifact colour vs sharpness - If i am successfull with my experiments I'll send you a kit and you can do a head-to-head comparison, if you like :) Thanks for providing such an entertaining channel, it's always nice to watch your enthusiasm for trying new things, and repairing old ones :)

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Yeah the github link above is the work I did with Ian to get the IIc fully supported via the DB15 port. Ian even recently added the mixed mode decoding so in the lower 4 lines doesn't get artifact color applied to it. It works flawlessly now and scales perfectly in pixel perfect HDMI. All the VGA adapters that exist are junky in comparison and that video I'm making will compare them, showing off how superior the RGB2HDMI is at this. :-)

[@mrlox9576]

Quote: "the crt is very bright, very strong". Of course it is. Our friend Adrian has been at it. So it should be working like a dream. Hehe 😋 Thanks for the handy vid Adrian. 👍

[@75slaine]

Yay, the return of the Lansdowne Road jersey 🇮🇪 . I love all the enhancements we’re getting for our old machines thanks to projects like this. Exciting stuff

[@fragglet]

That's awesome that you can do direct video capture from a Classic Mac now. All you need to add is direct audio capture of the Mac speaker :)

[@mojoblues66]

HDMI can carry audio, so there should be a way to get the speaker output into it.

[@Spelter]

In theory yes, but the converter board has to sent it because HDMI is a bit different with sending aound than 3.5mm audiojacks. Basically, its digital not analog.

[@bamdadkhan]

lool crystal quest.. my childhood too. and my highest score is only 1212275.. i thought i'm the best at this game but now i have a challenger. xddddd < 3

[@GarthBeagle]

This is really cool! I love the way the pixels look - it reminds me of running the Apple 30" Cinema Display, which uses dual link DVI to get it's 2560x1600 resolution, on a device that only supports single link DVI, so that you get the single link timing in the display of 1280x800 (not scaled) which looks nicely chunky 🙂

[@uliwitness]

Can you elaborate what you meant about the pixel aspect ratio not being 1x1? All Macs had square pixels. The 512x342 is the B/W screen pixel dimensions, 512x384 was for the Color Classic's 10" screen and the 12" color display (vs. the 640x480 13" screen). Those screens were just about the size of two menu bars taller, meaning you could fit more stuff on them.

[@fred_derf]

I remember being at the local Apple dealer when the Mac came out (I was there for the Lisa debut as well) and being very excited when I measured things and figured out that it was using square pixels (the Lisa had rectangular pixels). P.S. The Mac's screen was has a wider aspect ratio than a standard 4:3 display -- Mac's were widescreen before wide-screen was a thing.

[@uliwitness]

@@fred_derf Ah yes, the color displays (512x384 and 640x480) were standard TV 4:3, but that obviously makes 512x342 a bit shorter than 4:3. Though none of these are 1:1 (that would be square).

[@DavidWonn]

1:30 Goodwill just couldn’t make up its mind on the price…

[@StevenStaton]

This looks like the answer to the question “How do I screen capture my NeXT Cube and NeXTStation color displays?” Awesome work, Adrian!

[@lauram5905]

If my Mac Classic hadn't *literally melted* from a battery explosion in a humid basement 8 years ago I'd be all over this, it's so cool to be able to give old priceless experiences a new lease of life with something as simple and as bog standard now as a Pi

[@jengelenm]

OMH i just remember playing that game with my nephew 30 years ago!!!! (I was 12 or little over). Thanks to this video! Amazing flashback, from the very depths of my brain

[@devicemodder]

The commodore PET looks to use the same type of video interface as well... meaning that this should work with that computer also

[@matthewbriggs9137]

You could theoretically gut the CRT and put an LCD display in place. This would be a worthy experiment if the CRT was kaput on a Classic Mac.

[@Vintechfinder]

Hey! Nice to see the RGB2HDMI used on a compact Mac, did you try the Compaq Portable too?

