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

headless said:
If you stretch the screen so there are no black borders @ 1024x768, everything will be out of whack..people will look very 'fat'. If you want easy to read but still to use your entire monitor, use 1280x800 - that's a widescreen res that will be easy for you to read, but will still use the entire monitor while keeping squares square and circles circular. I play cs: course @ 1280x800x130hz on my fw900. Easier to land distant headshots, and a nice high refresh rate for snap aiming.
Click to expand...

Ok Thank you...
 
headless said:
If you stretch the screen so there are no black borders @ 1024x768, everything will be out of whack..people will look very 'fat'. If you want easy to read but still to use your entire monitor, use 1280x800 - that's a widescreen res that will be easy for you to read, but will still use the entire monitor while keeping squares square and circles circular. I play cs: course @ 1280x800x130hz on my fw900. Easier to land distant headshots, and a nice high refresh rate for snap aiming.
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Is it normal on windows 7 64bit that when I set it to 1280x800 the only refresh option is 75hz? When I go to screen resolution properties only 75hz is in the list.
 
You can add more with your drivers or other apps. I had to add 1280x800 @ 85Hz, 100Hz and 120Hz from my video driver control panel.
 
Custom resolutions. You have to define the new custom resolution you want to use. You might need a newer driver to get that done.
 
tgg said:
Is it normal on windows 7 64bit that when I set it to 1280x800 the only refresh option is 75hz? When I go to screen resolution properties only 75hz is in the list.
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Only with BNC. You should see a fuller list with VGA.
 
GreenMonkey said:
Only with BNC. You should see a fuller list with VGA.
Click to expand...

Yea wierd I didnt see a more list of refresh rates only the 75hz, so I ahd to add a custom res and rate of 85hz in the nvidia control panel properties. And I am using VGA.
 
So, the chirping sound coming from the area where the power plug goes in on my fw900 is back with a vengeance. This is really annoying. Last time I left it off for a couple days (I also moved it to another room and back) and that fixed it, but leaving it off for a couple days this past weekend didn't do the trick.
 
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Hi Guys. New here. In the last 2 months I bought 2 used GDM-FW900's off ebay. I had been running an IBM P202 21" CRT for 5 years and as my bro and cousin and father, everyone I know all had LCD's. Soon enough I realized I couldn't stand to look at them. So when my trusty old 21 started showing signs of failure I began my quest to get one of these Sony's.

The first one was from California. I'm in New York and had to arranged pickup and shipping. During the ship the physically perfect unit was damaged. The front fascia was cracked in the upper right and there is a very distinct green tinge to the Black levels of the monitor during warmup that the seller claims was not there before he shipped it. After 40-60 minutes the monitor is warmed up and it looks perfect.

The second monitor I bought was from Brooklyn so I picked it up myself. This one had more cosmetic and physical issues. Its entire anti-glare/anti-static coating has been removed. The D-sub connector in the back is missing a screw terminal and the wire needs to be bent to prevent it from changing everything to yellow, there are some minor scratches on the housing and the previous owner was a heavy smoker so it STINKS! However it seems this monitor was used infrequently as it belonged to a photographer who previewed images on it and the glass is otherwise undamaged.

I have one of these on my PC and the other on my brother's temporarily. Both running ATI 4800 series Im on winXP he is on win7. I have the XP driver installed on mine and win7 just worked with no help.

I was running both with standard D-sub's so on Sunday I ordered, and today received 2 D-sub to RGBHV cables and I was anxious to see if it made a real difference (especially in the one that constantly turned yellow due to that faulty connector). So while my pc was running I unplugged the D-Sub and switched to input 2 and holy hell does that 5 BNC setup look staggeringly better. Colors are brighter and everything is much sharper. It also eliminated a ghosting I was seeing in high contrast text and a slight flicker I saw even at 85hz with d-sub.

All was well with the world until I restarted and both machines started with the non-PnP monitor crap. So I searched hi and low and found this forum. The only place I think I will find any answers to all the questions I have. For example.

HOW THE HELL CAN I GET THESE BASTARDS TO RUN 1920x1200 @ 85Hz if they don't know they can? I'm currently (annoyingly) starting my computer with it plugged in d-sub and then once loaded swapping it out for the RGBHV. Any help will be appreciated.
 
