Just an update to keep people posted on my progress. I am still doing research. Thanks to
https://worldradiohistory.com/ I have put together a pretty extensive reading list for deflection aka "sweep" circuit theory and design. This reading list also has great chapters on video amplifier design, but honestly, the video amplifier design is easy compared to deflection. The only complexity in video amplifier design is the use of peaking coils and such for high frequency compensation.
Here is the reading list, in case anybody wants to read along. I skimmed thru each of these books very quickly to ensure that they have chapters on deflection circuit design and theory. As usual, many of the books come from the top engineers at RCA, back in the era when RCA was the leader in TV. I have finished reading both Grob's "Basic Electronics" and "Basic Television" textbooks, and I am now working through Kiver. Grob's "Basic Television" chapter on Vertical Deflection does show how an impedance matching transformer is used to match the high impedance vertical deflection amplifier pentode to the low impedance yoke. He shows the current and voltage wave forms at both primary and secondary side of the impedance matching transformer for an example circuit, but does not explain the theory in enough depth to adapt to a different yoke impedance. Still, very enlightening and a good read.
Basic Electronics 4th Edition by Grob: this book was so popular that it's
13th edition was just released last year. The benefit of the 4th edition is that it still has a chapter on vacuum tubes. The 5th edition and later have, sadly, removed that chapter. Grob is a great teacher and this book is great if you need to refresh your fundamentals, especially when it comes to AC circuit concepts such as reactance, resonance, etc.
Basic Television 4th Edition by Grob: if you are into Vintage TVs, this book is like a gripping novel. Extremely entertaining and you learn a thing or two by the end.
Television Simplified 7th Edition by Kiver: seems comparable to Grob's textbook. More on this once when I finished reading it.
Practical Television Engineering 2nd Edition by Helt: a quick glance suggests the chapter on deflection seems good, and the book seems approachable.
Television Cyclopedia by Coyne: similar to Helt's text.
Television 2nd Edition by Zworykin: this guy invented TV and transformed RCA from an audio-only radio company to an audio and video company. Quickly paging through the book, it is definitely not the first TV theory and design book to read because it is written for an advanced level engineer, but the formulas that explain the physics and circuits for deflection are likely what is needed to create a DIY tube TV, especially when mixing and matching modern yokes with vintage amplifier tubes.
RCA's Journal of Television Volume V: RCA published a 6 volume journal containing an editorially selected collection of the best scientific research articles by RCA's top engineers and researchers. This volume contains a detailed article by a Mr. Shade on deflection circuit theory. Since these are scientific research articles, they are written for an audience of researchers and engineers with a PhD or equivalent experience in electronics, magnetism, and circuits.
RCA's Journal of Television Volume VI: this volume contains another article on deflection circuit theory and design by Mr. Shade, and a quick glance shows that it is exactly what I am looking for. However, it is written at such an advanced level that I am going to have to work my way to up being able to read this.
Once I am done with this reading list, I will start to design, in
LTSpice, an end-to-end vacuum tube only circuit for taking a YPbPr aka "component" video input, separating the horizontal sync signal from the Y input, doing phase detection, multivibrator horizontal oscillation, horizontal output amplifier, flyback transformer, and horizontal yoke. Then I will prototype this circuit in real life. Success will be if I can get the CRT to display a horizontal white line that spans the width of the screen. That means horizontal deflection works, and the flyback transformer is generating the proper screen, focus, and acceleration anode voltages. Adding vertical deflection will be easy after that to get a full raster. Then I can add color differencing to transcode YPbPr to RGB, and finally video amplifier to drive the CRT's cathodes.
Creating the tuner and IF circuits will be done last. Most people have content sources coming from DVD players, game consoles, and other devices that are already in component video format or can easily be converted into that format. So the tuner and IF circuits are just for completion and preservation of the vintage TV tech. I think most people will just directly use the component video input since that is going to be both easier and provide better video quality than doing RF modulation and then RF reception only to convert to YPbPr.