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

Poordevil said:
Ha! I found out why my 900 would not display in the max rez of 2304 X 1440. It was the BNC cables! I switched over to a VGA cable and now the CCC lists the 900 as my monitor and system properties gives 2304 X 1440 as a display option.

Also the VGA cable shows absolutely no downgrade in picture quality. Not regarding text sharpness ,color, depth of black, or anything. As far as I can tell BNC is a sham. BNC cables are not superior to VGA at all, in fact the monitor won't perform up to its full potential when they are used.

I should have tried swapping out BNC for VGA a long time ago!
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There's ways around this. Disable EDID (by whatever means necessary), and make a custom INF. This screenshot is taken using BNC



That said, I personally can't stand 2304x1440. 1920x1200 is plenty enough for me. If not, there's always AA.
 
War Zone said:
Ya sorry about that GreenMonkey .
Feu people back their got me going on the micro$oft topic.I should know better my bad.
As for the spelling\grammar topic it was never my strong side .math \ science \ logic is .
As we all know spelling in English = anti logic.
Its why no one can teach a computer how to.
In English 2+2 = 5 or 345.456 or -234.555 or 22^44 1\4 or ???? or syntax error:p

On the flip side i Self-Taught myself algebra before i was even shown what it is .
Sorry GreenMonkey if my spelling\grammar isn't up to your expectations.
Iv bin fighting vs my self on that topic since i was born.
And Albert Einstein couldn't spell worth squat.:D


....
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That's OK dude. That's way better. Some capitals / punctuation. Doesn't have to be perfect. You don't want to get ignored. :D

On convergence - my convergence is a bit weak in the bottom right corner myself. I spent a few hours tuning but never got it 100% right down there. It is kinda ghosted a little bit red.

BNC cables - disable EDID -

I just got my VGA->BNC working twice this weekend during my reinstall period. It's doable better than it used to be, under the newer AMD CCC. Here's what you have to do under win7 to get normal resolutions w/ AMD cards.

Go into display properties. Change the default VGA monitor. Pick "pick a driver" (from stock Windows drivers). Find Sony GDM-FW900 and use that. Then, when done with that- go into ATI CCC. Disable EDID (IIRC it's under monitor profile). It will un-grey out an area that lets you manually set the maximum resolution and refresh rate in the CCC (I set 1920x1200 / 85hz). Important - I know you don't have to do this much any more - but REBOOT. Then you'll get the extended resolutions available for your BNC connected FW900.
 
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Poordevil said:
As far as I can tell BNC is a sham. BNC cables are not superior to VGA at all, in fact the monitor won't perform up to its full potential when they are used.
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Your just trying to make yourself fell better. That is OK.

I have 3 of these monitors and if I had to run them on VGA I would sell them. If you can't tell the difference you either have a crappy BNC cable or you have no idea how to calibrate it.

I have no need to run above optimal res or at a higher refresh rate. And everyone here already knows plugging in VGA will send the EDID and have the monitor recognize through windows. 60% of the posts on here are trying to get around the EDID issues on Win7 so we can all use the BNC cables. My 4000 series all I had to do is disable the EDID in this window and set the max I wanted.

CCC.png
 
wow some of the people around here are arrogant. *sinister grin*
anyways only way to really know if bnc vs vga maters would be to do a review with a oscilloscope and some heavy testing with the best bnc cable vs the best vga cable money can buy.
 
A good quality analog signal is normally as good as a solid digital signal.

*technically* DVI/HDMI is a better quality signal than analog component video. But on a 105" 720p screen, I couldn't tell the difference between the two, and plenty of other AVSforum folks that thought the same.

A GOOD quality analog signal, sent by well-shielded component video cables, can be just as good as a digital signal. VGA is a pretty good analog signal also. I doubt most people could tell the difference in a double-blind test. I doubt DVI is really that much better here. My VGA->BNC cable is a monoprice special, I love monoprice. :D
 
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I went through everything with my BNC cables trying to get the max res out of this monitor. Everything except modifying the ini file or whatever file it is. EDID in CCC has been unchecked for ever. The FW900 drivers have been installed for ever. Swapping out the BNC for VGA is what finally allowed the CCC to see my FW900 instead of a generic CRT, and swapping cables allowed System Properties to show the option of 2304 X1440.

