Trinitron: Sony's Once Unbeatable Product
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- čas přidán 29. 12. 2017
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Throughout much of the analog television era, Sony was the fairly undisputed king of TVs. Their Trinitron picture tube was a universally well received technology and made a number of important improvements on the standard color picture tube. This is the story of its creation.
**The trinitron CRT wasn't impervious to Moire patterns. However, it was less prone to them because of the lack of a phosphor grid. Vertical misalignment could still occur with the aperture grille, so moire patterns could still appear on patterns with strong vertical stripes. However, moire patterns wouldn't appear with horizontal image components due to the lack of distinct phosphor groupings.
**The patent expired in 1996, not 1998.
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The image of the Chromatron Television was used under Creative Commons License. Photo by Patfass
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Wow, Trinitron was invented only a handful of years after color TVs were first introduced, it stayed dominant while it was under patent and then the patent ran out only a few years before the full-scale introduction of HDTVs. That is a dynasty.
Domen Gregorčič It’s not though, unless you are watching SD or below content, or video produced before around 2006, a modern HDTV LCD is better than an old Trinitron CRT.
dacypher22 I’ve got a Trinitron still today, it’s a mid-90’s KV-21X5U that cost me 100 quid, and it was well worth it. Best 100 quid I’ve ever spent. It’s amazing for my retro games, and for watching my old SD video or television from pre-2007, as it shows up best on a CRT due to the colours.
@@justanotheryoutubechannel I hear you! Playing retro game consoles on an HDTV is a muddy nightmare unless you are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on all types of devices that often don't get a better picture quality than an SD TV would.
Ming Dynasty.
dacypher22 Retro gaming is what got me into CRTs. I decided that I was happy with just using my old 14-inch Matsui TVR185 Shadow Mask CRT to play them, as it looked great over RGB SCART, and was free, whereas it would’ve taken hundreds of pounds to get all the stuff I’d need to use a modern LCD to play games. Eventually I brought my Trinitron when I had the money, as I wanted to upgrade my gaming setup, but I was absolutely in love with CRTs by then.
I legit got startled at the "IEEEEE!" part Lol!
R.I.P my ears.
its powered by scared people in a hannah barberra cartoon
I was equaly intrigued when he spoke about Aperture laboratories and it showed their trademark for a split second .Very interesting😯
That's how engineers call their meetings.
I laughed 😆
This guy has an incredible amount of knowledge of how vintage electronics work. And he explains everything so concisely. If he taught this in college, I’d sign up.
me too
IEEE
Petition to get Alec to teach a college course, all in favor say aye
@@joshualaw375 ye
@@joshualaw375 aye
I remember having a 32" Trinitron when I was younger. Nearly threw my back out when we replaced it and I tried to pick it up. I think that's the heaviest TV I've ever lifted, and working for Goodwill, I lifted a lot of TVs. But, playing SNES on that thing was the bee's knee's.
The last tube TV I had was a 30" widescreen Sony Trinitron that could accept up to 1080i. The screen was a CRT, but the glass was flat. It weighed a lot, over 200lbs and was a real challenge to move. The picture quality however for the time was fantastic.
@@Crolis That’s where the term “Flat Screen” came from. Most people used it to refer to Plasma and LCD tvs though lol. I always found that hilarious.
@notfiveo lol, funny story. Can you imagine the collective size and weight of all defunct CRTs in land fill sites across the globe 🤯!
Being a computer engineer major, I hear reference to IEEE all the time.
I've never heard them referenced as they were at 0:35, that was downright the funniest thing I've heard for a long time.
Literally 100% same here. I shall officially repeat that forever.
I triple E is how I refer to them
You-EEE too?
likewise
We called the communication cables between equipment "I triple E Cables" although they are fast becoming obsolete.
I use to work at the Sony Support Center in Ft Myers (R.I.P.) and supported the trinitrons and vaio pcs. Funny thing is that our training videos never went to this depth. This video is a great artifact, thanks! When i was first introduced to IEEE in college, I always heard the ewok scream in my mind. IEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
I have a later WEGA HDTV projection from 2005, it still works great and I hope to keep using it for a few more years.
I'm still using an HD Wega CRT for 480p-720p gaming, and DVDs, but blu-rays, HD DVDs, 4Ks, and Xbox One are played on my Sony 4K, I used to have a SD Trinitron, but it died, now I use a Toshiba SD for my 240p video games, it's a AF series, so I'd say the picture is as good as a Sony
I read the IEEEEEEE in the ewoks voice/scream than you for that
Wilhelm scream ftw!
Ft. Myers, FL? Not the shop across the bridge?
Back in 2015 or so, I found a huge Trinitron Multiscan 520GS and I lugged it back to the IT room to use as my main monitor... and today, in 2020, that monitor built in 1999 is still going! And hey, 1600x1200 at 75Hz is still pretty good ;)
Try 1600x1200i 144hz (actually you can probably do 160hz)
In 2000 i had one of those as my main monitor at work. When someone new came to my cubilcle I always asked them to guess what was the most expensive unit in there. They always went to the monitor and then I pointed my chair. I'm tall guy (191cm) and that chair was custom built to my ergonomy.
@@topilinkala1594 Had me fooled too!
Considering that you actually get that resolution in motion it kicks the crap out of every Modern Display lol
@@jamescampbell8482 Too bad that monitor died not too long after I made that comment :(
I owned two of these flatscreen Trinitron’s they were amazingly clear and amazingly heavy
I worked on these in the late 90's at Sony's New Stanton, PA plant. I could probably wire one with my eyes closed today.
Robert. I remember how thick the front glass was on the 35” models. And front heavy. Over an inch thick. I’ve been to Rancho Bernardo too.
