Although users of the Apple II could use an ordinary TV set as a display (an early selling point of the machine), the picture from such a connection was fuzzy and full of interference. So many Apple II owners relied on the more direct composite video connection to a dedicated monitor that eliminated much of that fuzziness.
But it still wasn’t the ultimate in Apple II video. For the special class of user that demanded absolute sharpness clarity in a color display, Apple sold the AppleColor Monitor 100 and a matching RGB video card for the Apple IIe. Both items were very expensive in the 1980s, did not sell well, and are thus exceedingly rare today.
The AppleColor Monitor 100 presented a sharp image because it allowed a RGB video connection that separated out individual components of the video signal onto different wires so they would not electronically interfere with each other when combined, as is the case with a composite video connection.
It also included a very novel feature: a motorized angle adjustment. With the push of a button, users could tilt the monitor up or down inside its frame. No Apple brand monitor before or since has contained a motorized display, although the similar-looking Apple Monitor II allowed users to adjust the screen’s tilt manually.