848K views · Mar 20, 2015 · 11:23 · 4 HN recommenders · 4 mentions · discussed 2020–2023
Ben Eater gives a detailed look at how an NPN bipolar junction transistor works and what it does. It is an eleven-minute explanation aimed at building real understanding of the device.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN commenters prefer it over other transistor explanations as an enlightening starting point that leads into building logic gates and a CPU.
“I found Ben Eater's videos on how semiconductors work and how transistors work interesting and enlightening.”HN comment, 2022
“Knowing how transistors work helps a lot”
Helped the commenter understand how transistors work.
Great explanation — although only a week or so ago I wouldn't have understood a lot of it. Knowing how transistors work helps a lot: this video
“I prefer the one by Ben Eater”
Preferred explanation of how transistors work.
This is a good explanation, but I prefer the one by Ben Eater: How semiconductor works: link How a transistor works: this video
“I found Ben Eater's videos on how semiconductors work and how transistors work interesting and enlightening.”
Interesting, enlightening transistor explanation for non-engineers.
As someone who is not an electrical engineer, I found Ben Eater's videos on how semiconductors work and how transistors work interesting and enlightening. How semiconductors work: link How a transistor works: this video
“Once you've got transistors, his videos walk you through making gates.”
Starting point for building up from transistors to gates and CPU.
Aside from his basic 8-bit CPU, Ben Eater goes into how transistors work too: this video . Once you've got transistors, his videos walk you through making gates. Once you've got gates, he switches to the 74xx series and builds a CPU.
