[oddly jazzy music] [drive buzzing, computer beeping] - Greetings and welcome to "LGR Oddware" where we're taking a look
at hardware and software that is odd, forgotten, and obsolete. And this delightful thing right here is rather delightful indeed and rare. This is the STS Tecom CKS-05V, a 5 1/4 inch drive bay CRT
monitor that hooks up via VGA. It's got amber monochrome going on and it goes into a computer case [claps]
like this. Let's take a closer look. Alrighty, so! This is a rather special and odd device. The STS Tecom CKS-05V, which is a 5-inch amber
monochrome VGA display from the mid '90s. And its size and form factor is really what makes it so unique because it's the same
as three 5 1/4 inch, half height drive bay slots. So it takes up three of those
inside of a computer case. And... [chuckles] It's just the coolest looking thing, oh my goodness. So yeah, this was manufactured
in 1997 for an unknown price. Information on this is
ridiculously hard to come by. And I mean, the device itself is just
insanely hard to find, any evidence of, except for this one and a couple others, but yeah, only a few are known to exist. At least, serial number on
this particular unit is, well, it looks like 3062. So, I just don't know how many were made, how they were distributed,
how it was sold exactly. But I do know that STS
Tecom is responsible for it, and I believe it is their German division, STS Tecom GmbH, which was founded in Germany in 1990 as a subsidiary of STS
Tecom Company Limited in Taiwan founded in 1980, who themselves were an offshoot of TECO Electronics and Machinery
Company founded in 1956. So, yeah, even though this
monitor came from Europe, it was made in Taiwan
and it goes back and back and back all the way
back to the TECO Company, which is massive, by the way. They started off making electric motors and industrial control
equipment back in the 1950s before expanding their
product line in the 1970s, as stated in this cheesy
bit of corporate propaganda. - [Corporate Narrator] TECO diversified into electronics, information
and communications and gained a foothold
in the service industry. TECO has driven towards a smarter future with every industry-defining innovation. - [Clint] Like five-inch CRTs! Among other things, like home appliances, IT stuff, and communications equipment, electronic components,
infrastructure engineering, financial investment services, they just do all kinds of stuff. But obviously, it's this
lovely little amber monitor that we're really interested in here for, this episode of "Oddware." And this particular CKS-05V, came to me on loan
from the Netherlands. A huge thank you to LGR viewer, Kevin, who shared this thing online a while back and then graciously
offered to share it with me and just send it out so I could use it for a bit
and document the experience, put it in video form on YouTube
so everybody can enjoy it. And here we are, it's just a lovely looking
thing to see in person. Although, you can tell it's very yellowed in a rather uneven way. Yeah, you know, it's been used for years in another system and just sort of yellowed unevenly. If it was mine I would Retrobright it, but it's not mine. And I've don't have permission to do that. So I won't be Retrobrighting anything and just leaving it as is. Now on that note, what exactly is it, and you might be wondering, well, it was labeled as a "file server monitor," which was meant to drop
into a few spare drive bays and one of those big towering server cases that you saw back in the mid '90s. And yeah, you could check on your system without whipping out a full-sized monitor or display, pretty awesome. And you know, this wasn't the only display
to do that kind of thing. In fact, there's another couple
of drive bay monitors that existed back then typically
as part of a file server or telephone system thing, like the most notable one
being the Dash OPS-1000 and they had a very similar five inch CRT as part of their open phone system set up, which used a similar monitor
from OmniVision Incorporated. But as far as I know, it's not actually related to this one from STS Tecom. And if it is, I mean, information is just so
scarce on these that, yeah. You know, I wouldn't be
able to tell you exactly. So anyway, in terms of how it hooks up, it actually just uses a four
pin molex connector back here. Like you'd get on a floppy
drive or a hard drive and other things back then. And it just connects
to a plus 12 volt rail and uses around 14 watts DC power. And in terms of connecting
to your computer, that's another one of the
brilliant things about this. It's just standard VGA there. So it can take up to a 640x480 VGA signal and lower resolutions at a maximum 60Hz vertical refresh. So, yeah, it really doesn't like higher resolutions and refresh rates than that. And of course, it's all in monochrome, it'll take a color signal, but it's just gonna make
it monochrome amber, as we will see momentarily. And in case anybody's wondering, yes, here is what it looks like inside. Just a lovely little tube, much like what you get in one of those, like under the counter televisions that you'd be able to stick under your counter back in the day, like a kitchen TV set. Of course, this is a monitor but yeah, just a little CRT with
enough circuitry to do, what it needs to. And you
got power, brightness, contrast controls right
there and that's it. There's no other adjustments,
at least on the outside. Now it's possible, you've
already seen this thing installed in this tower, looking rather
sus as the kids might say, but yeah, it became a bit
of a viral star on Reddit and various computer forums
and social media awhile back. So yeah, that is the same monitor. I was just sent the display on its own, not the entire case just to
save on shipping and such, but yeah, I will be installing
it in this generic PC case, which has exactly three,
5 1/4 inch drive bays. Really, I chose this thing because it was similarly
yellowed to the monitor itself. You know, I didn't wanna pick one of my bright white, tall server towers because it would look a
