24" Widescreen CRT (FW900) From Ebay arrived,Comments.

spacediver said:
Yep, been using FW900 as primary monitor since I first got one! Down to my last working one though, so shit's getting real.
And yes, perhaps not all is lost for the broken one :)
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Get the 480 Hz OLED when it arrives.

WOLED's are also fine for office use nowadays; no need to worry about burn in as much as one used to. Even some LCDs degraded faster according to RTINGs. I've been Visual Studioing on a prototype 240Hz OLED for 1.5 years now.

It's also better on my eyes than most LCDs than I've had too, despite having to turn off ClearType.
 
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Petrasescu_Lucian said:
I'm the one that swapped the flyback from a Dell P1110 about two years ago. Works like a charm.
You'll have to readjust (stretch) everything horizontally as P1110 is a 4:3 monitor.
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Interesting - if I'm not mistaken, that's a rebrand of the CPD-G500, not G520. But the fact that it worked is promising for the G520
 
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Chief Blur Buster said:
Get the 480 Hz OLED when it arrives.

WOLED's are also fine for office use nowadays; no need to worry about burn in as much as one used to. Even some LCDs degraded faster according to RTINGs. I've been Visual Studioing on a prototype 240Hz OLED for 1.5 years now.

It's also better on my eyes than most LCDs than I've had too, despite having to turn off ClearType.
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Dunno if I can justify such a purchase right now, but I'll definitely keep your recommendation in mind :)
 
Petrasescu_Lucian said:
I'm the one that swapped the flyback from a Dell P1110 about two years ago. Works like a charm.
You'll have to readjust (stretch) everything horizontally as P1110 is a 4:3 monitor.
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Wow
I remember my brother having P1110 and I borrowed it from him once (also to fix G2 issue)
If he didn't sell it yet I'll pick it up from him or just notify to never let go of it just in case my FW900 needs resuscitation
 
spacediver said:
So... last sunday, I turned on my FW900, and it made a very violent static-like noise. I actually jumped back because I was scared something was going to explode. After that, it refused to turn on, and made a weird sound (see video). Not sure if this is salvagable. I do have a working IBM P275 (which is the same as a Sony CPD-G520), so maybe I could transplant the flyback from there if I really wanted to (assuming flyback is the issue).


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnBgW_goPkI

It had slowly been deteriorating - flashing green upon start -up, focus had deteriorated to the point where I needed to zoom in to read (aging eyes don't help either). And the antiglare was in poor condition. I had been meaning to cycle it out with my 2nd unit, but never got around to it. Also, the 2nd unit doesn't have anti-glare on it.

Well, that forced the issue. I set up the other unit, and BOY I had forgotten how beautiful a well calibrated tube in good condition looks like.

The lack of anti-glare is an issue, as I don't like working with the lights off during the day.

So I've decided I'm going to get a cheap LCD monitor (I already have one, but need two displays + laptop for my work), and only use the FW900 in the evening. That way, the glare isn't an issue, and the tube will last a lot longer. I figure 2 hours per day vs 10 hours a day means the tube will last 5 times as long. It's precious as it's my last FW900, and I want it around long enough to enjoy and showcase to others.
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Something wrong with the dagauss cycle?
 
Petrasescu_Lucian said:
Yep, I'm the one.
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Is that FW900 with the P1110 flyback still working good? Any noticeable difference in performance vs the FW900 with stock flyback?

It looks like I've sourced a broken FW900 (presumably with a working flyback) for a decent price so I may be fine, but in case that deal falls through I'd like to know what my options are.
 
Chief Blur Buster said:
Get the 480 Hz OLED when it arrives.
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At least 3 years down the line.
Chief Blur Buster said:
WOLED's are also fine for office use nowadays; no need to worry about burn in as much as one used to. Even some LCDs degraded faster according to RTINGs. I've been Visual Studioing on a prototype 240Hz OLED for 1.5 years now.
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You didn't hide task bar & folders, turned on dark mode, screen refresh, panel refresh, and other safety protocols?
Chief Blur Buster said:
It's also better on my eyes than most LCDs than I've had too, despite having to turn off ClearType.
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Definitely true. Low Blue light and 0 eyestrain ever since I bought.
 
jrodefeld said:
Is that FW900 with the P1110 flyback still working good? Any noticeable difference in performance vs the FW900 with stock flyback?

