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

junglist said:
thx for the reply shiznit. so whats your refresh rate @ 1920 x 1080? and what rez do you like the best on your hp?
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I don't use 1920x1080 that much but it runs great at 100hz. I use 960x600@150hz for CSS, 1280x800@120hz for COD4, desktop is 1440x900@100hz and 1600x1000@100hz for other games. This is just my preference as I don't want to strain it too much, but it will do 1280x800@140hz and 1440x900@120hz. Basically you can keep increasing the vertical refresh rate until you hit the horizontal refresh limit of 121.x hz, you can see what it is by clicking in the joystick on the monitor, the first number is horizontal and the second vertical. 1920x1200@85hz is too flickery for me but i'm picky, 95hz is doable but pushes the screen to the limit and fonts are way too small so I don't use it.
 
thank you so much for your input. and the games and rezs you use. buying the hp instead of the sony will let me get a new psu and some new memory as well.i was just very concerned about the resfresh rates available on it. i think that you and i are on the same wave length as far as refresh is concerned. with my old crt i would play at lower res to get a 100hz or higher refresh. it makes such a difference.
 
I'm running my Desktop at 1680x1050@95hz

For games like HL-LC, TDU ect I usually run at 1920x1200@100hz.

Xbox360 is stuck at 60hz, but looks really good on this monitor @ 1920x1080

Being able to keep the refresh at 95 or higher pretty much negates the need for Vsync
I've never seen any screen tearing, and with my Xfire setup I've yet to see rates drop below 32fps with everything maxed out.

I returned an ACER 24" Waid 2ms and got this instead.. no regrets.
 
junglist said:
thank you so much for your input. and the games and rezs you use. buying the hp instead of the sony will let me get a new psu and some new memory as well.i was just very concerned about the resfresh rates available on it. i think that you and i are on the same wave length as far as refresh is concerned. with my old crt i would play at lower res to get a 100hz or higher refresh. it makes such a difference.
Click to expand...
word, I hate using vsync so I play with refresh rates high enough not to see the tearing.
 
These are so awesome. If anyone has one in the Miami/WPB area that they want to get rid of, please PM me...:D
 
has anyone here got both the fw900 and the w900,
main reason i was going to use one monitor in the workshop and leave one in the bedroom,
so side by sided both connected to the ps3 at 720p and then 1080p the w900 gave me slightly better picture,
what i was expecting was the fw900 to give a better picture but it was the other around so i tried out all the adapters i have,
i-scan.Lumagen,vga box,Mayflash,hdfurry,v-fc4,Hdmi Switch scaler,plus afew no brand scalers and converters but have got the same result in most,
if anyone got both monitors and also see a different let me know,
it confusing the hell out of me...............
 
vidguy said:
I'm running my Desktop at 1680x1050@95hz

For games like HL-LC, TDU ect I usually run at 1920x1200@100hz.

Xbox360 is stuck at 60hz, but looks really good on this monitor @ 1920x1080

Being able to keep the refresh at 95 or higher pretty much negates the need for Vsync
I've never seen any screen tearing, and with my Xfire setup I've yet to see rates drop below 32fps with everything maxed out.
Click to expand...

94Hz is the maximum refresh rate @ 1920x1200 for this monitor if you want to stay in spec. Anything higher exceeds the recommended clock rate. I am not sure if that shortens the life of the monitor, but as hard as it is getting to get a good one I am not willing to risk it. Also, I can definitely see a decrease in sharpness if I go up to 95Hz at that resolution.

My desktop runs at 1920x1200 85Hz. If I want a higher refresh rate for games, 1600x1000 110Hz is still in spec.
 
DDuckMan said:
94Hz is the maximum refresh rate @ 1920x1200 for this monitor if you want to stay in spec. Anything higher exceeds the recommended clock rate. I am not sure if that shortens the life of the monitor, but as hard as it is getting to get a good one I am not willing to risk it. Also, I can definitely see a decrease in sharpness if I go up to 95Hz at that resolution.

