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

coolhandm3 said:
I recently purchased a FW900, and I am going to be hooking up the Playstation 3 to it with the HDfury 2, would ineed to also purchase the Gamma X converter? If I don't get the Gamma X does that mean the PS3 games gamme will be way off and crush the blacks??

Anyone have the PS3 hooked to the FW900? Could you state how you connected it and if you notice issues with the gamma???
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I have mine hooked up via an HDfury (1st gen) and I havn't noticed any black crush.

I also set the RGB Full Range (HDMI) under Settings>Display to Full.


Using the PS3's web browser, I checked out some test images at Lagom.nl.

Black level looks decent. I am able to see clearly down till 6, and then barely see 5 ,4 and 3.

White Saturation I can see all of them except 254.

Contrast bars all looked even, with the last step being quite faint at 1.

However the gamma bars don't show correctly for some reason, so I can't comment on the gamma curve.
 
My Sun GDM-FW9010 (same as Sony FW900) has died.

If I leave it a long time and disconnect any input source, it will power up and display the no input display with all colors visible so i don't think it's too bad, it will then pretty quickly go into standy mode and that's that until i wait long time.

I've had the Power supply (G board) out and visiually it looks ok. Don't really want to replace caps if not needed. Not had any of the other boards out yet.

I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction (even to another forum) to fixing this myself.

Many Thanks.
 
if you get any picture at all, I doubt you have trouble at the power supply, unless you can confirm that the input board is not getting power.
 
timdim said:
My Sun GDM-FW9010 (same as Sony FW900) has died.

If I leave it a long time and disconnect any input source, it will power up and display the no input display with all colors visible so i don't think it's too bad, it will then pretty quickly go into standy mode and that's that until i wait long time.

I've had the Power supply (G board) out and visiually it looks ok. Don't really want to replace caps if not needed. Not had any of the other boards out yet.

I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction (even to another forum) to fixing this myself.

Many Thanks.
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This is a longshot, but have you tried cycling the power several times with a signal being sent? My HP version is on the fritz. It can't seem to detect input and resolution changes a lot of the time. I have to press the power button, wait a second, and turn it back on. Sometimes it will find the signal, and other times I have to repeat the process several times.
 
Sinizar said:
True, everyone will have their own opinion on which is better for them. For me the LCD is a short list of things that are better:

Sharper Text
Lighter
Uses less energy
Saves on Deskspace
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What about screen size? The FW900 is only a 22.5" monitor which I believe was the largest CRT computer monitor ever made commercially. This is starting to get small by today's LCD standards. FWIW I'm a former FW900 owner until my beloved monitor died 6 months ago.
 
No where near it.

Many are on 19" LCD's, peeps in the know who game will be on 22" LCD's and high end gamers will be on 24" LCD's.

Most new 22"-24" LCD's appearing now have proper 1080p Ratio's so are 1920x1080 instead of 1920x1200 so actually have less screen area.
 
HenryBravo said:
What about screen size? The FW900 is only a 22.5" monitor which I believe was the largest CRT computer monitor ever made commercially. This is starting to get small by today's LCD standards. FWIW I'm a former FW900 owner until my beloved monitor died 6 months ago.
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I like big and all (I have a DLP projector in the living room) but 22.5" is big enough for me for a PC monitor. The thing is like 4 feet from my face as it is.
 
HenryBravo said:
What about screen size? The FW900 is only a 22.5" monitor which I believe was the largest CRT computer monitor ever made commercially. This is starting to get small by today's LCD standards. FWIW I'm a former FW900 owner until my beloved monitor died 6 months ago.
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No, sorry screen size is not a benefit of LCD. The problem is for your games to look good on an LCD you have to run at the native resolution of the monitor. If you go with a 24 or 26" LCD you have to run at 1920x1080 which is too taxing on the computer when you are running the latest games. With the CRT I can run 1440x900 or 1280x960 with the graphics maxed out or on older games I can put the resolution even higher than the limited 1920x1080 of today's LCDs and still get nice frame rates on the latest games with my old 8800GTS.

If I had a large LCD I would have to upgrade my video card every year just to keep the games running smooth at the native resolution. So for me my CRT saves me money on computer upgrades. It also allows me to run older games like Diablo 2 and still have them look nice.

