IBM 5151 (MDA display) - common faults / gotchas?

[Chuck Guzis]

On 11/07/2014 05:00 PM, Jules Richardson wrote:

> Of course working condition is unknown, so before I commit to it, are
> there any common showstoppers with these displays (failed CRT, yoke
> windings, LOPT etc.) - or are whatever faults that may be typical with
> them all in components that are still available?

In general, they were pretty reliable and *very* simple internally.  The 
big gotcha I've seen in these is screen burn.  I can't opine on 
available parts, however.

There was a time that the MGA (Hercules Graphics) was one of the better 
adapter-monitor combinations for fine work.  Shadow-mask color CRTs have 
a certain granularity to the display, while the monochrome display 
doesn't suffer from that.

--Chuck