Oh, the conversion removes straight RGB as an option? I figured it would just make it easier for people without a shinybow/wanted a simple solution on top of having the scart option.
I do got to look into my hook up options since since my scart switch only has 2 outputs, and one’s for my BVM and other to OSSC (first world problems indeed…). Could probably change one to the shinybow to this when I want, or pick out a few consoles to live with the 310.
Guess I’m getting ahead of myself, first things first and that’s repairing the stand and messing with the screen.
Okay, so a few days ago I finally picked up an RGB modded Sony Trinitron KVAR25M31, it is a PAL unit (I’m located in Australia) that bears a striking resemblance to the much lauded FV310 however despite having excellent picture quality, it lacks many of the advanced menu features that the FV310 does, leading me to believe it is probably a stripped down version of the 310 or 320 for the PAL market.
Here it is in my current setup, everything is connected via RGB scart (via a scart to RCA breakout box)
It can be RGB modded though and mine was done by Markozlad who is probably best known on the shmups forum as being the authority on modding consumer sets for RGB.
The red LED enables the RGB input and the OSD is still fully functional in that mode, all of the wire is shielded and he has done an excellent job.
The standard menu is very bare-bones, it has three picture presets and a custom one that can be tweaked. The only surprising addition in that menu for me is the ability to adjust the picture rotation from the menu as sets I’ve seen prior you could only do this by adjusting the yoke manually.
Here is the geometry after some adjustment, there is some slight bowing on the sides and some convergence issues but I’m pretty happy with it for the time being:
No RGB is still an option for sure, but I didn’t buy the cable for it. To buy the cable, and the needed BNC breakout for the Extron, it would cost me like $70 CAD probably.
Damn dog owners. Deciding if I want to put the work into repairing that one edge and then what to do after that. Think I’ll just peal off the coating up to the windows/front and then what? Don’t think I feel like the putting in the time and effort of painting it so may try to find some sort of roll out coating. Vinyl maybe? IDK.
Can the bottom piece be removed? If so, you could get a piece of 1/2" or 3/4" plywood cut to size. Take the og piece into a paint shop and have them match the paint and paint it.
I don’t recall the name of the product, I think it was someone on here in the arcade thread, but they painted with a paint that gave a plastic-y texture feel that might match the rest.
[edit] @KC-Slater was who I was thinking of in the arcade thread, but it looks like they may have gone vinyl instead of paint also?
I guess it depends on if the bottom piece can be removed and how much you want to get into it. If it can’t, you could sand the more chewed corner, mud the exposed mdf and paint. It wouldn’t be 100% symmetrical then but it would be coated. Idk, a bunch of options really, just depends on how nice you want it to look and how much effort you want to put into. Heck, you could go tupac style and glue down a cut to size bandana on it, lol.
Oh yeah it definitely could be removed and I could make a new bottom, but that’s the most work option. Aside from having all the same finish concerns, but across an entire new sheet of wood, I would have to bore out the holes for the hardware to connect it to the old frame. Unless I was going to just screw/nail it together.
Not to say I didn’t consider doing that but I figured the plus side of trying to just repair the old part first is that I can always decide to do that (make a new bottom) in the future if I’m not happy with it.
Going to go out to compare some vinyls to a piece of the existing stuff I cut off tomorrow. Even if I do order it online I’d like to see what they look comparatively in person first. Decide if I want to go close to the old color or if it will look too off having something that “almost” matches and just go for a completely different color.
I attempted to remove some old stickers and the adhesive from the bezel of my Naomi cab and repaint it, but it was the only area that I had trouble with. (It started to blister almost immediately after the second pass of my first coat.) Consequently, I opted for some vinyl wrap, and I am very happy with the results! I was dealing with some complex shapes and negative space on my project, and was still able to accomplish what I was after with some patience and planning. I think vinyl wrap would be a good candidate for this project as well.
Okay guys, I found a 40" Mitsubishi CRT at my local thrift shop, $5. I never, ever thought I’d see one where I live, but there it was! This thing is huge, it makes my Sony 35" look meek. The only drawback is it is s-video only. I am going to test it and check it out tomorrow, does anyone have any experience with these giant Mitsubishi tubes? It would be a pretty big hassle getting it home and finding a spot for it, but man, a 40" CRT would just be outrageous.
I’ve not snagged it just yet, gonna test it today with a Wii to see if it’s worth the hassle.
I already have a 35" Trinitron from about the same era ('98 for the Trinitron and '97 for the Mitsubishi). The image quality is pretty bad on the Sony, washed out and green-tinted from overuse (though I’ve never opened it up to see if there are any tweaks I could do beyond the service menu). I’d be replacing that set with this one, so it would have to look pretty good to be worth it.
I’m also seeing reports of bad caps in this model somewhere in the power supply, so who knows if it even works. We shall see!
The 35" Sony is 195lbs, I can’t find a weight on the Mitsubishi but some larger tubes seem to tip over 225lb.
