Questions tagged [crt-monitor]

Cathode Ray Tube monitors: principles of operation and use with computing devices. DO NOT REPAIR CRTs; SEE TAG WIKI FOR DETAILS.

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Does anybody have information on this tube?

I need to know if this is a color or monochrome tube. It’s in an applecolor A2M6020
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0 votes
1 answer
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A2M6020 AppleColor monitor not showing color

When I got my Apple IIc computer, it came with an A2M6020 AppleColor 13" NTSC composite monitor. However, I have not been able to get color working on it. I don’t know if it just has a monochrome ...
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14 votes
3 answers
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Which font with slashed zero is being used in this screengrab?

Do you know which font is being used in the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnudvJbAgI0? A screengrab of the video that shows a lot of text: We can see that the zeros are slashed, so it ...
5 votes
0 answers
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Atari SM144 Horizontal lines after turning off then on

I recently bought an Atari SM144 monochrome monitor so I could play with an old Atari ST. It works to a certain degree, it turns on all good and I can play for a while, but after some time it gives ...
1 vote
0 answers
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Monochrome CRT, words are wavy and sometimes move forward and backward, what could be the issue?

Monochrome CRT characters are not stable and rather shaking or waviness in them, sometime feel like moving forward and backward. Issue is in the high voltage power supply but what could it be, do high ...
0 votes
1 answer
627 views

Why did my CRT TV back in the day have such noisy RF picture on the NES when a same-age one does not today? [closed]

Back when the NES was current, I got one for my birthday. I connected it using the RF thingie to my cheap noname 14" CRT TV bought a couple of years earlier, in the late 1980s or 1990 or so. The ...
1 vote
0 answers
78 views

How can I find the specifications and manual for a JVC AV-S280ENT CRT TV? [closed]

I've just "struck gold" (in my world...) by finding an old CRT TV placed in the garbage room of my apartment complex. Didn't think that was ever gonna happen again. Anyway, as logic dictates,...
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33 votes
6 answers
8k views

Why were animated screensavers used instead of a black screen on CRT monitors?

Before the advent of modern monitors, CRT technology was used, which was vulnerable to screen burn-ins. Screensavers avoided these problems by producing animations instead of persistent images. Were ...
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6 votes
2 answers
380 views

Were there any square monitors other than PLATO?

The PLATO multiuser interactive computer system used – and indeed invented for this purpose – a plasma display, whose key selling point in the late sixties was that it did not need refresh, therefore ...
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2 votes
0 answers
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How to adjust RGB in an old CRT monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 753s) where the on-screen controls do no have the provision?

I just love CRTs. The have used LEDs and LCDs monitors but non of them have the high quality picture which a CRT monitor produce. In CRTs the color reproduction is very nice and also the brightness ...
10 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why was the Microvitec Cub monitor made of metal?

In British schools in the early eighties, the iconic microcomputer was the BBC Micro, typically connected to the equally iconic Microvitec Cub color monitor, as described in this video. Why this ...
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2 votes
2 answers
381 views

Atari ST colour rendering

In the late 80's, I had an interesting incident with an Atari ST that I've never really understood. I was using some graphics software that I recall was very similar to the way Microsoft's Paint still ...
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5 votes
2 answers
424 views

Digital to analog in an old 35mm film recorder [closed]

I'm looking at an old film recorder from 1985, the Polaroid Freeze Frame, the back of the machine pictured here: From here: https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/polaroidco_freezeframe_video_recorder.html I ...
1 vote
1 answer
359 views

Why might my CRT fry any HOT I put in it? [closed]

This CRT is a Hyundai HN-4850, sold under the brand name KTX. A while ago, I fed it a video signal at a greater frequency than it was designed to handle, and after a spell of cutting out, jerking ...
7 votes
1 answer
368 views

Does the Atari 1040 STE work with the Atari SM124 monitor?

I have an Atari 1040STE. I'd like to use it with the Atari SM124 B/W monitor but I'm not sure it will work. It's my understanding that the Atari SM124 works fine with earlier Atari ST models, but when ...
20 votes
6 answers
6k views

Why did some video games apparently use "interlaced" video modes?