My desktop runs at 1920x1200 85Hz. If I want a higher refresh rate for games, 1600x1000 110Hz is still in spec.
Click to expand...

acutally that depends, mine can go to to 97hz @ 1920x1200 before it hits the horizontal refresh limit, and the recommended rate is 85 so we are all exceeding anyway, not like it matters because the monitor will simply refuse to accept a refresh rate too high and give you an error message. Thats not to say that we should be running the monitor at the limit as it will age the tube faster, plus I think that the dot pitch isn't small enough to display 1920x1200 with clarity. 1600x1000@100hz is a good compromise, clear fonts and not pushing the gun to the limit, it's what I use for most single player games.
 
shiznit said:
acutally that depends, mine can go to to 97hz @ 1920x1200 before it hits the horizontal refresh limit, and the recommended rate is 85 so we are all exceeding anyway, not like it matters because the monitor will simply refuse to accept a refresh rate too high and give you an error message. Thats not to say that we should be running the monitor at the limit as it will age the tube faster, plus I think that the dot pitch isn't small enough to display 1920x1200 with clarity. 1600x1000@100hz is a good compromise, clear fonts and not pushing the gun to the limit, it's what I use for most single player games.
Click to expand...

Don't know why we would get different horizontal scan rates. Maybe it is different if you don't use GTF, which gives a horizontal scan rate of 120.36 and a pixel clock of 319 @ 95. That is right at the limit for Hmax. I read somewhere to try to keep the pixel clock below 300 for this monitor, although it will accept up to 390-400. I don't remember where I got the information, so take it with a grain of salt.

I'm just trying to baby this thing until OLED or SED is practical, which will be a while yet.
 
DDuckMan said:
I'm just trying to baby this thing until OLED or SED is practical, which will be a while yet.
Click to expand...
you read my mind, thats why I don't use 1920x1200 at all as 85hz is still flickery to me and I keep the refresh rates with 1280x800 and 1440x900 relatively consevative at 120hz and 100hz respectively. I refuse to touch LCD for anything but text based stuff and I'm even tempted to get a backup FW900 just in case this one dies or goes bad. I am using Nvidia Control Panel to create custom resolutions and refresh rates, so I have no information about or control over pixel clock and horizontal scan rate (other than the monitors status screen) and Powerstrip doesn't support custom resolutions on the 8800.
 
shiznit said:
you read my mind, thats why I don't use 1920x1200 at all as 85hz is still flickery to me and I keep the refresh rates with 1280x800 and 1440x900 relatively consevative at 120hz and 100hz respectively. I refuse to touch LCD for anything but text based stuff and I'm even tempted to get a backup FW900 just in case this one dies or goes bad. I am using Nvidia Control Panel to create custom resolutions and refresh rates, so I have no information about or control over pixel clock and horizontal scan rate (other than the monitors status screen) and Powerstrip doesn't support custom resolutions on the 8800.
Click to expand...

If you tick the "advanced" box in the nVidia control panel when creating or editing a custom resolution, the pixel clock and horizontal scan rates are calculated for you.
 
Well, I'm (finally) a proud owner of FW900s! I picked up 3 in the past two days from local sellers, two FW900s and one A7217A.

The HP is perfect; no over-brightness, and the chassis is in great shape (just sticker residue). Too bad its not in the sexy Sony casing, but I'll bet its impossible or pointless to try and find a casing only (bezel only would look weird). 1920x1200 @ 85Hz looks stunning, but sitting right next to a LCD, it can't match in brightness XD

The other FW900 I hooked up is suffering from over-brightness; based on my expierience fixing my P991 and P1130 (I actually did a 510kOhm SMD resistor swap on the P991 before discovering DAS), loosk like I need to dig out my proto-board with the DAS cable guts on it. How easy is it to pop the case off on these guys, same as G5xx series? (bunch o tabs?) I find it easier to solder onto the DAS pins.

The last FW900 I haven't hooked up at home yet, but I know when I picked it up/was demoed it has weird horizontal lines (retrace lines?) + over-brightness trouble. I know I can fix the later w/ WinDAS, but what about those retrace lines? They are at ~45 degree angle down the whoel screen, but kind of all curve up to the upper left corner. I think doing over-brightness fix + Image Restore may fix it...

Can anyone in this thread who has done a DAS adjust toss up the pinout of the FW900s port?
 
Something weird has come up with my FW900. Don't know if I should be happy about it or worried. Anyways, every so often after turning on the screen, the picture would go all blurry, and the only way to get rid of that effect was to turn off the screen, wait, and turn it back on again.

Now for the last few days, when the picture goes blurry, after like a 100ms there's a sound like a discharge of a flash of a camera and the screen is sharp again.

Is this a sign of the screen dying soon? Should I look for a replacement? There's an ebay auction for an FW900 built in 12/2003. Should I get it?
 
