PVM Raffle WINNER

[DragonmasterDan]

I recently bought a 20 inch PVM that was shipped working but arrived dead.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/231262525800?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
 Chop5 is giving it a try to repair. Because it's not working I'm definitely interested in the raffle.

[NightWolve]

Have you attempted this yourself?  I might have to see about moding my CRT tv that I am keeping seeing how it is bigger........

YUP, I can now say yes and it IS beautiful!!!! I got interested the other night, and said what the hell, let's give it a shot after I remembered I had an old 13" CRT lying around, unused (they're ALL "monitors" technically now, not TVs, since the analog-to-digital signal switch; their tuners are defunct, so they're only good for whatever video inputs they have). I didn't wanna first experiment with my 32" entertainment center TV, so this was perfect, if I broke it I wouldn't give a shit.

So you need a CRT TV with at least a yellow Composite input jack. Following the lead of the guy that did it on his, I targeted that PCB that's connected to the tube that drives the electron guns.



My PCB was very simple in design and I could actually follow it a bit. There are 3 transistors, 3 big high-watt resistors at 15 kOhms in between the power to the transistors and the emitters were jumped over to go right to the guns. There were 'R' 'G' and 'B' labels and following them back to a set of 5 wires, I could make a good guess as to which of the 3 were for RGB. Like him, they weren't colored specifically, mine were all gray, but I used markers and nail polish to color them accordingly:



That PCB can come off as he did there above, but if there is enough labeling on the backside, better to leave it alone. But yeah, for research, you may have to in order to get a better look on the topside of the PCB. I had to since that's where the labeling was and I didn't wanna make any mistakes.

So I clip the 3 wires I was pretty sure are the RGB lines, I brought my SNES out, had to tap the standard RGB outputs as I didn't have the SCART cable that the Multi-AV out supported, hooked up the Composite jack, connected the 3 wires up once I had everything in position and gave it a shot!! Well, the only hiccup was that the signal was too strong/bright, so I turned down the pot for brightness at this thing:



That's the only adjustment I had to make. Never touch the pot for focus, but this you can as it's essentially the "master brightness" set at the factory. I wouldn't recommend this, but I did it cause I didn't care about going back and turning down the brightness digitally via the TV's digital menu system, nor could I at that point!

See, once you clip those RGB lines from the motherboard, you are no longer going to get the benefit of the OCD Operating System of the TV, the menus to control sound, video, channel adding/delete, that's all disconnected and your console is in full direct control of whatever is shown, so to do the mod right, you need a switch that reconnects those 3 wires so you can reset everything to its defaults and change something as need be.

The results: So just after turning down the brightness, I tried many SNES games I had handy, and I gotta tell ya, it was beautiful, like arcade or close to emulator mode. Many details were readable, like in "Super Street Fighter II," Dee Jay's "Maximum" labeled on his pants (never noticed that before)! There were ZERO issues about green levels or tint or black levels, it was all perfect after brightness adjustment! Pure RGB goodness.

Now, I am confused, I had that SNES still unfinished for a Component mod, but this seems so much better. And what to do about my Turbo Duo, to date, nobody has shown me what is the best RGB amplifier circuit for it and I think I would like to have one now, but I already picked out the real estate for the Component jacks to use steve's circuit, so I'd have to use the DIN for RGB if I wanted it or something... :/



My shit was way better than that!! Way better, games like "Super Mario World" came alive, solid, clean colors, no wavy interference, clear, crisp, shimmering completely gone, etc. I would reconnect the lines and then compare with Composite, so of course I got highly contrasting results as even S-Video/Component improve things quite a bit from Composite. Differences wouldn't be so stark going from S-Video/YPbPr to RGB as they are from Composite being the point.

Anyhow, I *think* I might try to make a thread for this and possibly record a video.

Conclusion: RGB is DEFINITELY worth it! And if an old, crappy CRT TV can be turned into an Arcade-like monitor by cutting/rerouting 3 wires, F--KIN' A! You still need steve's brain to get the exact way to properly set up the inputs, I'll have to stop by the chatroom some time and pick his brain for ideas, but yeah, it works beautifully in the case of this particular TV. No guarantee it'll be as easy or that I'll get the same results for my 32" TV, but I'm gonna try it some time now that it worked for this 13" model!

Oh yes, as far as specs, the 13" TV is made by some no-name brand "Orion" and was manufactured in 2003 (No, not in China, Thailand actually). It's mono, has 2 jacks in front for audio and Composite, and one RF jack in the back, that's it. Pretty cheap.

[Medic_wheat]

UPDATE:

The drawing may be held for the end of next week will let people know next Friday.

