RCA E13320
RCA E13320 RGB mod
This tutorial is meant for those seeking the highest video quality possible from an old RCA CRT TV E13320. This article was originally written by Martin Seibert and later enhanced with additional details by Sunthar.
CRT safety
Caution
You can die doing this! So read carefully! CRT TV is not a toy. Do not open a CRT TV. If you don't have any prior knowledge about handling high voltage devices, this guide is not for you. CRT TV contains high enough voltage (20,000+ V) and current to be deadly, even when it is turned off.
Plan of attack
Theory
Sometimes it is nice to know the theory behind the mod. I have put this on a separate page. This shows how the various resistor values are calculated.
Service manuals
Specs
RCA E13320
- Manufactured: February 2004, Thailand
- 55W, NTSC, 60 Hz
- Chassis: TX808H
- Tube: 37GDA86X-TC02
- Jungle Chip: Toshiba TA1268N
- OSD Chip: ST9294J5B1
Schematics
Prepare the mux diagram. If you are building your own circuit, this diagram should help
Video Schematics
Performing the mod
Now that you roughly know what needs to be done, prepare for the mod. Place the board on a comfortable place. Make sure you are not putting pressure on the flyback or other components.
There are 6 screws to remove. 4 shown in the below picture. 
STEP 1: Remove the following components
Remove the following RGB resistors that are connected to the ground.
- RR535
- RR536
- RR537
STEP 2: Add inline diodes to reduce interference
STEP 3: Connect RGB and Blanking
Picture below shows where the RGB and blanking wires should be soldered. 
STEP 4: Connect Audio, Sync and Ground
Composite Sync, Audio and Ground wires should be connected.
STEP 5: Build your mux board/circuit
Below mod uses the RGB mux board. This is optional, but will make your mod easier and stable. You can also create the circuit presented in the schematics above without the board.
| TV Model | E13220 (Sunthar's config with micro board) | E13220 (Martin's config without diodes) |
|---|---|---|
| RGB termination (R1, R2, R3) | 75Ω | 180Ω |
| RGB inline resistors (R4, R5, R6) | 390Ω | 820Ω |
| Audio LR (R7, R8) | 1kΩ | 1kΩ |
| Diode (R9) | 1N4148 | 1N4148 |
| Blanking Resistor (R11) | 1.2kΩ | 1.5kΩ |
| RGB inline diodes needed? | Yes | No |
| Blanking inline diode needed? | Yes | Yes |
Sunthar micro board (recommended) or 1.3B full scart board can be used.
Below image is from the older standard mux board. New full scart mini mux board (1.3B) is slightly smaller than this. 
STEP 6: Attaching the micro board to your set
Drill a small hole. Make sure you have sufficient clearance and no obstructions especially when you close the chassis. You want to avoid areas where your tuner or flyback might interfere. 
Expand the hole, just so that the MD8 feame header tightly fits in. If it is loose, then you'll have to epoxy or glue it later. Therefore, measure multiple times to make sure you find the tightest fit possible and avoid epoxy as much as possible. 
This is now ready for action. 
Push the MD8 connector through the hole. At this point, you can epoxy the MD8 connector optionally. 
Assemble the board. See configuration above.
Now find a way to get the MD8 pins aligned, such that you can push the MD8 pins through the micro board. 
Solder the board. At this point MD8 connector won't fall inside or get fully removed. 
Connect the ribbon cable 
Close off the unit 
Finally, connect the MD8 to female SCART cable for some RGB action! 
STEP 7: Attach the female SCART connector to TV
Creating a SCART cutout and mounting it is an art. I have a dedicated section for it.
You can also install the full SCART port. 
How to create and mount a SCART female plug?
STEP 8: Service Menu Adjustments
Get into the service menu by following the instructions on Service Manual.
With the instrument "ON" press and hold the "VOL - " button and then in sequence press and release the "CH +" button and the "CH -" button.
Then, press and hold VOL + button until you see 076. 000000 should be set to 076.
Once there, use CH + and CH - button to choose the correct parameter.
09 is the Horizontal phase parameter.
Update the value using VOL - or VOL + buttons.
When values are changed they are automatically written to memory. Just power off and power on to exit the service menu and get back to normal operation.
| Name | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Security # | 76 |
| 1 | VCO | 93 |
| 2 | AGC | 32 |
| 3 | Red Bias | 106 |
| 4 | Green Bias | 113 |
| 5 | Blue Bias | 52 |
| 6 | Green Drive | 112 |
| 7 | Blue Drive | 123 |
| 8 | Peak White | 33 |
| 9 | Horizontal Phase | 26 |
| 10 | Vertical Amplitude | 35 |
| 11 | Vertical Phase | 6 |
Sunthar's Pictures
OSD overlay on top of RGB
Color bars and SMPTE
After slightly turning up the flyback SCREEN voltage and tweaking the Bias and Drive values on service menu, a good color balance should be reached.
Below images were taken from SNES outputting 240p test suite. You want the RGB colors and the SMPTE patterns to look like the below.
Games
Sega Genesis - Sonic 
SNES - Contra 3 
SNES - Megaman X 
SNES - Super Mario World 
SNES - Super Mario World (closeup) 
SNES - Yoshi's Island 
SNES - Yoshi's Island (closeup) 
SNES - Yoshi's Island (closeup) 
XBOX - UnleashX 
Set
Tube 
Speakers 
Top down 
Back label 
Martin's Pictures
