Lon Seidman recently released a video showcasing a new HDMI card for vintage apple computers. There’s no “modding” required, simply insert this in the proper slot in your PC and it’ll automatically start outputting 480p HDMI. It’s not cheap at $200 and if you have multiple retro PC’s, getting a scaler is more cost-effective. That said, if you’re a hardcore vintage Apple PC fan who needs an easy way to display this on a flat-panel, this is a great option. Check out Lon’s video above for all the info you’ll need!
Purchase Here: https://www.reactivemicro.com/product-category/apple-video/
Lon’s Channel: http://lon.tv/s
Hopefully, the top paragraph didn’t come across as negative, it’s just the same advice I give with all HDMI “mods” for consoles and PC’s: Think about the total cost and use case. If you only have one that needs HDMI-out, getting one of these is probably cheaper and than a quality analog video scaler. If you have many, decide if the cost is worth it. And if you have the budget, you can always do both – HDMI mod your vintage equipment, then use something like a RetroTINK 4K to scale the HDMI for a tru digital-to-digital result. That’s a bit overkill for the Apple IIe, but who am I to judge 🙂
Also as a note, the Reactive Micro store also sells those terrible AV to HDMI adapters with their logo stamped on it. Don’t let that deter you – The listing is very clear that it’s not a great solution and is just there as a cheap entry level product. I’d actually be fine recommending that for retro PC’s IF it actually processed 240p correctly. Sure, the lag is terrible, but that’s less of an issue in many retro PC scenarios. In my strong opinion, the headache-inducing flicker caused by trying to deinterlace an already progressive scan signal is a big issue…but I get it. If people on a budget just need a cheap solution, might as well sell your own instead of losing customers. I mean, I wouldn’t, but I get it…