Yeah. I owned a large Trinitron and it required two grown men to lift it into the entertainment cabinetry. Years go by and the only issue it had was that the color would sometime go out of whack. But if you smacked the TV cabinet at just the right spot (top right, near the front, at the corner), it would snap into glorious perfection. I always thought that was odd, but after watching this video I may finally have the explanation. When I eventually sold it I had a line of prospective buyers. This was in the mid 2000's and it was still an amazing picture quality. I told the winning buyer to bring a couple of friends because I wasn't gonna try and lift it again.
If I remember correctly, flat-screen CRTs were just curved CRTs with extra glass on the front to make it flat. I'd imagine that'd add a ton of weight lol
My late father owned a Trinitron during the 1990s. Big-@$$ TV that was great, worked for years, had a spare remote in a compartment on the side (good thing since my younger sister accidentally spilled coconut juice on the first one) and was so f@(king heavy that when the repairman tried to lift it gave him a hernia.
I remember when I could finally afford to buy a new SONY Trinatron! I was super excited and got a 32” floor model from Circuit City for HALF the price, with the full warranty! After I fired it up and started drinking in all that gorgeous picture, I noticed the wires behind the screen, mentioned in this video. I couldn’t believe it it, “You gotta be shittin me, they sold me a lemon!!!” A call to Circuit City led to a visit from the repairman (who didn’t know about the wires) who replaced the picture tube. “Awesome, now we’re set!” NOPE! Could still see the wires! The repairman (who was really nice and accommodating) insisted Circuit City replace the entire set! Mind you, I had paid half price, so now I would be getting a brand new from the box SONY for 50% of the retail! Long story short, I saw the wires in the new one, too, but at least I managed to turn a floor model into a brand new Trinatron! After replacement the new repairman (who DID know about the wires) assured me it was normal, and further convinced me to keep it by telling only 5% of people could see the lines and that if he replaced it again, this time he would be forced to give me a Panasonic which anyone with superhuman eagle-eyed vision (like me) would not be happy with the lesser overall picture quality of the cheaper set. He had me.
I love the way TC used the tv's themselves to project his image and show us the differences in real time.
I own three 24" Sony GDM-FW900 16x10 High Definition Trinitron Tube Monitors. They are the most glorious things you have ever seen. After about 45 minutes of warm up.
Hi Z
Theeeese
you must have gotten them several years ago when they were still marginally affordable, today, they are expensive collectors items that go for big bucks (if you find them at all).
@@bivv93 what does "Can you please convince these manufacturers to launch their later 2021 TV and monitors mixed with the bests of all the worlds? I mean CRT Monitors+LCD+LED+OLED+AMOLED+QDLED+MINILED (kindly stop selling experimental crap to customers for thousands of dollars." mean?
@@johnhunter7244 too easy to comprehend mate. Can the manufacturers stop selling their experimental mess to customers? Can they not make a screen that is superior to all and has no inferiority as compared to current screen panels and image, motion and color processing and handling etc?
I still couldn't see the stabilisation wire even when it was being pointed out to me :P
The only way I could see it is if the screen was completely white.
Same.
@@brelanarchy8023 Same here, they were two tiny, light grey lines in my 17" Trinitron computer monitor (Multiscan CPD-200·ES), only (and barely) visible with a completely white screen. I miss my Trinitron, I don't think LCD or LED monitors are as bright as it was.
my old triniton monitor was the best. I dident upgrade to a LCD until 1080p was commonplace. Heck, my replacement was actually and led one. Loved that heavy power hungery monitor. Had the best picture for a long time. Worked flawlessly for me and wish i still had it for my older stuff.
@@alvaros. maybe an HDR screen will make you happy then?
Minor Correction: The patent expired in 1996.
This is the last video of 2017! But there are plenty more on the way. Thank you everyone for watching and subscribing!
Thank you and Happy New Year!
Ok , now, send me back in time because the new TVs are CRAP
Fastest ive ever clicked a video
What was the deal with sony's later wega products. Had they changed the tube design for those?
Happy New Year! Have you ever considered writing a book based on your videos? I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
I remember them Trinitron days. Some of my friends hooked up their Ataris to them, and I was always impressed with how much better they would look compared to other brands. Enough so, that people had no problem dropping all that $ to get one.
It happens it is the fourth time I watch this entire video, hooked every time! We're gonna miss CRT technology once the few last working tubes stop to do so.
They're still being manufactured for specific purposes. The good quality ones we have will last a long time.
Even today to the best of my knowledge there are CRT devices being made, as a general rule of thumb, a CRT that is well built will out last all but the most overpriced of LED based displays. So for certain industrial applications where that screen might be running 24/7 and down time costs thousands of dollars an hour. The increased electrical bill might actually be worth the reduced downtime
I had a Sony Trinitron 13” TV and the screen quality was amazing for it’s time and also amazing by today’s standards.
Lots of television nowadays claim high resolution but the colors sometimes look washed out compared to those old TVs.
The most likely reason as to why modern TVs would look washed out compared to these old ones is because there is simply less energy being put through the LEDs then there was being put through the phosphor dots of old TVs
I have a 13" Trinitron tv/VCR combo. Can't remember the model number. It's one of my prizes possessions though. Got it last year.
I worked at Best Buy for 6 months just before my 21st birthday. Plasma TV's were the new hit and the 720p vs. 1080i vs 1080p. fight was on. The day I quit that job I purchased a Sony FD Trinitron WEGA KD-34XBR960 34" 1080i CRT Television. With my employee discount it cost me over $1000. The tube was so big and thick that the TV weighed 196Lbs before any shipping materials. I moved it 3 times over the next couple of years but finally sold it to a family member for $100 (just so I wouldn't have to move it out of their house). I am pretty sure that they still use it almost 15 years later and I wish I still had it. It was, as many say "the finest CRT TV ever made". All I can say for sure is that I used an engine stand from Home Depot as a TV stand and my new Xbox 360 was magic. Thanks for the videos!
