Sony Vidimagic FP 60 Indextron Video Projector repair

A very rare Sony Vidimagic FP60 Indextron Video projector with built in Betamax recorder is brought back to life. These are extremely rare pieces these days.

[@Duncanate]

Linus brought me here

[@Lgwasherfan5623]

Same I saw Linus saying bout the vid and I searched it up without finishing Linuses tech vid

[@davidcraig5843]

Linus sent me and i realized i had already watched half of it years back lol. I found one of these back in the late 90s in the school library

[@TheRealOnes407]

Same

[@prajwalnaik2743]

Of course he does 😅

[@prajwalnaik2743]

Linus is like a tech search engine

[@emray372]

Responding 7 years later, respect! It’s a very interesting piece of technology. I wish they were brighter honestly, they might’ve kept some of their relevance for niche purposes. Very complex, but very interesting. (Linus brought me here)

[@12voltvids]

If you use the original screen that came with it the picture is much better. It's a high gain screen like all the old front projectors used. A white screen is not very good. The proper screen is curved and silver coated. Makes all the difference in the world. I'm pretty sure i did a demo video with it as i do have the screen.

[@tapeop1]

I remember wanting a 3 lens Advent Videobeam so badly in the 1970's. I couldn't afford one (I was a kid) so I bought a 60" TV Projection screen and a TV projection lens and built a wooden cabinet to hold the lens and a 12 inch portable color TV which I modified by switching a couple of wires on the yoke to display the image upside down and backwards so the projected image was correct. It wasn't as good as the Advent, but I was the only one of my friends to have a 60 inch TV! in 1979!

[@rfburns5601]

There was a company that tried to revive this technology in the sixties. It was called the "Uniray" picture tube. Very impressive - enjoyed seeing this.

[@12voltvids]

I intend to keep this rare piece in my collection, as the concept of the beam index tube is fascinating. I fire it up from time to time and everyone that sees it in operation just says wow, that's cool.

[@beardsntools]

Seeing this makes you realize how far we got. I do not miss this era at all.

[@12voltvids]

Yes it is as dim as he said however there was a special 40' high gain silver screen that makes it almost watchable. lol

[@HarrisonDavies]

I miss CRT. Moving from CRT to LCD was horrible.

[@12voltvids]

@@HarrisonDavies one word. Plasma.

[@beardsntools]

@@HarrisonDavies Nah CRTs were terrible, don't miss them at all.

[@arongooch]

Indeed, I never heard of a CRT that works quite like this Indextron. Very nice machine and great to see it in operation. Love seeing rare and obscure equipment like this.

[@metallurgico]

LTT brought me here! awesome video!

[@12voltvids]

It's actually a cool unit but you really need the special high reflective screen. I have the 40" high gain curved screen and it makes it much brighter. Actually watchable with room lights on as long as they are off to the side or overhead. The one I have only has about 100 hours on the tube.

[@ANTandTEC]

Nice channel drop from Linus 🙂

[@kirknelson156]

thats very cool, love seeing the old tech :)

[@juliocesarcardona7723]

Tuve uno de estos y al verlo nuevamente.es como volver a reenco trarme con un viejo amor. Que nostalgia .rec uerdos bonitos con este pproyector..de echo fue mi primer proyetor.ampliaba bastante t tenia muy bonita imagen.no comparable con la de hoy en dia.pero bonita para esa epoca.me transporte.en el tiempo.con ese vidimagic..gracias...

[@ryans413]

Sony always makes some pretty cool stuff

[@crashbandicoot4everr]

Very rare machine and very cool Sony engineering! By the way, the 3rd generation of betamaxes were the SL-5400, 5600 and 5800 piano key machines that actually used solenoid controls.

[@GadgetUK164]

Really nice to see that and to see you get it working again! I've never seen or heard of that type of tube before!

[@malikzain2693]

You probably dont care at all but does someone know of a method to log back into an Instagram account?? I stupidly lost the account password. I would appreciate any assistance you can offer me!

[@dariotitan510]

@Malik Zain instablaster ;)

[@malikzain2693]

@Dario Titan thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and im waiting for the hacking stuff atm. I see it takes a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@malikzain2693]

@Dario Titan It worked and I now got access to my account again. Im so happy:D Thanks so much, you saved my account!

[@dariotitan510]

@Malik Zain You are welcome =)

[@Nermash]

Great piece of equipment! Never knew that something like this existed.

