SE/30 PDS Video Cards

A number of video cards were made for the Macintosh SE/30. These can be found, from time to time, on auction websites. This page documents and details the various cards that were made.

A stock SE/30 has a built-in 9" monochrome display with no ability to connect an external monitor. With an SE/30 video card, an SE/30 can drive an external monochrome or colour display. Some cards were designed to only work with a specific matching CRT, but some support a variety of resolutions and will sync fine with a LCD display.

You can easily spot an SE/30 video card as there aren't many other cards that look similar. They are narrow and tall, and have a PDS connector on the end, and a breakout cable for a rear access port, usually with DB15 or similar external port.

030 PDS Video cards for SE/30

FOCUS Enhancements (Lapis)

Lapis ProColor 8

Lapis ColorServer PDS/30 / PDS30-17 / PDS30-21

Lapis ProColorServer 24 PDS/30

c. 1992

Lapis P/N 10036

Lapis SE/30-DPD

1024x768 @ 78Hz in monochrome

LapisColor16 for SE/30

1MB VRAM, 16-bit on displays 13" to 17", 8-bit on 19" to 21"

Micron Technology

Micron MacroColor 30

Unaccelerated; supports 640x480 up to 8-bit

This can be paired with Micron's Xceed Gray-Scale 30 8-bit Internal Greyscale Adapter (Manufacturer part number MGXC11 or XCD-900003), which adds 256 greyscale support for the SE/30's built-in 9" CRT display.

Several projects have been attempted to clone the greyscale adapter, as it is very sought after and increasingly rare. The greyscale adapter with a color board have fetched as much as £1,800 as of 2021, possibly making them the most sought after Mac card out there.

Micron Xceed 306

Unaccelerated; 640x480 8-bit

Does not work with the Xceed greycale adapter (according to LowEndMac)

Requires a monitor that will support sync-on-green (according to LowEndMac)

Micron Xceed Color 30 / 30HR

Unaccelerated; 640x480 8-bit

Manufacturer part number: MG3016A

Compatible with the Xceed Grayscale 30 8-bit Internal Grayscale Adapter

Radius

Radius Pivot Card SE/30

The Radius Pivot Card SE/30 provides the SE/30 with the ability to run the Color Pivot LE or any Radius Pivot monitor in 256 colour mode.

Also referred to as the Radius Pivot Interface card, for use with the Radius Pivot Display System.

Radius part number 0197. Pivot cards were also available for the IIsi and II family.

Radius Two-Page Display Card SE/30 (TPD SE/30)

c. 1990

For use with the Radius Two-Page Display CRT.

Assy No. 632-0025-A

RasterOps

RasterOps ColorBoard 108+SE/30

The RasterOps ColorBoard 108+SE/30 is unaccelerated and supports the following resolution/colour combinations:

• 640 x 480 up to 8-bit
• 800 x 600 (at 75 Hz) up to 8-bit
• 1024 x 768 (at 60 Hz) up to 8-bit

This card is apparently incompatible with SE/30 accelerators (according to LowEndMac).

Resolution is set by DIP switches on the card.

RasterOps ColorBoard 264 for SE/30

Unaccelerated; supports 640x480 up to 24-bit colour.

Priced at $659 in 1991.

Works with Apple's Monitors control panel and dos not require the RasterOps display software.

It doesn't support multisync monitors, but can be used in conjunction with a manually set video adapter that supports 640x480.

RasterOps drivers available at Mac Driver Museum.

RasterOps ColorBoard 708+SE/30

Unaccelerated; supports following resolutions

• 640 x 480 up to 8-bit
• 800 x 600 (at 75 Hz) up to 8-bit
• 1024 x 768 (at 60 Hz) up to 8-bit

Resolution is set by DIP switches on the card.

This card is apparently incompatible with SE/30 accelerators (according to LowEndMac).

RasterOps ColorVue GS/30

Unaccelerated; supports 640x480, 832x624, 1024x768 @ 60 or 75 Mhz, all in 8-bit greyscale

RasterOps drivers available at Mac Driver Museum.

May not work in systems later than 7.1 (I have not checked this).

May not work with accelerators.

SuperMac

SuperMac ColorCard SE/30

QuickDraw acceleration (?); supports 640x480 in 8-bit colour

Interware

Interware Vimage CAD SE/30

Interware Vimage 8 SE/30

Supports 256 colours @ 640x480

No driver or software required.

Interware Vimage SE/30

Supports millions of colours @ 640x480

No driver or software required.

Interware VDR-2A

No details known yet.

E-Machines

TX SE30/8

Retailed for approx. $900 in March 1992.

Described as a 24-bit card for 640x480 resolution.

T19 SE30/8

No details known yet.

MegaGraphics

MegaScreen 3008 SE/30 8-bit

No details known yet.

Formac

Formac ProNitron 80.SE/4

1024 x 768 @ 8-bit

Sync on green.

Most likely designed to drive Formac fixed frequency CRTs.

ProGraph SE/3