Chris Wesney I also owned a 960. Great tv but I finally gave it to some college kids for free due to the weight.
HECK I was taking a drink of water at 0:34 thank goodness none of it got on my keyboard
LOL. At first I thought he was trying to pronounce a Japanese name.
I envy you… I was drinking Cola a few minutes ago… And I have a carpet in my room. Well, I had. Now it's in the garbage.
This is an amazing channel. Im also a car guy, but its easier to talk about the history of cars...and almost everyone and any media/social outlet does it in a way thats mainstream. You dont really see that kind of coverage with electronics. Keep the videos coming!!
I was in the sixth grade when our family bought a Trinitron. Even at that age I could see the difference in quality compared to other CRTs, it was really amazing. Those early Trinitron-based Apple monitors were amazing, too.
Why wasn't this this in 4:3 so I could watch t perfectly on my Multiscan!?
BJtheBassist Or my Trinitron!
Just Another CZcams Channel My trinitron has a widescreen mode. I’ve also seen widescreen trinitrons.
anamorphic whidescreen on youtube is coming soon
FranK for real?
NOW You've Angered The Aspect Ratio Gods!
I have an identical 1985 Trinitron. It cost an eye-watering $300 new. Around 1990 I bought a 27" Trinitron for $680 and it lasted about 20 years as my primary set. People think CRTs were crappy, but these Sonys were a pleasure to watch.
Scott B my uncle, who never owned anything nice because he didn’t care, bought a brand new Trinitron WEGA in 1998. That was was the best looking CRT I’ve ever seen to date.
Still rocking a 12" Sony from 1979 in my kitchen. Figured "If it lasted this long it's worth a DTV converter box". I wasn't wrong.
A friend of mine had a 36" WEGA. Awesome picture with a good video source, but it weighed 300 lbs!
The picture quality on these is amazing, but the weight of the large CRT televisions was ridiculous!!
Lots of people think CRT's are crappy, but I owned a set of CRT monitors up until 2012 (when I had to get rid of them because I moved countries and dragging them along was unreasonable.)
Granted, at 1600x1200 (technically that same monitor managed to do 1920x1080 too, but given it's 4:3 aspect ratio that's a little wasteful), and with 17 inch tubes that only had a 15 inch visible area, they were bulky, heavy, had a small visible display size, and given they were cheap monitors, not high end, not the best colour reproduction.
They also were a touch blurry in the corners, and of course have some relatively complex geometry issues, especially as you switch resolutions.
The second monitor was slightly less capable, but even so I ran a dual-screen 2560x1024 arrangement for quite a while with those monitors.
And you know what? They had better contrast ratios, and vastly lower image latency than most LCD monitors I've come across even 4-5 years later, and that's from a 2009 perspective when CRT's were already out of fashion for like 5-6 years at a minimum.
CRT monitors really demonstrate how much of this is less an image quality accomplishment, and more a fashion statement.
My current monitor has a 1920x1080 resolution, 60 hz refresh, weighs 6 kg (about half of which is clearly in the base that it stands on), was about 7 cm thick (15 if you consider the base), and has about a 23.6 inch display area, with the bezel adding very little to that.
The CRT I had used a 1600x1200 resolution, (but could do 1080p if I really felt like I needed it.), 75 hz refresh at that resolution (much higher at lower resolutions), but weighed about 25 kg, must have had a depth of 30-40 cm, and the visible screen area was about 15 inches (17 inch tube), with probably at least 1.5 inches of bezel on all sides...
The weight and bulk is where it definitely loses out, but in all other regards I'm not actually convinced the LCD is an improvement.
my partner and I recently got into collecting VHS tapes, and we managed to get a 32" trinitron in good condition for around 20 CAD
works better than I could've ever hoped for
This was a triumph. Making a note here: HUGE success!
It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction.
Have my upvote, GLaDOS
This cake is great
@@nthgth this is a lie
Making better TVs... for science.
Nothing came close to the Trinitrons, picture quality and clarity was superb. Hell of a pain to work on the KV191 chassis. Dried up electrolytics mostly the cause of no line driver and power supply protection ticking. Get it wrong, and the line oscillator ran away, blowing a hole in the tube neck. Ahhh fond memories.
JD Duvenhage I had a Sony Trinitron computer monitor and the colours were fantastic. I had it for years until it had a lot burn in on the CRT. I had about 3 PC’s using that monitor. I know some that had shadomask CRT monitors with his PC’s and his monitors didn’t last as long as my Sony Trinitron computer monitor.
Years ago at the local Apple user's group, I dismantled a Trinitron tube for the entertainment and education of the Hardware SIG. After letting air into the tube, I hammered a chisel through the side (which was inside two heavy cardboard boxes for safety) and broke it up into bite-sized chunks of razor sharp glass. Eventually the aperture grill on its rigid steel frame was removed and handed around the group giving everyone a hands-on inspection of this major piece of electronic wizardry. The stabilizing wires were pointed out and their purpose explained. The electron gun was also handed around. And no, I didn't put it all back together.
I won't even mention the SIG where I poured coffee over a computer motherboard and dunked the mouse in the coffee as well, then showed how to clean everything. Yes, it all worked normally afterwards.
Ahhh, those were the days.