little out of place in there, 'cause the color difference. And also obviously, there's no room for any more 5 1/4 inch
drives in here now, but who needs 'em? Got this awesome monitor installed! And that's way more
interesting than CD-ROMs and floppy drives. So yeah, finally it is time to experience the CKS-05V amber CRT. Aw yee. [jazz tunes fade] All right, got the VGA
connection going around, back in into the video card. Let's get it powered on, both
the monitor and the computer. And we can admire this delightful little
thing doing its thing. Here we go, Energy Star logo fading in, and there we can start
to see some of the text of a startup situation
going on with this computer. Yeah, Windows 98. [chuckles] Yeah, just seeing that, it's such a familiar sight, that startup, on such a tiny little monitor inside of a 5 /14 inch drive
bay or three drive bays, it's really special. And the fact that it's also an amber just makes it more amusing. I've always loved amber
monochrome displays and I don't actually have one in VGA. I mean, I guess I still
don't since I'm borrowing this, but still, neat to see VGA going through amber phosphors. [Windows 98 startup sound] Oh yes, and there we go. Windows 98 going through a little five-inch
amber CRT monitor, stuck inside of drive bays. Ahh, this is just awesome. What you're seeing, I don't know if it's a
sharp is what I'm seeing, but dude, it looks great here in person and yeah, it's just surprisingly sharp, which I guess -- y'know, it's a
little monitor, reminds me of something, you'd see in an old point of sale system or something. It's much sharper than the
little TVs, five-inch CRTs that I've seen on like
what I was saying earlier, those under-the-counter televisions for kitchens and such,
much sharper than that. You know, it's VGA too. So there's that, but I
mean, it looks excellent. Seriously does. And you can really use this
surprisingly effectively, [chuckles] It's just a Windows 98
computer at this point. But it's just the novelty factor, being able to see all the stuff that you normally would play around with. And it's such a tiny little amber CRT. It's wonderful. Now, as far as the condition of the tube, I mean, it seems okay perhaps a bit tired. It does get pretty bright, but I have to have
everything pretty dim in here to get it looking as good
as what you're seeing here. And then of course, just
adjusting my camera to match. You can tell it's been used quite a bit, thankfully, there's no
burn-in or anything. It's not the most vibrant
of CRTs I've seen, but whatever, it's in
such a cool form factor that I don't really care. So,
[keyboard clacking] let's play some things. And of course, one of the
first we've got to try out, Duke 3D on a tiny little five-inch CRT. [explosive intro sounds] Yes. ["Grabbag" plays] [chukling] - [Duke] Come get some. - [Clint] Yeah, this
genuinely looks awesome in-person anyway. Again, I hope it's come across well on camera. You never know with recording things this small. and out of the ordinary, but yeah, dude. Entirely playable. I could absolutely see myself playing this on a file server, or like a telephone whatever communications PC,
these were installed in. You know, lunch break or
15 minutes of downtime or whatever on the job. Yeah, shoot some aliens. [pistol firing, alien dying] And yeah, this is running at 70 hertz. I believe I said earlier
that anything above 60, doesn't really like, it will take 70, for Dukes games like this, totally fine. It's a VGA display, you should really expect that. A higher though, not really, it just sorta loses the
sync and signal goes, a little haywire, so. Works awesome. Duke 3D is fun and it's just
fantastic playing anything on this monitor, but especially personal favorites. [keyboard clacking] Personally. [Epic Pinball menu music] Like Epic Pinball, which is so dark. [Excalibur table music] There we go, that's all right. [keyboard clacking] Yeah. [chuckling] Don't really know what my goal is here, except, I guess I just wanna
play Epic Pinball again, which is like an everyday occurrence. But hey, whatever. You don't get to play it every day on such a tiny little amber CRT. I've got a number of other
monochrome VGA monitors, but none of them are
amber phosphor like this. [keyboard clacking] All right, let's try some Windows games 'cause I've got a number
of 9x classics here. Age of Empires, of course. Here we go. [thumping game sound effects] [villagers speaking gibberish] [chuckles] Yeah, it's pretty much, as long as it is 640x480 or lower, then they're gonna be fine. But yeah, entirely playable. [random gameplay sounds]
[chuckles] I was wondering about these little
icons and little tiny text and stuff, but honestly it's so sharp. I mean, I'm sitting a couple
of feet away from the monitor. I got my glasses on of course, but I can still see it perfectly fine. Everything's nice and readable, a pleasant experience indeed. [suspenseful music] Here's one I haven't played a while, how about some good old
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee. [music continues] Yeah. This one had a good bit of darker imagery and it's just sort of
a grimy looking game, but it's got these awesome cutscenes and such crispy artwork and
everything in the game itself. I would thought it would
look pretty awesome on this little amber display
and go figure, it does. [intense music]
[metal clanging] [chuckle] That's a little bit
hard to see, I suppose. Let me goes in the background there, but hey, whatever. Oh, dude. [explosion booming] [chuckles] It's such a fun little game. Okay, how about some Tomb Raider 2? I do have a Voodoo card in here, a Voodoo 3 card at the moment. Might be nice to
see some 3D acceleration through here and yeah, some of the darker textures
and lighting and such. I'm curious how that would
be on a monochrome display but honestly not bad. Still nice and sharp, at
least where I'm sitting. So, yeah. [chuckles] I'm continually impressed with
the display on this display. [Lara groans] [LGR imitates groan] [Lara groans again] I hear that tiger,
[tiger roars] I will shoot you.
