Convert classic Mac video to VGA with Raspberry Pi Pico #PiDay @Raspberry_Pi
mac-se-video-converter converts the video output of a Mac Plus/SE/Classic using a Raspberry Pi Pico to one of:
A VESA compatible VGA signal.
Monochrome composite video.
This is an active adapter that digitally reads the Mac’s 512×[email protected] and converts it. The VGA out signal is to 1024×[email protected] which should work with any VESA compatible VGA monitor. Composite video output is PAL [email protected]/576[email protected] format. (Composite video should work with NTSC [email protected] with some currently unwritten code tweaks.)
My use case for this is using an old Mac SE motherboard I have saved from back in the day. I imagine it could also be useful for if your CRT has died and can’t source another, or for direct video capture.
I did this project to use my VGA demo board, but there’s nothing that specifically requires it. This project can be done on the cheap with just the Pico in a bread board, the logic level converter, some resistors, and Dupont wires.
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