[@12voltvids]

I saw a brochure for it way back in 85 but never saw one until it was dropped in my lap yesterday. I didn't know they used indextron until I got it open and saw that funky circuitry.Makes sence though, because a conventional color CRT with shadow mask or aprature grill (Trinitron) would never have worked.Projectors prior to this used 3 monochromatic CRT.the R G and B tubes needed to be perfectly aligned and this required an engineer to set them up. So having a portable projector was impossible until LCD and DLP became a reality. A single tube wouldn't give the brightness required, because with a shadow mask tube, a great amount of the beak energy is lost in the shadow mask that is needed to align the beams with their respective color dots. Crank up the beam to make it brighter, and the beam that hits the mask heats it up, and causes it to expand and warp. This causes color purity errors known as doming. So with the development of the index beam tube, the shadow mask is eliminated, and the brightness can be cranked without worry about purity problems caused by doming of the shadow mask.

[@nathenzuber4021]

@@12voltvids last week I got a hold of one of these in immaculate condition with the original microphone accessory. Such a incredible piece of equipment. One thing though, a couple of "rollers" in the cassette loader seamed to fall out. Any idea as to reinstall them.

[@12voltvids]

@@nathenzuber4021 Obviously I would be in a better position if I knew which rollers fell out,

[@nathenzuber4021]

@@12voltvids I will be taking pictures. Hope that helps. Thanks again

[@nathenzuber4021]

Would it be cool to convert it to DLP if the tube went out? How could you install a DLP chip in place of the tube when it goes out?

[@willynebula6193]

Hey 10k subs gratz

[@MaggotInfestedGod]

I got one of these recently. Mine works perfectly aside from the cassette holder in the deck being a little finicky. Really awesome and rare piece of CRT history!

[@12voltvids]

Yes these are pretty rare for sure, and a real conversation piece when someone sees one for the first time.

[@nathenzuber4021]

@@12voltvids Have you located a service manual for this thing?

[@12voltvids]

@@nathenzuber4021 No, but then I haven't been looking.

[@GoldSrc_]

Holy crap, I think I've only seen a crappy drawing of that thing in an old magazine, but this is amazing. And about the strike thing, you should use one of your videos where you fix stuff, that should help.

[@12voltvids]

I now have the original Sony projection screen, so I plan to do a video to show what this thing was capable of on the correct screen.

[@Mikeywil0003]

This is a cool unit. When I was in high school in the late 90s, they had a CRT projector with built in VHS deck that I had no idea what it was...that I wish I knew the brand or model number. It was a single lens projector like this, but it was kind of cheap looking. It almost looked like a vintage version of one of those low-res Chinese projectors that have the built in DVD player. It was like a cube, had like the same shape as an IBM 5153 CGA monitor, but with a lens and VHS deck in it. I remember that the room had to be VERY dark for it to have a half way watchable picture. On a separate note. I think it is amazing that in 1985, Sony managed to cram a projector and betamax into this small chassis, but just a few years earlier, they had the Videoscope line that were HUGE, like the size of a large coffee table.

[@12voltvids]

The reason this existed was Sony's desire to have a presentation machine that could be set up in a classroom or board room. Video projectors prior to this used 3 tubes, and required extensive set up every time they were moved. The video scope solved the setup because the screen was integrated but it weighed a bloody ton. Not something that could be loaded in a car and transported.This unit solved that issue, and with the high gain aluminized screen was quite watchable.

[@Mikeywil0003]

+12voltvids Definitely an amazing machine for 1985. The way they do the color with one gun, one tube, kinda reminds me of DLP, that the image is produced with no color, and color is "added" with the color wheel. I have a Sharp LCD projector from 97-98 that the picture looks like crap compared to this. Contrast is horrible, it is dim and has ghosting. Sony was the real deal back in the day. It's a shame to see what they are now though. It's cool that you have history with this old equipment. When I worked in a studio, we used all Panasonic equipment. Pretty decent stuff. We just got a Sony DFS-700 Digital switcher when I left, I never got to really experience what Sony had to offer.When I started in 99, we had a Panasonic WJ-5500A video switcher, very outdated, but it was nice how it worked with the tally lights and intercom system for our 3 studio cameras. That switcher got a crack in the PCB around the wipe control. We got an even older (mid 70s) Grass Valley unit on loan from a neighboring station while parts were sourced for the Panasonic. It worked well, but had to be jury rigged to work with tally lights and intercom. After 2 years, we gave up on repairing the Panasonic, and bought the DFS-700. From what I remember, it cost $19,000, and we had to buy a couple thousand dollar analog board to get it working with our cameras. It could do a lot of stuff, but it seemed like it was meant more for editing. Doing simple effects was a lot more complicated than the 2 older units, but it shouldn't have been...doing transitions and such took planning.

