Sony Super Multi RGB

The Sony Super Multi RGB Kit

Product Line

Postponed until I have enough money saved up

to do another prototype run to fix footprint issues.

Background information

During May 2018, I found a treasure at a local estate sale: A Sony Profeel KX-2501A monitor for $10! It is a Sony Trinitron monitor with Digital RGB input. Unlike most high-end CRTs, it uses a nonstandard IDC34 jack for RGB input, vs. a standard SCART or BNC connection. This jack has the exact same physical dimensions as a floppy drive cable, but with a very different pinout. A few Sony and other monitors (mostly NEC professional ones) use this unofficial IDC34 "standard" for RGB input. Wanting to interface AV equipment and to allow easy access to RGB via this port for others with similar monitors, I have created the Sony Super Multi RGB product line of kits.

SCART Jack, and BNC connections on a PVM

Information about the kits

The Sony Super Multi RGB product line of kits contains two kits: The Sony Super Multi RGB, and the Sony Super Multi X RGB. The former kit is the basic kit, while the latter is the premium kit. Both kits allow one to interface both SCART and BNC (RGBHV/RGBs+RCA stereo audio) RGB AV into their IDC34 port on their monitor, as well as to use either a standard (twisted) IDC34 floppy cable or a nonstandard one. The main difference between the 2 kits is that the former is a passive circuit and does not prohibit the usage of both SCART and BNC inputs active at the same (attempting to use both will mux both signals to the CRT), while the latter is an active, powered, digital circuit that only allows one input type active at the same time. The latter uses an AV Input source switch to select which input to use, power supply, and a few SMT Bus Switcher ICs to fix the design flaw of the standard kit; however, it costs more and is harder to assemble, due to the few SMT components and more complex design. Both kits will come with either a standard or nonstandard floppy cable, depending on parts availability at the time. Both kits come with color instruction manuals for how to use and assemble the kits. The parts used for the AV inputs are high-quality, non-oriental parts, in order to ensure a pure AV signal. Both kits are open-sourced, fabricated at OSHPark, and were designed with Autodesk Eagle. Pre-assembled kits will be tested for QA before shipping.

Standard (Twisted) vs. non-standard floppy cables

Sony Super Multi RGB Kit

Instruction Manuals

Sony Super Multi X RGB Kit

Ordering information

The kits can be ordered at [PLACEHOLDER STORE LINK], either as DIY kits or pre-assembled. When ordering a pre-assembled kit, please indicate what type of floppy cable to include/configure the board for (standard or nonstandard). Boards are ordered from OSHPark, and will be using the Medium Service Run (minimum muitiples of 10 boards in order to fulfill minimum total surface area of 100 sq. in.) in order to cut down on costs. Orders will be placed on a queue, and then the customers billed when the queue is filled. Prices may fluctuate slightly over time, based on current prices of components