[@stonent]

Compaq portables have a CGA port on them so you would just plug it in.

[@Vintechfinder]

@@stonent the internal header on a Compaq Portable color/enhanced graphics adapter is not exactly CGA

[@stonent]

@@Vintechfinder I was talking about the CGA port on the outside of the card.

[@michaelhaardt5988]

The simple reason to add HDMI to a Mac is: Hack value. No further reason needed.

[@zbradbell]

I went to a very early iphone programming talk by apple, and the way they projected the iphone screen at that time was just by putting it under a document camera. wouldn't be surprised if the old Macintosh keynote just had a regular video camera pointed at the screen.

[@briangoldberg4439]

The Pi 4 can handle the specific refresh rate you would need. The limitations you are talking about are only a problem on the Pi 3.

[@stefanweber8935]

Very cool. Would love to see a video on running a classic Mac mainboard without the analog board, just using the RGB2HDMI and an ATX PSU. That should be a nice setup for testing MBs. I hope somebody will produce and sell a bigger batch of these....

[@philevans4021]

23:51 is it just me or is that the exact sound at the beginning of the Streets Of Laredo VR game in Red Dwarf?

[@ArsenalEcho]

I've owned a Mac Plus and an SE for several years. Their resolution was 512 x 342. I've never seen a classic Mac going to 384. My friend's SE/30 also was 512 x 342. Every Mac with a 9" CRT was 512 x 342. Unless I'm mistaken, the Color Classic was the first to do 512 x 384.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Indeed, the original Mac resolution is not actually 4:3, and it was too stretched vertically after he put it to interpolated (but he called it correct because he always adjusts his CRTs to fit 4:3). How it first looked is pixel accurate.

[@kittyztigerz]

now that is usefully inform awesome jobs Adrian

[@obijuan232]

Adrian, you rock! As always keep up the good work.

[@markmaz56]

I used to work on a Mac Plus with an external Radius full-page display in 1986!

[@johnblair8146]

That video interface has many times the computing power as that Classic II.

[@IEnjoyCreatingVideos]

Good job Adrian! Thanks for sharing the video with us!💖👌👍😎JP

[@jmorahz]

My SE 30 is not happy anymore. I need a HDMItoRGB to reuse the CRT. That exist?

[@erinwiebe7026]

How amazing is this! The video capture looks like something I've seen emulated on my monitor, but it's being run from a real classic Mac! I've been following similar rgb2hdmi projects in the Amiga scene, but seeing it here on a Mac gives me an idea. It's probably beyond my skill level (I've done basic recapping etc), but I have a Color Classic II whose CRT is really bad and looks like it's on steadily for the past 20 years. In the right hands, a project like this could be used with a new internal LCD on the Color Classic II much like Noel did with his Amstrad CPC. The only problem I would have is, it would ruin the originality and aesthetics of the machine. The trinitron crt Apple used on the color classics have a distinct, flat curve to them. The LCD would have a wonderful picture, but look completely out of place in the housing I think?

[@00Klingon]

Please do RGB2HDMI on Apple IIGS RGB as the options for that are very limited these days if you don't have an original monitor.

[@tehdudester]

Wow, it has so many goodwill stickers on it lol

[@nicholastotoro7721]

Waiting for the day someone adds DVI or HDMI to a Timex Sinclair 1000…. 🤣

[@sittingstill3578]

I wonder if _curiousMarc_ would ever do that. Who knows, he’s in the middle of the “Mr. Fancy Pants” Saga right now so we can only wait.

[@xxycom8963]

Thought you said that to be funny. But, there was a revised ROM prepared (I had a copy), which gave the ZX81/Timex 1000 a steady original MAC like display.

[@nicholastotoro7721]

@@xxycom8963 Nooooooo, I’m actually serious. I have the one I got for my 8th or 9th birthday that is unusable because I don’t have an old, analog TV or even the RF modulator anymore.

[@Codeaholic1]

Check out Noel's retro lab series. He used it to replace a failing lcd panel.

