Portable CRT testing device

[shmupsrocks]

Is there a portable device that's good for testing CRTs before buying?

[orange808]

Your question is vague. For general use, I suggest a MiSTer with analog output and the 240p Test Suite using whatever cores you prefer. Obviously, that's not going to allow you to perform professional grade calibration, but you'll be able to spot obvious problems easily if you know what to look for.

[Konsolkongen]

His question is more than adequate. He seeks a device to connect to a CRT for verifying proper operation. Your Mister + 240p test suite is a sound proposal and should suffice for identifying any obvious faults.

[Dochartaigh]

Raspberry Pi works great to run 240p test suite as well - can output composite natively on a bunch of models, and there's RGB (and other) hats/boards if you're testing fancier RGB monitors. Bringing any number of consoles with a flash cart is essentially the same as well.

Extron makes battery powered VTG devices (300 or 300R - one uses AA's, the other a battery pack), plug in AC ones like the 400 line, and a ton of other companies made these back in the day as well.

I believe one or more of the arcade aftermarket companies made testers too - called Test Pattern Generators I believe.

People have also literally taken an old DVD player with a test pattern DVD - some of those players have everything from composite to s-video to component, etc.

[shmupsrocks]

The battery powered Extron VTG 300 looks pretty slick. MiSTer is less portable with power supply and keyboard. I saw this but the outputs aren't particularly helpful:

https://github.com/baritonomarchetto/Po ... _Generator

[_rm_]

I use the VTG 400 and it's ace: https://www.extron.com/product/vtg400

BUT you need a power plug. I assume if you can power the CRT you should also be able to power the VTG 400.

It has a dedicated carrying bag and besides the MANY tests you can perform (including audio), you can add personalized outputs if you really need them and know how to configure them.

[shmupsrocks]

Any info out there on how to use one of the Extron devices to test a CRT besides just displaying the test pattern and looking for lines that aren't straight?

[orange808]

Assuming you have a power plug available and a wireless controller, a MiSTer with analog output (and the right cables) can connect to almost any CRT and output a wide variety of common signals.

Yes. Look for lines that aren't straight. See if you're comfortable with the underscan of the unit. Put up a white screen and look for uniformity and superficially examine the color temp. Cycle through colors next; examine their appearance and uniformity. If necessary, make adjustments to see if the floor for blacks is deep enough to suit you in a darkened room, while maintaining enough perceived brightness for comfortable viewing in a well lit room. Listen for high pitched sound that could indicate future problems. Inspect the power cable and connections.

[Syntax]

MiSTer will smash this, it can do a heap of useful video modes but when you add the cost of the DE10 nano, an analog top board, some ram and a case and cables it starts to add up.

I'd say the same could be done far cheaper with a pi zero paired with a Tendak HDMI to VGA adapter for both composite and RGBS testing.
Even easier if you just want composite video from the pi zero. If testing audio use a tiny usb soundcard.