0x0026 - The Smallest Trinitron

A portable, 3.7", color CRT. The Sony Trinitron KX-4200.
I've had some fun with this thing and I thought it was interesting enough to do a video on. It's not in perfect shape but it's cool and not super common.
Original version: • 0x0026 - The Smallest ...

[@TechTangents]

Originally I thought it would be fun to do this video through the TV. There were some positive reactions but most people didn't seem to enjoy it. Here is that version if you want to check it out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3jbmJShotqBpJI

[@Up8Y]

AkBKukU It was a cool idea, but it's probably best to make that a small intro segment of the video rather than have the whole thing playing through the CRT. Other than that, the video itself is good either way.

[@amirpourghoureiyan1637]

AkBKukU do you think you could rename this to differ from the other vid?

[@TechTangents]

I renamed the one showing it on the CRT

[@amirpourghoureiyan1637]

AkBKukU it’s unlisted now, is it meant to be like that?

[@TechTangents]

It is, just to make it easier for people watching later. It is weird to have matching videos up when one should be the more prominent one.

[@vawe]

The Tinytron

[@nilswegner2881]

Galmaris underrated comment...

[@jordanvelazquez6321]

tynitron

[@notmasterdelectronics]

Teenytronie

[@TheAppelsiini123]

that rca 3.5mm combo holy shit you just made a compatible cable that is so impressive

[@clearloops]

Been looking for one for years.

[@tHeWasTeDYouTh]

amazing video, HOLY SHIT I remember one of my dads friends had one of these. My dad is a doctor and as I kid I remember going to the hospital to look for him and I was waiting in the front when i noticed his friend was there sitting down at a back table and he had this tv. He was watching a baseball game or something. He told me it was the smallest tv he has ever bought and we watched the game until my dad came out and we left!!! I always wondered about this tv. Sony really made some amazing things back in the 80s and 90s when they literally made all the money

[@SuperDerek]

After getting hooked on your retro PC and Server build videos, I'm now slowly starting to realize that I will in fact watch you talk about and dissect just about anything. Great channel, dude! :)

[@cyrex686]

Want to see a real small CRT? Take apart a viewfinder from a 90s camcorder. You can get them to display composite. People used them for head mounted displays back in the day.

[@gavinbennett2302]

Yea I have a 1988 Panasonic QuickMovie VHS camcorder and the viewfinder is a black and white CRT. I don't know the size because there is a zoom lens installed so it doesn't look so small but I would never take it apart lol. I've damaged too many electronics and don't trust myself with something that intricate.

[@geovani60624]

but they are mostly black and white ones

[@johnpope5051]

Nice video. The Sony KV-4000, KV-4100 preceded this model. They were released in 1980, truly a marvel of technology for their day. The Sony KV- 4000 had scan tuning with a red bar that would scan across for VHF channels 2-6, a yellow bar for VHF channels 7-13, and finally a green bar for UHF channels 14-83. Sony KV-4100 had an micro cassette built into it. Both models had a color CRT measured diagonally 3.7 inches.

[@jsl151850b]

Can you tell me more about these TVs? The one I saw was colored plastic, contoured instead of hard angles, and a tuning bar.

[@SO_DIGITAL]

Have you seen the crt Sony made before the Trinitron? It used one electron gun and a method of beam indexing. It required no convergence adjustments. The video signal for a particular color would be applied to the electron gun for the short period that the beam is scanning that color. The crt allowed the tv to know exactly where the beam was and apply the correct signal for a particular color at that instant.

[@gabrielresendea]

We had one of these here in my house when I was really young, or at least a similar one. It was nice watching tv on car trips.

[@lpphoenix131]

These are super neat. I wannna say LGR has found one of these while thrifting.

[@IanC14]

lpphoenix131 I'm sure he found a very similar device, but not this exact one. Guess I need to go on a LGR thrifts binge!

[@OnlyEpicEmber]

I remember he looked at I think either a camera viewfinder or some kind of medical CRT that was 0.5".

[@jonathancolyer8670]

13:32 Such a classic quote I thought had no use anymore, then my jaw dropped.

[@TheHermitHacker]

I stayed on a boat out in the ocean for 2 months and watched TV with one of these on my bunk. Yes, i was surprised to get any sort of signal.

[@video99couk]

The sides of the image bow inwards slightly. If you find a preset adjustment marked Pincusion E-W or just EW, near where the scan coils connect or around the high voltage area, it may be worth a small tweak of that to straighten out the verticals.

