would it be possible to build a crt driver board from scratch or would the parts and information be to hard to source ?

Question

hi i dont know much about crt tubes at all but im looking to build a crt arcade unit but alot of crt tvs and screens i find seem to be completly useless i was hoping there might allready be an option but would there be any point in trying to create a crt driver board or the deflector circut ? (to controll the yolk and electron gun )that accepts av and rgb inputs.

hoping this isnt a fools idea

geralds · Answer

I don't know your experience in electronics. The old CRT monitor has been obsolete for decades. There is no single chip in which you can build everything in one. Such a CRT monitor needs some 1000V, starting with R-G-B 12kV, so that the electron beam can be drawn onto the screen. Can you control that? Do you have the right knowledge? Have you measuring devices to set the various parameters? e.g. Black level, white level, geometry, anode current at 25kV, synchronization, etc ..? Building a VGA graphics card yourself is similarly complex. There used to be a VGA controller, the timing components, the memory and the power amplifier drivers were mounted around this controller. Then the software, etc. Now it's an ASIC and the memory with power amplifier ... Ok... Here is a little inspire, the video amplifier and the block diagram of an 17 inch RGB CRT monitor: Video amplifier: Block diagram: You can see, for that you need the x, y HV generator for the power deflection as well as the video data synchronisation. It is not easy to build it by "do it yourself". I wish you the best. Gerald ---

DAB · Answer

This is not an easy problem to solve. What resolution do you need. I would look at some old VGA board drivers, they provide you with most of the basic circuits. You need high voltage to directly control the yolk deflection coils. Please be very careful, those levels can kill. The electron gun is a lower control voltage, if you check the VGA designs, they were all TTL for the RGB inputs. The short answer is yes you can, but unless you know what you are doing, no you should not attempt. When I went through Tech school fifty years ago, we were taught how to work with CRT voltages. I would consider that level of training as the minimum needed to work with the voltages. DAB

would it be possible to build a crt driver board from scratch or would the parts and information be to hard to source ?

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