It looks like I've sourced a broken FW900 (presumably with a working flyback) for a decent price so I may be fine, but in case that deal falls through I'd like to know what my options are.
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Yep. Playing HL1 25th Anniversary on it right now.
There's no difference besides the image will be horizontally compressed when you install it. Even the focus adjustments made on the Dell P1110 will hold.
 
Xar said:
At least 3 years down the line.
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The first ones will be on the retail market much less than half that timespan. You saw the TFTCentral Roadmap.

Keep in mind the 4K 240Hz OLEDs have a fallback 1080p 480Hz mode, so you'll have your 480Hz OLED inside the window of year 2024. The dedicated 1440p 480Hz panel isn't roadmapped till 2025, but 480Hz OLED is already working today in the lab according to many sources.

But if you're waiting for reasonable prices and technology maturity (e.g. a future Retrotink-style box with a CRT electron beam simulator), then 3 years is a good time window.

480 Hz OLED prototypes are already running now, and when DVTs actually occur, the MP (Mass Production) is usually about 1 to 1.5 years away. The canary in the coal mine has already started the stopwatch, mark my reliable prediction words. Things like supply crisises can be a problem, but the OLED tortise is NOT going to stop moving -- it's quickly catching up with the LCD refresh rate rabbit and will overtake in near future. 240Hz OLED hit the market with a bang -- you can't buy a desktop OLED with a refresh rate less than 240Hz -- unlike yesteryear crap 120/144/240 LCDs that were TN for years and you had to put up with limited image quality. OLED took forever to hit computer desktop, but once it did, it's a rabbit-powered tortise now.

Note about software-based CRT beam simulators: I already have a TestUFO CRT beam simulator sitting locally already (now using lookup tables to make it perform fast enough without a GPU shader -- it runs realtime in mere javascript now!), unpublished until OLEDs are more widespread as it looks crappy until at least 6:1 to 8:1 ratio of outputHz:inputHz minimum. If you're using OLED+HDR, then 4:1 actually looks usable, but definitely not for LCD. But I prefer to see 6:1 or 8:1 ratios. 480Hz allows 8:1 ratio for 60Hz beam-emulated CRTs that finally looks "better-ish" than ViewSonic XG2431 with the QFT trick. Not as low persistence, but softer flicker, and more accurate CRT look as long as enough HDR nit-surge headroom is utilized (not always possible). 1000Hz OLED 2027-2030 will be much better for CRT beam simulators due to 16:1 output:input ratio, for finer-granularity software-based CRT electron beam simulation.
 
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Chief Blur Buster said:
The first ones will be on the retail market much less than half that timespan. You saw the TFTCentral Roadmap....
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That roadmap has me both excited for a FW900 replacement but pretty bummed out at only seeing :9 ratios on it. Why is the industry so anti:10 and higher? I LOVE more vertical. I'm not looking at my screens through Robocop's visor.
 
Chief Blur Buster said:
The first ones will be on the retail market much less than half that timespan. You saw the TFTCentral Roadmap.

Keep in mind the 4K 240Hz OLEDs have a fallback 1080p 480Hz mode, so you'll have your 480Hz OLED inside the window of year 2024. The dedicated 1440p 480Hz panel isn't roadmapped till 2025, but 480Hz OLED is already working today in the lab according to many sources.

But if you're waiting for reasonable prices and technology maturity (e.g. a future Retrotink-style box with a CRT electron beam simulator), then 3 years is a good time window.