And I am serious when I say there is no downgrade in picture quality. The VGA cables work just as well as BNC. BTW I am on XP not Win 7.
 
My screen "feels" like it's wobbling, even tho it clearly isn't. It's a strange sensation, similar to how drowsy one feels with a severe cold.

Is it possible for one to become accustomed to high refresh rates? I'm finding anything lower than 140hz causes eye strain and headaches in just a few minutes. If I poke my nose right to the screen I can just about see the scan lines at 160hz and they are clearly visible at 100hz. This is with 5 different high quality cables. I've tried various resolutions. I'd rather this was a malfunctioning display. The alternative is that my body has started to reject CRT technology. Amusing on some level, but still :(
 
sadbuttrue said:
My screen "feels" like it's wobbling, even tho it clearly isn't. It's a strange sensation, similar to how drowsy one feels with a severe cold.

Is it possible for one to become accustomed to high refresh rates? I'm finding anything lower than 140hz causes eye strain and headaches in just a few minutes. If I poke my nose right to the screen I can just about see the scan lines at 160hz and they are clearly visible at 100hz. This is with 5 different high quality cables. I've tried various resolutions. I'd rather this was a malfunctioning display. The alternative is that my body has started to reject CRT technology. Amusing on some level, but still :(
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The wobbling might be caused by electromagnetic interference, either through the air or the AC line. You can try moving your tower away and disabling other devices that might be interfering. If that doesn't work, a power line test wouldn't hurt.

As for becoming accustomed, I suppose that is possible. I'm sensitive to anything below about 85 Hz. You seem to have excellent vision. Maybe you should apply to the Air Force.
 
That said, I personally can't stand 2304x1440. 1920x1200 is plenty enough for me. If not, there's always AA.
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2304x1440 ftw. 2304x1440 w/ 32x aa = glory. 2304x1440 @ 60hz w/ 32aa = special glory

Maybe you should apply to the Air Force
What does that mean?
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slightly abused stereotype for the air force where you need great eyes to join.
 
cinnamonandgravy said:
2304x1440 ftw. 2304x1440 w/ 32x aa = glory. 2304x1440 @ 60hz w/ 32aa = special glory



slightly abused stereotype for the air force where you need great eyes to join.
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so if you can't stand refresh rates under 140 your eyes are good?

i can stand 60 hz ingame but not regular desktop browsing thou ingame i won't know the difference i guess my eyes are horrible
 
I'm short sighted, which probably explains the need for higher refresh rates.

I located the wobble problem. It turns out one of my home cinema speakers which sits right above the monitor is unshielded - doh.
 
zzcool said:
so if you can't stand refresh rates under 140 your eyes are good?
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Technically, it means your visual cortex is good. Your eyes have nothing to do with it.

There are a few different types of visual acuity. One is spatial resolution, which is how sharp your vision is. That's what corrective lenses are for.

Another is temporal resolution, which is the ability to detect moving objects and small motions. That part is entirely in the brain.

All I'm saying is that your sensitivity to motion is very high. That's good for people in professions that rely on the ability to spot and track fast-moving objects (e.g. fighter pilot, baseball player). Both also happen benefit from the ability to resolve small details (markings on an enemy plane, the seams of a baseball).

There are other types of visual acuity (ability to distinguish between shades of color, edge detection) which also rely on neural pathways. Find a textbook on neuroscience if you're interested.

Being annoyed by low refresh rates could also just mean that you're irritable. :p Many people hate the buzz of fluorescent lights, but most don't. Maybe monitor flicker is something that's always annoying; I don't know.

i can stand 60 hz ingame but not regular desktop browsing thou ingame i won't know the difference i guess my eyes are horrible
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Flicker tends to be more noticeable over white and light-colored areas. Not as many of those in games as other apps.

cinnamonandgravy said:
slightly abused stereotype for the air force where you need great eyes to join.
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Indeed, the stereotype is based on the requirement for fighter pilots. I don't think any other air force job requires perfect vision.

sadbuttrue said:
I'm short sighted, which probably explains the need for higher refresh rates.
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I'm not sure that it does. It might explain why you can see the scan lines though.

I located the wobble problem. It turns out one of my home cinema speakers which sits right above the monitor is unshielded - doh.
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Glad you've been "set straight."
 