Yeah my first TV I bought when I was 17 was a Trinitron. My family had a bigger one (I got a smaller like 17" one for my room, this was around 1989). The big one had those two lines at the bottom 1/3 and top 1/3 of the screen. Noone noticed them but me...I figured something was wrong with the TV. But then mine had the same thing, but it only had the bottom one. So the next time I was at the store I looked at a few different Sony TV's, and they ALL had it. But the picture was so much better than the non-Sony TV's, I figured it was part of the design for some reason. A really technical friend of mine then told me it was integral to the design (he refused to buy Sony TV's for that reason). It wasn't until after I had gotten rid of all my CRT's and made the switch to LCD's that I found out exact what those lines were (the stabilizing wires). These days I don't own any CRT's (I got rid of my last one in 2004). Every display I have is LCD, with LED backlighting. I'd never even consider using a CRT again...it's a technology whose time has passed, but at the same time I have a lot of respect for the Trinitron technology for its historical significance.
@@StormsparkPegasus I've got respect for Trinitron as well. Not for its historical significance outside Sony as it was basically a timeline on its own without major influence or technology exchanges with only Mitsubishi picking up on it (although it might have helped in speeding up shadow mask development through competition, with Trinitron and shadow mask tube developments leapfrogging - quite the opposite from what was mentioned in this video about Trinitron technology not needing to be developed further) but for that it was born out of sheer desperation as a plan B and probably noone at the time thought it would hold up for almost 40 years. At times they had to struggle to get the convergence and geometry right for a new design iteration and the aperture grille pitch was a limiting factor in high resolution monitors but the brightness/contrast advantage and later on its marketing reputation as something advanced and unique, helped it stay alive even in hard times.
@@StormsparkPegasus When I first started working at the Sony San Diego Plant they assembled 32 inch TV's in addition to making 32, 27, 20 inch TV CRT's. They put in the 17 inch Monitor line and was why I was hired. At the end of the Assembly Line for the TV's was a sound check station that played a tune of signal generator notes through the TV Speakers to observe the Aperture Grill Vibration as a QA Check. Correct, the Wire was designed to keep the wires from vibrating and distorting the picture. In my 3rd year they moved the TV Assembly to Mexico and put the New 19 inch Monitor CRT Line in that area.
@@mjouwbuis I worked in the Calibration Lab my last 2 of 4 years at Sony San Diego before going to the Philly Service Center for my last 4. I made rounds to all the shops picking up and dropping off test equipment. I remember the development of the First High Definition TV's seeing a set with 5000 electronic components. Within Months they had miniaturized most of the circuits to a more manageable design. They even have a Anechoic Chamber where they test products for EMI or Electromagnetic Interference. I had worked up the road at a Antenna Manufacture where we built a Anechoic Chamber to test Antennas. I was the weekend Calibration and Repair Tech as I was in my last 2 years in the NAVY before Retirement as a Fire Control Tech working on Radars and Computers aiming Guns and Missiles. Microwave Specialty Company. www.microwavespecialty.com/
LOL so funny
I've had a TV in my house for close to 20 years now that I never knew was Trinitron and what that even meant. Thank you so so much for making such informative content!
Our 32" trinitron gave up its ghost about six years ago. It was over 20 years old and still held its own against most of the flat screens in my opinion (equivalent size) It was such a good image, it was hard to replace until it was needed. I still have a 27" trinitron Sony in the basement I watch while on the treadmill.
I gotta say, your content has this perfect mix of very informative content: with facts, sources and general knowledge of the subject. Though still having this hint of humor to it.
Sheer heart attack has no weakness!
Dude, I don't know from where the bloody hell are you so documented, but this video is Pure Gold !
I've always enjoyed Trinitron displays and finally now I understood what was with those two thin wires I always saw on an uniform image.
Thank you !
One of the things I like about your videos is that you show as well as tell. I especially liked how you showed yourself on both TV's so that you can visually see the difference between the two (must be an editing nightmare to get the voiceover matching so perfectly). Fascinating to look at how technology has progressed.
"IEEEE!" Lol that was funny
funnier in that it's actually pronounced "eh'A"
@@prjndigo Everybody I know, in electronics, pronounces it "Eye-triple-eeeee". What has Eh Ah to do with that?
@Lebo leigh Leigh I thought it was a bit of a trite attempt at a Japanese stereotype. Unnecessary.
Yes I was a part of that...
I met an elderly engineer from EMI (Hayes). He'd worked on a lot of different projects; but most interestingly, a colour TV system perfected in 1958. This was accomplished using dichromate glass capable of changing colour. It worked but it was too expensive to commercialise. He said the Trinitron tube meant the end for the project.
Wow, por guy
@@brunor.1127 EMI had a great reputation for adventurous innovation, most famously MRI scanners, which he also worked on and before that Radar during World War 2. It was sad to see the closure of their huge site in Hayes which amounted to more than 20,000 direct and supply chain jobs. But the site is being redeveloped in interesting ways which will bring jobs back....
@@stephensmith799 I was lucky enough to work on EMIs 2001 colour TV cameras.
@@rowanNClangley There was such amazing skill at EMI ... it is hard to understand how any government would allow it to be lost!
Wife and I got one back in the day, I was a big reader of "Popular Science" magazine and what tripped my trigger was an article stating upgrades to that year's model that included the high voltage tube being replaced with a solid state rectifier, so down to the T.V. store we went. I was looking at a floor model that was fired up and could plainly see the H.V. rectifier glow coming out from the protective cage when a salesman came up and started bragging about how this was the latest model- yadda yadda. I asked if they had any in stock, he said yes can he get one for me I said no, not if it has a rectifier tube in it like this one and gave him my reference to the magazine article- all of a sudden he had to seek an urgent appointment elsewhere, so we left and bought at a more reliable store that verified the model upgrade. - a victory for a science mag geek. ☺
Slow clap. Way to show that guy doing his job, asshat.
ok? who cares
@@TheBigMclargehuge apparently, he was not doing his job...