[gunshots] Oh, come on. You jerk. [gunshots continue] I think he fell over. Okay. [keyboard clacking] Oh, dang it. [chuckles] Well, whatever. The Tomb Raider experience, it's fine. I gotta get a racing game in here, how about some-- ooh, look,
3Dfx logo. Yeah, Need for Speed 2 SE. - [Narrator] Electronic Arts. - So this should look great. And we've got those awesome cutscenes. That looks fantastic, normally you can see the
compression and some, I don't know, artifacts of the FMV but
on such a small display, like just shrunk down. Yeah, that looks clean. Monochrome, but clean. [rock music]
[car engine revving] All right. [most excellent menu music] [keyboard clacking] What colors are those? I don't know, I'll just pick whichever one looks nice and bright. [music continues, car engine revs] Oh, man. Those photos and like, the
FMV and such, just looks great. [chuckles] Or just 'cause the screen is so small. [car engine revving] - [Narrator] Three, two, one, go! [car tires squealing] [car engines revving] - [Clint] Oh yeah, this is weird. [chuckles] Just playing a game
I'm so familiar with on such a strange little screen. It's awesome though. Oh yeah, there's no dash in
this 3D accelerated version. Dang it. Yeah. I am just impressed with the
crispiness of this monitor. Like I have a slightly
larger one from POS terminal. It's a little IBM thing,
it's just, you know, white phosphors, black and white. I think that one's like eight
or nine inches, a VGA display, but it's not this sharp. At least, I don't remember
it being this sharp. So, whatever tube they were
using in here, it is impressive. And because it is a
monochrome display, come on, we got to put some Fallout through here. [laughs] - "Ah, you're here, good." "We've got a problem." - [Clint] Oh man I got a problem too, I can barely see you. That's okay, we'll turn up the brightness. Yeah, we'll need to turn it up. There you go, that's kind of
overdriving... I'm sure it'll look better, once we get out of the dadgum cave. But so it goes, oops, I
didn't pick up the stuff. [suspense music] I don't need that. Oh, man, I just noticed, look, the little reticle, cursor on the ground. You can kind of see it there, but once it's over here,
like it's moving around. Ah, I can't see that at
all, it's red normally. So.
