Toshiba 14AF43 14″ stereo CRT TV with composite, S-video and component inputs

I came across the Toshiba 14AF43, a rare 14″ stereo CRT TV with composite, S-Video, component inputs, and decided to purchase it for retro-gaming. The unit I purchased supports NTSC only and requires 120VAC @ 60Hz but powers on just fine with the help of a 220V-110V step-down transformer and shows a screen full of static, since analog TV is no longer available:

Some people claim that using a CRT TV designed for 120VAC/60Hz with a 220V-110V step-down transformer risks damaging the degaussing circuit which was designed for 60Hz, as the transformer does not change the AC frequency. However, I believe this is not an issue with modern CRT televisions. If there is any truth to the claim, it would only apply to early TVs made before the 1980s.

There is a deep burn mark on the left hinge. Apparently somebody at one point had been playing with a soldering iron near this TV, and accidentally touched the hinge with the hot iron. My old keyboard has a similar burn mark and I continued to use the keyboard for many years before it was eventually replaced.

The unit comes with composite video and stereo input sockets on the front panel. At the back you will also find sockets for composite input, S-Video and component with only a single pair of RCA stereo audio input socket, shared between the various inputs.

The unit I purchased did not come with a remote control with only physical buttons for volume/channel switching, and without any buttons to switch between video/TV modes. In order to make this TV useful, the next challenge was to get my Chunghop RM-88E universal remote controller to work with this TV. Once that was done, I would then program my L336 learning remote control permanently for this TV, so that my RM-88E can be used for other experiments:

I first tried codes 120, 117, 014, 170 and 018 on the RM-88E but none worked on this TV. I then set the RM-88E into automatic code searching mode by holding the SET button and pressing the TV button, then pressing the VOL+ button, one press at a time, until there is a VOL display on the TV. When that happens, press the SET button again to temporarily accept that code, and try other buttons (channel, TV/AV, digits) to see if they work well enough with the TV. If yes, then the RM-88E can be used for the TV, otherwise hold SET, press the TV button, and press the VOL+ button again to keep trying other profiles. After an hour trying this, I was able to make most buttons on the RM88-E work satisfactorily with my TV, except for the MENU button, which could be used to enter the main menu and perform things like channel scan or set other advanced settings.

Programming the L336 can be done by holding the TV button for around 5 seconds until the red LED is bright, then pressing the button to be trained (e.g. TV/AV) on the L336, after which the the LED on the L336 will flash slowly. Then, press the button on the RM-88E (or any other remote control) which emits this signal while aiming the IR LED of that remote control at IR LED of the L336. Once the signal is detected, the red LED of the L336 will flash quickly, indicating that the signal has been learned. Repeat the process for other keys until all keys have been trained. Once done, press the TV button on the L336 and the L336 can be used as the remote control for the TV.

Using both the RM-88E and the L336 I was eventually able to control the On Screen Display (OSD), set sleep mode or reset settings, by finding which keys on various profiles on the RM-88E would perform these functions and training these keys on the L336. Despite this, I was never able to get the MENU key to work. The following photo shows the TV playing Ocean Girl, my favorite childhood TV series, with sleep mode configuration (between 10 mins to 120 mins, set to 0 to disable) displayed on the screen:

I must however say that you should not play with sleep settings on a vintage TV. After a while, you will forget about the settings and wonder why your TV shuts down randomly. Do not turn off the TV from the remote control as you will have a hard time turning it on if the remote is lost. You can’t use the RM-88E in automatic searching mode if the TV is not on! Some TVs have hidden buttons inside the case to turn it back on without the remote, but locating such buttons (if present) can be tricky. I seldom turn off the TV from the front panel mechanical button either – if the button is broken or misaligned with the micro-switch on the motherboard, repairing the apparently simple issue will involve dissembling and reassembling the TV, which can be quite laborious even with the user manual. I use a power supply extension for my TV and turn it off using the switch on the extension instead.