[@repairitdontreplaceit]

i remember working on those old three tube crt projectors .. im sure i had a lead apron i had to wear to stop the xrays !

[@douro20]

I believe the Hitachi 1-inch colour viewfinder tubes, as well as the original Philco "Apple" tube, used a small photomultiplier integrated into the CRT to detect the index signal.

[@12voltvids]

The smaller indextron tube used in the "Cube"TV had the photo transistor embedded in the glass. Yes I believe some of the original color viewfinder tubes were beam index. Color camera tubes are also a beam index type that in the case of the camera pickup used a metal grid behind the target to generate the index signal as the beam swept over it

[@KylesDigitalLab]

Good job on getting featured in a LinusTechTips video. He's also in Vancouver as well so maybe you guys should do a video together. I'd watch it

[@12voltvids]

Haven't seen it yet.

[@fmbroadcast]

Woooooow beautiful 😍😍

[@12voltvids]

Cool eh.

[@dmcintosh1967]

that is something you don't see very often

[@12voltvids]

Like never

[@WolfmanDude]

Wow that thing is crazy! They would have to switch between the RGB signals at a rate of multiple Mhz with exact timing! I would love to have a schematic of the crt drive circuilt. Are they using special ICs for the RGB switching? Why was this never used for normal crt TVs?

[@LibraAudioLaboratory]

The Betamax integrated in this FP-60 Projector, it's a Sony SL-B5.

[@wadehicks9270]

That's a cool machine wow like that.

[@12voltvids]

Not too many of these units were produced, so it is a collectable piece. Quite unique with that beam index CRT.

[@OliverSchlappat]

oh, the joy of content id algorithms... Thanks for re-uploading!

[@12voltvids]

Content ID really pisses me off, because in my scenery videos I use licensed royalty free content, and they are constantly flagging it as copyright and a 3rd party makes a claim to the ad revenue. I waste so much time having to look up and submit a dispute over and over. It is bad enough I have to dispute it, but even after the dispute is disputed, and settled, months later the dispute comes back again on the same song again and again. Some I have disputed 6 or 7 times in the past year, and nobody at youtube is paying me for my time to dispute licensed content. I imagine the folks at Musicbakery are getting tired of sending me my proof of license every time youtube asks for it too.

[@OliverSchlappat]

Yeah, a big part of the youtube community really suffers from the current Content ID situation. I mean, I get that enforcing copyrights is somewhat necessary. The way it is handled now though is really not the way to go, as it hurts content creators. I had a case once (on a channel with a different name) where I used selfmade background music with samples of the apollo moon landing in it. I got a Content ID hit because of some obscure Dutch dance music that had the same sample in it. I disputed it, a couple of months later, I got hit again. Haven't uploaded videos in a long time now, because it really isn't worth the hassle, at least for now. Anyway, thanks for your persistence, I really enjoy your videos.

[@12voltvids]

Don't even get me started. I get hit because someone buys the same music bed from the same music company, adds subliminal messages, stop smoking, stop procrastinating ect to the music, and releases it as a self help tape. Now the royalty free licenced content is flagged as infringing, and I have to dispute. It is so frustrating. The language I drop on youtbe is usually filled with 4 letter words too because I am frustrated.

[@OliverSchlappat]

Well, let's hope that the increasing frustration among youtubers about this gets noticed and changes are being made. Chances aren't great, but there's no real alternative right now.

[@nathenzuber4021]

@@12voltvids can you take the crt of the progector out and install DLP or LCD modual to replace the crt if it is bad.

[@Daniel_Davis79]

I have a sony vidimagic I gave $5 for it at a yardsale a few years ago, its the fp-62 model and it doesn't have the betamax, it still works well it did last time I used it lol I actually got it out today and tomorrow I'm going to take it apart and clean it up like the the lens etc etc I'm planning on using it again for watching movies outside, well I think I'm done rambling lol... and yes I know not to mess with some components because of the high voltage..lol

[@hannonm]

That is a Beautiful piece of Equipment!.............I was Sort of Expecting to see Vacuum Tubes in it,. but alas i was Wrong......Very excellent....

[@12voltvids]

You were right. There was a cathode ray TUBE in there!