It is just like running a Super Nintendo on an LCD, it looks awful because of the native resolution of the LCD being so much higher than the SNES supports. I keep an old CRT television around just for the older games.
 
Sinizar said:
No, sorry screen size is not a benefit of LCD. The problem is for your games to look good on an LCD you have to run at the native resolution of the monitor. If you go with a 24 or 26" LCD you have to run at 1920x1080 which is too taxing on the computer when you are running the latest games. With the CRT I can run 1440x900 or 1280x960 with the graphics maxed out or on older games I can put the resolution even higher than the limited 1920x1080 of today's LCDs and still get nice frame rates on the latest games with my old 8800GTS.

If I had a large LCD I would have to upgrade my video card every year just to keep the games running smooth at the native resolution. So for me my CRT saves me money on computer upgrades. It also allows me to run older games like Diablo 2 and still have them look nice.

It is just like running a Super Nintendo on an LCD, it looks awful because of the native resolution being so much higher than the SNES supports. I keep an old CRT television around just for the older games.
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you are missing out in my opinion. 2304x1440 maxed out on this monitor in-game is an awesome sight.

gonna go play some trackmania united at 2304x1440 16xAA and 16xAF right now! im getting giddy just thinking about it. hehe
 
Screen size is perhaps the biggest benefit of LCD. (Even if it isn't a benefit for your graphics cards.)

Had to get a 40" display to help comfort myself after my CRT become unreliable...
 
Haste266 said:
you are missing out in my opinion. 2304x1440 maxed out on this monitor in-game is an awesome sight.

gonna go play some trackmania united at 2304x1440 16xAA and 16xAF right now! im getting giddy just thinking about it. hehe
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You are also missing my opinion about your opinion. So excuse me while I go play Trackmania United at 2048X1536 16xAA and 16xAF right now on my FW900. :)

If size really did matter I would play my PC on a 50" Pioneer Kuru 1080P Plasma but I enjoy my FW900 and the blacks and resolution/refresh range/rate that cannot be equaled by any LCD or Plasma. I also like freedom of choice and being able to run any resolution on my CRT instead of being told what is native on an LCD where anything outside of the native resolution range looks like poo.

I means lets face it while I am still getting a lot of game play on the latest games with my 8800GTS you had to upgrade your video card to a 285 just to run the latest games at a resolution your monitor can be happy with. Resolution is nice but it is not required if the game runs great with maxed out graphics and an acceptable resolution on a nice CRT.
 
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Sinizar said:
No, sorry screen size is not a benefit of LCD. The problem is for your games to look good on an LCD you have to run at the native resolution of the monitor.
Click to expand...
For text, that is true. But for games this statement is absolutely not true. I have an HP LP2475w (native 1920x1200) and games look great at 1680x1050. I run Crysis at 1680 for better frame rates. Of course interpolation quality varies per monitor, but it isn't accurate to just make the blanket statement that running at non-native res sucks. And for the record, I'm not one of those non-discerning gamers that can't tell the difference between 2xAF and 16xAF (and aliasing drives me crazy). I am a PQ whore.
 
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Psshhh, or you could just be awesome and get an LCD with TWO native resolutions!
And then buy a FW900 anyways because their friggan awesome, I need a newer one though, this one is fading :(
 
Running 30' HP @ 2500x1600 for size.... I've got the 295 for decent framerates
FW900 for quality..... Best of both worlds
An actually got 2 FW 900's mint condition from a local recycler recently
Will post some pics later in the week
 
sixstringmonk said:
This is a longshot, but have you tried cycling the power several times with a signal being sent? My HP version is on the fritz. It can't seem to detect input and resolution changes a lot of the time. I have to press the power button, wait a second, and turn it back on. Sometimes it will find the signal, and other times I have to repeat the process several times.
Click to expand...

This does not seem to have any effect. Is the degaus meant to kick in every time it is powered on?
It only occurs the first time I switch on unless I wait the previously mentioned long period of time for it to reset/discharge/cool/whatever it is doing.

My personal guess is that the Flyback is the problem. There's hoping it's a bad cap(s) or IC.

It's a shame there is no proper service/repair manual or training guide for the FW900. The service manual I have basically describes only disassembly.
 
timdim said:
This does not seem to have any effect. Is the degaus meant to kick in every time it is powered on?
It only occurs the first time I switch on unless I wait the previously mentioned long period of time for it to reset/discharge/cool/whatever it is doing.