Reason for speed up on drawing is because my wife and I have had interviews for transfering to another city (bigger).  If our request are accepted we will be moving and most likely starting these positions begining of August.  Less stuff I need to move the better.....

I will have my interveiw next Thursday and we expect to know if it is a hard yes/no by the end of that week.

[PunkCryborg]

Have you attempted this yourself?  I might have to see about moding my CRT tv that I am keeping seeing how it is bigger........

YUP, I can now say yes and it IS beautiful!!!! I got interested the other night, and said what the hell, let's give it a shot after I remembered I had an old 13" CRT lying around, unused (they're ALL "monitors" technically now, not TVs, since the analog-to-digital signal switch; their tuners are defunct, so they're only good for whatever video inputs they have). I didn't wanna first experiment with my 32" entertainment center TV, so this was perfect, if I broke it I wouldn't give a shit.

So you need a CRT TV with at least a yellow Composite input jack. Following the lead of the guy that did it on his, I targeted that PCB that's connected to the tube that drives the electron guns.



My PCB was very simple in design and I could actually follow it a bit. There are 3 transistors, 3 big high-watt resistors at 15 kOhms in between the power to the transistors and the emitters were jumped over to go right to the guns. There were 'R' 'G' and 'B' labels and following them back to a set of 5 wires, I could make a good guess as to which of the 3 were for RGB. Like him, they weren't colored specifically, mine were all gray, but I used markers and nail polish to color them accordingly:



That PCB can come off as he did there above, but if there is enough labeling on the backside, better to leave it alone. But yeah, for research, you may have to in order to get a better look on the topside of the PCB. I had to since that's where the labeling was and I didn't wanna make any mistakes.

So I clip the 3 wires I was pretty sure are the RGB lines, I brought my SNES out, had to tap the standard RGB outputs as I didn't have the SCART cable that the Multi-AV out supported, hooked up the Composite jack, connected the 3 wires up once I had everything in position and gave it a shot!! Well, the only hiccup was that the signal was too strong/bright, so I turned down the pot for brightness at this thing:



That's the only adjustment I had to make. Never touch the pot for focus, but this you can as it's essentially the "master brightness" set at the factory. I wouldn't recommend this, but I did it cause I didn't care about going back and turning down the brightness digitally via the TV's digital menu system, nor could I at that point!

See, once you clip those RGB lines from the motherboard, you are no longer going to get the benefit of the OCD Operating System of the TV, the menus to control sound, video, channel adding/delete, that's all disconnected and your console is in full direct control of whatever is shown, so to do the mod right, you need a switch that reconnects those 3 wires so you can reset everything to its defaults and change something as need be.

The results: So just after turning down the brightness, I tried many SNES games I had handy, and I gotta tell ya, it was beautiful, like arcade or close to emulator mode. Many details were readable, like in "Super Street Fighter II," Dee Jay's "Maximum" labeled on his pants (never noticed that before)! There were ZERO issues about green levels or tint or black levels, it was all perfect after brightness adjustment! Pure RGB goodness.

Now, I am confused, I had that SNES still unfinished for a Component mod, but this seems so much better. And what to do about my Turbo Duo, to date, nobody has shown me what is the best RGB amplifier circuit for it and I think I would like to have one now, but I already picked out the real estate for the Component jacks to use steve's circuit, so I'd have to use the DIN for RGB if I wanted it or something... :/



My shit was way better than that!! Way better, games like "Super Mario World" came alive, solid, clean colors, no wavy interference, clear, crisp, shimmering completely gone, etc. I would reconnect the lines and then compare with Composite, so of course I got highly contrasting results as even S-Video/Component improve things quite a bit from Composite. Differences wouldn't be so stark going from S-Video/YPbPr to RGB as they are from Composite being the point.

Anyhow, I *think* I might try to make a thread for this and possibly record a video.

Conclusion: RGB is DEFINITELY worth it! And if an old, crappy CRT TV can be turned into an Arcade-like monitor by cutting/rerouting 3 wires, F--KIN' A! You still need steve's brain to get the exact way to properly set up the inputs, I'll have to stop by the chatroom some time and pick his brain for ideas, but yeah, it works beautifully in the case of this particular TV. No guarantee it'll be as easy or that I'll get the same results for my 32" TV, but I'm gonna try it some time now that it worked for this 13" model!

Oh yes, as far as specs, the 13" TV is made by some no-name brand "Orion" and was manufactured in 2003 (No, not in China, Thailand actually). It's mono, has 2 jacks in front for audio and Composite, and one RF jack in the back, that's it. Pretty cheap.