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I moved my pc and took the extensions of my bnc to dvi cable and found that the bnc connection worked after that. I was still getting wavy lines on the edges of everything though. I gave powerstrip another shot and turned the horizontal frequency up around 6 ticks and the waviness went away. And once the monitor warms up everything else looks great. I have to tweak my nvidia settings for the monitor yet however. Then it will look even better.

Oh and by the way.. I think I hooked up both the vga and the bnc at the same time when the bnc connection first got recognized. I'm not sure if that matters since there is an Input-1 - 2 switch on the monitor. I might have switched back and forth , can't remember exactly. Might not have anything to do with it. What was definitely bad was me using my bnc-to-dvi cable connected to a dvi-to-hdmi adapter, connected to a hdmi cable, converted back to dvi with a hdmi->dvi adapter. lol.

I wonder how long of a bnc->dvi cable you can buy without it affecting the picture noticeably. I'll have to search this thread about adapting bnc to display port too. I want to run a long hdmi cable for my lcd, and I'd like to extend my fw900 similarly off the bnc port if possible.
 
i might try some long bnc to bnc extender cables.. then just put my bnc-to-dvi cable on the end and connect it to my pc.. not sure if that will work. Would like a 20' or so run like my hdmi cable if I can. I've seen 100' bnc cables so maybe it will work.
 
cinnamonandgravy said:
2304x1440 ftw. 2304x1440 w/ 32x aa = glory. 2304x1440 @ 60hz w/ 32aa = special glory
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My problem is now that I can get my FW900 to display at max res, none of my games will show that option. I tried Batman AA, Risen, Age of Conan, and Gears of War and they all of show a max selectable res of 1920 X1200.
 
elvn said:
I wonder how long of a bnc->dvi cable you can buy without it affecting the picture noticeablyI'd like to extend my fw900 similarly off the bnc port if possible.
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Your best bet would be to use the same DVI->BNC (or shorter) and just build or buy high quality RG6 Quad-Shield Aluminum or RG59 Copper shielded Coaxial cable and make extensions. The BNC connections usually can just screw onto a stripped wire but its the stripping that you need a special tool for.

Also I probably wouldn't go more then ~12 feet extra without expecting some sort of loss. Though I remember old projectors with BNC and they had fifty foot extensions.
 
netwebber said:
The wobbling might be caused by electromagnetic interference, either through the air or the AC line. You can try moving your tower away and disabling other devices that might be interfering. If that doesn't work, a power line test wouldn't hurt.
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I've seen a wobbling effect from CRTs that have other bad power sources plugged into the same AC outlet / circuit breaker. It sounds like most of it was your unshielded speaker though...
 
Poordevil said:
My problem is now that I can get my FW900 to display at max res, none of my games will show that option. I tried Batman AA, Risen, Age of Conan, and Gears of War and they all of show a max selectable res of 1920 X1200.
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not all games support 2304x1440 right out of the gate. ive never tried those games on the fw900 so i cant speak on that. some games that do support it include just cause 2, fear 2, lost planet 2, dead space 1 & 2, two worlds 2.. lots really.

some games which dont initially support 2304x1440 can be forced to by modifying the .ini file usually found under 'my documents'.
 
I am about to get one for $60 local :D I sooooo happy to lay hands on one of these legends.
 
cinnamonandgravy said:
damn, $60??

theyre going for $350 by me... still, considering it, wouldnt mind another beast of glory.
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Yeah, he had the price originally at $90(a price still worth getting the monitor for) and he has been posting the item for sale for about 3 months now, I was shocked that it hadn't sold as quickly as it should have. Part of the reason could have been it's local only, but still I am sure there's a lot of people after this monitor in So Cal. The owner said he has owned the monitor since 2007, but I dunno if there was an owner before him, most likely yes because he has dealt with the monitor's strange behavior since he got it. The strange behavior is that when it's turned on from being off it turns back off after 4-5 times. Usually on the 4th or 5th time it stays on and then it has to warm up and that's it, so he recommends keeping it on all the time with no power savings options. I wonder what is causing this behavior... he also has taken off the tint with no scratches on the screen at all. It seems like hes treated this monitor/respected it a lot because he finally made the switch to LCD just recently. Friday is when I pick it up, I can't wait! :D
 
ok I am getting desperate now as none of the shops in my area see to want to touch my monitor so I'm hoping it might be something I can fix or at least patch up =( Currently I have *no* red at all (though i did last time I had a cold boot, simply turning it off now and back on will not bring anything back. this has happened before).

