Not sure the difference between these?? The main reason is because i need to reinstall OS9 to an IMacG3 i have recently aquired. I have the flat panel that came with my G4 Quicksilver (mirrored drive doors) but not sure which the plug is. Im thinking its a DVI and if so i can get the DVI to VGA adapter from apple and hook up the external that way so i can use it to reinstall and upgrade the firmware so to update to OSX but not sure which is the best route to go concerning the monitors. Any help?
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Dvi, Vga, Adc
- Thread starter cave12man
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Is the iMac G3's display dead or something?
My impression is that the switch from ADC to DVI/VGA happened during the MDD era, so you have to be more specific about what hardware you had.
However, if you have an LCD that takes a DVI input, you CANNOT use the DVI to VGA adapter to plug it into a computer that outputs VGA. It doesn't work that way. It's meant for the opposite situation (DVI computer and VGA display); the difference is that LCDs that take DVI inputs typically do not accept analog signals over them. DVI cables can transmit both analog and digital, and video cards generally output both on the DVI port, so that is why you can use the cable when you have a DVI computer, but not when you have a DVI display.
If the system is DVI, then the port on the PM should look like this one:
If it is ADC, it should look like this one:
Note the features on the right side of the DVI port that look different.
Anyway, though, I think you're out of luck. If you have ADC, it will cost you hundreds of dollars for an adapter that will get the VGA output displaying on it. If you have DVI, I still think you're not going to find a cheap solution.
I would find someone's VGA monitor sitting around and borrow it. Plenty of LCDs floating around that support VGA.
My impression is that the switch from ADC to DVI/VGA happened during the MDD era, so you have to be more specific about what hardware you had.
However, if you have an LCD that takes a DVI input, you CANNOT use the DVI to VGA adapter to plug it into a computer that outputs VGA. It doesn't work that way. It's meant for the opposite situation (DVI computer and VGA display); the difference is that LCDs that take DVI inputs typically do not accept analog signals over them. DVI cables can transmit both analog and digital, and video cards generally output both on the DVI port, so that is why you can use the cable when you have a DVI computer, but not when you have a DVI display.
If the system is DVI, then the port on the PM should look like this one:
If it is ADC, it should look like this one:
Note the features on the right side of the DVI port that look different.
Anyway, though, I think you're out of luck. If you have ADC, it will cost you hundreds of dollars for an adapter that will get the VGA output displaying on it. If you have DVI, I still think you're not going to find a cheap solution.
I would find someone's VGA monitor sitting around and borrow it. Plenty of LCDs floating around that support VGA.
great reply mkrishnan, although not entirely sure what most of that means (lol) ill have to do a little more research but for the most part i think ill take ur advice and borrow someone's monitor for right now
You can not plug any Apple flat panel* into an iMac G3. Period.
By the time of the Quicksilver, ADC was the order of the day. ADC is the second picture you see in mkrishman's post, and while the connector can theoretically carry an analog signal, none of Apple's ADC flat panels used it. All of Apple's ADC flat panels were digital-only. Conversely, the iMac G3 has an analog-only video output. The "DVI to VGA" adapter is for a computer with a DVI plug to connect to a monitor with a VGA plug. It is not a 'translator', but just a plug adaptor. Computer DVI ports all have the analog signals in them, all the adapter does is convert that physical DVI plug into a physical VGA plug. It does nothing to change the signal.
Apple's flat panel displays use a pure digital signal, and thus will only work on a computer sending out a digital signal. This means a DVI port or an ADC port. An ADC monitor must have either a native ADC port (only available on Power Mac G4 computers,) or a DVI port plus the "ADC to DVI" adapter. (Which is expensive, because it doesn't just do a physical conversion of one physical plug to another, it also is the power brick, since the ADC connector includes power.)
Some companies do make expensive analog-to-digital converting boxes to let you run a digital-only monitor on an analog-only computer, but they are ridiculously expensive. (See Gefen, at $400.)
*The very original 15" "Apple Studio Display" that came out with the beige G3s and was minorly updated when the Blue & White G3 came out *DO* have analog inputs, but these are exceedingly rare, and were long since phased out by the time the Quicksilver G4 came out. The revision when the G4 came out had been updated to digital-only DVI. The CRT Studio Display that used the ADC was analog, but it was the only analog ADC monitor ever produced; and even later ADC video cards had done away with the analog signal, as did the ADC-to-DVI adapter; so there is no way to run that display on anything other than a computer from the pre-MDD days.
By the time of the Quicksilver, ADC was the order of the day. ADC is the second picture you see in mkrishman's post, and while the connector can theoretically carry an analog signal, none of Apple's ADC flat panels used it. All of Apple's ADC flat panels were digital-only. Conversely, the iMac G3 has an analog-only video output. The "DVI to VGA" adapter is for a computer with a DVI plug to connect to a monitor with a VGA plug. It is not a 'translator', but just a plug adaptor. Computer DVI ports all have the analog signals in them, all the adapter does is convert that physical DVI plug into a physical VGA plug. It does nothing to change the signal.
Apple's flat panel displays use a pure digital signal, and thus will only work on a computer sending out a digital signal. This means a DVI port or an ADC port. An ADC monitor must have either a native ADC port (only available on Power Mac G4 computers,) or a DVI port plus the "ADC to DVI" adapter. (Which is expensive, because it doesn't just do a physical conversion of one physical plug to another, it also is the power brick, since the ADC connector includes power.)
Some companies do make expensive analog-to-digital converting boxes to let you run a digital-only monitor on an analog-only computer, but they are ridiculously expensive. (See Gefen, at $400.)
*The very original 15" "Apple Studio Display" that came out with the beige G3s and was minorly updated when the Blue & White G3 came out *DO* have analog inputs, but these are exceedingly rare, and were long since phased out by the time the Quicksilver G4 came out. The revision when the G4 came out had been updated to digital-only DVI. The CRT Studio Display that used the ADC was analog, but it was the only analog ADC monitor ever produced; and even later ADC video cards had done away with the analog signal, as did the ADC-to-DVI adapter; so there is no way to run that display on anything other than a computer from the pre-MDD days.