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CRT Repair VIDEO

Sintel on a 1989 Trinitron: Composite vs RGB

Dee Okafor 14-09-2026 12 Comments

DESCRIPTION

Sintel is our favourite colour test because the snow scenes punish dot crawl and the dragon scenes punish red bleed. We ran it through composite first, then through a SCART RGB lead on the same Trinitron.

The difference is not subtle. Composite smears the fine detail in the scales, while RGB keeps the edges crisp enough to count the scanlines.

What to watch for

  • Dot crawl along the hard edges in the composite pass.
  • The red channel bleeding into the sky at the ten-minute mark.
  • How much sharper the text looks once RGB is switched in.
DE
DEE OKAFOR AUTHOR
Member since 2015 8 posts

Pixel artist and palette nerd. Dee draws on real hardware whenever the hardware lets her.

COMMENTS

12 REPLIES
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  1. KA
    KARL FROM THE CLUB 15-09-2026 @ 10:50

    The sound on this one still gives me goosebumps.

    1. VB
      VBLANK 16-09-2026 @ 03:27

      Rosin flux from a jar, cleaned with isopropyl straight after.

  2. LO
    LOWRES_LARRY 16-09-2026 @ 08:23

    Good call on labelling every screw. I learned that the hard way.

    1. TO
      TOMASZ K. 16-09-2026 @ 17:59

      Parts list is going into the next post, promise.

  3. SC
    SCART_GOBLIN 17-09-2026 @ 04:21

    The tip about the grounding strap should be in bold at the top.

  4. TA
    TAPE_WARDEN 17-09-2026 @ 08:16

    The scanline shot is gorgeous. What camera settings did you use to avoid the moire?

  5. PA
    PAL_OR_NTSC 17-09-2026 @ 08:36

    Would love a follow-up in six months to see how the recap holds up.

    1. DU
      DUSTY_JOYSTICK 17-09-2026 @ 15:52

      Agreed, and thanks for adding the page number.

  6. NO
    NOOR AZIZ 18-09-2026 @ 12:59

    That colour bar test pattern is a nice touch. Makes the comparison easy to read.

  7. DU
    DUSTY_JOYSTICK 18-09-2026 @ 23:33

    Did you check the ripple on the 5V rail before and after? Curious how much it moved.

  8. MA
    MARA KESTREL 20-09-2026 @ 15:00 MEMBER

    I tried this last winter and skipped the discharge step. Do not skip the discharge step.

  9. AI
    AIKO SATO 20-09-2026 @ 15:09

    Honestly the composite version has a charm the RGB one lacks. Fight me.

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