[@hannonm]

you know what i mean..... :P

[@Squilliam-Fancyson]

rare piece of equipment

[@12voltvids]

It always was due to the price, even more so now. It was a sales presentation tool. I only ever saw one on the wild and that was at a Sony training session. They had some betamax training courses and showed drum replacement and alignment procedures. I remember thinking "this looks like crap" but then again they had it just displayed on a white pull down screen that the overhead projector normally was on. Had to turn out all the lights for the presentation. Never thought i would get one and then this landed in my lap. The guy I got it from used it for slideshows he used to do. As bad as it was it was the best you could get at the time for portable projection.

[@deinemuddatvfr]

Its rare but not super rare. One just sold on ebay for 200 bucks.

[@targetrender9529]

This has a coaxial input. How do DVD’s or video games look on it?

[@lvwilb5687]

good video, glad to see you use the scope again.Where do you get your schematic diagrams from.

[@12voltvids]

I have quite a few Sony service manuals, as I took them from the shop I worked at. So I have a bunch of vintage manuals, as we used to get them all sent to us as the shop was a Sony warranty depot.

[@12voltvids]

I was using the scope today to try and figure out why a switch mode supply was going into shutdown when the power supply lived up to its name as a voltage to smoke converter! Was going into an overvoltage shut down, no regulation. Figure it is the drive IC, so I will have to source a new one, and hopefully I can get this beast going. Its an SLV-R5 Sony S-VHS, and that is a pretty good deck when it works, so I want to get it running.

[@sameerramesh5585]

Hi I have sony ev-s 3000 but its not working properly as may be the heads have worn out. I cleaned etc. but no use. Probably I need a new mechanism of EV-s3000 or can you help to repair..?

[@ArthurD]

Hey, great skills! How about you reach out to LTT and show up in their episode where Dan will be fixing this thing, as a consultant?

[@12voltvids]

Here is a link to the 3 projector shoot out with the high gain screen. kzbin.info/www/bejne/el6bdWCnbrCNeJIsi=TRw5ICiW3Wi5x8ID

[@acoresbrasil]

Very interesting and rare piece of equipment, but being a Sony, I expected to have a better picture quality... You see, Sony TV sets of that era had a very good picture...

[@swetuna]

If you have told me this was an actual laser canon from the original star wars ship Millennium Falcon i would totally believe you . 100%

[@RyanSchweitzer77]

So, if I'm not mistaken, an Indextron CRT pretty much functions like a Trinicon (the color-striped camera tube used by some of Sony's early 1-tube color cameras) but in reverse?

[@12voltvids]

No a camera trinicon is used a set of electrodes behind the target to modulate the voltage on the target to generate an index signal that was used to demultiplex the resulting video signal into the RGB componets of light passing through the color filters. The indextron tube, AKA beam index tube uses a 4th color stripe. The RGB, and a UV stripe. The RGB stripes are painted on the surface of the tube, then a thin aluminum coating was applied to the back of the phosphor coating, and then a series of UV emiting stripes placed every second group of RGB. So it goes like this RGBRGB(uv)RGBRGB(uv) Then on the bell of the tube a photo detector is attached looking into the back of the tube. There is no 2nd anode coating around this portion of the bell so it is transparant. The photo detectors detect the strobe signal emitted by the UV phosphor and use the resulting signal to generate the RGB swiching signal to the video output curcuit. At the left side of the tube there are 8 UV stripes with no RGB sequences so that at the start of each scan line there are 8 cycles of index before the picture information is displayed, and there are also index signals painted on the lead in and lead out area of scan at the top and bottom so the syncronizing index signal provides a good reference signal to the PLL circuit.

[@RyanSchweitzer77]

Ok, yes, I see now--I forgot that the trinicon lacks the indexing stripes, and uses electrodes at the target instead, as you said. Thanks for the detailed explanation (and for posting this video!), I was not aware of the Indextron until I came across your video here on YT. The Indextron reminds me of a similar CRT, the Penetron, which, if you're not familiar with it, is similar in that it's a one-gun color tube as well, but the voltage of the the electron gun is varied to excite the proper phosphor layer out of several (usually 2 or 3) layered on the tube face (without a shadow mask). I guess it wasn't widely used for NTSC video due to a lot of high-frequency interference caused by the variable voltage switching to the gun at the high scan rates of NTSC video. But like the Indextron, it too saw use for military and aerospace uses (mainly for "glass cockpit" applications) in a 2-phosphor configuration, mainly because of its lack of a shadow mask which could be affected by g-forces in flight.