ZeosPantera said:
Hi Guys. New here. In the last 2 months I bought 2 used GDM-FW900's off ebay. I had been running an IBM P202 21" CRT for 5 years and as my bro and cousin and father, everyone I know all had LCD's. Soon enough I realized I couldn't stand to look at them. So when my trusty old 21 started showing signs of failure I began my quest to get one of these Sony's.

The first one was from California. I'm in New York and had to arranged pickup and shipping. During the ship the physically perfect unit was damaged. The front fascia was cracked in the upper right and there is a very distinct green tinge to the Black levels of the monitor during warmup that the seller claims was not there before he shipped it. After 40-60 minutes the monitor is warmed up and it looks perfect.

The second monitor I bought was from Brooklyn so I picked it up myself. This one had more cosmetic and physical issues. Its entire anti-glare/anti-static coating has been removed. The D-sub connector in the back is missing a screw terminal and the wire needs to be bent to prevent it from changing everything to yellow, there are some minor scratches on the housing and the previous owner was a heavy smoker so it STINKS! However it seems this monitor was used infrequently as it belonged to a photographer who previewed images on it and the glass is otherwise undamaged.

I have one of these on my PC and the other on my brother's temporarily. Both running ATI 4800 series Im on winXP he is on win7. I have the XP driver installed on mine and win7 just worked with no help.

I was running both with standard D-sub's so on Sunday I ordered, and today received 2 D-sub to RGBHV cables and I was anxious to see if it made a real difference (especially in the one that constantly turned yellow due to that faulty connector). So while my pc was running I unplugged the D-Sub and switched to input 2 and holy hell does that 5 BNC setup look staggeringly better. Colors are brighter and everything is much sharper. It also eliminated a ghosting I was seeing in high contrast text and a slight flicker I saw even at 85hz with d-sub.

All was well with the world until I restarted and both machines started with the non-PnP monitor crap. So I searched hi and low and found this forum. The only place I think I will find any answers to all the questions I have. For example.

HOW THE HELL CAN I GET THESE BASTARDS TO RUN 1920x1200 @ 85Hz if they don't know they can? I'm currently (annoyingly) starting my computer with it plugged in d-sub and then once loaded swapping it out for the RGBHV. Any help will be appreciated.
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I'm going to guess you're running windows 7 with an ATI 5xxx series card, as that's the only time i've had this issue with mine, which was fixed by dropping the driver files from sony into the system32/drivers/etc folder and rebooting.
 
Shannow said:
I'm going to guess you're running windows 7 with an ATI 5xxx series card, as that's the only time i've had this issue with mine, which was fixed by dropping the driver files from sony into the system32/drivers/etc folder and rebooting.
Click to expand...

Well I have two FW900's each on a separate PC. My XP with a 4890 and my bro's Win7 with a 4850. Will dropping the "Snymon17.inf" and .cat help my issues for using the RGBHV cable?

I just bought a high quality DVI to dual VGA adapter. I am going to plug both my D-sub and RGBHV cables into it and see if the PC will see the info and then output correctly to the 5 BNC's .. I may for insane quality's sake cut the RGB pins off the standard VGA cable so that the signal isn't shared.
 
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If you're using BNC you should be able to install the Sony FW900 monitor driver, and force install the monitor as your display driver (Have Disk option in XP). Does that work?
 
GreenMonkey said:
If you're using BNC you should be able to install the Sony FW900 monitor driver, and force install the monitor as your display driver (Have Disk option in XP). Does that work?
Click to expand...

I have done that and it always says the default driver it is using is better. Placing the driver in system32>drivers>etc did help one of my d-sub issues after my GFX software reinstall but the BNC screws it up regardless.

I'm waiting to see if the splitter will help the issue.
 
ZeosPantera said:
I have done that and it always says the default driver it is using is better. Placing the driver in system32>drivers>etc did help one of my d-sub issues after my GFX software reinstall but the BNC screws it up regardless.

I'm waiting to see if the splitter will help the issue.
Click to expand...

uninstall the default driver(remove from system)
 
What is the absolutely highest resolution that this monitor can handle (even if unofficially, as long as it works) at 60 Hz or higher? Any aspect ratio will do, just as long as it has the most pixel count.
 