[@mjouwbuis]

Sony doesn't use the EW abbreviation, but it might be labeled PIN or PIN BOW or something like that.

[@crt_rex]

13:32 - Nice Top Gear 2 intro reference, "missing some of the benefits that stereo can provide" - only if you played Top Gear 2 would get that one, it was funny and very clever, I love it.

[@onometre]

it makes me so damn happy to see someone else who likes these portable crts

[@scottcol23]

The one that sold on ebay for $450 was complete, the one that didnt sell at $50 was missing the tuner module. And to a collector that is what makes it a TV or (special) and not just a security camera monitor. so that is not a fair comparison.

[@marknpm]

10:10 That pesky thing you had trouble getting the power-cable out of is very suitably called a "grommet".

[@TechTangents]

Ah, thank you. These things suck. They are worse than nothing for stain relief, but they do keep the cable from abrading against the metal edge. This is one instance where I will say plastic cases improved product design.

[@flegmatisk]

AkBKukU I was nervously laughing through this as I assemble these exact things daily and, as it happened, had The tool for doing it in my pocket. Had you not already completed this I wouldve gotten you one, but hey!

[@slightlyevolved]

Specifically, a nylon wire bushing, and you insert/remove them with a set of Wire Bushing Pliers. It's been ages, but that's here now for anyone in the future.

[@TomKappeln]

I had this thing in the 80's and mounted it in my 76' Ford Mustang in GERMANY ! Also a small chiller for 4 bottles of coke .... Tornado red with white softtop, 385 tires (golden eagle) on Wolfrace rims, highjackers, open sidepipes. My Mustang was in the "Chrome&Flames" magazin in the end 80's (When i shifted down, i had to watch no people were on the sidewalk ... spitting fire like a dragster) lol You fxcking know i was the KING ! :P

[@nobodynowhere163]

**looks at the chip in the TV module** Oh hey, it's 4K! Wow!

[@nilswegner2881]

Underrated comment...

[@EnglishLaw]

4K just means 4000

[@nobodynowhere163]

Hey Micky There's always someone who doesn't get the joke

[@Mikeywil0003]

@@nobodynowhere163 I have one from Motorola that can do 68k. LOL

[@mjouwbuis]

I totally got the joke and I think it's funny, but for the record it means "November 1984".

[@DrewberTravels]

"Kids! We got you a TV!"

[@sheldonspock5566]

That is SOOOOOOOOOOOO cute! Maybe it was intended for astronauts to smuggle it into the MIR station or whatever and watch some tv. Just kidding. It's cute though, thx for the video.

[@Gartral]

The KX-4200 found a niche with truckers and as a weather monitoring TV in many RVs/Campers... we had one that was sadly stolen when our RV was impounded years and years ago. I have fond memories of squinting at Perfect Dark on the N64 through that tiny tube

[@thedave7760]

We had a version of this when I was a camera assistant back in the days of high band U-matic. The insides look like the same design and manufacture quality that sony used in broadcast equipment at the time. Everything was so fragile back then especially cameras with saticon tubes you had to treat it with kid gloves or colours would all get miss aligned, drive too fast over a speed bump and you could destroy all your kit.

[@111455]

that picture is brighter and clearer than my path in life.

[@C6438911]

Very nice little tv from 1984! cool vid, thanks

[@2kBofFun]

Just found a similar form factor JVC, but it looks way cleaner. Built in tuner, nice circuit board layout, very clean, better styling. Sony must have put some weird team on this.

[@yorgle]

Those rca/3.5mm cable combos are similar to what Apple used for powerbook power supplies in the G3/Lombard/Pismo through Powerbook G4 Titanium...

[@parkerlreed]

5:57 "I'm free!"

[@KennethScharf]

I've got a Rat Shack Realistic 5" portable color TV that has a Trinitron look-a-like tube in it. The set is sorta kinda a slightly larger version of that Sony, but with the tuner built in. It has an external video input so it can be used as a monitor. Runs off of a 8 flashlight batteries that fit in a holder that the TV set sets on, or a conventional wall wart brick, you plug in one of the other into the barrel jack. I think this set plays as well as the Sony, and it's a lot less Rube Goldberg!

