Preferred Monochrome Color?

[BassGuitari]

Like it says on the box!

 

Generally, I'm an amber guy. But it can depend on the system. I like white on a PET 2001 a little better than green for some reason, but green is still cool too.

 

I associate white most closely with Z80-based TRS-80 systems, but also stuff like Apple I, early Apple II, Ohio Scientific, or other systems you would have used one of those little Sanyo 9" jobbies with. I know there were TRS-80 monitors with green and amber filters, but those look weird to me.

 

Green, of course, is quintessential on an Apple //e, //c, ///, and a host of non-Apple systems and terminals. I actually kinda prefer an amber screen on the //c, though, but nostalgia is a factor there; my aunt and uncle had a //c with an amber monitor I used to play Space Quarks on as a kid. (I actually prefer to run my II+ through an RF modulator on an old color TV, in an effort to recreate an early II/II+ setup...complete with cassettes and paddles!)

 

But if there's anything else I can use an amber monitor on, that's probably the way I'd go (if I didn't feel like color). IBM/PC, Apple //c, even Commodore 64 and Atari 800 have a certain look with an amber screen that I really like.

 

(I can't see using a VIC-20, TI-99/4a, or TRS-80 Color with any kind of monochrome screen, though. Maybe a CoCo 3 since it supports 80-col, but even then, probably not.)

[Flojomojo]

GREEN

 

no, AMBER

 

no no no

 

BLACK

 

Black text on WHITE background. I like the classic Macintosh look.

 

But you didn't make that a choice, so I picked GREEN, my first instinct. May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits for not giving me the option I wanted.

[jaybird3rd]

Amber all the way for me. I love the look of an Amdek 310A monitor paired with a Hercules monochrome graphics adapter; the color is so nice and easy on the eyes. I also have a few Wyse character-based terminals with amber monochrome displays; I plan to set one up in my study for writing.

[zzip]

for me Amber followed by green and white

[Omega-TI]

I remember having B&W on the old TRS-80 but a friend of mine had a GREEN CRT with a high res board. That was "it" in my book.

[BassGuitari]

GREEN

 

no, AMBER

 

no no no

 

BLACK

 

Black text on WHITE background. I like the classic Macintosh look.

 

But you didn't make that a choice, so I picked GREEN, my first instinct. May the fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits for not giving me the option I wanted.

 

Sorry, it didn't occur to me. Black-on-white is typically found on systems which, for one reason or another, afford no other option, like the Timex Sinclair 1000 or, uh...the Macintosh.

[Flojomojo]

damn your eyes

 

 

 

 

[BassGuitari]

Amber all the way for me. I love the look of an Amdek 310A monitor paired with a Hercules monochrome graphics adapter; the color is so nice and easy on the eyes.

 

Ah, I love the 310A. A 310A + an Atari 800 =

 

I don't love how much they usually cost, though.

[Opry99er]

Toughie....

 

Black on white (Vintage Mac) speaks to me, but I also love the green on black of the old Apple monitors.

 

Amber is special, but I never had an amber monitor (had a friend with one though...)

 

Tough. I had to go green though, since the *white* is a bit ambiguous (I took it to mean white on black... and Im not a fan of white on black)

[JamesD]

I always found black text on a light background to be the best no matter what the color of the phosphor was.

I had an amber monitor and thought it was less harsh than green.
Later white monitors like the Amstrad PCs had were my favorite, but early B&W monitors using white on black were harder on the eyes, and both green and amber were better.
So it's not a simple answer.

[jhd]

The first computer that I ever used was a TRS-80 Model III. This would have been in Elementary School, in about 1982/83.

 

I may be mis-remembering, but I swear that the screen had a slightly bluish tint to it; it was very definitely off-white.

 

As blue was not an option in the poll, I voted for white.

 

Perhaps surprisingly, I never used an amber or green monitor (except very briefly with a vintage PC in the late-1990s).

[BassGuitari]

I may be mis-remembering, but I swear that the screen had a slightly bluish tint to it; it was very definitely off-white.

 

As blue was not an option in the poll, I voted for white.

