How to use a Sun 19" monitor with your Mac II

[Bill Pachoud]

This article is a summary of my experiences in researching, buying and
using a Sun 19" monochrome monitor with my Mac IIx.  It is based on my
research and information provided by a Sun video engineer.  He has
requested his name not be posted as he doesn't have the time or desire to
deal with followup email.  I don't really either, if you do email me I
can't guarantee any responsiveness as I am currently swamped.  I have
tried to include all the information I have in the posting.

The configuration of my machine:

- Mac IIx
- Lapis Technologies video board, configured for Sun monitor.
- Sun 19" mono monitor, made by Philips of Canada, Sun has used this as their
  standard mono monitor for the last 2.5 years.
- A DB9 male-to-female straight through video cable, mine has a woven
  outer sheath that is a ground for the end connector shells.
  (Check w/ ohmmeter if you don't know what your cable is.)

Q & A

1. Advantages of this configuration?
   Cost savings and display quality.
   I am very happy with the display, it looks good and I have had no problems.

2. Disadvantages of this configuration?
   Inability to use special video propriatary utilities such as Radius TV.

3. Software incompatiblities?
   None found to date.

4. What model of Sun monitor are we talking about?
   The model is a Philips of Canada mono 19" monitor that Sun has been
   shipping for about 2.5 years now. It is the standard mono 19" used w/ the
   3/50 (flattop), 3/60, 3/140, 4/60, 4/65 and most other Sun models. Other
   monitors could be used depending if LAPIS knows the settings for the
   particular monitor.

5. What is the resolution of the screen?
   It is 1152 x 900.  This does not scale up from the original Mac screen, so
   you don't end up at 72 dpi, but more like 83 dpi.  The pixels remain
   square, however, so the overall effect is a slight shrinkage.  Circles
   still remain circles.  I like it better for CAD because of the extra
   screen area.

6. Ehman ships a card and monitor that looks exactly like a Sun monitor.
   What are they shipping and what is compatible and not compatible?

   The Ehman monitor is made by Hyundai.  It is a knock-off of the Elston
   monitor that Sun used to buy.  Sun hasn't sold Elston monitors for about
   two years.  The easiest way to tell, without disassembly, is to look at
   the brightness adjust pot on the back of the monitor.  If it is stubby and
   requires a screw driver to adjust, it is a Philips monitor. The elston
   monitor is a model DM-60.

Note: I have used both the Elston monitor and the newer Philips monitors
extensively on Sun workstations.  I have also seen the Ehman 19" on a Mac
SE and used the Philips on my Mac IIx.  I like the Philips better and
think it offers a better image, but the difference is not night and day.
Both systems are good video displays.

7. Can I use an Ehman video card w/ a Sun monitor?

   The Ehman monitor is, I believe, set up to run at 1024x768.  This is
   exactly twice the resolution (four times the total pixels) of the 512x342
   of the standard Mac 9-inch screen.  The refresh rate (vertical scan) is
   high on the Ehman, again, I believe, at around 78 Hz.  The horizontal is
   probably close, and maybe even identical to the philips.  It would be nice
   to get this info from Ehman.  Perhaps it is in their manual?

   The upshot is, the Ehman card will definitely not be plug and play.  Worst
   case, you would probably have to change everything I had to change when I
   did such a project three years ago with a SuperMac board, namely, the
   XTAL, sync polarity of the receivers within the monitor and some pot
   adjustments.  To answer your questions specifically:

   The pinouts will be identical.  The sync timing will mostly be wrong, but
   this should not be fatal for the monitor.  There should be no danger of
   frying a Sun monitor if you want to try and run it from the Ehman board.

8. What are the pros and cons of leaving the machine, (especially the monitor)
   on all the time vs. power cycling it?

   Sun has never carried out a detailed study of the power cycling issue.  I
   have seen studies from other companies and the results were a wash, i.e.
   you save as much on your power bills as you spend on equipment repairs.
   Personally, I recommend power cycling a monitor.  Especially where the CRT
   is concerned, you will prolong its life.

9. Can I use an A-B switch and share the monitor between a mac and sun?

   Don't know about who makes an A-B switch, but it might not be advisable
   from an image quality standpoint since you may not realize a smooth
   impedence for the 100MHz, ECL video.

10. What are the cost and purchase details?

   The video card comes from Lapis Technologies (415) 748-1600.  It is
   designed to be a very configurable card that can be setup to support a
   wide variety of monitors for the Mac.  They have a Mac II card, I don't
   know what other machines they have a card for. List is about $500, but I
   don't know how this relates to street pricing or quantity pricing.  In the
   Mac world, list seems to be a strange fiction.

Call Susan Tussy for pricing and purchase details. Tell her I sent you.
Call Kevin Fischer for technical support.

The Sun monitor can be bought new from Solar Systems (800) 253-5764 Ask
for Paul Cooke and tell him I sent you.  Pricing is about $600 for
quantity one but sinks to $450 for quantity 10, so get together w/ people
on the net.

If you are upgrading a Sun 3/50 to a Sun IPC on the current special, you
can put the 19" monitor you keep to use this way.

The video cable can be bought new for less than $10.  Mine is only about
1/2 the diameter of the standard sun cable, it is 6' long and works fine.
I think the cable end on the standard sun cable might not fit into the
expansion slot on the mac.

If you have trouble w/ finding the cable, call JB Saunders Electronics at
(303) 442-1212 and order from them or find where they get their cables.
They only know it as a DB9 (on both ends) male-to-female 6ft. video cable.

          Bill Pachoud			  _ /-_ 
          billp at portal.com		 (_)>(_)