[@nicholastotoro7721]

Wow! Thanks, guys! I didn’t realize there was actually a group of people who cared or had similar issues albeit with different hardware). This is actually pretty cool!

[@xero110]

Adrian, have you looked into NitrOS-9? It looks like a really cool project. This is a quote about the project. "NitrOS-9 is a real-time, process-based, multitasking, multi-user, Unix-like operating system for Tandy CoCo, Dragon, and several other Motorola MC6809-based computers. The original OS-9 was created in 1979. NitrOS-9 is the modern equivalent of that OS, and includes advanced features like support for up to 2 MB RAM and 4 GB Hard drive partitions. It is still being developed, and support is available in many mailing lists and forums."

[@Hougaard]

I just wanna be able to buy a RGB2HDMI - anyone knows anyone actually selling them?

[@cappaculla]

Hey Adrian, digging the Shirt !!!

[@legin3753]

Love the Irish rugby shirt 😎

[@SidneyCritic]

Ahh, that's what that was. It kind-of looked familiar, but I couldn't remember.

[@gabhanhome]

The Lidl knock off Irish rugby jersey

[@nickolaswilcox425]

you do see that pattern but only when the motherboard has a major failure, usually the caps, i didnt know what was causing that pattern but i guess its part of the post process if it pops up that early and is normally gone

[@cgmagik9837]

Wow! Amazing. Thank you!

[@hfiguiere]

20:10 512x384 was the resultion of the 12" colour monitor that came as the least expensive option for the Macintosh LC. Again it's funny that the CPU on the RPi is more powerful that the machine it handles the display for.

[@desiv1170]

"Why would you want to do this?" ... is something no one in the Retro world should ever ask. ;-) Great vid!! Also, too bad the Pi in the Classic project didn't work. That would have been fun too. ;-)

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Yeah the reverse would be amazing -- another enthusiast was working on it too but we just ran into issues with the DPI limitations on the Pi. Not sure if it's a software or hardware issue.

[@RamLaska]

15:45 actually, you will see that pattern if the tube was already warm (e.g., you did a full shutdown, and then immediately turned it back on) Good memories from my Macintosh SE days.

[@ctrlaltrees]

2:33 Sometimes the only reason we need is - "because we can!" 🙂

[@KonuralpBalcik]

Adrian records video directly with raspberry pi and ffmpeg. and you can stream. even i do this kind of local TV broadcast

[@awd42]

The second aspect ratio you use starting at 20:59 seems like it's stretched vertically. Maybe it's my eyes playing tricks on me, but I don't think so, since the desktop pattern at 21:40 is supposed to be square, but it's definitely taller thank it is wide. I saw elsewhere in the menu that the HDMI output was 1024x768. A 2:1 scaling of 512x342 would be 1024x684, but if it's full-screen, that means it's being stretched to 768 px, or by 12%. This is still really cool though, that it works even this well! I'm not sure about this aspect (heh) of the classic Mac CRTs, but I _thought_ they just turned down the Vsize a little so that circles and squares would look correct. I.e. pixels are square, even though the aspect ratio is 1.5 instead of 1.33.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Yeah, this is just one of those things - he adjusts the V size to fill the screen on his classic Macs so he’s used to those skinny rectangular buttons and adjusted the adapter to match. The circle cursor in that game at the end is oval too. Another thing Adrian always does out of spec with CRTs is adjusts it so the infrablack bar in the SMPTE test pattern is black, which makes the black be 5% grey and the 5% grey become 10% grey. I’m assuming they’re both just habitual by now, however they originally came about (misreading/misremembering spec?)

[@TedSeeber]

It's funny how back in high school, we looked on the Mac as quite literally a purpose built desktop publishing machine. It seemed so much LESS capable than an Apple IIe at the time.

