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

atwix said:
think you made correct decision there. I didn't say 100 dollar is TOO much btw.

I'd get a used CRT locally so you can check it and ship it home yourself. Shipping a CRT should always be done in one go, not with different forms of transportation.

If its for casual use, to play let's say old games in 4:3 resolutions, i'd pick one up on craigslist.
You might get lucky. I seen fw900 go for 150 dollar or less... Anyways, it all depends on how much you are willing to spend.
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I got mine for $200 via ebay (local pickup only) about 6 years ago. Had to drive it 2 hours north home, though.

I'm not concerned about 100% accuracy. I ran it through a color / black level calibration via Digital Video Essentials DVD (not the best tool for PC, but hey) and that got it good enough for me.
 
Hi guys,
My Fw900 just died last week. It was going out of focus occasionally with a slight buzzing noise then pop back into focus.
I went to turn it on last week and got a pop and a small flash.
Now it won't start. It will just try and startup up and shut off 3 times In a row.

Someone said it is the high voltage transformer?

Anyone know a place in Toronto that can repair it?

Thanks

Rob
 
repairing it can be done at a lot of places.. Usually getting the parts to replace broken ones is a lot harder :(
 
flyback transformer is a common part to replace in a fw900. Glad you found one so quick.

You should get the unit a real calibration too, if the company offers the option.. Its worth the money.
 
wether or not its the right transformer for a fw900.. Its more a question for Uncle Vito i guess.

I woudn't be surprised if a FW900 needs the rare OPTIMUS PRIME transformer. :D
 
atwix said:
The FW900 is still best for gaming imho... I haven't come across any LCD that is equal. People say 22,5 inch of the fw900 is small compared to 27 inch.. But i just sit lot closer to it for same effect ;)
NOTHING beats the pixel density of an FW900, period.

Even VEGA, the guy who built a gaming rig with 3 unbezelled FW900 in eyefinity with a fresnel lens, says nothing beats FW900, especially in fast-paced games like FPS. And he tried virtually any LCD-type as well, including the catleap. Enough said.
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Lol Vega got rid of all of his FW900s and is back to using a single Catleap 2B. I have a catleap 2b sitting on my desk right next to a FW900 and I can tell you the Catleap 2B destroys the FW900. Yes, they both have their pros and cons, but the Catleap has far to many pros versus the FW900s cons. I was a really big fan of the FW900, but the new king of the hill for gaming IS the Catleap 2Bs. I have an overlord OC coming in next week so I will be able to see how that stacks up to the 2B, but from what I have been hearing the Overlords are not as good as the Catleaps (more backlight bleed and inferior top end overclocking).
catlickerfw900.jpg
 
l88bastard said:
Lol Vega got rid of all of his FW900s and is back to using a single Catleap 2B. I have a catleap 2b sitting on my desk right next to a FW900 and I can tell you the Catleap 2B destroys the FW900. Yes, they both have their pros and cons, but the Catleap has far to many pros versus the FW900s cons. I was a really big fan of the FW900, but the new king of the hill for gaming IS the Catleap 2Bs. I have an overlord OC coming in next week so I will be able to see how that stacks up to the 2B, but from what I have been hearing the Overlords are not as good as the Catleaps (more backlight bleed and inferior top end overclocking).
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No, l88bastard, he who hath inspired me to debezel, so it ain't so! :)

Doesn't the black level and shallow dynamic range drive you crazy with that thing? I could never really make peace with those issues, even with my former PVA...
 
Lol, I tossed my whole 5x1 setup. It was cool, but way to many headaches.

The black level is fine, in fact it makes it easier to play games with the 2B. Yes, the FW900 has amazing inky blacks but that is actually a handicap in most games because your enemies can "hide" in shadows, shadows & dark areas also have a tendency to dominate a scene too because modern games are designed with LCDs in mind (and so on and so fourth). What you loose in blacks you get back in Crispness, resolution, perfect geometry & absolute smoothness. I get way more smoothness on the 2B at 120hz then I get with the FW900 @80hz. To get maximum smoothness with the FW900 you need to enable Vsync which pretty much kills you with input lag and eliminates one of a CRTs biggest selling points.

I selected Halo CE on the PC to test both displays against each other. Since Halo CE is such an old game I have no problem hitting 300-400 fps with a single EVGA Classified 4gb GTX680 @2560x1440 120hz. So I compared the 2B's 2560x1440 120hz versus the FW900s 2304x1440 80hz and it was no contest. Not only does Halo CE actually look better on the 2B (which surprised me because it was pretty much designed for CRT displays) but it was waaaaay smoother and more responsive to play on the 2B.