ZeosPantera said:
I have done that and it always says the default driver it is using is better. Placing the driver in system32>drivers>etc did help one of my d-sub issues after my GFX software reinstall but the BNC screws it up regardless.

I'm waiting to see if the splitter will help the issue.
Click to expand...

Are you running under XP or Vista/7?

I don't think you're picking the right options to force install of the correct monitor driver. It should be "select driver myself from a list" or something like that. Depends on what win versoin you're running.

shurcooL said:
What is the absolutely highest resolution that this monitor can handle (even if unofficially, as long as it works) at 60 Hz or higher? Any aspect ratio will do, just as long as it has the most pixel count.
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2304x1440
 
MetaGenie said:
EDIT: The loss of focus towards the edges on my FW900 is very very slight. If you were seeing merely the normal amount of fuzziness I don't think you'd be complaining; it's only noticeable at super-high resolutions such as 2736×1710, and even then it's subtle; at 1920×1200 I can't even see it. The FW900 is very sharp.
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So can it run 2736x1710? Awesome.
 
shurcooL said:
So can it run 2736x1710? Awesome.
Click to expand...

This monitor is not designed to run at 2736x1710 resolution. It will give you an error "OUT OF RANGE..."

If someone claimed that it will run at this resolution, please send me a personal email immediately...At what refresh rate did it run? With which video board and drivers?

Thanks,

Unkle Vito!
 
I quoted the person who said that.

I have no idea what this monitor can run, that's why I was asking. Basically, I was just curious what is the max possible resolution with one of the most top end CRTs (as far as I know).
 
Here is the modeline for 2736x1710 that works on my FW900 (with custom "monitor driver") and GeForce 8800 GTS 512 with latest nvidia driver (195.62):
2736 208 304 500 1710 1 3 64 399750
(Horizontal active / front porch / sync width / back porch / Vertical active / front porch / sync width / back porch / Pixel clock in KHz)
This has a horizontal scan rate of 106 kHz and vertical refresh rate of 60 Hz.

My Sony GDM-F500 can do 2560x1920@60Hz which is an even higher pixel count, and per physical screen area is sharper than my FW900.

These modes are video card limited, not monitor limited. The FW900 could probably do 3120x1950@60Hz, but it would require a pixel clock of 520 MHz, and consumer video cards only go up to 400 MHz.
 
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GreenMonkey said:
Are you running under XP or Vista/7?

I don't think you're picking the right options to force install of the correct monitor driver. It should be "select driver myself from a list" or something like that. Depends on what win versoin you're running.
Click to expand...

I am currently on winXP with one of my 900's and Win7 with another, I have 2 of these monitors. So the method for both will be greatly appreciated considering I will probably upgrade my current machines to Win7 also.

Also on the physically broken front.. I Figured that my D-Sub connector, that is broken and changes the screen to yellow occasionally, must also have the pins broken or loose responsible for sending model info to my pc. If I start the monitor with the cable slightly off perfect she comes up default.. So yeah. Please a like or a short explanation on how to FORCE (with violence) the Sony driver.
 
Reading through this thread I can't find any definitive method for getting this monitor working properly with an NVidia graphics cards in Win7.

Someone posted some hacked 64bit drivers a while back. But the link has expired so that is now no good.

Using the NVidia control panel I can only force 4:3 resolutions which is annoying to say the least.

Anyone have any ideas?
 
innocenceisdeath said:
Reading through this thread I can't find any definitive method for getting this monitor working properly with an NVidia graphics cards in Win7.

Someone posted some hacked 64bit drivers a while back. But the link has expired so that is now no good.

Using the NVidia control panel I can only force 4:3 resolutions which is annoying to say the least.

Anyone have any ideas?
Click to expand...


The link that I have up for those drivers along with my hacked monitor EDID file is still working:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1035009057#post1035009057

Using these and drivers version 182.xx I am able to run whatever resolutions I want on win7 64bit on my GTX260.

I check via OSD - 1280x800x130hz works, as does 1680x1050x100hz and 1920x1200x85hz.