[@12voltvids]

I am familiar with the penetron tube. Most were 2 color displays used for computer terminals, radar screens and avionics. Indextron was the prefection of the old Philco "Apple" tube that they were never ever able to prefect. Sony prefected that tube, and the one I have is probabl;y one of the largest and brightest of that design. It is liquid cooled, and a real museum piece that I will be hanging onto because they are relatively rare. With the proper high gain screen they don't look half bad ether.

[@jerryspann8713]

We had one of those at Kingwood High School back in 1986. The English teacher used it in the media classroom to show Great Expectations. She had to hook a VHS VCR to it in order to play the movie. She didn't like it because she had the audio and video cables reversed and couldn't get a picture out of it, and funny enough she was scared of it. The room had to be pitch black in order to see the picture, but back in 1986 I thought that was cool

[@12voltvids]

For what it is it is a cool unit never the less. It would be nice if the beta player had a line out, bit nope only plays on the projector. If the teacher was smart, she would have copied the VHS tape to the beta unit, and then she would have had her own copy for future screenings. With the right high gain screen they don't look bad, but you still need all the lights out. No different to any front projector.

[@rustblade5021]

heya, no idea if you're looking for one of these, but there's two on ebay right now, one of them mostly functional and also has the speaker and carrying cases at a pretty good price, just thought i'd let you know!

[@12voltvids]

I have one. Why would I want another. I will probably sell the one I have.

[@walle637]

Does this projector have an internal focus control?

[@12voltvids]

Yes it does. It has a focus control for the CRT internal, and of course the lens focus which is controlled with the buttons on the top.

[@AstonMartinfan2]

I've got one of these (well technically an fp-62 without the betamax) with the same white screen issue - though adjusting the bias as you did didn't fix it (and I don't trust my own repair skills much beyond turning knobs). Does anyone know where I might be able to take it to get looked at/possibly fixed?

[@12voltvids]

I have no idea myself and if the one I was given was more than what it was i probably wouldn't have fixed it because i know nothing about the beam index system. Never worked on them

[@douro20]

I wonder why Sony never made larger Indextron monitors for broadcast use? I think beam-index tube monitors would had worked very well for that purpose.

[@12voltvids]

2 words. Low contrast

[@felipenicolasbarrioshuarac3745]

Sony Vidimagic es para mi (Santiago de Chile)

[@mikelatoski2347]

I'm trying to repair one of these myself but need to remove the board underneath the front/focusing unit that the flyback transformer is on. Can the HV cable be removed from the transformer or from the red epoxied block it goes to, and if so how does it disconnect? I've had zero luck trying to find a service manual :(

[@12voltvids]

I don't have the unit apart right now, but most Sony flyback or HV resistor the HV lead could be disconnected from one end or the other. Should be a boot you can pull back a bit. Then press the wire in slightly, and rotate about 1/4 turn counter clockwise and it should unhook and come right out. It is spring loaded on either the flyback or HV Resistor (red block) end. You can tell which side comes out, because only one side will have a silicone boot you can slide back on the wire.

[@12voltvids]

Yes I have had zero luck locating a service manual for one. They are quite rare units. About as rare as a Panasonic CT101. (I have one of those too, and a Transicorder)

[@hubzcaps]

cool

[@Aether776]

yay

[@Raptor50aus]

I have the Sony Indextron Watchcube. It turns on and the sound and tuner are working as it picks up my tv signal playing a video but the tube does not startup. I replaced all the caps and cleaned the boards too. Any idea what voltages I should be checking ? thanks :)

[@12voltvids]

Do you see the filament light up in the neck if the tube? If not and they filament voltage is present then the tube is shot.

[@Raptor50aus]

@@12voltvids I see no filament light either. What is the typical filament voltage?

[@12voltvids]

@@Raptor50aus should be around 6 volts or so. I saw a few where the filament went open. You can measure it with a meter.

[@Raptor50aus]

@@12voltvids thanks will check I have 2 of there watchcubes so will check the other tube too

[@Raptor50aus]

@@12voltvids at the back of the tube H1 and H2 have continuity. The voltage across these is 2.3 volts measuring from gnd to H1 and gnd to H2 get the same 2.3 volts

[@fododude]

But wait! Does anyone remember in the early 80s, those GIANT projectors that had three huge lenses, just like the one shown here, projecting red, green, and blue overlapping images onto a screen? Also a terrible picture but it was considered high-end home cinema in the day. I can remember the neighbors watching "Xanadu." The color fringing was atrocious which may have indicated that the thing needed adjusting frequently.

