--- On Sat, 7/9/11, Clark Martin <[email protected]> wrote:

> > I recall seeing the mac video being designated a
> "composite" signal. 
> 
> Not even the Mac Plus is composite
> video.   I've seen the connection to the
> analog board and there was, IIRC, video and both sync
> signals as separate lines.  As a rule you don't use
> composite video for computers as it doesn't allow for a very
> crisp image.  and the Plus has a crisp image.

 Generally this is correct. Composite-NTSC signals are "noisy" or whatever. But 
I seem to recall many earlier color macs, if not most or all, pump sync signals 
onto the green input. Now isn't that a composite signal? Maybe not as 
convoluted as combining the entire video signal w/sync. And there may even be 
some minor but mostly imperceptible degradation there too. It's just that are 
different types of "composite" signals. If you've ever looked at a diagram of 
an NTSC signal, w/the "back porch" and all other sorts of weirdness, you'd 
likely get an indication of why assembling then disassembling the various 
components results in something less then an ideal signal.
 Honestly it's been years since I've even looked inside a compact mac. The 
analog board combines a power supply and circuitry needed for the crt and 
whatnot. At what point are you saying the syncs and video are separate (or 
separated)? Every composite monitor separates the signals at some point. The 
composite signal is "understood" to parts of the monitor, but it's useless to 
the nitty gritty (crt, flyback transformer, etc) until broken down.

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