[@Conmega1]

Erm... You know you describe the wires in the TV module as being signs of low production volume... But how many products from a similar era from Japan have you taken apart? Many many many of them in my experience have been exactly like that. And honestly that's a very small amount of wires to find in products like that... Just Japanese production at the time...

[@DasAntiNaziBroetchen]

I have a Japanese PVM with wires like that too. Good to know it wasn't fixed but made like that.

[@ytrewq6789]

I did not know there was a TV module for these little monitors until this video!... I do not have them anymore but I had over Twenty of these monitors and cameras given to me about 15 years back when our local mall was upgrading there security station surveillance equipment I sold all but 6 of the monitors and cameras to use for my own home. I sold each monitor for $75 and each camera for another $80 not a bad hull for something that was going to be thrown in the garbage until I rescued them!. I would still like to find the TV module for one of these because It looks like it could be very easily made to hook into any composite video based monitor and have a little fun with it!

[@fryode]

Look up the JVC TM-P3. I had one in the early 1990s and had a chance to grab another one some time around 2014, but didn't go for it. It was a dot-triad monitor so it wasn't as crisp as a Trinitron, but the 3" screen was usable.

[@richfiles]

I have an RCA 3.5 inch color CRT TV, but man... A _Trinitron!_ :D I am so jelly right now! :P

[@BilisNegra]

This think sure looks nice. By having such a small screen size and the same resolution as much larger tv's it looks pretty crisp!

[@user_romanport]

Watching you pull apart that CRT with your bare hands made be nervous the entire video! Great video though, thanks!

[@josecarlosxyz]

this is a really cool television

[@KanalFrump]

that A/V connector is like WTF but the little trinitron is cool.

[@SeñorDossierOficial]

Adorable crt, i want one

[@ADreamingTraveler]

My parents actually had one of these and I remember messing around with it as a kid but couldn't really do much with it

[@TubbyJ420]

13:36 i see what you did there. got me right in the nostalgia zone.

[@KB1UIF]

I found one of these TV's at my local recycling center. It was complete with cables. I powered it up and it worked but as yet haven't found a good use for it. Using it as a monitor for a game console might be a good idea.

[@justanotheryoutubechannel]

I’d love one of these! It’s so cute, even though I’d be completely useless to me. I’d want it as a desk ornament, maybe I’d rig it up to activate when I turn on my PC and have it play a fancy spinning Windows Logo video file.

[@verficationaccount]

This clearly was broadcast equipment. The shape of the power supply mimics the kind of batteries used in TV production cameras in the 80s and 90s. So you could obviously power it with one of these. I remember having some field monitors from Sony with a built in charger slot for those batteries.

[@SUCRA]

Wow! Amazing retro trech gadget

[@Mikeywil0003]

Its weird how the inputs and outputs are two words, "in put" and "out put." The jacks that it used were used on something else, Apple iBooks had those for their power jack. I thought those were the only instance of a hybrid RCA and 3.5mm.

[@clearloops]

OMG, you are a genius! I've been looking for something for my micro sony tv.

[@Mikeywil0003]

@@clearloops Should be able to chop up some chinese ibook chargers to get the cable from them. It is alot easier than melting an RCA connector and pulling the center pin out.

[@altebander2767]

There were actually some other tiny portable TV sets like the "Panasonic Color Travelvision CT-101" which had a 1,5" tube.

[@flyguille]

that is normal mass production assembly from 80's 90's, piggy wires are used because by that time, those board are single side, or as best dual side, but most probably it is single. And not problem about using soldered wires to connectors, it was the norm.

[@oliverwalsh9614]

IT'S TOO CUTE! My feels! I can't!

[@Quietruck]

I have a Curtis 7.5 inch LCD widescreen portable color TV/AV With an Aux Video Input on the side with stereo speakers in the front panel. It also has a battery pack that attaches as a stand to the bottom of the unit. Just plug my Original Xbox or any other console with a Yellow AV input into it , and it looks pretty nice. The small screen size is a bit hard to play games with. But I love the novelty of it.

[@displaytalk]

"picture" refers to contrast with consumer crt settings. Nice video!

[@caviar_dreamz]

I almost bought that one that was going for $50. It’s a neat little set, wish I would have got it.

[@masterviper420]

now this i can watch this nice job

[@pd3331]

Thanks for this.

[@TechTangents]

I figured phone viewers would appreciate it.

[@junebug9320]

I know this is a super late comment on an older video lol, but my dad's work when I was a kid had a ton of these! In the early 2000s he worked in master control for a television station and they had banks and banks of these built into their walls and switches. I'm pretty sure they were even this same model, I remember them being sony something or other.

