What cable to use to connect an Apple II to a plasma TV

The only real option is a standard RCA jack video cable, male on both ends. You can find these anywhere - Radio Shack, Target, WalMart. Note that the Apple II's video is a slightly non-standard composite signal. I have found that it confuses some modern TVs and projectors. My InFocus projector freaks out from the Apple II's signal. Older TV's seem to work fine. Good luck,

Dave...

You just need a simple RCA composite cable. (Same plug as stereo components use.) Like this:

http://www.national-tech.com/specs/10r4-01103.htm

You can order it from the Internet if you insist, but *any* electronics store (or department store that sells TVs, for that matter.) will have them in stock.

It'll plug into one of the yellow "video in" jacks on your TV. Beware, however, that the NTSC output from Apple IIs isn't really "to spec". It's quite common to have problems displaying color when connected to "modern" TV sets. Your mileage may vary.

--Peace

edit: Darn, I lose. ;^)

Thanks for the replies.
I will be connecting this to a UK based plasma monitor. Does the PAL/SECAM compatibility issue apply? My plasma TV is like a monitor, it does not receive general TV signals but only a cable TV input, VCR/DVD input etc.

Where did you buy your Apple II from? The original II was NTSC only, so far as I know. Apple made a European version of the Plus, called the "Europlus", which could drive a PAL monitor (only in black and white unless you also had a separate PAL color encoder) but the original II... dunno.

I know many non-US TVs are multiple standard (I remember in Singapore just about everything supported both PAL and NTSC), but in the UK specifically I can't comment.

J.S.

I bought my original Apple II from the US.
I am based in the UK.
My current "TV" is not really a TV but a 42'' plasma "monitor". It does not have the ability to pick up television broadcasts through an aerial. It's input is a cable tuner box and thats how we watch programs, connect to a DVD. VCR etc

There is a empty jack on the back of my plasma TV tuner box which says:

"AV4C Component" Input
P(subscript R) - an RCA female connection in red
P(subscript B) - an RCA female connection in white
Y (with the word "video" underneath) - RCA female connection in yellow

There are no other RCA female jacks in any of my Audio-Video equipment apart from the one listed above. (all modern stuff, lots of SCARTS). Jacks AV1 through AV3 are occupied.

If I plug a RCA male into the Apple II and the other RCA make end into the yellow "Y" will this work??

I have just checked the specifications for my plasma display (Panasonic: Progressive Wide Plasma Display TH-42PW5):

It says the "Applicable Signals" are
NTSC, PAL, PAL60, SECAM, Modified NTSC,

Thanks for the suggestions on the cable - I have a few of these RCA male to RCA males lying around in my "attic" Will only be able to test when I get my Apple II which should be
in around a week. Still I want to assemble all the ancillary stuff so that I am ready.

All I will need to check is I plug it into the component Yellow jack and leave the white and red RCA female jacks empty will it still deliver a picture to the Display?

AV4C is just the label for that jack on the monitor it seems. The c on the end mean Composite. The yellow is the video in plug, while the white and red are left and right audio. You only need yellow for video, though it won't get as nice of quality as S-Video or SCART plugs, or Component video will. Of course this is an A2, so quality s a relative term in terms of video signal...

I know that the yellow, red, and white are the standard US color code for composite video and audio, but don't the P_B, P_R, and Y labels correspond to component video?

The .pdf manual for the poster's TV is the first hit on Google, so just for the heck of it I looked at it. All I can say is it's the worst TV manual I've ever read.

There's a section near the back that shows a "TU-PT600B Receiver". It shows *five* jacks in the "AV4C" area. The top row is "Pr/Pb/Y", while in the bottom row are two jacks labeled "AUDIO" (stereo left/right, I'd assume), and a label, "video", pointing at either the "Y" jack or at all three jacks. (There's a line running through all three".) Put a gun to my head and I'd say that the line running through all three jacks means that they're component video jacks and *only* component video jacks. In which case there *is* no direct jack for wiring this TV to an Apple II. The manual mentions "composite" and "NTSC" a few times, but that seems to be in reference to a *different* AV interface board, not the one used with the tuner.

If the original poster has a multi-standard capable VCR with a set of A/V jacks on it somewhere I'd say honestly that's the best bet, here. That or coughing up for a dedicated monitor.

--Peace

I made my comment by your mention of the colors of the jacks. Often Component jacks are colored green, blue and red typically. From what little I've just looked at, it *might* work if the composite signal is fed into the Y jack, but I'd rather hear from someone who knows more A/V or is more adventurous and has tried it.

I agree the documentation with my plasma TV is "diabolical"
Three years back while installing the TV I was so frustrated I kicked the cardboard box only to discover an aluminium piece was still in the packaging. My kitchen looked like a butcher shop. A visit to the emergency ward and few stitches later I was finally able to get all the additional components and tuners to make it work

But that's a Panasonic and another story...

My Apple products on the other hand have never needed a manual.

BTW back to the topic of the posting, I noticed that the AV3C port in front of the tuner box has a free yellow RCA female jack labelled V which the manual says is Video. This is just next to a S-video female jack used for input from a digital camera. No Pb or Pr jacks in this case. When my Apple II arrives this is the jack I will try first.

That's the one! Plug it in to that yellow jack and enjoy your retro.