[@bigbeef2654]

wow that signal is so sharp.. would love to see on a C64

[@LeftoverBeefcake]

I'm loving this modern era where anyone can create brand new hardware stuff for old machines, whether it's designing and fabricating a completely new motherboard, connecting up modern console controllers, and now displaying retro output over HDMI. Brilliant!

[@TranscendentalAirwaves]

If you were to power the motherboard directly could you take the video signal directly from the motherboard connector?

[@EdwinSteiner]

Seeing the old Mac desktop full-screen in high quality is something special, even to me, who was never a Macintosh user. I hope you will use this converter on many retro systems in the future!

[@performa9523]

Saw this recently on Noel's channel as a screen replacement, and immediately thought of old Macs. Glad to see I wasn't the only one who thought of that! Rock on sir!

[@MrAlan1828]

I have the exact opposite a Classic with a classic II logic inside ;) hdmi out, with audio?

[@compu85]

Adrian, to get a video out on an original Macintosh Apple had a little board that plugged in between the digital and analog board. It gives a composite out, but like the Lisa’s video out it’s at NTSC frequencies.

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Interesting -- that begs the question how did it do it if the resolution and scan rate is wrong? Maybe they had a custom modified Mac to run at NTSC frequencies somehow

[@compu85]

@@adriansdigitalbasement I think they either modified the projector to use the scanning frequency of the Mac, or the projector was multisync. Some Lisa documentation talks about using a specific Electrohome monitor or Conrac projector with a 22.7 KHz scan rate. (One of the few chips on the Lisa motherboard is something that integrates the H sync, V sync, and video into a composite signal, which goes to a jack on the back of the machine) I got one of the Mac video out boards in a lot of stuff from a Lisa engineer - I’ll have to make a video showing it. I’ve never seen picture of one before!

[@adambaranek]

I’ll have to try to get one of these!. I have a Franklin Ace 2200 with RGB out that I would like to use with a modern display. It supports both the intel (cga?) and Apple pinouts configured with switches. Just wish I had some way to write to 5.25” disks. I will probably need to get a serial card or do the whole CF/SD adapter. Looking forward to messing around with it, as there’s not a lot of info about it online right now

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

It'll work -- I already did the color mapping for the CGA output on the Laser 128 to match proper Apple II colors on the RGB2HDMI. The ACE might need slightly different mapping and timings, but it'll work just fine.

[@carneeki]

I've been toying with a diy colour classic (or 575) inspired machine from the ground up, but video is something I've been a bit apprehensive about. This might be just the ticket. Thanks Adrian!

[@SJLtalentpicks]

ℹ💡 Another name suggestion to your 2nd channel, which is currently named as "Adrian's Digital Basement ][", here: Adrian's Digital Hideout (or Stash).

[@michelmostaert6071]

Great job ! Just discovered this video, and this channel. As I'm beginning to restore old Macs, I'm very interested in such possibilities like this one, or BulSCSI, RaSCSI,... Thanks for this !

[@CambsNews]

you’re a very brave man reaching round the back with a naked CRT lol

[@pipkato]

Will this work with a Macintosh Plus? Also when I checked the 'Buy a RGB2HDMI board:' link I could not find one listed for the Macintosh Plus. Could anyone suggest one that I could buy that would work with a Macintosh Plus?

[@jubalbiggs4559]

If I'm not mistaken, many of the old compact Mac motherboards were actually capable of sending color. I don't know about the Classic, but the Classic II motherboard was basically an LC II (which was color) and I think the SE /30 motherboard supported color as well, even though the CRT was black and white.

[@johnsonlam]

I can't wait to put it on my Apple //c, but seems need to build an adapter.

[@ShamblerDK]

I got myself an Indivision Mk3 for my Amiga 1200, which gives it an HDMI-port, and the picture is also pixel perfect 🙂

[@Petertronic]

If it can handle that pixel level checkerboard ok, it can do anything. Very neat!

[@jaws10278]

Wow! If you could find a 9” square LCD, you could replace the CRT. This is awesome. Ill be saving this video!!!

[@scottharris7222]

Very cool. Now I have read about a SCSI pi project that gives colour support for compact macs with the SCSI port. The colour cards for SE30s are unobtainium. If you know anything about this can you fill us in on if it is real, in development or just a rumour. Much obliged. Excellent video.

[@patprop74]

oh sweet, a rainy Saturday noon video, pause, ill be right, ill go make a coffee and a sandwich, and watch this while having lunch. Edit: That is so cool!!

[@aleksandrbmelnikov]

I like the idea of replacing dangerous CRTs with nice friendly 5v LCD screens. Another nasty bugger, was 8 inch floppy drive. Those ran on mains voltage. All electronics from back then remind me of movies, where some lady spills milk and gets electrocuted by a blender.

[@millomweb]

So you're talking about a VGA to HDMI converter ? Why would you want to do such a stupid thing ? I've 2 laptops with additional monitors connected via VGA. I tried HDMI on both - one the connection was just terribly unreliable - even after I'd modified the plug to fit the socket properly - and on the second one, connecting the monitor via HDMI turns the computer sound output off - great video - in silence !

[@paulschmidt7473]

Nobody makes CRTs anymore, so computers like the Mac Classic and Commie Pet will die, when their CRTs do. This kind of thing means you can get a low cost LCD screen, a device like this, and refurbish these computers, so they can keep running. Personally I would likely just take that 9-pin and attach it to the back of the Mac somewhere, and keep the unit outboard.

[@mingohagen]

Could this work the other way around, I have a 13" Mac CRT (high res RGB 640x480) that I'd like to connect things to other than my Macs.

[@christhomas5804]

Great job!👍 Would be cool to get this as a kind of "interplugable" device - the hole for the Lock should be big enough to get the HDMI-cable out. If anyone should offer this on day, please let me know.

[@Xilefian]

My instincts would have been to put it on the intensity pin, rather than Green (or any of the colours)

[@thaMANSTA]

Nice TRS-80 CoCo sticker on the monitor. :) I want to do this with my Mac Classic, so I can stream it on Twitch. :)

[@MrSportingt]

Hi Adrian, great job! Do you think it will be possible to get this work without the analog board? In combination with e.g. modern power supply and rebuild rgb circuit? Have some old motherboard obsolete. That will bring back live to it!

[@TheGlitchyMario]

Can I do this mod on a Mac SE?

[@der.Schtefan]

The Phosphor on the CRT makes it look slightly blueish. Probably that's a nicer hue if you can get the palette right?

[@Terminus_El_Camino]

I'd like it if my brand new MacBook Pro had an HDMI out, but nope, gotta buy some sort of dongle that converts from USB C.

[@SireSquish]

Much love for good ol' Crystal Quest. That's one of the games I showed to my PC using mate to showcase good mac games. He LoL'd and went back to Doom.

[@Tyle_smalcu]

14:47 LoL! You monitor a Matrix! :v

[@askhowiknow5527]

$6.50 at Goodwill? I'd be surprised if you found one of these at Goodwill today for $100

[@grassulo]

You should get the original Dark Castle game for your classic macs and also Cyan's (creators of Myst) first game The Manhole.

[@UpLateGeek]

I just looked up the CPLD on all the major suppliers websites, and they're all out of stock, most likely thanks to the chip shortage. Probably best to buy a pre-assembled unit if you can find one.

[@Devalis]

Have you heard if anyone has used a Pi to emulate a CD-ROM for vintage PCs akin to a Gotek for floppies?

[@tubejay1]

Oh boy...putting an oled in a monochrome system seems like a bad idea. Burn in central. Or I guess, burn out central.

[@idahofur]

I read that one of the reason the mac xl was preferred by programmers is larger screen size compared tot he mac, 512, classic, etc for small screen size.

[@roberthedin909]

This works awesome, pixel perfect on a little HDMI monitor that I can hang in front of the CTR monitor.