To create the EDID file, I had to use a couple of programs - Phoenix, Moninfo and Softmccs
I used the tutorial mentioned here:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/7947-force-dvi-hdmi-resolutions-refresh-rates.html
 
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The question I still have is how do I force my XP (or future W7) to use the sony driver since I have an ATI setup?
 
I'm actually having a problem with refresh rates in Win 7 64bit. I can select and create any resolution I want but the refresh rates are predetermined and cant be changed, for example I normally game at 1600x1000 @ 60hz w/ Vsync, but in Win 7 its locked at 85hz and wont let me change it, even if I try to specify 60hz in a custom resolution. If I try to load any of the FW900 .inf drivers it says they're not compatible with 64bit.

And in case anyones wondering why I'd want 60hz its because for some reason when Vsync is enabled framerates look more fluid being locked at 60fps/60Hz vs. 85fps/85Hz, I dont know why exactly. (Has a slight stutter effect at 85hz).
 
mathesar said:
I'm actually having a problem with refresh rates in Win 7 64bit. I can select and create any resolution I want but the refresh rates are predetermined and cant be changed, for example I normally game at 1600x1000 @ 60hz w/ Vsync, but in Win 7 its locked at 85hz and wont let me change it, even if I try to specify 60hz in a custom resolution. If I try to load any of the FW900 .inf drivers it says they're not compatible with 64bit.

And in case anyones wondering why I'd want 60hz its because for some reason when Vsync is enabled framerates look more fluid being locked at 60fps/60Hz vs. 85fps/85Hz, I dont know why exactly. (Has a slight stutter effect at 85hz).
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Im dreading the update to win7 64bit for similar reasons. Just the little annoyances that there are no answers for.

UPDATE: I have finally remembered how to get to the "Have Disk" option in winXP (been so long since I needed that!) and forced my machine to use snymon17.inf. HOWEVER.. even with that and the Sony GDM-FW900 being shown as the current monitor I still get PANNING over 1600x1200 with my RGBHV cable. Is there a way to make it stop panning? It's as if I was still using the "default monitor" driver.
 
I got my fw 900 coupel weeks ago on craiglist local pickup in my city for 60 bucks and its in good shape. I have the common issue that supposely it needs the flyback transformer replaced because it causes the whole screen to get all blurry then all of a sudden it makes the POP nosie and goes back into focus again.

My question is, it has this blurry issue only when the monitor is cold from first turning it on for the day, such as turning it on in the morning and then in couple minutes it goes into the blurry issue then if I just leave it alone it goes away by itself while it does that POPing noise or i can make it work permantely if I turn off the monitor then back on then it fine all day and night until nesxt time I turn it on again from being off and cold.

Anyone know why it works fine when the monitor is not cold?

Also whats the best way to clean this monitor that has the anti glare coating on the screen?

Thanks Thomas
 
tgg said:
Anyone know why it works fine when the monitor is not cold?

Also whats the best way to clean this monitor that has the anti glare coating on the screen?

Thanks Thomas
Click to expand...

On the monitor I had shipped from Cali that FEDEX DROPPED!! BASTARDS... I got that blurry pop which after I turned it off and on worked fine and never did it again in the 2 months I used it. When Monitors are cold they are... cold. Only when a CRT is warmed up is it actually settled down and running. While warming up certain things are not at peak performance. I assume that transformer is one of them.


As for cleaning go find yourself a small spray bottle of Lens cleaner for glasses, camera lenses. I use Flents that I found at K-mart but anything for anti-glare or coated glass should work fine. The other monitor I am currently working on has no Anti-glare coating.. which means it also has no anti-static coating.. so when I turn it on.. every time I turn it on every cat hair and microscopic piece of dust in the north-east leaps onto the screen. I have the benefit of being able to use alcohol to clean it off with no AG coating to baby.I don't miss the coating as white's are insanely white. But the static issue is a PIA!

Oh this forum needs moar pictures of these puppies!

Pc230040.jpg


I named them Eastcoast and Westcoast from their origins.. I'm currently using Eastcoast. Ignore the mess.
 
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ZeosPantera said:
Im dreading the update to win7 64bit for similar reasons. Just the little annoyances that there are no answers for.