[@12voltvids]

The 3 tube projectors were a nightmare to keep aligned. Then they put them in huge boxes and used a mirror to shine the image on the back of the screen. This didn't improve the reliability, but made them easier to keep aligned. The indextron projection tube here was a breakthrough as it eliminated convergence adjustments, and allowed for a truly portable projector setup where it could be set up for a presentation quickly. I have the proper high gain screen now for it, and it doesn't look bad considering the age of it. Back then resolution was low, so comparing it to a modern projector will look bad, but comparing it to others of they day it is passable. I plan to do a comparision video where I will compare this, to a DLP pico projector, and an older, but still very good 720p DLP. unit.

[@fododude]

Yeah, that Vidimagic is something I've never seen and I'm going to have to watch the video again to get a clearer idea of how it could work. That's a real conversation piece right there.

[@12voltvids]

fododude I remember working on the small 4" indextron monitors. they were popular for field viewing in motion picture production. basically in the most simplified explanation, a single gun (monochrome) type tube is able to display color. the tube is striped with RGB stripes just like a conventional color tube but there is an additional uv stripe painted between each set of RGB striped. when the tube is made after the RGB stripes there is an coating applied to hold the phosphor in place then the uv index stripes are painted to the back. on the bell of the tube uv light detectors are fastened. these were pick up the stroking uv light generated as the beam hits the uv phosphor. the resulting piolt signal is used to control the timing of the video switch which quickly switches between the RG and B video channels. the result is a color picture using a single electron gun. the advantage is no convergence, no shadow mask or aperture grill inside the tube. no purity problems, no magnetic interference problems and because there is no shadow mask, much more brightness is available.

[@fododude]

Seems like a pretty good system. And the brightness of the picture made it good for projection. I had to read quite a bit on the history of color tv. :)

[@12voltvids]

I will be shooting a shootout between this and a 360p DLP pico projector, and a 720p DLP to see which one has the best picture.

[@tybo-ug7pj]

maybe that's why they strike the video because that's the first time I scene a Chinese guy play the piano

[@fadhlematrook1248]

it first time to see this think in video i was see only poto prmo with shark and some sony equepments

[@12voltvids]

I lied. I said I had never seen one before, but that was actually incorrect. I now remember that I did see one way back in 86 or 87. It was on a Sony 8mm video training course, and they had one in the training room, the same unit with the beta player. In the Betamax training course (the one that is posted here) the instructor was using an overhead projector, and for the 8mm course he had not only the overhead, but had presentations on tape, and had one of these machines set up. For fun I watched a movie off Beta the other day on my 110" screen and it actually looked good from a distance. As good as I remember the old videoscope my parents used to have back in the early 80's. With a proper silver high gain screen it would look even better I would imagine.Will have to look for my old slide projector screen that is stored somewhere and try that out. The indextron tube is incredibly bright, but I would say the resolution is probably only about 300TV lines, which is actually fine as Beta is only around 280, and VHS 240 so it exceeds the resolution of tape, and that is primarily what it was designed for. Presentations from tape.This is not something I intend to use on a regular basis, and for that matter it will be going into storage where like most of my old gear will be forgotten about. It's just such a cool piece if gear, something that you don't see every day, and showcased Sonys engineering know how.

[@VintageElectronicsGeek]

This item was announced in Jan 1985, it sold for $2995USD which equates to $6709USD in 2016, it had a smaller brother the FP-62 (tapeless) which sold for $2195USD....the FP-60 weighs 35 pounds and came complete with a cloth/nylon type carry case for it, it was targeted towards corporate customers (although Sony was mulling over a consumer version (unknown if they ever produced one)), this item was designed for portable presentation and production work, thus the mic input so as one could do voice over work....they claim the tube was so bright you could project a picture on a 200 inch diagonal screen!

[@12voltvids]

The tube is bright, but like all front projectors it needs to be viewed in total darkness.I am going to try it on my DALite screen and see how it looks.The tube is bright. You can't stare at it without hurting your eyes.Not as bright as a DLP, but it is still very bright, and thus the reason for the liquid cooling.The guy that gave it to me said he paid about 2000 for it used.

[@12voltvids]

After setting it up in my living room, on a proper screen I am totally impressed.Not as bright as my DLP, but actually not bad. Totally watchable, and actually quite bright. Better by far than that LCD unit I had a year or so ago. een playing some of my old music video beta tapes from the 80's on it. Looks retro, and adds to the nostalgia effect of the old videos.

[@VintageElectronicsGeek]

That is super cool! But it's an odd shape, wouldn't work for most consumers in there LR's! :) Over the years, I have become a Sony fanboy and reach for that brand, along with Panasonic and pre-195ish Radio Shack products.

