Modding a Consumer CRT TV for RGB - Game Sack 

Sorry, I have to do my usual Publc Safety Announcement again.... If you have a TV which has an insulating block between the RF tuner and aerial socket DON'T mod it for RGB! Those sets have a so called "hot chassis", where the entire PCB is floating a mains potential. It was a way for the manufacturers to make the TV more cheaply, without the need for a properly isolated power supply. But the only thing between you and electrocution is the insulator on the RF socket. Usually those TVs don't have anything else metal (like buttons) that are exposed to the outside of the case. If somebody were to RGB-mod those sets without realizing, it would pose a serious risk of electric shock when they go to plug in the RGB or audio cables, or even just touching the connectors. The TV in the video clearly has a metal extension from the RF tuner, a proper isolated switched-mode PSU, so should have proper isolation for the RGB signals (and the Ground taken from the secondary side of the PSU).

The silly thing about RGB support on European televisions, despite it being a commonplace feature since the early 90s, it wasn't really all that well-known or advertised among the general populace. Most devices would still hook up to a television through RF or Composite, and games consoles too all came with RF or Composite cables out of the box. RGB SCART cables needed to be purchased separately and unless you knew specifically what they were and what they did, it was very easy to just pass them up in ignorance. I didn't learn about RGB until the early 2000s well into the PS2 era, after which I immediately upgraded everything I could to RGB SCART because ohmygod it looked sooooo much better.

Jumpscares at: 1:54 - Screwdriver (Even Joe jumped) 4:15 - Jungle Chip 4:51 - Jungle Chip: Part 2 10:28 - Joe is dead 21:08 - Joe is dead: Part 2

Who knew that Matt Damon's brother modded tvs?

Seeing Joe next to a real human man (that isn’t Dave) reminds me that he’s not a cartoon character and is in fact really alive somewhere. It’s surreal 🤯

Joe: this is NOT a tutorial! Me: *standing in front of broken TV* well, shit...

I just tried this at home and died. Thanks a lot, Joe.

Customer: So, whats wrong with my TV? Technician: It needs a new JUNGLE CHIP!!!

*laughs in european SCART* but also *cries in PAL games*

Came for the mod, left with a good "Zelda story." 👍🏻👍🏻

"Don't try this at home!" He points out before refusing to take his own advice. 😁

Maybe it is just me, but sometime I truly feel GameSack and AVGN videos make me love this world a little bit more.

Cool video and great CRT work. Love seeing other people work on CRTs.

Now every time I see Green Dog, I say to myself "Ghreeeen Dawwwwgggg" in Joe's voice. It's a problem.

19:37 NOT RUDE! I SAID "PLEASE"!

Great episode Joe, I really enjoyed this episode and would love to see more of these technical showcases. Thanks!

Genesis and Dreamcast boy, my kind of guy, I don’t know this man but I already like him!

Nick McCracken already has one of my friends drooling for a RGB mod thanks to this episode!

I really liked this. Super interesting and in game sack style. I also really liked the live feed / chat. Game sack has been a part of my viewing life for a long time, so it was really cool to understand you on a new level. Appreciate all the work you do.

Majestic cow. King of the jungle.

One of the most hilarious and honest stories I’ve ever heard... 3rd Grade and Zelda. This is a great episode. Not to mention super informative.

Hoping to see more of Nick in the future, great episode!

That random Jungle Chip cutaway is the reason why we still subscribe to Game Sack.

Please remember to be safe if you are going to attempt this. Not all CRT's were built the same so you should really not go into this with half an idea or without the right tools.

This girl story could be an episode of The Goldbergs!

4:15 JUNGLE CHIP!!!

Another great episode! Enjoyed your special guest Nick and his interesting tales. Green Dog looks great in RGB! Thanks for keeping the goodness coming every week, Joe!

Great episode, Joe! I never knew this was possible. And I just love that Super Adventure Island at the end. Thank you

Joe this is incredible! I've never seen anyone mod anything before and this is fascinating. Want to see more of Nick he's brilliant. . Thank you again! (Also I hope Dave clobbers you for the last skit.)

CRT televisions here in Europe are getting rare because they had RGB SCART built in from the get-go. I’m a proud owner of one.

Awesome! Nice change of pace vid Joe. Good job on the mod!

modding guy has some pretty awesome storys glad to see a bright shining light keeping the retro gaming alive and healthy

this was an entertaining change of pace! Great work guys

I guess we got lucky in Europe, almost all TVs from the mid 90s and on accepted RGB through scart.

That Zelda story was so endearing. Nerdy, cool, funny and sweet. Thanks for sharing! Knowing people at that age who you could chat with about a game like it was an adventure you were each individually embarking on, and discussing strats etc., really just made my day. Plus the whole arc of trying to impress a girl, putting in the hours to avoid your bluff being called, and the dream of getting to play the game together all night being squashed by the other mom .. straight out of a coming-of-age sitcom or subplot in a film.

Dude this video was so good thanks to your comedy and genius editing.

The "Jungle Chip Screen" and "Electrocution Scene" were funny, more of that please lol

CRTs are really easy to find in my region for cheap. I might try this with a guide.

Looks great. Nick can mark that as a job well done. Great video, Joe. It's always a nice surprise to see what kind of wacky antics make their way into the show.

This was such a cool video. Thank you guys for coming together and informing us about this modification with RGB on a composite television

To be honest, I was more interested in his stories than the mod... XD

‘Learned a game to impress a girl’ - file under things that will only happen in grade school

Fun episode. I actually enjoyed watching the whole thing. 👍

I'd love to see more gaming mod videos! This was so fun to watch!

This is the first time I've ever seen someone demonstrate how to discharge a CRT with it actually popping. Nice

This is super cool. Love to see a curved Sony crt with RGB. I want to let everyone know that there is a plug and play solution to getting RGB out of consumer grade North American CRTs. You need a CRT that has component (not composite) inputs. All you need is a RGB to component transcoder. And there you have it. RGB quality video on a consumer grade tv. No input lag. no video quality loss. no need to mod your tv. I can verify that the shinybo transcoder and the retrotink transcoder work great. Costs like 70 bucks.

Excellent work man. CLEAN job!

I'm always amazed and blown away watching people like Ben Heck, The 8 Bit Guy, and now Nick who have so much skill and talent with modding and refurbishing electronics. I recently bought a soldering iron and feel inspired to want to learn and understand how it all works but things like Ohms, Voltage, Transistors, Resistors, Capacitors and all the scientific knowhow seems intimidating.

12:10 diehard Nintendo Power / Zelda fans will know his 2nd quest predicament right away. :) ouch!

that was kind of mean at the end Joe "Please go away" lol

I loved your interview style. Very casual and reminds me of 1up show.

great vid and awesome tune selection 👌 19:54

"JUNGLE CHIP!!!"

I love the synthwave music on this video.

As a tech who works on more modern TVs this is an interesting watch. Thanks for uploading this!

this is my dream project. have been building up my skill with other soldering jobs like repairs and chip installations

Is he gonna do that, every time he says jungle chip, yes he is.

9:01: Gaming in B/W. Yes, I experienced that too when I got my first computer (a C64) in the early 90s. But it was even worse. Not only was it a black and white TV, it was one that was way past it's prime. So I started gaming and programming on an old east german black and white TV (called "Luxomat") with a dying phospor layer so I aways had to darken the room to see what I was actually doing. Before the unification of germany I only experienced gaming (and programming) to a certain degree with east german home computers (KC85) at school which were connected to a small russian TV-set (I guess it was a Junost brand) which also was in black and white. Only the teachers TV was in color (and bigger).

That Zelda story was too good!

It was really perplexing when I first learned that you guys didn't have an RGB in your TVs back then. It was a very common practice in Europe where we had to get RGB cables to play imports with color on our TVs because we were the ones who got usually shafted pretty hard by the gaming industry. All the 50Hz bullshit and for some reason they decided not to release most of the good games here. So, we had to import them and naturally mod our consoles and get those RGB cables. Missing those times somewhat. Not all the hassle and the cost of importing stuff all the time but the gaming itself.

The real question is: How much Mega Power doe the Jungle Chip have?!

One of the few benefits of living in Europe. Almost every (middle class and upwards) TV was RGB compatible.