Dynamic range doesn't bother me because Im not a photo / video editor...Im a gamer, I play games, the 2B is much better for playing games. As for the CRT motion versus the 2bs LCD motion blur...well thats pretty much a moot point if you compare them side by side. The blur is so minimal on the 2b versus other LCD displays that is really a non issue when you look at all of the benefits that you are getting over the CRT.
 
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l88bastard...couldn't you lower the resolution on the FW900 and increase the refresh rate? 2560 across is way more than an FW900 can actually resolve and must be kind of blurry. If you need 2560 across, then the 2B is your ticket I guess...

For gaming, lol...even for the screen saver, I just can't give up the dynamic range, blacks, and other attributes of an emissive display. I've tried...
 
SH1 said:
l88bastard...couldn't you lower the resolution on the FW900 and increase the refresh rate? 2560 across is way more than an FW900 can actually resolve and must be kind of blurry. If you need 2560 across, then the 2B is your ticket I guess...

For gaming, lol...even for the screen saver, I just can't give up the dynamic range, blacks, and other attributes of an emissive display. I've tried...
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No I ran the FW900 @ 2304x1440 80hz
And I ran the 2B @2560x1440 120hz

The FW900 is a legendary display, but in my eyes its no longer the King of the Hill for gaming. Like I said, to each their own though. Yes the FW900 has excellent colors, contrast & black level, but the 2B has more resolution, smoother gameplay, perfect geometry & absolute sharpness. I compared them both with HALO CE and BF3 and the 2b was the winner hands down.

Rob. said:
1920x1080 @ 85hz or even 100 hz on the Fw900 is best overall gaming setup.
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1920x1200 @96hz is pretty sweet on the FW900! But your giving up more resolution & detail for that and further distancing yourself from the catleaps great 2560x1440
 
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The FW900 only has around 1920 physical aperture grill stripes across or such? With a corresponding, clear resolution, even less if you allow for error. So yes, definite resolution win to 2B...

Guess we all care about different things to some extent....
 
SH1 said:
The FW900 only has around 1920 physical aperture grill stripes across or such? With a corresponding, clear resolution, even less if you allow for error. So yes, definite resolution win to 2B...

Guess we all care about different things to some extent....
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Lol...er not really. After playing with the FW900 some more @ 1920x1200 96hz I would have to say I am torn. The new BF3 maps look AMAZING on the FW900, what I mean is they look like OIL PAINTINGS! Ya that black level really does go a long way for giving graphics that realistic look.
 
look, i ordered overlord tempest OC as well.. And indeed, it kills the fw900 on SOME situations. But far from all.
If i'm not mistaken: the fw900 still has best pixel density of any monitor type worldwide.

As to catleap and overlord at 120hz... only 1000-1500 of this kind of 27 inch IPS panels at 2560x1440@120 hertz exist.

For mainstream market, fw900 still beats 95+% of all TN and IPS panels.

The reason people play at 2304x1440 on an FW900 is: if you use a resolution on a CRT that the monitors' aperture grille can't handle, then you get some sort of effect that resembles anti aliasing on the image output. I tested an Fw900 with custom resolution 2560x1600@68 hertz without and WITH anti aliasing on, and noticed no difference...

And for old games that CANNOT be played at 2560x1440 or 1920x1080 or whatever, the fw900 will stay best forever, since a CRT can handle any resolution at any refresh rate, within specs, WITHOUT THE IMAGE OUTPUT being smeared out. On any flat panel you need to play old games at 1:1 pixel (aka in small window) for a good non blurry ugly image output.

That is main reason i'll never retire my fw900 completely.
 
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Rob. said:
Where can one buy the catleap monitors?
Specs?
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catleap 120hz monitors are only sold trough the website shop at www.120hz.net and the overlords are sold at www.overlordcomputer.com
info on them at www.overlordforum.com or http://www.overlordcomputer.com/category_s/1827.htm (pure specs on all overlord models)

you can buy normal 60hz catleaps on ebay.