UPDATE: I have finally remembered how to get to the "Have Disk" option in winXP (been so long since I needed that!) and forced my machine to use snymon17.inf. HOWEVER.. even with that and the Sony GDM-FW900 being shown as the current monitor I still get PANNING over 1600x1200 with my RGBHV cable. Is there a way to make it stop panning? It's as if I was still using the "default monitor" driver.
Click to expand...

I solved my refresh issue yesterday by switching from VGA to BNC cable, Win 7 doesnt know what to do with a BNC connection so the monitor is detected as Generic, but then you can set everything manually. (Which is a good thing!). I Was able to make any custom resolution / refresh rate combo in the Nvidia control panel.
 
ZeosPantera said:
I am currently on winXP with one of my 900's and Win7 with another, I have 2 of these monitors. So the method for both will be greatly appreciated considering I will probably upgrade my current machines to Win7 also.

Also on the physically broken front.. I Figured that my D-Sub connector, that is broken and changes the screen to yellow occasionally, must also have the pins broken or loose responsible for sending model info to my pc. If I start the monitor with the cable slightly off perfect she comes up default.. So yeah. Please a like or a short explanation on how to FORCE (with violence) the Sony driver.
Click to expand...

I did a little googling around and found this, it sounds mostly correct:

In Win XP/2000, click on “My Computer" - "Control Panel" - "Display" - " Setting" - "Advanced" - "Monitor" - "Properties” – “Driver”. For Win XP, in Control Panel, please makes sure select “Classic view”.
Click on “update driver” and click “next” button
Click on “display a list of the know driver for this device so that i can choose a specific driver” and click “next” button.
Click on “have disk” button
Click on “look in” and locate file folder
Click on “open” and click “OK” button
Select the model or P/N of the monitor and click on “next” button.
Click on “next” button again
Restart the computer

-----------------
Using my Work PC as an example, I think it should be like this:

Looking on my XP work computer, it's: display properties - monitor tab - properties - driver tab - update driver - "Can windows connect to windows update..." answer no... then "Install the software from a list or specific location" ...then "don't search, I will choose the driver to install"...uncheck "show compatible hardware" - Have Disk - find the directory with the FW900 driver in it and use the driver.

That should work and give you the correct res/refresh choices.

I think you need to uncheck that "Show compatible hardware" button, because there's no monitor EDID information being passed via BNC.
 
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mathesar said:
I solved my refresh issue yesterday by switching from VGA to BNC cable, Win 7 doesnt know what to do with a BNC connection so the monitor is detected as Generic, but then you can set everything manually. (Which is a good thing!). I Was able to make any custom resolution / refresh rate combo in the Nvidia control.
Click to expand...

My ATI Catalyst is broken and refuses to start. Driver installs fine but the control panel just never opens.

GreenMonkey said:
I did a little googling around and found this, it sounds mostly correct:
-----------------
Using my Work PC as an example, I think it should be like this:

That should work and give you the correct res/refresh choices.

I think you need to uncheck that "Show compatible hardware" button, because there's no monitor EDID information being passed via BNC.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your help. I had already tried that method except the "uncheck Show compatible hardware". So I redid it again and restarted and was panning 1920x1200. Let it load and did it again.. still panning. And then I tried just finding it in the list and restarting.. same thing. It does say I am on a GDM-FW900 and gives me up to 1920x1440 and up to 90Hz as the options but anything over 1600x1200 goes into panning mode and even though it says its on 85hz it is not. I have to crank it to 100hz to stop visible flicker when in panning . I don't get it. My install of XP is pretty old and broken. It may be adversely affecting this issue. I guess I will continue to start it up with d-sub and then swap it out to RGBHV (yes it makes that big a difference!).
 
ZeosPantera said:
My ATI Catalyst is broken and refuses to start. Driver installs fine but the control panel just never opens.
Click to expand...

Might be a stretch here but do you have the latest .NET framework installed? I ask because I recently installed WinXP fresh on a friends PC and his ATI control panel wouldn't work until we installed NET framework 3.5 (version 3.5 showed up as an optional windows update).
 
What brightness setting you guys use on the fw900? Mines at 31. How would I know if I need to adjsut it up or down? Thanks
 
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