[@12voltvids]

This was never designed as a consumer product. It was for presentation work. Also this was 1985. Most people back then had a 27" TV in the rec room. One of these could be set up for movie night then pack away. The guy that gave it to me used it for celebration of life slide shows he did. He would set it up and show the presentation then pack it up and go. It was the only projector that was portable. All other projectors of the day required complete setup every time it was moved.

[@Synthematix]

Oh nice, ive never seen anything like this before ever. Damn sony sure made some neat stuff, unfortunately their soldering on pre 2002 equipment was abysmal.

[@12voltvids]

This was like 3500 when new. Came with a special screen which i also have.

[@Synthematix]

@@12voltvids Ace

[@fantazmasal]

Hi, I am living in Turkey. I have vidimagic but it doesn't work. Can you repair it? Where do you living? Thanks for your feedback.

[@12voltvids]

I'm in Canada. The shipping costs would be prohibitive and that's on a different system

[@fantazmasal]

@@12voltvids haha really amazing! Because, at the end of this year, I will be moving to the state of New Brunswick. Can I get your email? Where do you live in Canada? Oh Lord!, thanks.

[@12voltvids]

@@fantazmasal It can be found in the about tab

[@simongreenidge6454]

The comparison video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/el6bdWCnbrCNeJI&ab_channel=12voltvids

[@felipenicolasbarrioshuarac3745]

tiene que manejar el tubo

[@Bluethunderboom]

What's MPX stands for?

[@Bluethunderboom]

Thanks for the info! =)

[@12voltvids]

Multiplex audio (Baseband audio) It contains the the main channel, as well as the pilot tone, and L-R stereo info and all the SAP channels. That would be connected to an external BTSC decoder for stereo audio. The on board audio is mono.

[@12voltvids]

My SL5200 has an MPX output as well for stereo decoder.

[@tomaszstarling]

Awesome more like $3,000 back in 1985

[@12voltvids]

The guy that gave it to me said he paid "over a grand for it" For that matter he may have bought it used for all I know. Not worth much these days except for the nostalgia behind that indextron design. In a dark room on a proper screen it looks great though, not quite as sharp as I remember the old 3 tube videoscope projector tv my parents had back in the early 80's but quite good. I had it on a 110" screen and I watched a few old Beta movies I had, and it was totally watchable.

[@tomaszstarling]

that's sounds great, I remember back in 1985 a Amiga 1000 was close to $1,800 and game consoles were all $300-$600 in 1985 money, and people think that prices are high now days, no way, I got my new laptop a dell I5,1TB,4gb ram for $299.95 for fathers day at best buy so electronics are very cheap now days.

[@12voltvids]

Love it when people compare things from 1985 in today's dollars. Except that they are forgetting that electronics are much cheaper now, and do so much more, but they are pretty boring. In the analog workd we had tapes, and spinning heads, and electron beams flying back and forth with magnets controlling them. Now we have boring bits going onto silicon chips. Yawn!

[@nathenzuber4021]

@@12voltvids very few pieces are well made these days compared to the 80's

[@oldguy8177able]

youtube might block me youtube has all the power,i don't want to upset them

[@zx8401ztv]

KZbin is so bloody stupid, flagging a nothing special fuzzy soundless clip is silly ;-(. Its unusual to see you having to use stelth to take it apart, i cant see anything supprising a pro like you, but hey it works now, it didnt before, smashing :-D. Thats a system i had never heard of, clever signal switching with feedback to the sensors, its a complex way but works really nice :-), clever people at sony of the past. So unusual, special i would say, so different from the norm. And the beta video player works perfect, im not supprised :-). The threshold level must be precise, so yes i can see that a minor component drift or slight electron emission change in the heater could be enough to cause havoc. Cat footage may be a safer way to avoid the asshole youtube.

[@12voltvids]

I usually use my own footage for demonstrations.The indextron is not a new technology. Philco worked on it many years ago in the early days of color TV, but could never get a cost effective way to make it work in the vacuum tube days. Beam index has been used for years in military equipment, and aircraft displays because they are immune to magnetic interference, which causes havock with traditional shadow mask CRT because the shadow mask gets magnetized by the earths magnetic field, and that causes the beams to deflect and affects purity. Sony was I think the only company to bring this tech out as a consumer TV product. They didn't have great resolution or contrast compared to a matrix tube, but for this projector they did have the brightness needed to project an image. A shadow mask tube doesn't have enough brightness, and you can't just crank it up because that would heat the mask up, as just as many electrons are hitting the mask as are going through it.