[@michael1234252]

That thing looks like it could also be an oscilloscope

[@inachu]

I think this is how big the portable c-64 computer was sold as.

[@jsl151850b]

This is going to sound crazy but... In the early 1980s I would take a long trip to visit a friend making an amateur science fiction movie for a magazine contest (Cinemagic) and on the way I would stop at a convenience store for a Coke and for unexplained reasons they had on display boxes which boasted "World's Smallest Trinitron". The picture tube was on the end and the rest was *contoured colored* plastic with a large battery compartment for 8 C batteries on top. This predated digital tuning so a vertical line on the screen pointed to numerals printed beneath the glass. VHF low. VHF high. UHF. I couldn't afford to purchase one at the time but 20 years later I looked it up on eBay. *It never existed.* The Trinitron page on the internet showed a different first/smallest TV. (KX-4200. Boxy, not contoured.) The crazy Mandela Effect people think it shows that the past has been changed, and in this case I may have to agree with them.

[@ching-chenhuang8119]

Only 3.7", nowadays we have smartphones with bigger screen than this TV, it was surely unimaginable back in the days.......

[@xsuperdragonx]

I really enjoyed this... Subscribed

[@DRNEGOLICIS]

Is this the one that uses a black and white crt and a color shutter lcd infront of it?

[@MariaEngstrom]

I have a very similar one, but not a Sony, it's branded JEAN (most likely Chinese so probably not Triniton but still very good picture) that I bought for around $400 in 1988. I was very young then and it was very much money for me, and I never had any real use for it other than plugging my C64 to it. I just tried it now, it need some antioxidant treatment in the controls. Mine is not mains powered but 12V,

[@MozTS]

This is likely a broadcast camera monitor (mounted on top) that they repackaged with the tv module

[@TomKappeln]

Exactly !

[@lycanananas_sq5fox]

Sometimes this kind of wire on PCB is used because it's cheeper to make 2 layer PCB than 4 layer PCB. Polish IBM PC Clone from 80's used this because Poland don't have technology to produce 4 layer PCB. Also I found this kind of wires on AdTec encoder.

[@beninreallife]

what HDMI to composite adapter did you use and do you recommend it?

[@bemorewantless]

What device did you use to hook up the Super Nintendo Classic mini? It looks great!

[@televisionandcheese]

Unrelated, but THE MICROPHONE YOU USE IS REALLY NICE I LIKE IT

[@marchettejw]

+1 like because of the top gear 2 reference...

[@Firing_Order]

I wonder if you don't need to discharge the anode or if it's like a tube guitar amp and there's a transformer that will surprise you with lethal voltages.

[@hunterstowe5342]

Looks like it pairs up with a professional video Camara or something like that.

[@hermitxIII]

It might sound dumb, but would you consider making a video about creating your own cables for electronics that aren't easy to find?

[@mullahviking]

So my lord. I see it has a battery compartment and a 12 volt input? In addition to a AC in. What is the power consumption on this? Did it make any sense to run this of a battery?

[@gavinbennett2302]

It was probably a rechargeable battery.

[@BilisNegra]

It draws 9w if you can trust this (image nr. 9). It would make perfect sense with today's rechargeable battery technology. Not so much with regular C or D size batteries. But I'm no good at estimating how much such kind of batteries would last. If somebody would be so kind to make calculations? www.google.es/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjls8yt_OndAhWQzYUKHa-sDPkQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpicclick.com%2FSony-Trinitron-Kx-4200-Micro-Color-Monitor-See-Photos-273438622732.html&psig=AOvVaw1djO-1Linr7uBz-RwEyqYM&ust=1538645765629166

[@clearloops]

I've been searching for an original RCA/3.5mm for years now. I can't even find a pic of one.

[@TheTonyMcD]

2:05 That is one funky ass connector. 7:09 Holy fuck-balls

[@moth.monster]

Now to get a giant crt and compare.

[@TechTangents]

I have a 24" CRT TV, but weighs too much for a single person lift. So it's not that easy to do a video on.

[@lauram5905]

I had a 27" Sanyo for a while that somehow weighed half of what the 24" one my neighbours gave me from Taiwan did

[@dustinbrueggemann1875]

The biggest CRT I ever saw was the 40" my family had up until the LCDs got to the same scale for a reasonable price.