Nice work but just be careful working on that CRT chassis especially if you don't even know what the thing is you adjusted the brightness on is called (the flyback) which holds a very high charge. The average person shouldn't do this kind of work as it is very dangerous especially if the tube is not discharged properly and it is not safe to do any soldering anywhere even the yoke pcb if it's not discharged. Might want to include those kind of warnings if you do make a guide

[Joe Redifer]

Very true. How do you properly discharge a CRT tube?

[PunkCryborg]

Very true. How do you properly discharge a CRT tube?

You have to disconnect the anode cab from the tube with a flathead screwdriver that has a wire attached to it and to the monitor frame. There's lots of good guides online and videos on youtube on how to do it safely but it's still not something most people should be attempting

[roflmao]

Back when I worked as a tech for Chuck E Cheese I was always nervous about working on monitors because of how much they stressed it was very dangerous to work on them during training. Punkic is right re: grounding a screwdriver to the frame, but I always flinched a bit when I had to do it.

[spenoza]

So, how does the picture on a unit like this compare to the picture on something like a Sony Trinitron WEGA or similar?

[EvilEvoIX]

NICE add me!

[Medic_wheat]

Really quick anyone know a good randomizer I can use to figure out the winner of this raffle?

[NecroPhile]

list randomizer - https://www.random.org/lists/

[Medic_wheat]

Winner picked (found a site thanks)

Please PM me with address and stuff, and I'll notify you later today once I figure out what exact shipping will be.

[Medic_wheat]

If winner is unable to accept, or declines then the next person on the winning list will have their chance to get the PMV.

and so forth...

until it is shiped.

[NightWolve]

Not interested but wanted to give ya a karma point for the raffle. Given the current list of applicants, it's a tough choice of who I would prefer to win between Arkhan and GameSack Joe. In the end, gonna have to go with Joe, the coolest dude that I know. GameSack4ever, brother!

Hey, I picked the winner!!! I called it! ;) It's Joe ReadiferA_PVM!

[Joe Redifer]

Awesome! I don't think I've ever won anything before. Looking forward to it! Huzzah!

[Medic_wheat]

Okay got the PM from the winner.

Will update once item is shiped.

[HailingTheThings]

Congrats Joe!

[TR0N]

Congrats Joe now you will have a proper way to run the older consoles.

[Arkhan Asylum]

Sweet.  Now I still don't have a way to RGB demo stuff at conventions.

THANKS ALOT RANDOMIZER.

[Tatsujin]

hahaha, well done joe

[Medic_wheat]

Just a heads up I have yet to ship the winner thr monitor due to my moving. Will get it out just focusing on the move to another city this weekend.


Good thing is ill have lots of materials to pack it with. ......

[NightWolve]

So is the deal set, was Joe Readifer actually paying the shipping on this cement bag weighing PVM ?? ;)

[Medic_wheat]

So is the deal set, was Joe Readifer actually paying the shipping on this cement bag weighing PVM ?? ;)

Yes....Although I have not gotten a shipping quote.  So there might still be wiggle room....

[Joe Redifer]

Got the PVM in a week ago today. Unfortunately since the monitor had been dropped once in its life and likely kicked around more by FedEx just for fun, the power button didn't work. It was stuck. I tried to pull it out, but then it fell into the chassis. Byron came over (fellow forum member BlueBMW) and installed a high tech paperclip solution to the power button.


The monitor sitting in its temporary location.


Push to power on, pull to power off. This is a temporary solution until I can buy more fishing line.


Here's Out Run on the Sega Saturn. You'll notice that it is in the 60fps mode. I mean I noticed as I was playing so I assume you'll notice as you look at this still picture.


Close-up! Good, but still a little smearing here and there. I am using component transcoded from RGB because I do not yet have a SCART to BNC breakout cable, but I'll get one soon.

[Medic_wheat]

Glad to see it us working

When you told me paperclips were use to turn it on i had to see it.


Somehoe makes me think of my first tv as a kid. I used a pair of pliers to change the stations on the dial face.


Now I want an old tv like that again.  Minus the pliers lol

[TheClash603]

Awesome!

My first TV I had in my room when I was a kid is still with me today.  It also lost its power button and now needs something stuck in the hole to turn it on.  I think this "feature" adds charm to old TVs

[jeffhlewis]

Joe:

I bought my SCART to BNC converter from these guys; it included the PVM sync fix built right in to the cable housing. You could probably make one cheaper from scratch, but the build quality on this thing is insanely good (plus I didn't feel like burning through a whole weekend to save $45):

http://www.retrogamingcables.com/sony-pvm-scart-converter-bnc.html

[NecroPhile]

Lookin' good, Joe, even with the paper clip mod. 

..... needs something stuck in the hole to turn it on.

Sounds sexy.