I was under the impression that "interlaced" video modes was only a thing for remote television content because it saved bandwidth to only send 50% of the data to the homes, so you could fit ...
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

Is there such a thing as a modern-manufactured, flat, fake CRT TV? [closed]

CRT TVs were great, and an absolute must for all classic video games. However, it cannot be denied that it's impossible to buy a new CRT TV today, at least in any kind of normal store, and you rarely ...
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5 votes
3 answers
753 views

Performance characteristics of the DEC Type 30 graphical display

The DEC Type 30 was an early vector graphics display, that was used for an astonishingly wide range of applications for the 1960s. It used a 16-inch circular CRT with high persistence phosphor ...
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3 votes
1 answer
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CRT Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 1000 black screen: flashes BIOS logo during boot, but otherwise black

I received this off eBay yesterday and the seller had showed images of it working. The CRT shows many signs of life, I hear static when it turns on, a sound when I switch resolutions, the degaussing ...
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6 votes
1 answer
405 views

Were vertical monitor arcade games programmed differently from those with horizontal monitors?

Many classic arcade games like Pac Man (Namco 1980), Assault (Namco 1988), Mercs (Capcom 1990), etc, use a monitor oriented vertically. I assume that they used the same physical hardware, with the ...
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6 votes
6 answers
1k views

Ideal resolution for color computer on PAL/SECAM

Suppose you were, in the early eighties, designing a color computer to run on an PAL TV with a free hand to choose the specifications within the limits of the technology of the time. What would be the ...
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13 votes
5 answers
4k views

Why didn't early color TV sets accept RGB input?

Early PCs generated RF signal, and later Composite video or S-video, to use a TV set as monitor. Why didn't color TVs of those days expose a analog RGB interface for direct connection from VCR/PC or ...
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4 votes
3 answers
913 views

Early vector computer displays: off-the-shelf oscilliscope, or custom built?

Some early computers had vector displays, which allowed the computer to draw graphics by steering a cathode-ray beam. Some examples include the Whirlwind, TX-0, TX-2, and PDP-1. It would be easy for ...
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8 votes
4 answers
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Choosing a monochrome color at the monitor?

A monochrome monitor displays only one foreground color and one background color. Usually the monitor was manufactured to produce only one color, which was cheaper (both CRT and electronics) than a ...
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12 votes
9 answers
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What is the correct name for the old green/amber-on-black monitors, and what are the best vintage models to look for used?

I'd like to buy an old green-on-black or amber-on-black computer monitor, but I'm not sure what to search for. Are they called "monochrome" monitors, or something else? What I want is one ...
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6 votes
1 answer
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Can the 80-column display really be improved on a C128 and 1902A monitor?

The March 1988 issue of RUN contains the following tip from a reader on page 20: Attention: C-128/1902A Owners! If you use a Commodore 1902A video monitor with your C-128, here's a way to get a ...
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11 votes
2 answers
5k views

Why does my CRT whine?

My Amstrad CTM644 CRT 'monitor' (really a TV grade tube with RGB inputs), makes a high pitched whine when powered on, audible to my children and cats, though no longer to my own ears. My research ...
11 votes
4 answers
2k views

Physical resolution and control of old VGA (color) CRT monitors

I've just realized I have a gap in my understanding of the VGA CRT monitors of the 80386 era (1980s-1990s). What was the phosphor resolution? It turns out I did not have proper understanding of the ...
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5 votes
2 answers
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Sony PVM Connections / Composite Signale

I am trying to learn more about different video formats. I have a SONY PVM9044QM and want to understand the different connection options. So I understand, that Y/C equals S-Video input. But what does ...
1 vote
0 answers
203 views

Frozen horizontal width coil in old CRT monitor

I have an old Apple IIe CRT monitor which could use a small horizontal width adjustment. Unfortunately, as I try to rotate the hex key in the coil with a CRT adjustment tool, it doesn't want to move. ...
-5 votes
1 answer
195 views

What's the name and model of this computer monitor?

It's look like very old thing to me: It's in Black and White display. As you can see, it has a socket on the top of it . What's the name and model of this computer monitor?
0 votes
1 answer
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How picky are CRTs about power cleanliness?

How picky are CRTs about the 'cleanliness' of the mains power? Cleanliness referring to electrical noise from thing like ac motors in fridges, powerline ethernet, etc. Cleanliness is also referring ...
0 votes
1 answer
500 views

What's the name of this CRT monitor?