My personal guess is that the Flyback is the problem. There's hoping it's a bad cap(s) or IC.

It's a shame there is no proper service/repair manual or training guide for the FW900. The service manual I have basically describes only disassembly.
Click to expand...

I have 2 FW900's which both died on me in the same manner as yours. They would work and stay on for as long as i left them on, but once they went into power save mode, i would have to unplug them and leave them be for a week or 2. And of course they eventually stopped working.

I took them both to a local repair shop, it cost me about $150 each for repairs. He replaced the flyback and an IC(s) i believe. They work fine now, but i think he used inferior parts as i can't push the refresh rate as high as before. 94hz for 1920x1200 is the max now, where as before they could do 98hz.
 
Has anybody got 2304x1440 to work in Windows 7 64-bit (or even Vista) with ATI drivers? I just can't seem to get it to work with my 4870 x2. The highest widescreen res I can do is 1920 x 1200 and my LCD's can do that so its not as much fun.
 
innocenceisdeath said:
Just to check I'm doing everything right.

I need to short these two pins correct?

ecs1.png


And I attach the cable to the pins as shown in this picture?

ecs2.png


This is the cable I bought http://techref.massmind.org/techref/io/serial/rlc2.htm
Click to expand...

Bump!

Seriously, any help here? Am I connecting this correctly? No matter what I do, when I try to connect via WinDAS it pops up an error saying:

Can't connect the Monitor!
Check Bus line and connection!

What am I doing wrong?
 
innocenceisdeath said:
Bump!

Seriously, any help here? Am I connecting this correctly? No matter what I do, when I try to connect via WinDAS it pops up an error saying:

Can't connect the Monitor!
Check Bus line and connection!

What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...

im getting my usb-> serial converter next week so ill be able to chime in then.
i need to install winxp. from what i understand windas doesnt work in vista, correct?
 
Haste266 said:
im getting my usb-> serial converter next week so ill be able to chime in then.
i need to install winxp. from what i understand windas doesnt work in vista, correct?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure, but I can only presume I'm incorrectly connecting the cable to the monitor, or I am setting up the software incorrectly.

I have tried using two different computers serial ports so the serial port isn't the problem.

I've tried connecting the cable to the monitor as shown, with and without shorting those two pins. It seems to make no difference in terms of making it work.

I have the software configured like so:
http://www.geocities.com/gregua/windas/setupConf.png
 
This is so frustrating, last night I installed the FW900 driver included with 7 64-bit and then installed the ATI WDM driver and actually got the 2304 x 1440 resolution, played 15 minutes of COD:WaW to test if it was working, and it was awesome. Computer went to sleep last night and when I woke it up it was at 800 x 600 and I've tried everything today and can't get the res back.
 
innocenceisdeath said:
Bump!

Seriously, any help here? Am I connecting this correctly? No matter what I do, when I try to connect via WinDAS it pops up an error saying:

Can't connect the Monitor!
Check Bus line and connection!

What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...

hmmm, looks like some wires/pins might be backwards...look what i just found:

http://www.piclist.com/images/com/geocities/www/gregua/windas/cable.htm

Just wanted to let you know, the RLC-1 RS232-TTL converter cable you mentioned at
http://www.geocities.com/gregua/windas/cable.html
is available from me at
http://techref.massmind.org/techref/io/serial/RCL1.htm for $19 plus $6 S&H in the USA or internationally for $10 more. Faster shipping, lower price.

The unit comes with the pins in the order: Vcc, GND, Tx, Rx (followed by RTS, CTS) and so needs to be re-arranged to GND, Vcc, Rx, Tx for use as an ECS cable. The pins are held in the socket with a simple metal spring which is visable through the side of the connector, so removing them is a simple matter of pushing the wire into the socket, pressing down on the spring with a thumb tack, and then pulling the wire out of the socket.
Click to expand...


after seeing this i do remember someone mentioning before that they received a cable that had some wires backwards. so maybe this is the issue?

looks like the Vcc and GND might be switched.
 
Hey, everyone! I've been enjoying my FW900 for almost three years until recently when Refresh Lock 2.21 won't work anymore. When I click on the .exe, the screen will display "out of scan range," like there is no video signal. Anyone else have a similar problem?
 