@@TheBigMclargehuge the guy lied, and ran away instead of coming forward
idk what those are, but gj
I remember my uncle had a small Sony Trinitron (9" around that if I had to guess) back in 79/80. My 8 yo self for some reason put a magnet to the screen. I was amazed at the the rainbow of color it produced. After I took the magnet away it remained in that rainbow distortion. I was like "WHOOPS!", and 🤐. It healed over time, but not fully. Great little TV though.
I remember my Trinitron. The remote had 4 buttons and it took about 2 business days to get it to turn on you had to hold the button and point it in every direction. Weighed at least a metric ton and had wood grain that would make an AMC jeep wagoneer weep in joy. You'd turn it on and the degauss sound would make your eye twitch. I miss that TV and the memories it held.
Jeep, muahahaha, war time crap, realistic levels!
Japan was better, still is!
I loved my late 90's high res Trinitron computer monitors. They made a few with wide screen aspect ratios too.
My 21 inch Viewsonic must have weighed at least 60 pounds. I’m glad those days are gone.
Sun used them in their monitors as well. I regret giving mine away.
I still have a 21" Viewsonic sitting in my closet, the thing is giant. CRTs had very good black levels and would often support refresh rates of over 100hz which is nice, but they're also giant and hot. The heat is something really underplayed, when I had my old setup of 3 CRT monitors, it was ridiculously too hot by the time you account for those, a desk lamp, and some old graphics card trying to run everything.
It`s interesting that you mention heat; I never noticed much heat coming off the back of my mid-2000s made Philips but I remember certain older screens put out a lot of heat. Then again I live in the frozen north, so that may be a factor in this.
robf93 I live in Florida and at the time of CRTs was in a house with terrible insulation and a half assed air conditioner - and it was brutal in summer. Now one year we had a very cold winter and the house had no heat (as you almost never needed it) and I keep everything on and that room was a good 7-8 degrees warmer than anywhere else in the house.
Dude, I was watching some of your older videos and two things happened. One, wow dude, you've grown so much in your videos. I noticed you've lost a lot of weight and have definitely become more comfortable in your presentation. Well done sir! Second thing that happened was I spit out my coffee. Being all "formal" in your presentation and a bit more rushed, you popped out the "IEEE" and made me laugh so hard, coffee went everywhere! I really enjoy all of your videos and am having a blast going "back in time" to the old days. I am so happy you kept up with this and continue to provide the excellent videos I look forward to each week.
Nice that you mentioned the stabilizing wires. I had 2 Sonys. You mention the convergence problem on delta dot mask screens where the mask needs to fit the phosphorous dots horizontal and vertical while Trinitron only requires convergence in one direction, but this is not an advantage of Trinitron but of all in-line televisions. The advantage of Trinitron is somewhere else: A mask heats up while absorbing electrons and can not dissipate the heat in the vacuum tube so it gets hot, and metal will expand if it gets hot, thereby misaligning the mask to the phosphor. The wires of Trinitron are mounted under tension and will stretch if heated but this will not cause convergence problems, the wire stays at the same place relative to the phosphor.
"The most obvious difference is..." the Trinitron weighs 500,000lbs
Great video I still have a 15 inch Trinitron from 1973 & it still works so i know they were well made Thanks
@Bobby Brady Exactly! Just look for the "made in japan" on the back.
@Bobby Brady hahaha Always Made In Japan it's the quality mark no American its average in electronics
@Bobby Brady but see the quality when it comes as consumer electronics products.see the great world famous Japanse electronics brands like Sony,Panasonic,JVC,Akai,Sharp,Ricoh,Casio,Citizen,Mitsubishi,Kawasaki,Honda,Yamaha,Roland etc etc.They are world famous Japanese giants in electronics and auto makers.Usa is nothing infront of electronics and the famous Japanese technology.They are only superior in warfare technology lol just accept the truth
@Bobby Brady Computers haha So which is the fastest super computer in the world you heard about it. ITs made From the Legendary Japanese FUGAKU Japan Jointly developed by the Japanese Companies Riken and Fujistu
@Bobby Brady Before world war 2 see the Japanese fighter jets manufacturing firms of Japan.Search in wikipedia Imperial Japanese Army.You will be amazed you see the jet and naval technology of Japan.Kawasaki,Mitsubishi always exist before ww 2
I had a 21" Dell Trinitron monitor back in '98 or '99. IIRC it even had the Trinitron name right on the front, despite being a Dell-branded monitor. Windows 98 desktop at 1600x1200 and games at 800x600...IEEE!!!
Was it P1130? Dell monitors had Trinitron screens made by Sony.
That was a later model, basically a rebadged CPD-G520 (sony CR1 chassis) it was probably a P1110 (G1 chassis)
There were quite a few PC monitors from different brands that have used Trinitron tubes.
In addition to Dell and IBM, there were also Trinitron monitors from Gateway 2000. (Remember those guys?)
I still have a Dell 21" Trinitron monitor, just waiting for when I get a good 486DX4 DOS games machine.
I probably had the same one. it cost like $500
Had a purple Sony Vaio cpu, win 95. ... Trinitron monitor
Yet another great video.
I remember having Sony Trinitron TVs through the '80's & '90's (not sure if the TV we had from the mid '70's was one though) but, yes, it wasn't until I moved out of the "family home" after my wife & I separated in 2003 & needed to get a new TV (which ended up being the first flat screen TV I had) that I moved away from Sony Trinitron & got a Samsung LED flat screen TV instead & it wasn't until about 2012 that my ex-wife needed to replace the Sony Trinitron that I had bought in 1995 when we got married & she then also bought a Samsung LED flat screen TV.
