I recently finished an RGB mod on my Akai CT-C1401DV, a 14" CRT TV with a built-in DVD player 

The result alone is already impressive—cleaner image, sharper text, and much better color separation compared to composite. Retro games feel way more alive now ✨ (worth the effort honestly )

The TV is based on a TDA9381 chassis, which adds some interesting limitations. In stock configuration, it basically forces a choice between AV + TV mode or RGB + TV mode, but not both at the same time. The DVD section likely uses S-Video internally.

I also found that RGB can be enabled through service menu option bits, but the downside is that AV gets disabled when RGB is active. The problem is that the service menu is extremely slow and bit-based, so every time I switch between RGB and AV it turns into a whole back-and-forth mess of flipping modes and testing again 😅

So instead of relying on that, I added a physical switch to instantly toggle between modes. The switch cap is actually a reused Enterprise 64 button cover, used just as a quick practical solution—it just fit perfectly and saved time during the build 😄

The system uses a Samsung A34KQV42X01 14" CRT tube 

One interesting detail is that the TDA9381 is also capable of component input, but enabling it properly would require deeper I²C control and probably bus sniffing to find the correct registers. Also, RGB and component can’t run together—only one active mode at a time.

A future idea would be using something like an ESP32 to handle I²C switching automatically, so modes could be toggled digitally instead of hardware switching 😅

While researching, I also discovered that this same chassis was used in some unusual early-2000s novelty CRTs, including Panda 🐼 and Penguin 🐧 TVs.

This was my first time experimenting with an RGB mod, but unfortunately during use the unit slipped from my hands and got damaged, with a crack forming near the “eye” area. After that, I honestly lost motivation to repair it right away 😅

Akai CT-C1401DV Penguin crt