My 1969 Sony Trinitron KV-1210U CRT TV (pics)

[Robb]

Here's my 1969 Sony Trinitron model KV-1210U CRT TV. It was one of Sony's first ever Trinitron sets they made. I found this in my local Kijiji Toronto classifieds for $30.00 February 2014. It still works and looks like new ! The picture quality is simply amazing !
Made in Japan.
MSRP was $319.95 in 1969


Video: http://youtu.be/6KVEIk__A9M

[Sandy G]

Neat ! Is the cabinet real wood ? Seem to remember in the early ones, it was.

[Robb]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Neat ! Is the cabinet real wood ? Seem to remember in the early ones, it was.

Yes.

[Electronic M]

IIRC that set is technically a hybrid as it uses a 3A3(?) tube for HV rectification.....
That's one of the few 'SS' sets I actually want to find an example of.

[Robb]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

IIRC that set is technically a hybrid as it uses a 3A3(?) tube for HV rectification.....

Nope, it's all solid state. The only tube is the CRT,

The combination of three-in-one electron gun and the replacement of the shadow mask with the aperture grille resulted in a unique and easily patentable product. Officially introduced by Ikuba in April 1968, the original 12 inch Trinitron had a display quality that easily surpassed any commercial set in terms of brightness, color fidelity, and simplicity of operation. The vertical wires in the aperture grille meant that the tube had to be nearly flat vertically; this gave it a unique and appealing look. It was also all solid state, with the exception of the picture tube itself, which allowed it to be much more compact and cool running than designs like GE's Porta-color. Some larger models such as the KV-1320UB for the United Kingdom market were initially fitted with 3AT2 valves for the extra high tension (high voltage) circuitry, before being redesigned as solid state in the early 70s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinitron#Trinitron

[zenithfan1]

I have the plastic case version. Congrats on finding the wood one. my set has a hv rectifier tube in it behind a metal cover, are you sure it don't have one?

[Eric H]

The 1210 does indeed use a HV rectifier tube. You might notice a slight delay between turn on and when you feel the HV hit the screen because of the warm up time of the tube.

[dieseljeep]

Was that the model that used the "Blue Sky" fine tuning indicator.
IIRC, when you were using the fine tuner, that top of the screen would turn blue and increase in size when it was properly fine tuned.

[Username1]

WOW ! Very nice tv ! I got a 1205 made in 1975, I don't have the nice red/orange id tags yours has, My stuff is molded into the plastic, My color knobs are vertical below the tuner knobs, and the tuner knobs have the channel indicators in that lit up shadow display common of those sets for many years. I also have a light called EconoQuicks I think, I know this set has a constant heater voltage on the picture tube, When I got it I use to unplug it when I was not using it..... I quit using it because it has some intermittent dimming of the screen. I have not turned it on in over 15 years, Now I got some tools, so one winter I'll have to fix it... She has a very nice picture, with nice color..... My cabinet is black textured plastic on the sides and top, standard black plastic back....

[Jon A.]

Interesting, I didn't know that Trinitrons ever had any tubes aside from the CRT.

That's pretty boss for a small set. I would like to have the largest early table-top Trinitron available.

[Electronic M]

A little 'dirty' secret of the TV industry is that many early 'SS' sets had tube HV rectifiers in them. Tubes were cheaper, and some of the early SS HV diodes were quite failure prone...IIRC some SS sets into the early 80's still had HV rect tubes in them.

IIRC the early Quasars and the RCA 2000 had issues with the SS HV rectifiers, and Quasar actually switched back to tubes for a while to deal with it.

[Robb]

I should open it up and snap some pics !

[Sandy G]

I just wish I could get my KV-7010U back from that dude in Ohio.. For those of you who weren't around in the late Sixties/early Seventies, you don't understand how BIG the Trinitron was..The biggest thing in TVs was the switch from Roundies to rectangular sets in '65... Here on VK, we typically "Tweak" sets to optimum performance, but back then, they often WEREN'T, & picture quality ranged from good to awful...Trinitrons were RAZOR sharp, had INCREDIBLE brightness & contrast, & were just overall, a superior product..

[Username1]

Yah, all this 3a3 talk makes me wanna pull out my set and take a look...... Maybe that is even the source of the trouble with my Sony.....

E.M. has a point on those early SS sets with a HV rect. tube..... Makes those sets kinda special......

So Rob, that Sony has rounded corners on the plastic around the screen, I forgot to look close at mine, Does it scan into a sharp corner like newer Sony's or is the part of the screen that lights up also a soft rounded corner....?

I think mine is a little softer round than the sharp corners of later Sony's.

[Eric H]

I believe Sony was the first Company to win an Emmy for their contribution to Television.

Nothing came close back then but Sony charged dearly for the privilege.

Did GE feel any shame at all for selling the Porta-Color during the same era?