Just shows how good the Sony Trinitron was, that it lasted so well.
We had a Trinitron in the living room growing up it had great picture back in the day, it was also the first tv we had with a remote control.
I’ve never heard IEEE pronounced that way before lmao! Usually I hear “I triple E” but I might have to borrow your version lol.
"IEEEEEEEEE!!!"
It's what you say when you find out that your Pentium can't do floating-point math correctly.
@@baylinkdashyt this is the best nerd joke ever
Victor
@@nonewmsgs It's the 754th best joke I've seen.
I had no idea what you were saying most of the time but I was intrigued enough to watch the full video
Well That's F**king Strange same!
Same here
Trinitron was also huge in the computer space. IBM made many desktop monitors with Trinitron tubes in the 90s and 2000s.
I can still remember when just the name "Trinitron" was spoken almost in awe whenever talking about television sets. Being able to finally buy a Trinitron was a huge accomplishment for me and one I didn't mind bagging about to friends who were always impressed and asked to come watch football at my apartment! The usual line was, "I just bought a new TV...It's a TRINITRON!"
We had a 13 in trinitron TV when i was a kid, and even I noticed how bright and sharp the picture was... used to hook my Atari 2600 up to it!! great little TV.
I too used that same TV as a monitor for my Atari 2600, I remember clearly the awesome color and sharp picture it had. It was really noticeable compared to the 25" RCA color console TV my parents had at the time.
Fun fact: placing a strong enough magnet against the screen of an operating trinitron tube can cause the aperture grille wires to deform, causing a permanent defect in the image. Please don't ask me how I know this.
Maybe it's not permament: you just have to degauss it! In case of TV you need to turn it off, wait 5 minutes or so (we need to cool down PTC resistor which 'controls' degaussing') and then turn it on. It makes very cool sound and - bingo, all the colors are back!
Though if you were using smth like HDD magnet and put it directly to the screen, maybe you really damaged aperture grille...
We found out that fact the hard way: used a pair of huge HiFi speakers standing right next to the TV. Turned out they had zero shielding. After few weeks left upper corner of the TV shifted everything towards red and lower right one had affinity to the green color ;-) Fortunately degaussing the tube solved it.
If degaussing doesn't work, all is not lost. It is actually possible for the aperture grill to get tangled up. Place the monitor with the screen upwards and tap it with a rubber hammer, or even just with your knuckles. This will untangle the grill mostly. Strangely this isn't just some home invention, it's the official procedure at least for Diamondtron tubes...
Ah! THAT'S how I ruined my dad's TV when I was a kid! I knew the magnet bent the electron beam and that explained why it could twist the image weirdly but I didn't know why doing that for too long fucked it up and got me in trouble. Until now!
Yeah I had that same issue
Thanks for posting. We got a RCA -- "I think, I was a kid" --- around 1964. Almost all the shows were still black and white, but the blues when the Jetsons intro came on was amazing as it seemed so bright and vibrant. But compared to now, the old RCA would be like watching TV through bathroom glass. Maybe that's why kids back then spent much more time outside "Playing" like kids should. Thanks for your time and work.......
Not only did I own several Trinitron TV's, I also had Beta recorders. One was 'portable' and the other was a front loader. I liked the colors produced by the Beta tapes. A HVC 2200 camera was used also.
Trinitron ? Now THATS a word I haven’t heard in a long time.
Remember Curtis Mathis tvs?
An elegant television, from a more civilized age.
@@Perktube1 yes, there was a dealer across the street in 1963-64
I have to pause a minute because that IEEE got me, I totally cracked up! Lol
Someone should make a 10 hour video of Alec saying IEEE in a loop.
Agreed that is an epic IEee
Your menagerie of old AV equipment made me think of the first VTR we had in high school back in late 60's and early 70's..... the HUGE, ginormous AMPEX reel-to-reel Video recorder, which was about 80 lbs. and measured about 2-1/2 ft. in width. Using 1" wide tape and had a huge drum of around 5 or 6 inches in diameter. Started out with a B&W machine and in I believe '72 we got a color recorder. Still reel-to-reel! I was amazed it even worked at all with the open reels, the handling of the tape and having to clean the heads before EVERY use. Those were the days.
I'm finding these fascinating to watch. You should do an continuation of this series with the LCD, plasma, and LED TVs.
My favorite thing about my old CRT was the radiation warning on the back of the case.
This video was so informative. I never knew trinitron meaning. I actually use them still to this day for my karaoke systems in bars. Thank you for the great content ...!!!
I had the same KV -1395 back in the day when I was doing video production in the 80s. Once properly adjusted it was a perfect monitor to show your finished tape to your clients.
I once had an analog PC monitor that had two stabilization wires in the picture, which you could see very clearly if the screen showed all white and yes, the monitor tube had a name with "...tron" at the end. Now I finally know what those wires were good for.
My first tv as a child in the 80s was a 13’ Sony Trinitron. Thanks for the tech info.
9:09 Dude, stop trying to hypnotize me! I already like the video.
This video saved me. I’m crying of happiness. I have an old trinitron tv and I saw the stabilizing wire. I thought the tv was broken wich made me extremely sad. Thank you sooo much.
When I worked in graphic design I resisted going over to LCD monitors for many years, holding onto my Trinitron-type monitors until about 2012 because of its superior color fidelity and gamut (displayed range). They were simply the best.
