Restoring a RCA 21CT55

[etype2]

Manual setting at 1/30. Stopped using the cell phone camera, now that I have a better camera. The good news is, I can “control” the color balance by taking multiple shots and choosing the closest to the actual image and my eyes.

I’ve seen the dark “shutter” bar on photos elsewhere. Going to try your settings .... and defocusing.

[old_tv_nut]

I looked up the A6300, and I see it has a choice of mechanical shutter or electronic shutter only ("silent" mode). I suggest you look for how to set it for one mode or the other and try both to see what works, with the shutter speed still set manually to 1/30.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by etype2

Manual setting at 1/30. Stopped using the cell phone camera, now that I have a better camera. The good news is, I can “control” the color balance by taking multiple shots and choosing the closest to the actual image and my eyes.

I’ve seen the dark “shutter” bar on photos elsewhere. Going to try your settings .... and defocusing.

In my experience, the shutter bar is caused the camera synching it's shutter to the brightest source of flickering light. I've never liked the color temperature and operational characteristics of 'efficient' lighting and continue to use incandescent throughout my house...With the exception of the garage and basement which were fitted with commercial fluorescent fixtures by the previous owner of my home...I've found that I can't readily take a photo without a shutter bar in auto mode if the fluorescent lamps are illuminating the sets being photographed...The camera syncs to the brightest flicker which is the room lighting, and the TV which has a vertical refresh rate that is not the exact frequency or phase as the AC building mains rolls relative to that.

Best to use natural light to avoid shutter bars, or make sure your light source cannot flicker with the building's AC.

[etype2]

Shot in Manuel mode, 1/30 sec., F8, ISO 2000. Mechanical shutter.

More consistent color balance from shot to shot. Morie effects show up more in this mode. I had to go up to 2000 ISO to get the brightness to match the screen. Noiser images.

[old_tv_nut]

Looking good, but if you find them too noisy, you should try one stop bigger aperture (f/5.6, which will probably still be sharp) and ISO 1000 at 1/30 second. Pick whichever combo gives you the best overall results.

[etype2]

Took up Wayne’s suggestions and shot a bunch of photos using manual control, 1/30 sec, F5.6, ISO 1000, white balance “shade” and mechanical shutter. The lens aperture is 3.5. Pleased with the results except the shots are prone to moire interference almost every shot. It’s hard to say if the photos are less sharp and noisy. Judgement call?

Duplicate shot of Marilyn for comparison.


















Do you like red? The 21AXP22 uses color phosphors with correct chromaticity corresponding to the NTSC standard.

[etype2]

1954/55 RCA 21CT55 VS 2004 SONY KD-34XBR960.

How does the first RCA 21 inch color television compare to the highly regarded Sony HD KD-34XBR960? We assembled a few comparison photos to find out. Both sets were adjusted to display the best possible images to my eyes. The Sony was in the factory “Pro” picture setting mode and it was not ISF calibrated. Please excuse the stretched 4X3 to 16X9.

We found while using the Sony A6300, the best method for shooting screen shots, was Shutter Priority 1/15 sec., ISO 1000. The settings reduced the shutter bar and moire effects.











Edit: June 11, 2018. Sony white balance set to “Sun” on Marilyn and Dorothy photos.

[WISCOJIM]

Originally Posted by etype2

1954/55 RCA 21CT55 VS 2004 SONY KD-34XBR960.

Looks like the RCA can't produce any black.

.

[benman94]

Some 21AXP22s have NTSC correct phosphors, but not yours. The jug in yours is a later one with the "paper white" colored screen. The NTSC correct tubes have a seafoam green or teak tint to them when off.

Only the 15GP22, 15HP22, 19VP22, and the very earliest run of 21AXP22s have the NTSC correct phosphors.

Moreover, asking how the red looks is a moot point: we can't see what you can see in person. We're limited by the color gamut your camera can capture, which is almost assuredly smaller than the 1953 NTSC gamut, and by our displays, which again probably can't show a terribly "deep" red.

[Penthode]

The comparison would be fairer if you could properly match the display aspect ratios a scaling.

[old_tv_nut]

Originally Posted by WISCOJIM

Looks like the RCA can't produce any black.

.

There's a psychophysical effect involved in direct viewing that won't show in the side-by-side pictures on your computer. The older CRT faceplate is more reflective than the modern set, causing the shadow detail contrast to be compressed; but fortunately the simultaneous contrast effects of the eye cause the shadows to look darker and more black than they really are. Unfortunately, the details in the shadows are still masked. The picture may actually look better in person if the black level (brightness control) is raised slightly to make the details more visible. The camera sees this as grayish blacks, but the simultaneous contrast effects in direct viewing keep them looking fairly black.

[Electronic M]

Having examples of both sets the OP has on hand I can say that the Sony tends to have an overly bright/contrasty picture. Whites with brightness at min beat other vintage sets with brightness at max, and contrast sometimes pushes very dark colors into cutoff killing some shadow detail in images...He may have found a way to beat this on his Sony though.

I plan to look for sub-brightness and other things when I get arround to doing into the service menu to correct the overscan on my sony.

[etype2]

Originally Posted by Penthode

The comparison would be fairer if you could properly match the display aspect ratios a scaling.

I will take a few shots with the Sony in 4X3 mode.

[etype2]

Originally Posted by benman94

Some 21AXP22s have NTSC correct phosphors, but not yours. The jug in yours is a later one with the "paper white" colored screen. The NTSC correct tubes have a seafoam green or teak tint to them when off.

Only the 15GP22, 15HP22, 19VP22, and the very earliest run of 21AXP22s have the NTSC correct phosphors.

Moreover, asking how the red looks is a moot point: we can't see what you can see in person. We're limited by the color gamut your camera can capture, which is almost assuredly smaller than the 1953 NTSC gamut, and by our displays, which again probably can't show a terribly "deep" red.

Stand corrected about the NTSC phosphors. The white screen hurts the contrast in my opinion. Edit: Shooting in the dark mitigates the problem.

[etype2]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

Having examples of both sets the OP has on hand I can say that the Sony tends to have an overly bright/contrasty picture. Whites with brightness at min beat other vintage sets with brightness at max, and contrast sometimes pushes very dark colors into cutoff killing some shadow detail in images...He may have found a way to beat this on his Sony though.

I plan to look for sub-brightness and other things when I get arround to doing into the service menu to correct the overscan on my sony.

The Sony was set in “Pro” picture mode, supposedly matching closer to 6500 Kelvin. This set was not calibrated to ISF specs.