Sony KV (AA-1)

# Sony AA-1 chassis RGB mod

Bring your Sony CRT to life with vibrant RGB colors!

This RGB mod applies to the following models. Other AA-1 chassis can also utilize the same mod.

• Sony KV-27V10
• Sony KV-20V50
• Sony KV-27V55
• Sony KV-32S12
• Sony KV-32S16
• Sony KV-32V16
• Sony KV-27S10
• Sony KV-27S15
• Sony KV-32S10
• Sony KV-32S15
• Sony KV-27TS29
• Sony KV-27TS32
• Sony KV-27TS36

Sony KV-27V10

Sony KV-27V55

Sony KV-27TS36

# CRT safety

READ THIS BEFORE CONTINUING

# Plan of attack

READ THIS TO PREPARE

# 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.

READ THE RGB MODDING THEORY

# Service manuals

• Sony KV-27S10 Service Manual
• Sony KV-27V10 Service Manual
• Sony KV-27V55 Service Manual
• Sony KV-27V55 Service Manual - Variant 2
• Sony KV-27TS29/KV-27TS32/KV-27TS36 Service Manual
• Sony KV-27TS29 Service Manual - Variant 2

# Specs

# Sony KV-27V10

• Manufactured: March 1994. San Diego, CA
• NTSC, 60 Hz, 165W
• Chassis: AA-1
• Tube: A68KZJ50X (same tube is used on AA-2D)
• Chroma Chip: CXA1465AS (M-Board) - IC101
• Closed Caption Decoder (CCD) Chip: Zilog SL1635 (M-Board) - IC150

# Sony KV-27V55

• Manufactured: March 1994. San Diego, CA
• NTSC, 60 Hz, 210W
• Chassis: AA-1
• Tube: A68KZJ50X (same tube is used on AA-2D)
• Chroma Chip: CXA1465AS (M-Board) - IC101
• Closed Caption Decoder (CCD) Chip: Zilog SL1635 (M-Board) - IC150

# Sony KV-27TS36

• Manufactured: August 1993, Mexico
• NTSC, 60 Hz
• Chassis: AA-1
• Tube: A68KZJ50X
• Jungle Chip: CXA1465AS

# Schematics

Really simple RGB mod is possible on this chassis. We will be disabling Closed Caption Decoder (CCD) and leveraging the analog RGB inputs used to feed our external RGB signal.

Let's review the block diagram and schematics first.

Chroma CXA1465AS - Block Diagram

If you look at the block diagram, analog R, G, B inputs at pins 16, 17, 18 are what we are going to be harnessing.

Chroma CXA1465AS - Schematics

The above schematics shows the R, G, B, Blanking signal going from the CCD chip to the CXA1465AS chip. Pink circle shows the caps C315, C316 and C317 that we will be removing.

# The RGB mod

You only need to touch two boards on this CRT to do the RGB mod. (1) U(A) board. (2) M board.

No need to remove anything else or mess with the anode cup etc. for the RGB mod. This makes it AA-1 one of the simplest chassis to RGB mod. However, disassembling and getting to these boards can be somewhat of a pain.

# STEP 1: Attach RGB wires

At the time of this writing there were no successful AA-1 RGB mods that were posted. Instead of removing the CCD chip or messing around with the SMD resistors, let's remove the 10uF 50V electrolytic caps. Removing the electrolytic caps will disconnect the CCD RGB input to the chroma chip. We will then inject our RGB signals directly through 3x 0.1uF ceramic caps to the chroma chip. We will be attaching the R, G, B wires to the +ve terminals of C317, C316 and C315 respectively.

Left: Caps to remove on M board, Right: Attach RGB wires to the +ve vias

Removed caps. Oddly satisfying to see them removed.!

# STEP 2: Attach blanking wire

Important! Remove the R165 SMD resistor. This should effectively disconnect the blanking signal going to the chroma chip. The value of this resistor should be 4.7k.

Connect blanking wire, just before the SMD diode D004. Attaching the blanking wire to the R165 pad away from the CCD chip should also work. This is what was done in this mod.

You can also attach the wire to the diode leg. Make sure to pay attention to where you solder the external 5V blanking wire (brown wire). Making a mistake here can potentially fry components on the M board.

Mount the M board back on the main chassis. Make sure all wires are connected correctly.

# STEP 3: Attach audio and sync wires

On the UA board, connect Audio, ground and sync wires as seen in the below picture

# STEP 4: Avoid the need for dummy plugs (optional)

Attaching dummy plugs to enable luma input and stereo can be a hassle and makes the mod look unprofessional. Fortunately, there's another method you can use. This step is optional, and I don't have actual pictures of how to make these changes yet, but it's doable.

Follow the diagram below to ground the S-Video detect pin and cut the trace between the Audio Left and Right channels.

Just remember, after this step, you'll lose the Video 1 composite input and the mono input that outputs to both speakers. You can always use another input like Video 3 for this. For most people, this should be good enough.

# STEP 5: Make your SCART connector circuit

Below mod uses the RGB mux board. However, it is optional for AA-1 chassis. Using the mux board makes the mod neater and easier. Please note for this mod, 0.1uF caps were used in place of R4, R5, R6 resistors.

Buy your RGB mux board with the necessary parts to complete this modopen in new window

Radial 0.1uF, 50V ceramic caps were used inline instead of resistors.

Picture of the mini Rev B board

Buy your RGB mux board with the necessary parts to complete this modopen in new window

Mouting the SCART adapter to the back is a bit tricky, but not difficult if carefully planned.

Inside

Outside

Perfectly fits with the U(A) board

Snug fit once closed

SCART port finished

Connector plugged in

Full back view with SCART port

# Service Menu Adjustments

If your picture is too dark, try adjusting the RGBP value as per this articleopen in new window

Sony KV-32V16

Notes

• If you notice shadows after RGB mod, turn OFF velocity modulation and the shadows should go away.

# Pictures (Sony KV-27V10)

# OSD

OSD overlay above Megaman X

OSD overlay above SMPTE

# Patterns

SNES 240p Grid

SNES 240p SMPTE

# Games

NES - Adventure Island

SNES - Mega Man X

SNES - Super Mario World

SNES - Super Mario World

SNES - Super Mario World

Sega Genesis - Sonic

SNES - Super Metroid

PS1 - Boot

PS1 - Boot

XBOX - UnleashX

# Pictures of the CRT

M Board (before the mod)

CRT back open (after the mod)

# Service Menu Values (Sony KV-27V10)

# Pictures (Sony KV-27V55)

# Games

NES - Adventure Island

NES - Alien

NES - Alien close-up

SNES - Megaman X

SNES - Super Metroid

RGB-Pi

Sega Genesis - Alien

SNES - Street Fighter

SNES - Street Fighter close-up

Atari 2600

# Fixing the Sag

A68KZJ50X tubes have a noticeable sag. This is primarily due to the heavy deflection coil. It can be mostly corrected by reseating the yoke.

Sagging - SNES Adventure Island

Reseating the deflection yoke

Reseated deflection yoke

Grid pattern

# RGB mod

RGB mod on Sony KV-27V55 is similar to KV-27V10. Speakers on this unit was huge compared to 27V10. Also, the other notable difference was the PiP board.

M board

RGB mux board

SCART port

Back wire plugged

# Chassis, tube and more

Tube

Chassis

Chassis

Back full

Back open

Back open top/down

# Pictures (Sony KV-27TS36)

# Games

Tetris

Super Mario World

Super Mario World

Super Mario World

# RGB mod

Chroma and RGB wires. Location for R165 is slightly different

Sync and audio wires

Scart mounted

Closeup