CRT

Rebuilding a Sony PVM 1344Q CRT from 1992

One aspect of running a CRT repair shop is having a stock of random parts salvaged from machines that are unrepairable. I have a large “graveyard” of CRT parts from mostly Sony Trinitron PVMs. Recently I traded for a rough Sony PVM 1344Q from 1992. This monitor was filthy and had a number of issues. In short, the PVM needed a replacement bezel, shell, cleaning, and numerous other parts replaced and repaired. The CRT tube was replaced with a new tube in 2001, but it was not installed properly and produced a terrible image. The deflection yoke will need to be reseated and adjusted. You can see a full inspection of this monitor here: Is this Monitor trash?! | The Sony PVM 1344Q CRT Inspection – YouTube

I searched through my “graveyard” of used Sony PVM parts and found a shell, bezel and plenty of other donor parts from a Sony PVM 1342Q that was donated after the tube and mainboards failed beyond repair.… Read the rest

Collecting, color calibrating and repairing CRTs with Dan Mons – Cathode Ray Podcast #14

Today, Steve I released this week’s episode of the Cathode Ray Podcast with Aussie Dan Mons, creator of RetroNAS and man who (probably) has more CRTs than you.

Beside being a Linux wizz who has assembled the amazing new RetroNAS project, Dan has a long history within the movie production and VFX industry. He regails us with stories about CRT color calibration.

The RetroNAS project: https://github.com/danmons/retronas
Dan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_daemons

RGBHV to RGBs to use the Time Sleuth on a CRT

In my previous blog I showed you how to make a dongle which converts RGBHV to RGBs. We saw that this was very useful for use with a GBS-Control. Due to the system’s off the shelf hardware, it only outputs RGBHV and if you want to use the signal on a regular 15khz CRT, you are going to need RGBs.

There are other uses for this dongle too. Another great use case is paired with a Time Sleuth for testing 480i and 240p on CRTs.

The Time Sleuth was created by Dan “citrus3000psi” and is a monitor lag tester. It generates it’s own test pattern over HDMI. You then plug that into your TV and hold the device up to the screen.… Read the rest

Converting RGBHV to RGBs for the GBS-Control

The GBS-Control (GBS-C) is an amazing piece of affordable hardware. For around 30 bucks worth of parts, I have a good scaler which does the job for me. It also has excellent down-scaling to 240p which I was hoping to take advantage to hook up a more modern image to a 15khz CRT.

The GBS-Control has a quirk due to it being based on off the self hardware. It only outputs RGBHV, not RGBs. You can enable an experimental component output mode, but for my purposes I need that RGB out.

Whats the difference between RGBHV and RGBs? How the sync signal is encoded. The VGA standard says that sync is carried across 2 wires, one for horizontal sync and the other for vertical sync.… Read the rest

Shipping Large CRTs

It’s 2022 and the biggest challenge facing CRT enthusiasts remains servicing and maintaining their highly valuable analog display sets.  Nowadays there are not many CRT service shops around, and if you do find one more than likely they will not be in your area.  This leaves you with a difficult decision.  Should you pack up your CRT in your vehicle and drive 500 miles each way to the nearest CRT shop?  That is the safest option, but it takes lots of time and leaves you with the costs to travel.  It puts a lot of wear and tear on your vehicle too. 

The other option may be scarier to think about.  Should you ship your CRT to a shop?  This sounds easy and will save a lot of time, but it will cost a lot. … Read the rest

Sony OLED PVM-1741

Several weeks ago I got the chance to rent and test a Sony OLED PVM-1741. I had been working at a large live event and found one of these sitting in the technicians backstage. My eyes were instantly drawn to it. From the front it clearly has the shape and lines of a CRT PVM / BVM but it’s flat!

In this video I take a quick look at the screen to see if it’s good for retro gaming purposes. However, beware! This is a 17 inch, VERY high quality OLED screen and while it was produced in 2011 (thats 11 years ago as I write this), it is still a very relevant and usable screen in professional environments. That means it’s price isn’t going down anytime soon.… Read the rest