Blog about: video synthesis ◯ visual bending ◯ glitch art ◯ DIY video gear

mini crt monitor hack




Last week I found an old broken Panasonic VHS-camcorder on the street near the recycle bins.
The camcorder was not powering up ...but... this old camcorders have very small crt b/w viewfinders. The interesting thing is that most of them have a native composite input.



Attention:
It is not recommended running them without a case as they can give you a nasty shock!

With a simple hack you can use the viewfinder as a standalone battery powered mini monitor.
You need to identify the ground, power and the signal pins on the PCB of the viewfinder. Then connect the pins with a RCA connector and a power source like this:

As power source I've used a 6v battery pack. 











Video feedback setup:



6 comments:

  1. estoy interesado en comprarlo. si quieres comunicate conmigo en jvilla10@outlook.es

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi! I'm in a similar quest and I can't figure out why I can't turn my viefinder on (I wonder if it is broken, because the led that indicates it's on, brights) Do you have any idea on whay amp does the viewfinder runs? Could it be that my 1A charger burned it out?

    thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did you ever find out the reason? I never managed to power on my viewfinder either. I'm certain I located the correct pins

      Delete
  3. I recommend in the tutorial, but bending the arc of the lashes ever so slightly. This stops the ends sticking straight out and reduces the likelihood they'll peel off at the ends! As for the glue globs, I recommend only using a thin layer of glue on the lashes. https://www.cameresupraveghereieftine.ro/19-kit-camere-supraveghere

    ReplyDelete
  4. How did you find the right pins?!

    ReplyDelete