With the TV/AV button working I was able to establish that the TV has 3 input modes, VIDEO 1 (shared between the back panel composite and S-Video input), VIDEO 2 (front panel composite input) and COLOR/STREAMING (fancy name for the back panel component input). S-Video in NTSC mode works fine with a VGA to TV converter module, showing Norton Commander 5.0:

Parts of the left and right margin of the display were cut off. During my test, this only happened when the resolution is 640×400 (VGA text mode resolution for 80 columns x 25 lines, using standard 8×16 VGA BIOS font). If the resolution is 640×480 (standard VGA graphics mode resolution), the display will not be cut off. Adjusting H-SIZE, V-SIZE, H-POS and V-POS settings from the converter module does not help. If the converter module is set to output PAL (and not NTSC), then the display will not be cut off either. However, as my 14AF43 was apparently made for the US market and supports only NTSC, a scrolling display (with no V-HOLD button to adjust) will be displayed if fed a PAL signal. My Singapore-made CRT TV from the same era supports PAL/NTSC/SECAM and runs on anything between 100V-240V but unfortunately does not have S-Video or component input. I believe the text cutting off issue was due to the difference between 480 scan lines (for NTSC) and 576 scan lines (for PAL). Most likely, the converter module fails to take into account this 640×400 resolution on NTSC and the issue was a side-effect of scaling down the image to fit the limited number of scan lines on NTSC.

I did not test what would happen if both composite and S-Video signals were fed into VIDEO 1, as I didn’t want to risk causing any damage. Hopefully, the TV will prioritize one port over the other when signals are present on both the Intensity and Color pins of the S-Video port as well as on the composite port.

Component input also works well, despite only supporting 480i (NTSC interlace) but not progressive 480p input. PAL (576i or 576p) is also not supported. Below is a photo of the component input using my Western Digital WD media player:

I could not get the component output RGBS/VGA to YPBPR converter box, advertised for retro-gaming, to work with this TV. All I got was a distorted (but somewhat recognizable) on the TV. This box was purchased from AliExpress and also supports SCART input. I believe it produces 480P or PAL output, which is not supported by this TV:

Understandably, the TV could not understand the component output from a no-name HDMI to component adapter, advertised for HD videos, showing unrecognizable random scrolling colorful pixels. This box was purchased from eBay for $10:

I was able to get the following HDMI to component box to work with this TV in 480i mode. The quality is frankly not much better than S-Video and is only slightly better than composite. I believe this is due to limitations of the CRT circuitry as this TV is designed for NTSC only and does not accept PAL whether via RF, composite or S-Video. Feeding in a PAL signal and you will get a rolling black and white picture.

If you decide to buy this converter box like what I did, promise me you will throw away the original power adapter. Cut the USB cable and keep it if you wish (which is a standard USB to 5.5mm cable anyway) but you should throw away the rest. The adapter is one of the cheapest SMPS units ever made, lacking essential safety features and presenting a significant risk of electrocution. See below for photos of the case (which is held together by a single small screw) and the front side of the PCB:

This is the back side of the PCB:

This is the VGA to video converter which I tested and confirmed to be working fine on this TV. It supports composite and S-video output, with DIP switches to change between PAL and NTSC, as well as an on-screen menu to adjust various settings:

As with most other cheap stuff, these units are not built to last. When I first purchased it it works fine with my Panasonic CRT TV; however after three years all I get from it on my Panasonic is scrolling blurry text, while the Toshiba CRT TV has no issues with it. Troubleshooting with an oscilloscope, I found out that Vpp on the composite output is now only 0.3-0.4V, most likely too low for the my Panasonic while still acceptable for the Toshiba. Maybe an SMD resistor or capacitor has gone bad. A new unit of the same model works fine on both TVs.

On the video and audio quality, as expected, composite video offers the least favorable image, though it’s still acceptable for movie playback. S-Video performs better, and on this unit, it was able to render 640×480 clearly, notwithstanding the mentioned some display margin issues. Despite extensive testing, I am not satisfied with the video quality via component input, which is only slightly better than S-Video or composite. Still, the flat CRT screen significantly enhances the viewing experience, whether for movies or gaming. It’s noticeably more enjoyable than my Panasonic TV, which only has a mono speaker, delivering better audio and visual performance even with the limitations of some inputs.

On a side note, starting from Windows 7, will not allow you to set 640×480 resolutions by default – the minimum that can be set is 800×600. In order to set the resolution to 640×480, you will need to open Advanced Display Settings, click on Display Adapter Properties, click on List All Modes, and then select 640×480 from the list:

Download the user manual for the RM-88E, L336 as well as the user manual and service manual for the Toshiba 14AF43 here.

See also

Rebuilding the Olevia LT19W 19-inch LCD TV Remote Control Unit