Anyone interested in getting rid of FW900 in the Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas?
I have been trying to find one of these for some time. I have an 34XBR960 and a 50A2000 SXRD. I would like the FW900 to go along with the 34XBR960 as the best CRT Displays available to the consumer.
 
My HP FW900 finally came from Ebay today! I must say that this monitor is beautiful, save for a small scratch on the center of the screen. Does anyone know how to fix that? It is not a chipping nor a break in the glass, just a small scratch (only noticable when the screen is all black or all white).
 
have you used a cleaning solution,
some times a scratch which must have happened ages ago tend to getg dirt trap so using cleaning solutions should clean it up so it wont be noticeable on white backgrounds
 
i have been playing GTA on the 45 in my bedroom so wanted to see how it looks on the sony monitors so tried it on the w900 first with hdmi and picture was slightly darker, then tried it with component and picture was fine,
so then same with the fw900 but with hdmi picture was more darker but component same,
now now i unplug the ps3 and plug the xbox and picture was more darker on both connections.......

anyone els had the same issues with the darkness,

also got a spare fw900 from my mates work place the other day used condition but screen is fine, only thing its got a BBC stamp on the back and side and studio department and numberr on the top,
am not sure if these will come away but you can always spray the case,
anyway i only got it for the bnc and vga double cable sets with splitters that came with it as there normaly cost over 100quid,
i got the monitor for free so its free to whoever wants it first to pm can have it,
monitor located in ealing comon am free this weekend, mon/tues/wens and going franch till the weekend............:D

i can take a picture of it as well if wanted with what ever you perfer you'd want to see on it ps3 game,xbox games,wii,blueray,tv or pc
but dont push it with request remember its FREE!!!
 
Hi again. Can you guys post a more detailed explination on how to open the monitor? I tried the earlier way of unscrewing the screws, but when I try to pull off the back casing it just doesnt open. The only reason I'm trying to do this is because there is a scratch on the monitor. I am not too sure if it is the monitor itself (ie the glass) or the anti glare coating. Could anyone with this monitor (and anti glare coating still attatched) tell me this: Does it feel any different than glass when you touch the screen? I don't know if the coating is still on mine and I REALLY NEED HELP with this. Thank you so much.
 
Fixed both of my FW900s up, lowered G2 on each to 130, perfect now. Have 'em hooked up via BNC on Vista x64 to a 8800GTS; only problem is the custom resolutions in the NV control panel; games don't know about modes over 1600x1200, so its kinda teh suck. Might need to go to VGA cables...:(

@tml09, it was stupidly easy for me, I removed it on accident almost. Remove ye olde 4 screws, and then start pulling on the back casing. One of the monitors it popped right off, the other one, one side started coming off, and then I used a screwdriver to pop down a tab on the other side, and it came off nicely.

I dunno about the anti-glare coating, no need to remove it here, scratch-free screens and bezels.
 
tml09 said:
Hi again. Can you guys post a more detailed explination on how to open the monitor? I tried the earlier way of unscrewing the screws, but when I try to pull off the back casing it just doesnt open. The only reason I'm trying to do this is because there is a scratch on the monitor. I am not too sure if it is the monitor itself (ie the glass) or the anti glare coating. Could anyone with this monitor (and anti glare coating still attatched) tell me this: Does it feel any different than glass when you touch the screen? I don't know if the coating is still on mine and I REALLY NEED HELP with this. Thank you so much.
Click to expand...

To take off the back casing, just smack the middle top part near the bezel to loosen the clip. I've took of the anti glare but can't tell you what it's feels like, but when you manage to take off the case you can then take off the bezel to see if anti glare is there or not. I believed there's about eight screws to take off the bezel. It's really not hard at all. Good luck.

edit: Sorry, when I say "smack" I mean use the palm of your hand not a sledge hammer, I don't want to be responsible for any damage :D.
 
Well my fw900 is essentially toast now, i plugged in the p260 after moving apartments just because it's so easier to lift onto the desk and realised just how obscenely out of focus the fw900 is. The only thing is I STILL need a windas cable because i've got the brightness at 0 on this screen and everythings still pretty bloody bright. I'm thinking lowering the g2 will fix things.

also every time I do color restoration with this thing the screen gets brighter and brighter until I see diagonal lines which split in two and the screen shuts off and goes into blinking yellow mode, eventually if I power it off and let it sit it comes back on. Any ideas?
 