[@Patchuchan]

Looks like Sony spared no expensive on the BOM. Interesting to see a switch mode power brick on device from that era.

[@mjouwbuis]

1984 was not that early, they already had SM supplies in their first Trinitron sets and were heavy on miniaturising everything.

[@speedyink]

Not to split hairs (since really we're talking .2") but I thought the KX-4000 was the smallest. As a CRT collector I enjoyed this video, however late to the party I am

[@TechTangents]

I don't have a KX-4000 to directly compare against, but from what I've seen of images of both the outside and inside I believe it is likely the exact same CRT inside. It would also be really weird to have two different and extremely complex parts that are so similar at the same time. I think people are probably just measuring different parts of the display area.

[@speedyink]

@@TechTangents Doing some research it looks like that may be the case, as the KV-4000 is a television and the KX-4200 is a monitor. The tube in the KV-4000 has a part number of 110LB22, can't seem to find the part number for the KX-4200. Very interesting!

[@DelphiTheDolphin]

interestingly enough: that RF-shield shows "Bt868"... wasn't that a TV-Decoderchip for PC-TV-cards?

[@mjouwbuis]

Actually, it shows BT-868 so in capitals and with a - in it, so not the number of a Brooktree chip. Those were the usual model numbers for tuner cans back then. The number below it is the actual part number for the BT-868.

[@thedillestweed2644]

Almost looks like my Totevision Color 5" set from 1988

[@jonka1]

The smallest crts I've seen are in camcorder viewfinders. Does anyone know if colour versions were made before solid state screens were adopted?

[@r-ea]

afaik, there are a few, a notable one is from an RCA camcorder (RCA CKC-021/CKC021)

[@speedplays6710]

3:58 why did that thing just dissappear but your commentary didn't cut??

[@televisionandcheese]

I just realize this.. It's whoa

[@heyyitsultima]

It's just a really well timed jump cut.

[@michaelturner4457]

I wonder if this is a beam-index CRT? Which I believe Sony called "Indextron".

[@mjouwbuis]

It isn't and indeed that's what that was called.

[@homelessEh]

13:39... lol.... ohhhhh snes top gear good one good one :)

[@Watcher3223]

_"...'picture,' which appears to be some kind of gamma..."_ PICTURE = CONTRAST

[@KogeyFox]

I have a rare little Sony screen called the Sony Mavicap. It's a 2.5" LCD that accepts composite video on the unit. The unit can be battery powered or run on mains. According to google the version I have with the screen retailed for $599 or thereabouts. The sole purpose of this device was to take still images from a playing video (presumably a sony mavica), and write them onto a floppy. I plan on doing a video on it eventually since I can't find a single one on youtube.

[@robertsmith1434]

Looks like Sony put this cable on their Watchman line as well. I think there is a discussion about it and an adaptor picture listed here: www.antiqueradios.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=281492

[@mitchm7563]

wat game was that with the jumping character

[@btrflx__]

Fyi, A japanese released named the Profeel Mini

[@NurdRage777]

Try to play this on a micro CRT camcorder viewfinder screen :D

[@TheSanco26]

Let's be real. You where the guy that bought the monitor for 462$ :D

[@Krankysimo]

Not playing on 4:3 aspect?

[@IanC14]

The way the tuner connects seems odd to me, having to use separate wires I mean.

[@Gartral]

you *saw* the inside of that thing, right? there's not really any room for a more elegant solution! lol. but seriously. Yes it is a bit of a strange arrangement.

[@TechDude3000]

At 7:08 on the bottom a chip says '4K'

[@chaoscommentz4582]

Trinitron, More like Minitron

[@PullTab]

I'm not sure why you're growling- like "Grrrrrr" everytime you open a case.

[@TobiasTimpe]

Would have been weird for it to be B/W as a Trinitron.

[@ericmoeller3634]

You are asking what is that well that is old TV

[@mechadrake]

it is so cute I'm going to die!!!

[@bkebradley]

Any idea how many TVL?

[@mjouwbuis]

It would probably sync at both 525 (480) and 625 (576) lines. It being a Trinitron set, the real limiting factor is not the number of lines or even the video amplifier bandwidth, but the aperture grill pitch.

[@danilodistefanis5990]

14:46 Creepiest finale ever.

[@bassnetwork3941]

this is what light used in death note lol ill take a chip and EAT IT!!!