[@staticfanatic6361]

I can understand your complaints with KZbin. But with all your video experience and resources, you should be able to generate video of your own, with sound content that doesn't conflict with them. I don't think music is the only sound, how about ambient sounds or crowd noises. What about stuff that's in the public domain. Also generate your own "station id" the way the stations do now and it will be on all your footage and will be a permanent copyright to the video. Just be the copyright owner/complainer in the future.

[@12voltvids]

I do create my own videos. I use commercial licensed background tracks that cost me a bloody fortune when I was in the business. Each CD was about 150.00 and it came with a blanket unlimited use license for use on sold copies (as long as the run was under 3000 copies) and was licensed for posting on vimeo and youtube. Even for broadcast is OK, as BMI collects the royalties for broadcast. Every piece of music I use in every one of my videos is licensed. They got me on an fuzzy image displayed in the background.One of my own videos also triggered a copyright hit because a similar image of a landscape was taken and copyright by BBC.

[@staticfanatic6361]

Why not use your "on the road" videos. Can't be anything there to object to. Especially the mountain views.

[@12voltvids]

I did use one of mine when I fired up the beta player.In the initial shot, it was just a video playing on my in house system, which streams random full concerts from youtube, so considering that the content is already on YT, and I was not playing sound, and it was only on for a few seconds I figured it would be OK, but apparently not.

[@bobedot]

Great video! Just one small quibble; there's no "i" after the "x," so stop saying one. It's pronounced INDEX TRON, not INDEXI TRON (I did say it was a small quibble.)

[@12voltvids]

Get a life.

[@walle637]

12voltvids LMFAO

[@creightonha8725]

Nice bench, hack

[@kevinsvideodump]

Did you really get a copyright strike, or just a Content ID match? Go to kzbin.info and it will tell you whether your account actually has any copyright strikes on it or not. Content ID matches do not count as strikes.

[@12voltvids]

It was content ID that was blocked in Canada, the USA, and Japan. Also I was not able to monetize it. So it was pulled down. Didn't affect my account standing, but if I can't monetize due to a content claim it might as well be a strike. I could have disputed it, but by the time they get around to releasing the video I have lost all that revenue. As soon as the upload was done I got the notice, and had it pulled within 5 minutes, and re-uploaded.after making the modification.

[@YggdrasilMarcus]

I had no idea a crt projector even existed. I watched Linus tech tips video about this and they referenced your video kzbin.info/www/bejne/in-9nGCuo918j6c Great video, dude. Really detailed and interesting

[@MichaelBeeny]

I hope you made lots of money using that 30 second clip of copyright material, I wondered why the original vid vanished so soon. I am always amazed that some people upload full movies of 100% copyright stuff and never get a strike and other like us get hit within seconds!! Ohh well, who said it was a fair world?

[@12voltvids]

You can't monetize anything that has a claim. The claimant takes the revenue, and that Is not going to happen. It was blocked in Canada and the USA as soon as it posted, but available in other countries. I looked up the claimed portion and found it was a shot off the wall of yo-yo-ma sawing his fiddle. So I mirror imaged that shot, and put a title over it so as to fool the content ID system.

[@MichaelBeeny]

Was blocked here in New Zealand, also UK almost as soon as posted. I received the notification e mail and within a couple of moments...gone! worth waiting for, interesting video.

[@12voltvids]

I took it down as soon as it was flagged, and I was watching as it processed. So soon as I got the warning, I waited to see what the flagged it for, and then nuked it.

[@hubzcaps]

dlp wheel style color in 85........far out

[@12voltvids]

Not even close. Actually the wheel color system was one of the first proposed color systems by CBS. It used a 120 frame system and spun a color wheel in front of the camera and one on the CRT on playback.Color footage from the Apollo missions used such a system, and each color was transmitted in sequence.This system uses a tube striped the same way as a conventional color tube, but has no shadow mask, and uses a single beam. The beam is constant, and switches rapidly between the RGB color outputs as the beam is scanning left to right, synchronized by the strobe effect generated by the index stripe and picked up my a photo detector on the back side of the tube.There is nothing mechanical about this. It is quite simple how it works, and cuts the cost of the tube substantially, because there is only 1 gun, no shadow mask, and no convergence circuitry.

[@ceilingfansandmorecfam2342]

omg no smd YES!

[@azshaw123]

This was painful to watch.

[@12voltvids]

How is that it works.