Informative video, thank you. Count me among the many who had a Dell branded Trinitron CRT monitor (19") for their PC in the late 90's. I still think that monitor had a clearer and crisper picture than the flat screen monitors I use today.
I just got one, a Dell P790, and although it is smaller at 17", it does have a Trinitron FD in it and when being fed the same content as my Samsung 4k, such as PS3, Xbox, GameCube, Switch and retro consoles with OSSC, it absolutely blows it out of the water. The colors, the black levels, no lag, it's just a delight. Bonus points for the 1600 x 1200 resolution, which just happens to be perfect for the OSSC line 5x mode.
@@MississippiMike
I had a Viewsonic monitor that I could not make out the individual pixels of. It would do the 1600x1200 resolution and was awesome. Cylindrical screen, Trinitron type tube. Very beautiful until it broke and I could not find anyone to fix it.
I've been waiting for this video - excellent! _IEEEEEEEE!_ to you too sir!
clyp.it/zdmrvffl#
Wow, this makes me happy that I actually have a huge trinitron in storage for my retro gaming. It's a shame I don't have the living space for it right now. : (
Hello! I am a Frenchman who had this video in his recommendations and frankly I learned a lot of things and I subscribe to this channel. Good continuation.
I am finding your videos very informative and entertaining to watch. Good job! Keep em coming!
man, it's crazy to see how far this channel has come!
HOLY COW. So that's why our VAIO desktop back in '97 looked so much better than our TV!
The picture intensity was amazing by comparison, but I'd always thought that it was solely because the resolution was higher--1024x768 vs. the TV's standard def. Looking back at some old pics, though, it says "Trinitron" right on the monitor. (And our living room TV right up until we upgraded to HD was a Panasonic or Zenith or something.)
I swear, I learn something about my youth from every single one of your videos...
In the UK, I bought my first colour TV in 1970 and it was an 18” Trinitron. Channels had to found by turning a dial on the front. No push buttons and no remote of course. Hue control also. Fabulous picture though. Had it for years and it never broke down at all. Gave it to my cousin when I bought a new set. Wooden cabinet which I used to polish with love. Cost me 210 Pounds! A LOT of money at the time.
I know what I'll be picturing every single time I read IEEE in the future... that hilarious scream will stick with me for life.
🤔
I remember in the late 60's into the 70's, a typical 19" color TV was about $399. That's well over $1000 in today's dollars. You can now get a 55" Samsung flat screen for around $400. Amazing. I also remember when plasma TVs were the big deal. I saw one in best buy for $20,000. And believe it or not, some early adopters actually paid that much for that set.
Pretty hard to get any 55" in Australia for under $1000...
I love all your videos! The production quality is excellent, and you do a fantastic job at explaining things in a passionate way.
this is a wonderful video. You are so verbally talented never gets boring. Plus the editorial (what you are talking) is written on point. excellent
we still have a 37" Trinitron TV :-) it might be one of the largest models ever made… but it is no one of the WEGA flat models, that came out in the late 90s
Heavy AF!
Wow. 30 years. I bought a Sony PVM (one of the ones they used in broadcasting rooms) for my retro consoles. I heard these are calibrated by hand, not sure. Anyway, the quality in RGB is incredible. Even using composite is pretty decent. Thanks for a very informative video, it was my first time on your channel. I like it! Keep going:)
Great video, I had a Trinetron TV from Sony, really good crisp picture and colour was really good and did not bleed, also I had for 16 years and it never went rong, gave it away in the end
I can't believe I went all these years not stumbling across this channel. So glad I did. I'm hooked. Keep up the fantastic work!!!
Lovely editing between the video and the television pieces. Very smooth. And I couldn’t detect any flicker on the TVs either.
I've often wondered how successful a high definition cathode ray tube TV could be? I saw one at a graphic design studio (1080p) and the image quality was outstanding, far superior to flat panel displays of any type. Of course they cost far more to manufacture and ship but for the ultimate viewing experience sacrifices should be made! Great video, thanks.
I doubt nowadays that the overall image quality especially near the edges would compete with high quality LCD and OLED screens, let alone the cost to manufacture it and thus the incredibly high sales prices
I play the 360 on an hd sony Trinitron. I’ve done some tests to see if it looked better on my 55 inch Vizio or my 32 inch hd Trinitron. Trinitron won. It’s probably personal preference, but many of my friends who were asking why I still had a CRT were saying that they actually thought the 360 looked better on the CRT.
I've got a 27 inch Toshiba HDTV it's beautiful.
Good informative video. Evidently I bought my 32" Trinitron at the very end. I paid $1,200 but it was a small town and a cornered market. I still have it, and thanks to you I'm gonna keep it. I will say it weighs as much as two cars and a horse.
I have had a Sony Trinitron TV since 2001 with a flat tube and 100 Hz, it was glorious and it still is. The first tube died after ~5 years, but I had it replaced and the replacement tube has lasted 16 years so far. Granted, it's not being used a whole lot anymore these days, but still. What an amazing technology that is way older than I thought it was.
Fascinating. I knew Sony Trinitron TV's were premium class, but I never really knew why. This was enlightening. Your mentioning of the stabilization wire reminded me that my last CRT monitor also had a visible line across the screen. I checked and indeed, that Iiyama screen had a Diamondtron display, so one of the later Trinitron knockoffs.
I remember my friend had a 13" Trinny and I for the life of me never understood why as a kid it was so much brighter and crisper playing NES games than any other TV I've ever seen. It was beautiful.
Was that a iiyama Vision Master Pro 454 by any chance? That's the one I had.
I don't remember the exact model number but I'm pretty sure it was a Vision Master Pro, yes.
