I wrote:
> No. I've seen 64-column text on typical mid-70s NTSC televisions, and it was
> abysmal. The televisions had to be modified to remove their color trap
> in order to get reasonably sharp characters.
Hans replied:
> (Please, notice, I havn't talked about Colour TV)
> First, basicly 70's tv had the same specs
than todays.
No. Modern TVs have *much* better Y/C separation.
Even the sets without comb
filters still are better than the mid-70s sets. And the luminance bandwidth
of modern TVs is much improved. We're comparing average televisions from the
mid 70s and present, not top-of-the-line models.
Please, I'm _NOT_ talking about the TV sets, I'm talking about
TV specs - the standards about the TV signal - and they haven't
changed for the basic B&W and colour signaly since the 70s.
[...]
Besides which, mid-70s TVs, monochrome or not, simply were not designed for
the horizontal bandwidth needed for good text display.
That has nothing to do with bandwide of the TV set - they where
able to work on and display the frequencies defined for TV, and
these are the limits - not the TV set - Even in the early 70's
B&W TV tubes and electronics where already better than needed
for the TV signal.
But if the signal definition doesn't allow a frequency high
enough for 80 columne display, no TV, not a 500 Mark nor a
10,000 Mark TV can display it. No cheap one from 1970 and
no SuperDuperHighThingy TV from 1998. You just can't stick
a 10 MHz signal within a 5 MHz chanal. The TV modulation
prohibits this.
Apple's choice of a 40-column display was entirely
correct given that they
were originally marketing it to people who would use it with a television.
Inexpensive video monitors weren't yet available. Of my friends who bought
Apple ][ computers in the 1977 time frame, over half used the computer with
a television. Most of the rest used Sanyo 9-inch or 12-inch monochrome
monitors, and only a few used color monitors.
I did the same - my first display on the Apple][ was a 1968
build B&W TV (our old family TV, I got it in 1975 after we
had our first colour TV).
IIRC, the Sanyo 9-inch monochrome monitor cost over
$300 in 1977.
Jep, the prices have been around this in Germany. A friend of
mine was lucky - he dumpster dived a scraped 13" survilanve
Monitor - The best screen in the neighborhood.
Gruss
H.
--
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK