Old Trinitrons
 

Someome owns an pre 1990 "Sony" <<Trinitron>>? Those sets offered a better picture than the other sets made back then?
If you got pcitures of some old <<Trinitron>> put them.

There are some photos of late 60's and 70's Trinitrons at our tv page:

http://www.retroaudiolab.com/tvphoto.htm

I have one, a 1970 or so model KV-1212. Missing VHF knob and only an inch of vertical deflection. I never got around to fixing it... Eventually I will:

Those older Sonys were great sets. One of my great-aunts had two sets by Sony, one a 12- or maybe 15-inch late-'60s portable (I think it was an early Trinitron) which lasted her maybe 20 years, and the other a 20" Sony table model. Don't know the model numbers of either of those sets, but I do remember they had a great picture, even using rabbit ears (before cable). Those were the days. :yes: Those days are still here as far as Sony is concerned, as I've seen very few if any complaints about their TVs, either here or in any of the TV repair sites I've visited. Sonys have a much better reliability record than Thomson-built RCAs.

BTW, speaking of RCA TV and its inherent onboard tuner problems in the CTC185, et al., I had an RF port replaced on my now 6-year-old CTC185 a couple months after purchasing the set [it snapped off the tuner PC board] and yes, the tech who repaired this problem did in fact resolder every ground point around the tuner, in addition to reinforcing the bracket which holds the connector to the board. This is in answer to a comment made in response to one of my recent posts, in which I mentioned that the RF port had been replaced in my set. The respondent said, in paraphrase, that a CTC185 cannot be expected to operate six years or longer with the factory soldering job around the tuner; the ground points around the OB tuners in these sets absolutely must be resoldered if the TV is to operate normally. This is probably (likely) why my set has gone the last five years with no further tuner problems (or problems of any kind). Knock on wood. The tech who repaired the RF port problem also told me the jungle IC had some sort of problem, but I honestly don't know to this day what it is or was. The set makes a great picture on cable, using a cable box (I have Comcast digital cable), and has its original CRT which is still very strong for the set's age. I'll definitely hold onto this set :yes: as long as it works as well as it does. (I also have a 1995 Zenith Sentry 2 color set that still works well, but that's another story; suffice to say that I am keeping that set to replace the RCA when the latter eventually dies, as I don't intend to put any more money into the RCA--the extended warranty expires early next year.)


BTW (2), I was looking at Chad's RetroAudioLab site earlier tonight and saw the phrase "ESR meter" used several times. I've been interested in electronics most of my life, but never saw this abbreviation until I joined AK. I think they have something to do with testing capacitors, but I'm not sure by a long shot what this instrument really does. Is it a solid-state version of the old capacitor testers such as Eico's model 955, et al.?

BTW (3): Also on Chad's RetroAudioLab site, I saw a picture of a 1974 RCA "Lyceum" TV. The set pictured was a 25" b&w receiver. Seeing that set brought back memories for me, as when I was in high school, we had a four-channel CCTV video system which used a 1975 RCA Lyceum color set as a monitor for our only color channel at the time, channel 7 (the other three were b&w and between the three Cleveland VHF network stations, using Sony AV and CV series VTRs and Sony TVs as studio monitors, although our channel 2 monitor was a 1960s Zenith 19" b&w set). I was not aware until now that RCA made a b&w Lyceum. The set in our school's CCTV system had a black-out channel selector panel with illuminated selector drums; the b&w Lyceum on Chad's site has standard, non-illuminated selector knobs.

At an tv repair shop they got an <<Trinitron>> that is more then 25 older. But they wouldn't sell it to me. They are keeping it there, waiting fot the day they will throu it. :deadhorse
By the way, old <<Trinitron>> are friednly to your eyes (if you stay too much with your eyes stock to the image provided by an old tv, after a time the eyes will heart you).

I found a 21" Trinitron this past weekend. Its in really nice condition, considering it probably sat in a damp basement for years. If I bypass the remote control circuitry, the set will turn on with a half-way decent picture. Its a KV-2145R.

ESR - Effective Series Resistance --- should be low for a good capacitor, and may depend on the frequency or pulse width of the signal

Somebody say "Old Trinitrons"? Me likes old Trinitrons!

Here's a photo of my mini Trinitrons, and one of my KX-1901 Profeel monitor. I also have the KX-2501 and KX-1211. Note the baby brother of the Profeel series at the lower Left of the mini photo; the tiny KX-4200, which is perhaps the rarest of any of the Trinitrons except maybe for the very first one (that I don't have); the KV-7010UA. The other minis are: Upper Left, KV-4000 1981; Upper Rt, KV-5000 1972; Lower Right is a commercial PVM-4000 1990. I got all of them on eBay in nonworking order cheap, then fixed them. These are fun to have, and they don't take up the space of a fleet of DuMont Royal Sovereigns or Toyota Diesel cars (my other hobby and collection)...

There is no comparison when it comes to the picture on that KX series. And they are so reliable. The best, in my opinion, for quality would be Trinitrons up to about 1978. They started cheapening with the 43 series (ie KV-1943, etc). Those went to a 1-piece main board that seemed to have more stupid problems such as rotten rubber keyboards, that green 500-volt ceramic cap across the Horiz Output that would constantly short, burn and blow things. and I think the picture declined when they went back to the 90 degree CRT from the 110 that they had all through the mid 70s. I liked the picture on the mid-70s KV-1712 and its ilk the best for that decade. That was a 470FWB22 tube, then the KX series for the 80s.

But I have to say that despite the TERRIBLE service reputation and all the recalls, the KV-36XBR400 Wega of the late 90s might have the best picture of any big tube set I've seen.

Charles

...

I've been a fan of Trinitrons since I was a kid drooling over the displays at Fedco in the 70's,nothing else at the time even came close to matching the pictures on those sets.

I posted a pic of a KV9200 from 1977 I found a couple weeks ago but it must have been on the temp server cause it's gone now.

Beyond that there are 6 more Trinitrons in the house, not particularly vintage except perhaps the KV4000:

a 27" XBR I got in 1989, still works but it's been relegated to the bedroom for the last year after it was replaced by a Sony RPTV

20" from 1991 or so, also a bedroom set.

13" from 1989 bought at a thrift store for $20, works like new and is used in the living room so I don't have to wear out the bulb in the RPTV.

KV4000 bought off eBay.

Two Computer monitors, not TV's but they still have the Trinitron tube and name.

I'm curios, the first <<Trinitron>> had delta or in-line picture tube?

...

A friend of mine purchased the Sony console that had the first Betamax built into it back in the 70's.What a great looking set it was.From that point in time,I've always lusted after Trinitrons.I have had a few Sony's over the years,but only two remain today.One is a KV-1357r that I use in the garage and the other is a professional PVM-2030Q for the bedroom.The PVM is the best looking Sony I've ever owned,including the newer WEGA sets.
I'd love to see one of those older Sony consoles in operation again.

...Trinitron user here!

I use daily the mini to not-so-mini monitors (PVM, BWV + SDI etc) for work and a 72cm KV-X at home.
The latter is way past 12 years of heavy use and people coming to watch films are amazed at the quality - no digiFilters, no 100Hz to smooth-out whatever, just an excellent tube. There was an 86cm equivalent to mine back then but it was getting too expensive - wish I could find one now!

Present CRTs, LCD, Plasma and the rest of the newer stuff just doesn't compare -understatement of the year-, whether at home or for work (both and both in my case).

My 21" Apple Display is a Trinitron, too :)

...

I can clearly remember a UK magazine ad for Sony tellies in the late 80s - it had a picture of a sphere with an image on (a "normal" CRT), and a cylindar with an image on (Sony Trinitron).

The slogan said "Why buy a football you can watch TV on when you can have a TV you can watch football on?". Class.

My neighbours got a 21 incher in 1986 and from there on in I was hooked.

I've had Sony Trinitrons since 1992, and am currently using a 1995 KVM-25F2U. I got it ex-demo in 1997 (so that's around 18 months' hard labour on a shopfloor), and it DID need a new motherboard as the original one had flakey firmware - a known issue. That got fixed 3 weeks after I bought it, and it's never EVER put a foot wrong since. 8 years' good service and an excellent bright sharp image off of DVD/cable.

I prefer Trinitrons to everything else because blacks are REALLY black on these. The current range of Panasonic T'Au aren't far behind, but the Sonys still look better to me.

I saw a 1971 14inch Sony once in a motel in Kingsbridge, Devon, UK. This would have been around 1994. Although it went a bit "wibbly" after an hour or so of being on, the image was still typical Trinitron - bright and sharp - 23 years on, even though the motel was by an estuary (nice damp!).

Typical Sony ad-copy but this one has class indeed! thanks domfjbrown for bringing it out of the past!

From the early 60s onward, Sony advertised almost always with a certain off-handed-ness I find quite refreshing - no matter what product, there's always some fun to be poked at :)
That ad slant unfortunately didn't survive the 80s... which were supposed to be "fun" - paradox.

Here is an "Sony" tv (I don't know if it's <<Trinitron>>) with a "Sony" VTR :rockon:

keep that trinitron telecolor!!! One of the first!! 1968 OR 1969, very old. I collect many sonys , my little one likes lively & brilliant NTSC color --- small trinitron produces when watching movies when we road travel in motorcar!! CRTs still have much better contrast & sharper , brighter color that mediocre LCD screens.

:yes:

My first Trinitron I bought new in 1986. Model KV-2080R. The remote got smashed during a move years ago. Wish I cound find another! This set has performed flawlessly for 20 years. My main TV is a Sony Trinitron model KV-32522 which I bought as a floor model around 1998. Great picture.

yeah, those early trinis pop up a LOT around here at thrift places. they were built like tanks and they last forever.

The GE 'POF' (?) CRT of the 50's reminds me a lot of the trini - I wonder if Sony licensed or got the idea from there. IIRC, there were a few patents they licensed for the trini anyway.

Still a really neat CRT design....

Trinitron CRT is related or based on 50's experimental--Chromatron color CRT, single gun crt , no convergence as single gun?? should know, but never popped cover on one of my 7 trinitrons I own and don't have to since they just keep on working. :scratch2:

The trinitrons and the chromatron both use a grill of vertical wires to select the phosphors, but teh resmblance stops there. The Chromatron switched the wire voltages to deflect the single beam rapidly to the different phosphors. The trinitrons use the wires as a verical-slot shadow mask for three beams. The trinitron gun also was billed as a "single gun" since most of the electrodes are common to all three beams.

@vintagecollector: that "Sony" ain't mine :D :tears: My "Sony" <<Trinitron>> is from the year 2000 :smoke: and arleady haves problems... :thumbsdn:

Further to my old thread, my 25F2U is now in my mate's system in Reading, and I have a KVM-FX68U widescreen one (bought off another mate).

Hmm - the image is nice and bright and sharp, but my eyes still aren't used to 100HZ. I'm hypersensitive to flicker, and can usually clearly see 85Hz non-interlaced flicker on computer monitors. This 100Hz set is weird. it doesn't have motion blurring per se, but I can clearly see each individual frame - it's like a weird NTSC->PAL standards conversion kind of picture. Once I've been using the TV for a while I get used to it, but after this weekend (at my sister's, using a 14 inch Sony portable) while flicker isn't an issue, that "blurring" is.

Oh well - just my weird eyes I guess.

And yeah, I see this on LCD and Plasma TVs all the time too, so it must be modern processing :(

Can anyone date the Trinitron KV 1215 I picked up last week at a thrift. It was sitting there clean as a whistle, not a mark, and the picture and color is still outstanding. All that for $7

Hmmm. :scratch2: I'm not sure, but I think the KV-1215 might be from the late '60s or very early '70s.

BTW, it never ceases to amaze me how much really good equipment gets sent to thrift stores, Goodwill, etc.--still works and not a scratch, but the owner just doesn't want or need it anymore. Your Sony is a bargain at $7, especially if it works well. I find excellent bargains like that on ebay from time to time; I have several vintage and antique Zenith radios I won in ebay auctions, which all work very well and were very reasonably priced.

Have you tried using a universal remote? Most can be programmed for Sony, and work very well. I use an All For One universal with my entertainment system (RCA CTC185 19" TV, digital cable box and service from Comcast, CyberHome DVD player, Panasonic VCR) and it works great with everything but the DVD. I still have to use the DVD's own remote to control the player. For some strange reason, CyberHome DVD players will not work with universal remotes--only their own. :dunno: This is pointed out at some length on CyberHome's web site, in the FAQ section. Don't get me wrong; the DVD player works great with my TV and I like it a lot, but I wish it would work with my universal remote as well. Can't figure out for the life of me why CyberHome refuses to design its DVD players to work with universal remotes. Oh well...

Pioneer Laserdisc player remote codes don't work on universal remotes either - you can't even teach the remote the codes in "learn" mode :( Hence why I gave up on a learning remote and sold it...

Strange, I've used a cheapo universal remote on several Pioneer LD players. It covered all the basic functions (play, stop, pause, forward, backward, etc), but not some others (audio track select, karaoke functions on some players).

On the other hand I have never been able to get a universal remote to work on any DVD player I've owned, or on the Jerrold 550 series analog cable boxes that were in use here until recently (the digital service had been introduced, but the analog system is still running for the moment).

Maybe it's only UK-spec model Pioneer LDs that have this issue?

we used to have an older lady that lived here. she had a 13" sony that was bought new by george jones he gave that set to her. it had a great picture. last time i serviced it was years ago and the crt was geting worn but it still had a good picture it had a zillion hours on it. she since has moved. steve

Yep, sure have, but they can't access some of the features such as audio control. :no: Thanks, though!

I'm not a TV guy, but when i'm out scrounging stereo gear, I've snagged a few Trinitrons. They were the set to have back in the 70s, when I couldn't afford one.

We've got an old 21" Trinitron up in the bedroom, a newer KV2780 down here in the basement (my main set), and I think we gave Kegger a 19" for his brother. The 21" looks great upstairs and is prolly 30 years old :yes:

Well, I've told you about an relative of mine who had problems with colors at an 2 yrs. old "Trinitron"; do you know what was the problem: the C.R.T. runed out of bussines :yikes: :jawdrop: :pistols: (and runed out out of warranty, 2-3 month ago :tears:
Bloody 2$ products :pistols:

Here is my KV1310, found in a trash container last christmas. I brought it home, plugged it in and it worked. After some adjustments i got a fairly good picture, but not perfect. The colors are a bit "strange" og there are some black shadows on the left side of the screen. The cabinet is also in fairly good condition; some dents and scratches, but not too bad. I have not replaced any parts yet.

Do ya think it diserves to buy me an 1990-1994 made "Sony" <<Trinitron>> or the C.R.T. is arleady too used. Be aware, that, here in Romania we use P.A.L., not N.T.S.C. !

My Sony PVM-2030 is at least that old if not older and still has a great picture. There are some minor convergence issues that I will get around to fixing sometime. This one was used heavily enough to burn a time code into the corner of the screen, but otherwise it still has plenty of brightness and good color.

I don't hesistate to buy old Trinitrons, especially pro monitors. I've got an older PVM-2530 (it has no S-video inputs, so it's an early one) waiting for me to pick it up right now (I have to make a space for it).

I have seen some early 90s sets with CRTs that were starting to get weak, but there are plenty of sets out there that old and older with good CRTs.

There is at least one Trinitron model that seemed to have more than it's fair share of bad CRTs. I can't remember the model number, but for a while every one that came through was either green or purple. I looked for a picture of that set online, but I couldn't find one. I haven't seen one in ages.

I herad about people that are "complaining" that theyr old <<Trinitrons>> are still in use afet 15-16 yrs!!!
I want a set like that too! :guitar: :rockon:

Yeah, I knew someone with a mid 80's one that didn't have video inputs (?). Worked GREAT, and they couldn't bring themselves to dump a working TV.

Told 'em it'd never die. they didn't seem too thrilled :)