Just got a component Trinitron finally for my retro games. Absolutely love it. However, I am hearing a lot of people praising the JVC D Series CRTs as a great alternative, and even some people liking the look more. Hoping to find one to compare the two myself.
I have a portable Trinitron TV with a 12 inch screen that my Dad bought in 1972 that still works and still has a picture that looks as good as the day he brought it home. I have a 30" Trinitron from 1993 that is still like brand new as well! these 2 TV's will never die!
I began my career when TV still using vacuum tubes, and not just in the CRT. You have a great understanding of both media, film and TV/tape and made a compelling presentation. I wish you could do a video on the later model 2" Ampex machines like the AVR one or their cart machine, they were like an electronic version of Mouse Trap. A small quibble Monty Python was shot in PAL which had a resolution advantage although we in the states saw it in NTSC. NTSC and PAL were at the mercy of small bald men called colorist in the UK and "The video guy" in the states they decided what was Red based on their Mark 1 eyeball and a vectroscope.
The irony of this is that for nearly all of the home video/DVD releases of Monty Python in the UK they used american NTSC masters - Until the restoration by Network 2 years ago where they went back to the original PAL 2" masters and re-scanned the film inserts for HD we haven't seen the show as it first looked unless there was a rare repeat showing on TV.
I've had Sony TVs in the past. The picture for standard-definition was unmatched and they was sad to replace them with LCD models. My Sony TV's had lasted over 20 years each. I still buy Samsung products, including Sony VHS VCR but not their beta.
Thanks for making this video
I still use a 13" Trinitron from the late 90's for playing my old video game consoles like NES and Genesis on. Still a solid unit, and a proper way to play the old game systems..they just don't look right on the modern flatscreens.
I bet a Trinitron would be the best possible TV choice for the original PlayStation (and I bet the people developing the PlayStation hardware used Trinitron TVs when they built the thing)
Steve there are upscalers but they really don’t have the same aesthetic
Any light guns for retro consoles also only work on CRT televisions.
@@Dan_Tactics exactly! I keep an old CRT around just to play Lethal Enforcers on my SNES. Pretty cool game!
I was gonna say, it seems like these Trinitrons would be optimal gaming TVs.
Your videos and channel brand have come SO FAR in what - 3 years?? Amazing.
Well done!
You are amazing. What interesting, fact-filled but, most importantly, what ARTICULATE and WELL-PRESENTED your videos are. Nice. And, you seem like the kind of person we would all like to take to lunch. Keep up the good work. Dennis
My kitchen TV is a Trinitron, until I bought an HDTV my living room TV was a Trinitron. Needless to say, they made a great analog TV.
Sony always had an amazing picture, hence why their products were so prevalent in broadcast.
Rolliebear
Prevent?
I think he means prevalent.
They made a good product but their spare parts prices are astronomical, so I avoid anything with their badge on as I know it's going to cost me a fortune if I need a part for it.
@@89.8kiwifm9 I had a 27” Sony Trinitron for 25 years and the only repair it ever needed was replacing a power transistor. That cost was $50 - cost for the transistor and labor, so I don’t see that as being a costly repair. It was very heavy to move but the picture was magnificent, i retired it with a LG 37” flatscreen when digital TV replaced analog TV. Now i have an LG OLED which i think 🤔 is the worthy successor to the Sony Trinitron.
I love your videos. Information is good, tone of the whole thing is FUCKING PERFECT.
Your fucking right!
Dayum, the editing, content and research seen here is top notch, you are the Trinitron of CZcams. Subscribed!!
Trinitron was awesome, I had several in the 80s and 90s. They were always the best looking picture when you went to the store, looking at the wall of 50 TV's. Eventually had a giant CRT 42'? I could barely move by myself.
I had a Sony Wega 36" CRT that weighed 216 lbs. No way I moved that by myself. Not just to heavy, also to big and awkward. It had a great picture, but I sold it when I moved across the country and bought a plasma (remember those).
Now I feel so lucky to own a Sony Trinitron, 40" CRT xbr wega TV!
HD CRT?
@KanadianSpaceProgram I looked it up. It weighs 325 pounds!!!
Woah! And I thought I was lucky having a pair of widescreen 24" fx-900's!
I bet you need a forklift or 4 large friends to move that thing :)
Oh man... I use to own that one too. I had to give it away when I moved in 2008 because it was just too damn heavy. Would you be interested in selling yours?
I moved a few of the 32 and 40 inch Trinitrons in my moving company days and it was the worst thing you could imagine next to a circular staircase and a piano. 250-325 lbs awkward object and no good place to grab it. It was worse if it was upstairs.
You've taught me so much about CRTs. I'm so glad to have found this channel.
Also, what's the deal with the early-2000s "flat screen" CRTs? I believe both Sony and Toshiba made them.
The outer glass is flat, but the inner surface still has a very slight curve. I have an Apple eMac from 2002 with a flat Trinitron CRT inside and this is very apparent.
Timur Tripp LG produced the "Flatron" series, which were truly flat, even on the inside. IIRC they had a design that was kind of a hybrid of Trinitron and the conventional shadow mask. Would be nice to have a video about it.
(Note: LG also made the "EZ Flatron" series, which was IIRC just a straight up Trinitron clone, not to be confused with the plain "Flatron", later "True Flatron" models. LG also confusingly branded their LCDs "Flatron" as well.)
Panasonic also made them, I have a decent 29" one (tx-29fx50a) and it doesn't have any model name as such but it has a good quality picture.
The backside of the glass also seems to be near perfectly flat as you can view the opposite side of the picture at a near 90° angle.
Awesome video. Love the old school "tv off" at the end.
Watched this video the first time months ago but after picking up a 27" Sony Trinitron yesterday thought I'd check it out again. Great work.