480 Hz OLED prototypes are already running now, and when DVTs actually occur, the MP (Mass Production) is usually about 1 to 1.5 years away. The canary in the coal mine has already started the stopwatch, mark my reliable prediction words. Things like supply crisises can be a problem, but the OLED tortise is NOT going to stop moving -- it's quickly catching up with the LCD refresh rate rabbit and will overtake in near future. 240Hz OLED hit the market with a bang -- you can't buy a desktop OLED with a refresh rate less than 240Hz -- unlike yesteryear crap 120/144/240 LCDs that were TN for years and you had to put up with limited image quality. OLED took forever to hit computer desktop, but once it did, it's a rabbit-powered tortise now.

Note about software-based CRT beam simulators: I already have a TestUFO CRT beam simulator sitting locally already (now using lookup tables to make it perform fast enough without a GPU shader -- it runs realtime in mere javascript now!), unpublished until OLEDs are more widespread as it looks crappy until at least 6:1 to 8:1 ratio of outputHz:inputHz minimum. If you're using OLED+HDR, then 4:1 actually looks usable, but definitely not for LCD. But I prefer to see 6:1 or 8:1 ratios. 480Hz allows 8:1 ratio for 60Hz beam-emulated CRTs that finally looks "better-ish" than ViewSonic XG2431 with the QFT trick. Not as low persistence, but softer flicker, and more accurate CRT look as long as enough HDR nit-surge headroom is utilized (not always possible). 1000Hz OLED 2027-2030 will be much better for CRT beam simulators due to 16:1 output:input ratio, for finer-granularity software-based CRT electron beam simulation.
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Good insight, Chief. And to think you can still find people believing that MiniLED is the future and OLED is nothing more than a "stopgap" until MicroLED.
 
spacediver said:
interesting idea!
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http://www.repairfaq.org/samnew/tvfaq.htm

You can find a lot of troubleshooting info on there.

Flybye said:
That roadmap has me both excited for a FW900 replacement but pretty bummed out at only seeing :9 ratios on it. Why is the industry so anti:10 and higher? I LOVE more vertical. I'm not looking at my screens through Robocop's visor.
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Simplifies production lines would be my guess. I'd rather have 4:3/5:4/1:1 for the additional vertical res. and centered in vision but I doubt we'll see it again.
 
Petrasescu_Lucian said:
I'm in the middle of an upgrade. The card is an RTX 4090 and the CPU is a Core i7 6700k (yeah, I know) :)
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It would be the cherry on top if you could test interlaced resolutions and the performance of GPU Passthrough with that adapter using the hdmi port on your motherboard, to use your integrated graphics to render the picture on interlaced scan and the 4090 do the powerwork.
 
Given that the Sunix DPU3000 clones are basically sold out across the globe, I wish we could mod those laptop docks that have the same Synaptics VMM2322chip. You can find them on ebay for around $10 easy: https://www.ebay.com/itm/174760379580

These things are literally available by the thousands.

I wish I had the electrical knowledge to actually mod these things and add a displayport connector. I don't know if the firmware for the Sunix can be written directly, but there are many revisions of the firmware available online from Dell and Lenovo's websites (maybe some other brands).

If actual schematics and datasheets were available for the chip, I imagine it might be possible to make a cut-down PCB that only provides the VGA connection and power input.
 
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Enhanced Interrogator said:
Given that the Sunix DPU3000 clones are basically sold out across the globe, I wish we could mod those laptop docks that have the same Synaptics VMM2322chip. You can find them on ebay for around $10 easy: https://www.ebay.com/itm/174760379580

These things are literally available by the thousands.

I wish I had the electrical knowledge to actually mod these things and add a displayport connector. I don't know if the firmware for the Sunix can be written directly, but there are many revisions of the firmware available online from Dell and Lenovo's websites (maybe some other brands).

If actual schematics and datasheets were available for the chip, I imagine it might be possible to make a cut-down PCB that only provides the VGA connection and power input.
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I bought DPU3000-D4 & Delock 87685 last year. Now looking for the Highest-Quality 600MHz RAMDAC converter that was ever made in the world (a chipset with better capability/specification than Synaptics VMM2322).

Do you know one?
 
