Powermac 6500

I believe some 6500's have a TV card for video input, but to output to a TV, you will need to buy a VGA to TV converter. If you search Google on "vga tv" you will see some links. However, I do not recall if the video output port on the 6500 is a VGA port or the older Apple video connector. If it's the Apple connector, you'll need an adapter for that first to make it VGA.

[Also, the 6500 has PCI slots, so there may to some old products on eBay that provide "TV" output. However most such cards are for TV input (capture), not output.]

The Video [Input] card is very common, and is installed in the leftmost (from the rear) connector on the motherboard, and uses the leftmost upper knockout. It has NTSC Composite Video Input (yellow RCA) and Right and Left audio Input (Red and White RCA) jacks and an S-Video [input] jack.

The Apple External Video [Output] Connector is much less common. It has a very small circuit board with an attached ribbon cable that plugs into small connector in the middle of the motherbaord. It presents a Macintosh 15-pin two-row connector to connect to an Apple Display. Since it is intended for use with a display or projector, It has separate Red, Green, Blue, H-Sync, and V-Sync signals. Most TV sets require NTSC Composite Video or S-Video, which is not offered by this device.

The Apple External Video [Output] Connector can be used with any of the 520, 550, 575, 577, 578 series, and 630; in addition to the 5200/6200, 5300/6300, 5400/6400 and 5500/6500 and similar models with slide out motherboards.

This diagram (for the 6400 motherboard) shows the motherboard and connectors, labeled "Video In Card" and "Monitor Out Slot", respectively. The 6500 is strongly similar.

http://www.macgurus.com/products/motherboards/mbppc6400.php

You will need a display that accepts an R-G-B input. I own a TV set that has RGB input, but I expect most people do not. Most TV sets want NTSC Composite Video or S-Video.

The way to convert from RGB to NTSC is with a scan converter. A scan converter that will give you legible text on the screen will cost you many times more than that computer is worth.

A small Apple CRT or VGA CRT that is still useable will cost you US$10 or less at a yard sale or flea market. With the VGA, you will need an adapter from Mac DB-15 (two-row) to VGA (three row). These adapters also provide a code that the Mac uses to restrict what resolutions can be used, to avoid damaging your display.

When no adapter or display is present, Your Mac reads that as "No display attached", and does not initialize the screen buffer. So users who run Macs "headless" and use a screen reader across a network must still install an adapter to specify the screen resolution.

The Video input or the TV Tuner input can be displayed in a smaller window on your Mac display using "Apple Video Player" a standard part of Mac OS 7, 8, and 9.

You can download it using this article:

22225- About Apple Video Player 1.7.2 Document and Software

The Powermac 6500 has a video out or at least my 6500/300 has. It allows you to export to tape when you edit a recording using the Avid software that came with it or display the output on a TV.
You do have to connect it before you switch on the computer or it won't "sense" the connection. It's not exactly plug and play and a bit buggy with extension problems depending which OS you are using

I think what he is trying to say is that he wants to connect his 6500 to an ordinary TV so that he can see the Desktop on the TV. Not necessarily use the TV card but use a TV as a Monitor.

I think that he would need to buy a TV with a VGA input and, if he found such a TV, use a Belkin Mac to VGA adaptor to connect the Mac's DB-1 output to the TV VGA input. I have my 6500/300 connected to a Phillips 19"LCD monitor with VGA and DVI using a Belkin VGA Adaptor.

I personally haven't heard of any TV's which also have VGA input. But they do exist apparently -

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product.aspx?code=PLF-P42VHA40ES&af=50

Usually they are limited to RGB, Scart, S-video, and/or RCA type connections (which the 6500/300 tv capture card has). The Avid Cinema card has S-video and RCA but that card isn't useful for ordinary computing. It needs to be connected to a VCR or TV and you can watch/record movies made on your Mac. But that's all. Thge TV Capture card is the other way round. It lets you watch TV programmes on your Mac's monitor.

You are working really hard at this. I want to be sure that you understand just how horrible the picture will be when you get it on your TV.

The absolute best resolution of an extremely high quality TV today is 640 by 480. Generally, areas on the left, right, top, and bottom are cut off, so the effective resolution will be less.

Because the scan lines are interlaced, horizontal lines that are only one pixel wide can vibrate (some say they flash very rapidly). Colors bloom, especially reds. They leak into adjacent areas where they do not belong. Things that would be black on a computer display are tinged with colors at the left and right edges.

Small text is very difficult to read. The temptation is to make the letters taller, but then you get even less on the screen at once.

Computer displays are MUCH higher quality than TV sets.

The 6500 can indeed output NTSC video without the use of a VGA scan converter through the use of an NTSC video out card. I've got such a card in my 5500, and it works just fine. It has composite and S-video ports on it.

The resolution is poor, of course, and the image quality is terrible for text. But for pictures or video, it's just fine and easily as good as terrestrial broadcast television.

Here's an Apple Q&A about the card: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=30347

Here's a picture of the card:
http://www.zone6400.com/files/micsmac_info_2.html#svideo-composite_outcard

Peace,
Drew

I think it is still available for free download from Apple

I found these, but have not turned up a download for the basic software:

21216- Avid Cinema: System Compatibility Matrix

26047- Avid Cinema 1.1.5 Update [requires AVID Cinema 1.1]

28520- Avid Cinema 1.2: Read Me [requires Power Macintosh G3]