[chuckles] Through this little amber CRT, there is a problem. All right, rats. [gunfire] Yeah, that's right, get out of here. All right, shady sands. Uh. Very shady indeed. [chuckles] Still can't see anything, really. Dark. That's how it goes I guess. Yeah, this is pretty much, the limit, I think, of usability. At least for games on this little display, like I can just barely see my cursor. It's just very unpleasant. I was squinting so hard
and sitting so close to the screen here. [dogs eating LGR] Well! That was my first time dying on a little five-inch drive bay CRT. It was not a pleasant
experience, all that small text. [keyboard clacking]
[jazz music] Speaking of small text,
this actually ain't half bad. Yeah, that's just the normal
notepad text size right there. [chuckles] This really isn't what it's made for. But considering, yeah,
like that's too small, like 10 point font. Put it up to like 12, it's probably fine. Yeah,
[keyboard clacking] this is fine. Put it up here. There you go, that's much better. [chuckles] Like I said earlier, this
really is just something that was made, I don't know, to have in a tower case, a file server or one
of those phone systems, just something that is there as a display so that you don't have
to hook up anything else, go out of your way to do that. You know, there were things
like 19-inch server rack CRTs that would go in and take up
a bunch of bays like that. You know, those are 15-inch displays, I don't know, they're pretty large. This though, you can just have your regular
little three drive bays, that's just awesome. And lastly here, I know, a
lot of you are wondering, like I was, if it can run anything
on modern PC through this and well, you know how I've
said that the resolution and refresh rate is pretty
particular in this thing. So, yeah, you can get it going, but it's not as easy
as just plugging it in, at least for me and my setup here. So I got my living room
gaming PC hooked up to the RTX 2080 card in there. And it's minimum resolution
typically is 800x600 and running it through the
display port to VGA adapter that I have. Yeah, even when setting
a custom resolution through Nvidia, whatever the heck. Anytime I plug it into the
STS Tecom CRT, it just goes nuts. And that's what happens anytime
you go out of its boundaries for acceptable resolutions
and refresh rates. However, you can get around this by plugging in a VGA splitter and then setting the
custom resolution that way. So it stays with 640x480 and Windows doesn't try
to change stuff around when you plug another monitor
in. So yeah, with this setup you can use a modern PC completely as normally just extremely low resolution and yeah, your normal
Windows software, websites. And of course, gaming,
assuming you've got a game that'll run at 480 pixels horizontal. And the results are pretty excellent. So I've got Microsoft Flight
Simulator 2020 going here and you can see that
fading in as it warms up and it's awesome. [chuckles] [plane engine revving] So yeah, it's totally legit. [plane engine continues] Once again, just seeing something
very familiar with running through this tiny little
thing is fantastic. I wasn't able to get
this going in full screen because I guess it just doesn't go down to 640x480. It seems like it will, but it cuts off like a lot
of the image if you do that. So I'm running it in a window here, but you know, it's fine. And it looks absolutely fantastic
in a weirdly stylized way. I don't know, I think it's pretty great. It looks amazing, but yet not at the same time,
is just a weird in-between. You know, it reminds me a little bit when I was messing around with that tiny little camcorder
viewfinder CRT years ago. Obviously, it's not
that extreme, but yeah, it's like this weird
combination of super low-res and yet, amusingly sharp and just the monochrome-ness of it. It's quite fun. I think it looks fantastic
in Flight Simulator, I don't know. [imitates plane nosediving] And of course, I mean,
it's an amber display, we can't just not play a
little bit of New Vegas. Yeah, here it is. Once again, looking fantastic. And I'm just constantly taken aback by how oddly stunning amber monochrome is. Yeah, and on this little screen, it just looks nice. Sorry, sir. [Pip-Boy beeps] [gunfire] Oh, Easy Pete. Noooo. [chuckles] What an appropriate way
to play this game, I mean, you've got the amber HUD already, obviously it's all amber
but still it's fitting. I wanna bring up the Pip-Boy here. That, how cool is that? It looks great. I mean.
[chuckles] It looks pretty normal. New Vegas. [gunfire] Mmm. Every time I start a new save, I just wanna spend an
entire week playing it. Anyway, yeah, I suppose that's
about it for this monitor. You get the point. It's a little thing that's just amusing to see in action because of its size, because of the amber
monochrome, the drive bays. I wish there were more
of these things around, but the only other thing that I've seen in a modern sense are like some, little fold-out LCD monitors
that go in a drive bay. But uh, yeah. These CRTs,
there's only a few of them. So once again, huge thanks to Kevin for trusting me with this thing. So we can all see it and enjoy it here on an episode of "Oddware." This has been a lot of
fun to mess around with. [chuckles] What a cool little device. [jazz music returns] Mm, yeah, I suppose that's about it for this episode of "Oddware." What a delightful little thing, I really wished that I had
more information on it, like how much it costs and
how exactly it was distributed or whatever. So if you happen to have
any more concrete info, do let me know. Or if you have one or
have you ever used one or something like it. Yeah, put them on comments too, I'm really curious about the
use cases for this thing, even though I had a pretty good idea of what it might've
been used for, but yeah, it's just a neat collectible and I'm happy to have had a
chance to show it off here on "LGR Oddware." [jazz music continues] And if you enjoyed this
episode then, awesome. I've got a lot more where this
came from, strange displays and all kinds of other things on "Oddware" and various retro stuff
each week here on LGR. And as always, thanks for watching!
This looks great. I really want a portable CRT screen but they're impossible to find and not really portable.
I had an amber display when I was a kid. You always see green as the representative 'retro' color, but white and amber seemed more common as a kid wading through discarded hardware in the 90s.
I've seen people convert CRTs from old video cameras to displays - might be easier to find, since the ones shown in video are rare as balls
Plus one from an old camcorder might be (somewhat) easier to power on-the-go
I LOVE this guys videos. Been watching him for years.