DJACID said:
i have been playing GTA on the 45 in my bedroom so wanted to see how it looks on the sony monitors so tried it on the w900 first with hdmi and picture was slightly darker, then tried it with component and picture was fine,
so then same with the fw900 but with hdmi picture was more darker but component same,
now now i unplug the ps3 and plug the xbox and picture was more darker on both connections.......

anyone els had the same issues with the darkness,

also got a spare fw900 from my mates work place the other day used condition but screen is fine, only thing its got a BBC stamp on the back and side and studio department and numberr on the top,
am not sure if these will come away but you can always spray the case,
anyway i only got it for the bnc and vga double cable sets with splitters that came with it as there normaly cost over 100quid,
i got the monitor for free so its free to whoever wants it first to pm can have it,
monitor located in ealing comon am free this weekend, mon/tues/wens and going franch till the weekend............:D

i can take a picture of it as well if wanted with what ever you perfer you'd want to see on it ps3 game,xbox games,wii,blueray,tv or pc
but dont push it with request remember its FREE!!!
Click to expand...

pm and monitor gone.............
 
First post!
Hello,
I have a problem with my GDW-FW900. It work's perfectly except that it is greentinted.
When I bought it I got a Ecs/windas cable with it. I have succesfully dismantled the chassi from the screen revealing the serviceport.
My trouble start's here, the serviceport has 4 pins while the windas/ecs cable I have has a 6 pin connector.
So now my question is;
do i have the wrong cable?
 
Freppa said:
First post!
Hello,
I have a problem with my GDW-FW900. It work's perfectly except that it is greentinted.
When I bought it I got a Ecs/windas cable with it. I have succesfully dismantled the chassi from the screen revealing the serviceport.
My trouble start's here, the serviceport has 4 pins while the windas/ecs cable I have has a 6 pin connector.
So now my question is;
do i have the wrong cable?
Click to expand...

I've modified my ECS to usb wire so I don't can't tell which is which anymore, but if your is like mine just don't use "RTS" and CTS".
 
Yes! Just purchased mines from craigslist for a decent price. At first I thought it was defective because it had a green tint in the upper left corner.

Then I found the landing option and it looks terrific :) Heavy thing to carry upstairs.. lol

Who wants my soyo 24"? lol
 
I'm currently on Year 10 of a cousin of the FW900 (the GDM-90w10) that is getting dim.

You jokingly mentioning getting rid of the 24" Soyo. I have to ask, since I'm thinking of replacing my monitor with the 24" Soyo. How does the Soyo compare to your CRT? Will I be unsatisfied enough to want to go the FW900 route?
 
well out of the box the soyo looks nicer, as far as text and colors go.

I am still trying to get the colors right on the fw900. is there any specific settings I need, even though all crts are different


What brightness / contrast level do you guys have?
 
lol...........
am currently using it with vista x64,
anyway i solved my tiny problem i was using a 13a plug and then plug in a 10a and picture was fine everything sorted,
not 100% but dont most monitors take 5a fuse plugs as i check and all the lcd take 5a????????
so shall i change the fuse to 5 or leave it at 10a?????
what fuse do you have in ur plug?????
 
OK so I'm pretty sure the monitor is dying, the screen flickers green most of the time when I turn it on. And sometimes, seemingly at random, the screen will get really blurry, flicker from the center and then go clear. Just now, I turned it on, the screen stayed green for a while then shrank spherically to darkness with red green and blue lines through this sphere. The orange light then kept blinking twice. It's hard to explain but this sounds bad no? Any way to fix this?
 
not sure if this will help,
but i had a problem with one of my ones and it was similar to urs but now and then when i used the ps3 the picture would wash out to a white screen and i had to switch it on and off to sort it out, finally gave up and left it in the workshop to use there,
but recently when moving it to another table i used a longer table and since then the picture has been fine problems sorted the old cable had a 13a fuse and the one am currently using has a 5a,
am not sure if this even solved the problem...
 
Do your FW900's collect a lot of dust, too? Mine is always so dusty after a few days. I clean it every week with a soft cloth but I'm scared to harm the monitor on the long run. Well, the anti-reflective skin is still on but I do not plan to remove it.
Any ideas?
 
tml09 said:
Hi again. Can you guys post a more detailed explination on how to open the monitor? I tried the earlier way of unscrewing the screws, but when I try to pull off the back casing it just doesnt open. The only reason I'm trying to do this is because there is a scratch on the monitor. I am not too sure if it is the monitor itself (ie the glass) or the anti glare coating. Could anyone with this monitor (and anti glare coating still attatched) tell me this: Does it feel any different than glass when you touch the screen? I don't know if the coating is still on mine and I REALLY NEED HELP with this. Thank you so much.
Click to expand...