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Xar said:
Do you know one?
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Only 600+ MHz DAC I know of is the one built into analog AMD GPUs. You can unlock past 400MHz with Toasty X's pixel clock patcher.

There may be an external DAC out there that beats the Sunix but nobody's discovered it yet. To my knowledge
 
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Enhanced Interrogator said:
Only 600+ MHz DAC I know of is the one built into analog AMD GPUs. You can unlock past 400MHz with Toasty X's pixel clock patcher.
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Been gaming since 1998 and never knew about this... Only knew AMD's DACs are among the highest quality in GPU industry. How did I miss it!
Enhanced Interrogator said:
There may be an external DAC out there that beats the Sunix but nobody's discovered it yet. To my knowledge
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Likewise with me. There has to be one, even as high as 800-900 MHz. Could be Sunix's as well.
 
aeliusg said:
What is clear though is that high-end CRTs have a historical and technological value that is honestly still understated. In the future they are going to be like the Pyramids of display technology. You could probably reproduce them with modern or future manufacturing techniques but the process and outlay would prevent it from ever happening again in history. That's not to say that some better scanning display technology won't be invented in the future or couldn't be produced right now, but the hundred pounds of metal, glass and silicon representing thousands of man hours and millions of tons of pollution put together in a box just to make the fuzzy picture we know and love aren't ever going to exist again.
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Sorry for dragging this 3 year old post back to the sunlight, but this was simply written so well that I had to take a moment to shed a tear and absorb the facts.
 
Oh, and by the way, pulled this behemoth out of storage to give caps some charge, played COD2 for about an hour, and back to his house where he waits dreaming... :D

20240107_160157.jpg
 
Oh no, thats my current project in process of building. We are expecting a firstborn, and I had this thought that I want to have a good XP Era computer (not strictly period-correct) ready in my storage, so when he gets older, we can play together stuff from late 90s through something like 2008, games that I grew up with, the way I played them. It consists mostly of new old stock or just barely used parts that I gathered over the last year or so. I build it with parts that I trust will survive the next decade.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 (Bought NOS, ebay)
2x1GB G.Skill Azure DDR2 800MHz CL4 RAM (Brand new from my buddy, found it during cleanup of his warehouse)
Asus Rampage Formula (Used full set, 1st owner, really like new)
Asus GTX 750Ti 2GB (Bought NOS, ebay) - yeah i know i know, but it has perfect XP driver support, is defacto immortal, consumes nothing. 8800GTX was there before it.
2x Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (Bought NOS, ebay) - they are not on the photo along with the hdds, i yet have to mount them.
2x WD Black 3.5" 1TB
SeaSonic Core 500W Gold
Noctua NH-U12P + Phanteks T30
CoolerMaster Gladiator 600 + Noctua fans (Bought NOS from local shop)

This is meant to be paired with the FW900, unless I run into some money shortage where I would have to sell it. I am still undecided if I am keeping the FW or some G520 variant (I have a NOS flyback for that and the part donors can be found for cheap if you know where to look for). I would like to have one CRT that will last me for at least 10-20 more years.
 
Easa said:
Oh no, thats my current project in process of building. We are expecting a firstborn, and I had this thought that I want to have a good XP Era computer (not strictly period-correct) ready in my storage, so when he gets older, we can play together stuff from late 90s through something like 2008, games that I grew up with, the way I played them. It consists mostly of new old stock or just barely used parts that I gathered over the last year or so. I build it with parts that I trust will survive the next decade.