What's the name of this output retro gaming monitor device? The following is a still from the Netflix production of 'Bandersnatch', a 2018 interactive movie, set in Britain, mostly in the year 1984. ...
12 votes
8 answers
2k views

What are principles of vector CRT display? Simplest way to drive CRTs? [closed]

I am into playing with TTL to build 1970s style minicomputers. Aside from talking to them via some serial (or parallel) I/O port to a terminal, I am wondering about display output. This here is about ...
6 votes
4 answers
590 views

What monitor could render APL2 characters in 1985?

BACKGROUND: In 1985, I took an evening class in APL at the local IBM as part of a high school Explorer Post (which was really cool, these guys giving up their time to teach us programming). Other ...
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0 votes
1 answer
379 views

4MHz Z80 timing and PAL video generation

Im trying to get some nice colored lines on some old Z80 system synced to the PAL screen, but having some sort of a problem. First I just need to know if my facts are right. I know that on Commodore ...
4 votes
2 answers
414 views

What was the timeline for monitors becoming immune to physical damage from invalid sync values?

When I first got into using Linux around the turn of the millennium, XFree86 was still in use, with the associated use of the xf86config command to manually set everything up, and the warning that ...
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10 votes
4 answers
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Is it possible to swap the Apple IIc's monochrome CRT tube for a color one?

I just love the Snow White industrial design language of the Apple IIc, especially when paired with the Monitor IIc. It is a classic design that doesn't show its age. I've even recently seen them ...
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6 votes
3 answers
521 views

Could monochrome systems produce better output for monitors than TV sets?

Many classic computers could optionally use a TV set as the display. At least in the early (pre-SCART) days, the TV would typically only have RF input, but if you were using a monitor, you could get a ...
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6 votes
3 answers
914 views

How to connect an HX-20 to a monitor via the RS232 port?

Using & Programming the Epson HX-20 Portable Computer by Eric Balkan has a tantalising passage on p. 172*: T.L. Ronson of the HX-20 User's Group also notes that a monochrome monitor can be ...
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15 votes
6 answers
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Did any computer allow overscan on a CRT monitor?

The issue doesn't arise on today's LCD screens, but on a CRT screen, because the edges are slightly curved, and you might not be able to be sure exactly how the individual screen is tweaked, it's not ...
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8 votes
2 answers
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What causes the monitor to reduce to four lines on BK 0010 Focal?

When working with the Focal cartridge inserted on my BK 0010, the area displayed on the monitor suddenly reduces to just four lines , instead of the usual 20 Each time this has happened when I've ...
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11 votes
2 answers
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Did all integrated Commodore PET monitors always use 60 Hz refresh?

All models of the Commodore PET line had built-in monitors, and at least the U.S. models had 60 Hz refresh. For the European models there was no need for compatibility with European television ...
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11 votes
1 answer
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Monochrome CRT Repair - Horizontal offset

My CRT all of a sudden is shifted to the right. I cannot adjust it via the adjustment potentiometers, nothing changes when these are turned. If I increase the brightness, the whole screen turns green (...
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1 vote
0 answers
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Identify Toshiba CRT

Didn't find anything with a search and need to replace the tube due to it being severely burnt in.
2 votes
2 answers
548 views

Non-obvious compatibility of M1297 monitor

I bought an Apple IIgs recently. I didn't do my research well enough and wound up with an M1297 monitor, which of course appears to only be compatible with Macintosh IIs and such, rather than the ...
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15 votes
4 answers
2k views

Did Apple bundle a specific monitor with the Apple II+ for schools?

Sometime in 1980 (or maybe 1981) my school district purchased its first batch of Apple II+ computers. I remember vividly they had absolutely no idea what to do with them, and so the machines were ...
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7 votes
1 answer
795 views

Monitor for an SGI Octane?

I just found myself being the sudden and proud owner of two wonderful Silicon Graphics machines, an Octane and an Octane 2, both in quite good condition (in particular with very few scratches to the ...
8 votes
2 answers
941 views

Why did CGA RGBI output leave DAC to the monitor?

CGA on the original IBM PC produced sixteen colors, one bit each for red, green, blue and overall intensity modifier. The preferred output device was the later-arriving 5153 color monitor, which ...
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7 votes
3 answers
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What's the difference between an IBM 5153 (CGA) CRT picture tube and a color TV picture tube?

The IBM 5153 Personal Computer Color Display was a monitor designed to accompany the original IBM PC (albeit released a couple of years later) and provide a color display at sharp enough resolution ...
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