The A2DVI Gives the Apple II DVI and HDMI Output

I bought an Apple //e Platinum a couple of years ago to relive some early primary school nostalgia, and because I knew relatively little about Apple’s 8-bit computers. I don’t have a concern about retrobrighting devices, but I love the beige patina this case and keyboard has developed over time; almost as though I have an Apple IIe with a Platinum keyboard :).

The Apple II is such a fun platform for retrocomputer tinkering, and weirdly enough have also made me appreciate Commodore machines even more as well.

Thanks I think to Adrian Black, I discovered the amazing V2 Analog Card, a fork of the Apple II VGA. This card gives you two functions:

• The ability to output VGA video instead of composite. It snoops the data bus and reconstructs a signal that you can export to any VGA monitor. Crisp, 80-column text in colour mode is a sight to behold, and has made this machine as readable as my Commodore 128.

• The ability to boot into CP/M, thanks to its emulation of a PCPI Applicard and a Zilog Z80.

These functions operate independently, and can be changed on the fly with the included software. It’s frankly incredible what Mark Aikens, David Kuder, and the other project contributors have been able to achieve with a Raspberry Pi.

Those of you who’ve read my ramblings for a while know I’m a CP/M tragic. So while the Apple //e looks spectacular with that VGA output, I may have been using my card in that latter mode more than I expected. I have an entire blog post series pending about this, which I may even work up the guts to post one day.

I was tempted to buy another one, but in the interim I saw you can now get DVI/HDMI output! From Apple2.co.uk:

This is an expansion card for Apple 2 computers, which outputs color video signal over a HDMI port. This is an original card developed by Thorsten Brehm and me. P’n’p out of the box. Onboard config menu. Emulates Videx video for Apple 2/2+ in slot 3. Contains firmwares which can be activated by a boot menu to change the function of the card - AppleMouse, AppliCard Z80, FDD Emulator.

Here’s the image from his store:

I suspect that you already know about this card if you’re an Apple II fan. But just in case you had found a comfortable home under a rock as I had, you can now get DVI or HDMI out of your machine. Incredible.

When I say this is the best time to be a retrocomputer fan, this is what I mean. The hardware itself may be getting old and flakier, but there’s so much software and so many tools that can extend the life of the machines; and in some cases, even give them features their original designers would have scarcely believed. It’s awesome.