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 (Bought NOS, ebay)
2x1GB G.Skill Azure DDR2 800MHz CL4 RAM (Brand new from my buddy, found it during cleanup of his warehouse)
Asus Rampage Formula (Used full set, 1st owner, really like new)
Asus GTX 750Ti 2GB (Bought NOS, ebay) - yeah i know i know, but it has perfect XP driver support, is defacto immortal, consumes nothing. 8800GTX was there before it.
2x Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (Bought NOS, ebay) - they are not on the photo along with the hdds, i yet have to mount them.
2x WD Black 3.5" 1TB
SeaSonic Core 500W Gold
Noctua NH-U12P + Phanteks T30
CoolerMaster Gladiator 600 + Noctua fans (Bought NOS from local shop)

This is meant to be paired with the FW900, unless I run into some money shortage where I would have to sell it. I am still undecided if I am keeping the FW or some G520 variant (I have a NOS flyback for that and the part donors can be found for cheap if you know where to look for). I would like to have one CRT that will last me for at least 10-20 more years.
Click to expand...
Nice unit you have there. Unfortunately it's not the most reliable....10-20 years? I doubt that will happen but good luck!
 
Easa said:
Sorry for dragging this 3 year old post back to the sunlight, but this was simply written so well that I had to take a moment to shed a tear and absorb the facts.
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Worth resurrecting! Still an amazing device. And that true multi-scan!
 
Amazing device that cant be obtained. I never managed to ever find a high-end 21" model, so at this point I've completely given up.
 
cesarioFL71 said:
Nice unit you have there. Unfortunately it's not the most reliable....10-20 years? I doubt that will happen but good luck!
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FW900 is definitely not the one that I would count on, but a G520 rebrand with low hours count (<7000h), a spare new old stock flyback and one G520 as a spare parts donor will get you there, I think.

SH1 said:
Worth resurrecting! Still an amazing device. And that true multi-scan!
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Yes, I grew up with CRTs but I still find this feature amazing.

tongshadow said:
Amazing device that cant be obtained. I never managed to ever find a high-end 21" model, so at this point I've completely given up.
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Where are you from?
 
Guys! Please! I need all of you now. I bought this FW900 today. It has seen better days. Bezel is the worst part, no cracks but covered in scratches and was covered in stickers, I have managed to remove all of them. That plastic cog for rotating the controls panel is missing. Otherwise casing and stand is good. No damage. AG coating is done for.

Now, for the picture. It has this greenish hue till it warms up, it gets better after color restore via OSD but still visible. Geometry in the upper corners is a bit trapezoidal. Upper right corner is probably magnetized a bit. When you go over 50 brightness, or in higher resolutions, the sharpness is bad.

What do I do? Of course WinDAS adjustment of g2, I have tools for that, but what else? Disassembly? Recap? Please help me bring it back to usable condition. Should I remove the AG?

Also, anybody here that would sell me the cog or bezel from some parts donor?
 

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If AG is done for then remove it. Windows White Point Balance is probably due. Once you complete the process the program sets the default brightness to 31 and contrast to 90 I believe. And at those settings the monitor is producing 95 nits for 6500k. You need a colorimeter to get the job done. Sounds to me (without seeing the monitor in person) that you're probably experiencing blooming due to a too bright tube.
 
Easa said:
Sorry, I got excited a bit. I will try to find myself an hour or two tomorrow to do a WinDAS Adjustment, see what happens.
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Get it in spec first, assuming you can, and then go from there. WinDAS also has an option to see any monitor fault codes. I forget the name but it should be relatively apparent what it is when you see it. And always back up your .dat file before screwing around!
 
One more thing - I purchased a new old stock, sealed DTP94 (Monaco Optics XR) about a year ago, to calibrate my P1110. Will that one be enough for the FW900?
 
Easa said:
One more thing - I purchased a new old stock, sealed DTP94 (Monaco Optics XR) about a year ago, to calibrate my P1110. Will that one be enough for the FW900?
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Yep. Should be plenty. Been a long time since I did this but you’ll want to install argyll drivers for it and then run HCFR to take readings.
 
How in the world are these FW900 still functioning? If it breaks you have like a $2,000 paperweight (or however much they sell on ebay now).
 
Not sure where I made a mistake, but I followed each step through White Point Balance as described in this video:


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QblnBmDOWs

And the colors even seemed to be okay after the 9300K adjustment, but after finalizing the settings I am back to where I was, except that the image is now more warmer, like, even on 9300K it was looking like something around 5000K and the colorimeter readings were off.
 
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