I succesfully got powerstrip to add 2048 x 1152 which is 16:9 but its one of the higher resolutions I could use in prototype, but I still haven't been able to get 2304 x 1440 to stay added permanently, does anybody have some powerstrip settings for higher resolutions that ATI likes?
 
I had the "Check Bus line and connection!" error too but it worked after a reboot (with the cable still plugged in) so it can also be a issue with the converter. if possible use a rs232 device for testing.
 
I did some tweaking with Windas and updated the G2 value. The picture looks very good, but could use more contrast when I set the brightness to get a really nice black level. What would be the best setting. I can't remember the page, but someone mentioned being able to get crazy contrast with a particular setting. thanks!
 
Dead-Eye said:
I had the "Check Bus line and connection!" error too but it worked after a reboot (with the cable still plugged in) so it can also be a issue with the converter. if possible use a rs232 device for testing.
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I just tried restarting with it all connected, but sadly it made no difference.

I have access to another computer with an RS232 port on the motherboard though. I'll try that one as well. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll switch the pins on the cable round and see if that makes a difference. This is really annoying me now.

I have a DTP-94 sensor coming soon. I hope to get this sorted by then so I can calibrate this monitor properly. It is in great condition as it is. The blacks are only just off.

I got really lucky with this monitor. It's in fairly good condition, focus is decent, convergence is near perfect, blacks are near perfect. I think it is was made in one of the last batches. It says on the back it was manufactured in December 2003 and from what I've read they didn't make any in 2004. It was risky though, I couldn't see it before purchasing. It cost about the equivalent of $400 shipped.
 
i just got an fw900 monitor, and i have a few remaining questions that i havn't found here yet ( too many pages to scan). There appears to be no drivers for vista for this monitor from sony. I'm using windows 7, actually, are there any drivers that will work besides the generic windows driver. Strangely, i just powerd down to install more ram, and when i robooted, windows decided that i had a 4:3 aspect monitor, and won't give me the widescreen resolutions anymore. I'll keep working on that one.

My other issue is i have two hairline thin black horizontal lines across the screen. Only really noticable on lighter solid backgrounds. Any clues what this is. Otherwise this monitor is mint and its awesome. got it for $200 cdn picked up locally. The screen looked a little hazy at first, but the image restore cleaned it right up.

thanks guys,

d
 
mranderson said:
My other issue is i have two hairline thin black horizontal lines across the screen. Only really noticable on lighter solid backgrounds. Any clues what this is. Otherwise this monitor is mint and its awesome. got it for $200 cdn picked up locally. The screen looked a little hazy at first, but the image restore cleaned it right up.
Click to expand...
Completely normal. Those hold the aperture grille in place. You'll get used to them pretty quickly.
 
ok thanks, i guess i'm good then. the other issue i had with the win7 64bit driver has to do with the BNC cable. I started with the vga cable, then switched cables and it worked fine until i rebooted and then windows disowned the monitor.
 
I have a problem with games being stuck at the monitors max resolution in Windows 7(7100 build), Im able to switch desktop resolution no problem but most games run at 2304x1440 even if I change the in game resolution settings.

Not sure if its an Nvidia driver issue or Windows 7 but hopefully it gets sorted out soon.
 
mranderson said:
i just got an fw900 monitor, and i have a few remaining questions that i havn't found here yet ( too many pages to scan). There appears to be no drivers for vista for this monitor from sony. I'm using windows 7, actually, are there any drivers that will work besides the generic windows driver. Strangely, i just powerd down to install more ram, and when i robooted, windows decided that i had a 4:3 aspect monitor, and won't give me the widescreen resolutions anymore. I'll keep working on that one.

My other issue is i have two hairline thin black horizontal lines across the screen. Only really noticable on lighter solid backgrounds. Any clues what this is. Otherwise this monitor is mint and its awesome. got it for $200 cdn picked up locally. The screen looked a little hazy at first, but the image restore cleaned it right up.

thanks guys,

d
Click to expand...

Vista does have a driver for this monitor built in (I'm on Vista 64Ult).

I also modded a XP driver to 64bit and it installs if you agree to warning that it ain't digitally signed.

I cannot remember if the driver is in Win 7 or if I used the modded one but either way I have a proper driver and colour .ini in both Vista and Win 7.
 
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