Instead, it is a curious footnote in Apple’s history.ĭespite using a 32 MHz CPU, Mac TV is about 15% slower than the 25 MHz LC III and LC 520 because it uses a 16 MHz data bus.
If it had used a 68040 CPU giving users the option of watching TV in a small window while computing or the ability to capture TV as a QuickTime movie, this could have been a serious contender. It was an interesting experiment, marketed exclusively through consumer electronic channels.
TV TUNER FOR MAC USA SOFTWARE
Software allows it to capture a single TV frame as a PICT file.Īlas, you can’t watch TV and compute at the same time. The built-in 14″ Trinitron monitor displays 16-bit TV images, but only 8-bit computer graphics. It is the only model in the “500 Series” that doesn’t have an available PDS (Processor Direct Slot) – that gave way to the TV tuner. It was the last desktop Mac with a 68030 processor, the first with a built-in TV tuner, the first black desktop Mac, and the first Mac to ship with a remote control. This was perhaps the oddest Macintosh ever. Mac TV doesn’t support any other broadcast standard.)
(Assuming you were in the US, Canada, or some other country using NTSC video. More or less a black LC 520 (complete with a black mouse and black keyboard), Macintosh TV lets you watch 16-bit TV or use 8-bit computer graphics. The first cable-ready Macintosh! No, not ready for a cable modem – ready for cable TV.