Yamakasi catleap 2b (120hz capable) and overlord tempest OC (120hz capable) are both 27 inch IPS panels, glossy, no AG coating, 2560x1440 resolution with overclockable PCB that can do 120hertz or more (120hz means max 120fps in games, which is boatload better then 60 fps at 60 hertz)

But as stated above, they STILL don't beat the fw900 on all accounts.
They ARE the first brand however that can compete with a fw900 CRT, due to their 120hz capability.. All the normal monitor brands only sell 60 hertz versions at 27 inch 2560x1440.

Granted, you can buy models with 60 hertz easily with same specs like the Dell U2713HM.. But 60 hertz for gaming is just godawful on any LCD panel.
 
atwix said:
where did you read that? (off topic i know)
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From Vega, it looks like he got a bum Overlord Unit:

Hm, max OC on this unit is 118 Hz, it has a single emission point type pixel defect, but the back light bleed is by far the worst I have seen on any of the 7+ Catleap's I've had.

Now I don't know if this is just his or what, but I will have a better idea next week on Tuesday when mine comes in. But from what I have been reading elsewhere it looks like most of the overlords can only do 110hz. My catleap 2b can do 125hz and Vegas catleap can do 130hz

SH1 said:
Welcome back l88bastard! :)
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Haha, Ill always be a fan of the FW900...but yea its image is so unique, it really does make games look like a fine oil painting. Its pretty cool having both of these displays on my desk ;-)
 
l88bastard said:
Lol...er not really. After playing with the FW900 some more @ 1920x1200 96hz I would have to say I am torn. The new BF3 maps look AMAZING on the FW900, what I mean is they look like OIL PAINTINGS! Ya that black level really does go a long way for giving graphics that realistic look.
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Yea IPS unfortunately has the worst black levels of all the LCD panel types although I know they've been improving somewhat, PVA is the best but suffer from the worst motion resolution & ghosting... Ugh there's always trade offs when it comes to choosing an LCD lol.

I feel fortunate to own a pioneer kuro plasma as it's hard to find any real faults with it. the ansi contrast (home theater magazine measured contrast at 2686:1 !!) ,motion resolution & black levels alone are superior to any LCD on the market and it's been a real treat gaming on it for the last 5 years, it made me losing the FW900 less painful lol.
 
375 dollar for a refurbished fw900? I seen people pay lot more even years back. But i'd only buy one if i can pick it up, or if the monitor gets shipped with a VAN from seller to buyer. I don't trust third party transporters with such sensitive technology...

I'm a bit torn if thats a high price or not. If mine would fail, i'd first try to get it repaired.. If its unrepairable, i might actually buy one at that price.. Warranty or not.
If the fw900 sold there come calibrated, i don't think its very high price...

But thats up to each user i guess
 
guess what, i actually DID drag an fw900 to a lan party... People quickly gathered round of course..


And you should have seen the faces of the concentrated gamers around me when i used my degauss button on the fw900..
All their pesky LCD image output got distorted for seconds... I couldn't stop laughing.:D

They kind of kicked my butt right after with a knife kill in counterstrike.. :mad:
 
Well, I ordered the flyback board module. Cost me $100 shipped fedex.
Should be here in 1 week, then my FW900 monitor will be off for repair,

Will update again when its hopefully up and running. :cool:

Cheers
 
Nickerbocker said:
Just purchased one of these beasts. Can somebody re upload the custom INF for win 7 through BNC please
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woot! welcome to our club nickerbocker... :)

Heck maybe we can convince even the original poster, mathesar, to buy another refurbished fw900...
 
I must say I chose a most unorthodox way of transporting this monster. I nearly flipped when I saw this thing fit so perfectly.

 
lmao my back is aching just thinking about how you got it out of that ferarri without scratching any paint.
 
well, this thing had a new price of 2500 dollar or so.. So it was in the same price league as a ferrari.

FW900 is after all the ferrari of all CRT...

If you need any help nickerboxer, then maybe read the guide you can access trough the first post.

Glad you took my first and foremost advice there, and transported the fw900 yourself.

In what way!:cool:

May i ask what made you decide to buy one of these monsters?
 
I have seen today that my AG is damaged. :-(

Now i want to pell it out. How is this possible without damaging the underlying glas or something other?

Also what is the bad about AG coating? Are my blacks then a way more bad? Also i have read about plastic layer AND AG? For what is the plastic layer under the AG and should i remove both or only AG? And i have read about dust or something like this with AG removed?? Why there should be dust and from where? Also will my contrast be more bad or something other? I mean sony had a reason to put the AG on it right? And will i be able to play during day anymore or will the reflections are too much? thanks for answer! :)
 
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