JUNGLE CHIP! LOL! Thanks for making this entertaining! Got me every time. In Portland, OR you really don’t see many quality CRTs that pop up on Craigslist or FB. And good luck with PVMs. I watched several RGB mod crt videos and looking at tutorials on how to do it as I would occasionally see a composite only Sony Trinitron like the one above pop up on the marketplace and planned to get one to RGB mod (didn’t know about the rf shielding concern) Luckily I did find a Trinitron with Component (KV-27FS120) so I settled with that. But yeah, CRTs are beautiful beasts that you have to treat extra carefully. Not gonna lie, it was pretty intense discharging the anode cap for the first time just to clean the inside. I had the tv unplugged for a week prior, did similar insulated flat head screwdriver with wire running from the metal part of the screwdriver to the ground loop and wearing high voltage gloves. Didn’t hear a pop and repeated 4 times every 10-15 mins. I think I went overboard with the gloves but better safe than sorry.

LOL the end of the video was so funny, I like the humor.

We were lucky here in the UK with RGB being largely the standard however we got shafted with 50hz. Thank heavens today we can take advantage of both and so much more.

Who remembers having to pack a 75 to 300 ohm converter to their friends’ houses to play NES on a knob-based CRT? I do!!!

Here in Europe, RGB was the standard for consoles, VCRs, LDs, etc...beside Composite. We had the Scart Plug, which was a huge invention. And in that plug, you had the three signals, Sync, Stereo Sound. All in one. It was genius. Anyway, good to see you happy with your new mod, Joe! :-) Have fun and enjoy all your favorite games now.

I have a 1992 Sony Trintron I use composite for old school gaming. I am glad someone is modding CRTs to repurpose for gaming. So many nice CRTs in at Goodwills in my area our like 5 bucks a piece and being trashed from lack of sells.

Ah, Nick McKracken! I loved that game (lol).

Tried at home since this was a tutorial. My lawyers will expect you to replace the testicle that was fried.

That video was amazing. What a cool down to earth guy he seemed to be too! :) Loved the comedy moments thrown in there and the ending was hilarious. The retrowave style soundtrack you had going throughout the video was incredible. Thank you for making great content, keep it coming!

You're extremely lucky to have someone in your area who can do this!

6:56 "But once...the Attitude Era hit" Wrestling fan, confirmed! 😂 We can't hide it

Anyone else think Nick McCraken was going to be Joe dressed as another character??

I loved this. Awesome episode!

Yeah, as an English gamer I was watching this for a good while thinking "what are they talking about?! Most TVs were RGB compatible. Never realised the US was completely different in that regard. Thinking about this I also recalled the early name that was used for RGB scart - the fabled 'Euroconnector'

If Joe says there's a cow in the jungle then there's a cow in the jungle, period.

That was the best ZELDA story I"ve ever heard. Thanks for sharing.

Man i love this video , just found now your channel , really Awesome , i'm from Brazil :D

I really enjoyed this!

For all the Euro folks about to pipe up about SCART... We didnt get SCART in the US.

This makes me moister than an oyster.

Great episode! I really love the music init

I had the NES too back at the 80 born '76 . The gameplay is still fun today

SCART or how we call it on this side of the pond, Euro-plug master race! :D

You got some great lighting in your basement Joe. It looks like it's daytime in there. I like how you wiped your face with the rag after wiping down the crt lol. The picture looks great man. Please go away.

Joe can always announce Monster Truck Rallies if Gamesack ever fizzles out. ;) As for black and white, my first TV was a 13" color set I bought used for my Atari 800xl. It worked until I retired it in 1989. Then my dad took it and put it in his shop and used it until 2002 when he wanted a bigger set. :) THAT is quality.

Joe this is so awesome I have been getting into the crt scene more and more lately and this is perfect. I have always wanted to get the old consoles to look great on an had tv, but now I want to get the best picture out of my crts. There isnt a better substitution for gaming on retro consoles then on crts and especially when you can get the best quality picture from both the console and the television! It’s a match made from heaven!

2 in the morning gang who up

Tbh, these type of TV’s are more durable than their “furturustic” counterparts.

Love the use of Super Adventure Island music for the game montage. That's a pretty underrated game soundtrack.

those close-ups, OMG! LOVELY!!!!!

Hey you two, don't stand so close to each other. So much for social distancing.

*laughs in European

that 75 ohms part was hilarious lol

Black and white. I remember it well. Man I is getting old.. :( Nick is a very cool guy great stories..:)

Gotta love how this is completely pointless to watch for anyone in Europe

Really enjoyed this video.

🇬🇧 U.K here, used to have to use the RF connector 😫, but remember getting RGb Scart pretty much as standard mid to late 90’s. The clarity was a revelation.

Grateful video not lie really entertaining and a nice change up 👍