Why do you want to remove the case to examine the glare coating?

(The anti-glare coating is not a distinct panel in front of the tube's face that could be easily removed with the cabinet off. You probably know that however...so just asking...)
 
SH1 said:
Why do you want to remove the case to examine the glare coating?

(The anti-glare coating is not a distinct panel in front of the tube's face that could be easily removed with the cabinet off. You probably know that however...so just asking...)
Click to expand...

Theres 3 small tabs on each of the sides thats holding the back case on. I just used a small flat head screw driver and carefully pried it open. Though doing this will mark up the side of the plastic casing a little. So shove the flat head in the seam on one side and slightly turn the screw driver and it will either pop or you should see where the tabs are and where you should putt the screw driver in.
 
This thread is insane, but in a good way. :)

I registered to inquire about this monitor and I hope with some help I can have it on my desk sometime next week.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-24-Flat-Su...Z360051042663QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=m20.l1116

They've given me a $145 shipping estimate which makes the total around $400. Apparently the screen is in perfect condition, but after skimming this thread it seems looks can be deceiving. Now to the nitty-gritty.

This monitor would be hooked up to my Thinkpad T61p. It has a decent graphics card (the Quadro 570M is the exact same card as the 8600GT w/ GDDR3 memory) with a VGA output. I'll eventually build myself a proper gaming rig, but for the time being I'm content with gaming on my laptop (TF2, STALKER, Oblivion all run great on this puppy). I currently have a cheapo Viewsonic 19" CRT than can barely do 75Hz at 1280x1024 and the screen is really dim on it. I also know I don't want an LCD. I've researched LCDs in the 22"-24" and none have really caught my attention. I guess I'm just a sucker for CRT's ability to display essentially any resolution without degrading the quality of the picture like LCDs do.

So anyway, $400. Sound decent? I live in the Los Angeles area and I've been looking at Craigslist for the FW900, but I doubt I'll see it on there any time soon. Ebay seems like the best bet and the seller I've found even allows me to bypass Ebay and call them directly to place the order.

Now regarding general concerns with a monitor this old. What are common problems? Could someone explain a little more about SonyDAS? Should I look into getting a RS232<>TTL cable to use with the SonyDAS regardless if I have a problem with the monitor or not? Or will that only be necessary if contrast and color problems are present?

From the pictures (albeit low quality) the monitor seems to be in good condition and if I decide to get it hopefully it will arrive that way. I know about screen burn-in, but what other things should I try to avoid and what are some common maintenance practices I can adhere to with such a beautiful monitor?

For the most part I'd just like some opinions on the monitor and some advice concerning my situation. Is it still worth it after so many years since its been discontinued?

Thanks for any and all help!
 
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Sorry for the double post, but I also found this one:

http://www.accurateit.com/details.asp?iid=468

Grade B refurbished. According to them this means it can have small to medium scratches on the screen and minor screen burn. $400 including shipping, but with a 6 month warranty as opposed to the ebay one which only guarantees no scratches on the screen and no DOA as long as it's reported within 2 days.

ebay one is nice because they say no scratches on the screen and the pictures show that there's no apparent banding or color issues. The AccurateIT one is nice because of the 6 month warranty and what refurbished entails:

Reconditioning is a multi stage process, which consists of
a. Initial testing
b. Internal vacuum cleaning
c. electronic repair (when applicable), some models have new (updated) high voltage and other components installed in order to insure reliable long term operation
d. focus, color gain and convergence tuning
e. exterior cleaning and detailing
f. overnight burn-in test


I'm so ready to pull the trigger, but it sucks having to put faith in someone you've never met in person with a product you haven't seen for yourself. $400 is a big investment for a used piece of equipment.

Anyone in the Los Angeles area (hell I'd be willing to drive 100 miles in either direction) with a FW900 in good condition they'd be willing to part with for the right figure? :D Or maybe find me a reseller parting with one of these in my general area. All I've been able to find come from the Midwest or East Coast.
 
For what it's worth, I'd ask for a date of manufacture (CRTs being consumable items and all)...
 
Yeah, I'm going to shoot them an email asking just that and for some higher quality pictures of the unit.

From what I've read May-June 2003 is the last manufacturing date for the FW900. Sound right?
 
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