MDD Powermacs, ADC, and VGA

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in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Is it possible to connect 2 VGA displays out of the box on the newer MDD Powermacs?



I wonder this because I have 2 VGAs, and i'm not hot with the idea of buying some sort of ADC adapter to plug in my monitor.

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  • Reply 1 of 6
    drumbug1drumbug1 Posts: 155member
    The best place to look for this information would be to say.... Maybe look at the powermac graphics page?



    http://www.apple.com/powermac/graphics.html



    On that page we see a photo of the ports on the video card(s).







    It comes with a DVI-VGA adapter, but for the other monitor you're gonna have to suck it up and buy an adapter....



    from that page...



    "And all Power Mac G4 systems come with a DVI to VGA adapter, protecting your investment in a VGA monitors, while keeping the ADC connector free for an all-digital LCD display."



    So you'll need a ADC-DVI adapter and another DVI-VGA adapter.



    Hey, at least there IS a way to do it.



    (I'm planning on doing the same thing, but with two old Mac monitors = that means one more adapter each!)
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  • Reply 2 of 6
    gizzmonicgizzmonic Posts: 511member
    from that page...



    "And all Power Mac G4 systems come with a DVI to VGA adapter, protecting your investment in a VGA monitors, while keeping the ADC connector free for an all-digital LCD display."[/I]



    In other words, if you want dual displays out of the box, prepare to get soaked with proprietary Apple crap.



    I bought my Powermac in 1999. One of the biggest things that convinced me to switch was seeing Apple ditch needlessly proprietary junk like their monitor connector, ADB, and Macserial.



    I guess what I'll probably do when I get a new Powermac is sell the Apple graphics card and buy a PC graphics card. I can guarantee you that will be easier and cheaper than f**king around with 4+ adapters. Multiple displays is a "pro" feature, so I won't bitch about it too much, but...



    It's amazing that a company that has created so many minimalist masterpieces of computer design (iMac, iPod, Powerbook) expects us to use 3 f**king adapters on our computers, or pony up for their flat panel displays (which are useless for color correction).
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  • Reply 3 of 6
    chychchych Posts: 860member
    I do like the idea of having 2 digital ports myself, since you can have two screens on DVI as DVI is a better interface than the analog counterpart. ADC isn't proprietary, but only Apple uses it... I think they shouldn't have moved from DVI still.



    Anyways Dr Bott has an ADC -> VGA adapter ( http://www.drbott.com/prod/db.lasso?code=0117-ADCV )...



    And as far as I'm concerned, CRTs and analog interfaces are dead so they can suck it
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  • Reply 4 of 6
    mmmpiemmmpie Posts: 628member
    You cant just buy a cheap adapter to turn ADC into VGA.

    The thing is that DVI comes in two versions,

    DVI-I and DVI-D, that is, DVI Integrated, and DVI Digital.

    DVI-I contains two sets of signals, a digital signal for LCD monitors, and an analoge signal for VGA monitors.

    Therefore you can use a simple plug adaptor to turn a DVI-I port into a VGA port.



    You cant do that with a DVI-D port. And an ADC -> DVI port turns it into a DVI-D port. ADC is digital only.



    You have to buy the Dr Bott ADC to VGA box, for a mere 300$ to get the functionality you want.



    Or you could buy a PC video card with dual DVI-D and give up on Apple monitors. If you keep the old card then you can change your mind.
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  • Reply 5 of 6
    leonisleonis Posts: 3,427member
    The thread starter is asking how to hook up a VGA monitor to the ADC port.



    The adaptor from Dr.Boot (called ADC -> VGA extractor cable) costs 40 bucks



    Don't get it confused with the VGA -> ADC conversion box from GeFen which costs $300!
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  • Reply 6 of 6
    mmmpiemmmpie Posts: 628member
    You're quite right.

    I was under the impression that ADC didnt contain an analoge signal, but it does.
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