 

I thought about that, but I get the impression screens that have that sort of soft, winter-blue tint are really just white, and it's an effect of refraction through the glass or something. Or maybe just a colder shade of white (like the opposite of eggshell or cream)? I dunno. In any event, I've never heard of a "blue screen" monitor, so I'd just file it under "white."

 

It's a cool effect, though!

[+x=usr(1536)]

Cyan on black. I've always found it the easiest to work with for long periods of time, and have used it as my standard colour scheme in terminal windows for decades because of the CRT experience.

[Opry99er]

What about black on CYAN? (TI-99/4A style)

[Osgeld]

as far as text systems go Green #1 amber #2 and hell to the no to chalk white on black

 

now later on with GUI systems white on black was not that bad, as someone mentioned mac, vga is not that bad with greyscale white, that was my first vga monitor its just something about razor blade text beaming you in the face pure white terminals / displays that was unpleasant

Edited March 21, 2018 by Osgeld

[atarian1]

Black letters on white background like the Atari ST. I like the bigger screen and higher refresh rate compared to the Mac. After using a color monitor for years, moving to the monochrome was a game changer. I don't recall ever straining my eyes like I did when I used a color monitor.

 

On a color monitor, I find it easier on my eyes with white letters on a black background.

[BassGuitari]

What about black on CYAN? (TI-99/4A style)

 

Find me a monochrome monitor that does that natively and I'll redo the poll.

[awhite2600]

I selected green as it reminds me of the Commodore PET. This was the first computer I actually got to program - in 1980.

 

I also loved the orange gas plasma displays used on portable computers in the late '80s. I would have chosen this if there was the option.

[+x=usr(1536)]

 

Find me a monochrome monitor that does that natively and I'll redo the poll.

 

We had one! It was monochrome amber, not cyan, but it had a button on it that would invert the video. Seem to recall that it came with an IBM XT clone that one of my parents bought.

[eightbit]

 

I also loved the orange gas plasma displays used on portable computers in the late '80s. I would have chosen this if there was the option.

 

 

Agreed. I chose amber as it was the closest thing It's still hard to say which I prefer. I grew up on monochrome green (PET, etc) but lusted after the amber screens in those days because it was something "different" than what I was currently using

[+poobah]

Amber for the win!

I almost miss my VT-320 from way back in the 80's (software developer on a DEC MicroVax II)

[Turbo-Torch]

 

In any event, I've never heard of a "blue screen" monitor, so I'd just file it under "white."

 

It's a cool effect, though!

 

There were a number companies that offered new picture tubes for the TRS-80 line in Green, Amber, Red or Blue. You could also choose the decay time of the phosphor. Price was about $80 bucks in the early 80s.

 

I would love to find a red tube for my Model III. I'd settle for a good used amber tube from an old monitor, but even those are getting difficult to find. The redish/orange gas plasma in my IBM P70s are phenomenal.

 

Never liked green and wouldn't consider it.

[Osgeld]

I have a first model NEC multisync, which supports both analog and ttl video (does 15khz too) I have had since the early 90's

 

ANYWAY

 

one of its features is you can plug in a monochrome display, and set the color to whatever you want more or less tying the RGBI lines high or low (with 3 bits of color and 1 of intensity)

Edited March 22, 2018 by Osgeld

[Seob]

I picked white, due to the fact our first pc had a white fosfor cga screen. I hated playing cga in color due to the magneta and cyan colors. But on a balck and white screen cga looked so much better.

I also have fond memories using green fosfor screens due to our cpc464 having a green screen.

Currently my only computer that still has a monochrome screen is my(was i just sold it) Commodore PC-1.

[Bloodcat]

Amber looks sweet and is kind of how the turret gun laptops in Aliens were screened. http://devblog.monothetic.com/post/100917702075/interfacing-connection (Scroll down a little bit.)

 

And as an Aliens geek I had to go with that. But the black and white of the Mac is a good second. Green is that of the Apple IIes and is inferior. But we all know the cool people have the 16 colors of the Commodore 64 and its all you really need for low color glory.