It now seems to be doing the red flashing when i first turn it on, then losing red completely and then having it come back some time later (any time between 2-30 minutes later though on rare occasion, such as right now, it doesn't come back at all) at which point everything is saturated with red (like i have red bias up too high) and it does the flickering and it settles down in 30 seconds or so to no flickering and then its just saturated with red, which slowly goes away and it goes back to perfect blacks. However I have noticed if before it settles to perfect black if I tap hard on the table next to the monitor (or the monitor itself) it will do a red flash. And in fact even if I yell loudly at it I'll get a red flash (I noticed this while yelling at my cat which had just clawed the shit out of my leg trying to get on my lap). If I am without red, as I am now, it doesn't do it though.

Also, while it's flickering the entire picture tends to shrink and expand slightly, but noticeably.

Is it still possible it is the flyback? When the red is coming back there is a noticeable buzzing in the back of the monitor which goes silent during the flashes and then when things settle it goes away completely.

Or could it be some other loose connection I could visually detect if i took the case off? I'm mechanically inclined but I don't want to go poking around inside a CRT too much for fear of an embarrassing death by electrocution.

Given the shops around here seem unwilling or incapable, any help would be appreciated.
 
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Hey guys, there is a guy selling a HP A7217A about 2 hours from where I live so I am thinking of driving up to get it this weekend. He is only asking $150 and confirmed the colors and blacks are still very nice. Even if this thing just last a year you think I should try and get it?
 
neokeelo said:
Hey guys, there is a guy selling a HP A7217A about 2 hours from where I live so I am thinking of driving up to get it this weekend. He is only asking $150 and confirmed the colors and blacks are still very nice. Even if this thing just last a year you think I should try and get it?
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Despite all the problems I'm having now, I bought this one for $120 four and a half years ago with basically perfect colors/blacks and not a scratch on the screen and it was probably the best $120 I've ever spent on anything computer related.
 
Going to have to order an FW900 myself, I bought a giant TV for pc/console general use but I recently got another desk and computer.. I think its begging for one LOL.
 
Hey Guys, I've got a question which you probably already have often asked, namely, I would like to know what cable should I use for WINDAS. My FW900 still works fine but someday I will have to calibrate.

and another question would be, if I calibrate my monitor, what should I pay attention for, and works WINDAS at all with Windows 7?

Thanks for all answers

yours sincerely
Myramond
 
I just picked up the monitor and everything is as the owner described. The monitor is huge, it's freaking 20 inched in depth and weigh nearly 100 lb's. I thought the dude was BSing when he said that. So, unfortunately it will not fit on my desk and isn't something fun to move around much. I did try it out and manage to get 1920 x 1200 working @ 85hz in windows 7, however playing CS:S it only picks up 1600 x 1024 max. This is using BNC---> VGA + VGA ---> DVI adapter. It's a solid monitor, but I don't have enough room to prop it on my desk. Sucks, but perhaps some time down the road i'll take it out of the garage and use it for extreme FPS gaming when I have enough space.
 
Thanks Jenova, i will purchase this cable.

I thought it wouldnt work with 7/Vista but i also have an old Win 2000 PC so an WINDAS-working OS will be no problem.
 
vafan13 said:
Given the shops around here seem unwilling or incapable, any help would be appreciated.
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maybe sony? seems like a long shot, but i just today got back my repaired sony receiver; its a discontinued beast from 2000 (str-da777es) but they repaired it anyway for about $150, shipping included both ways.

its like brand new again.
 
I just got mine in about an hour ago too and omg, this is the best monitor ever made bar none. Once I get it hooked up to my main gaming machine I will post some pics.

For those of you who run ATI cards, do you have to run Powerstrip to get the custom 16:10 resolutions listed in the first post in this thread? Or can you just uncheck an option in the catalyst control center?
 
Poordevil said:
What are you up grading from?
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Well, I have a couple of 24" LCDs, Asus VW246H and Dell s2409W, both TN panels.

Edit: Got the color temp, but one more question.

Basically, is there any easy way to size the screen up so it fits perfectly within the border? There are way too many settings, and it seems like every time I adjust one, it messes up another corner of the screen.
 
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