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

Just a quick update. I've got an old laptop lying around and it's got a vga output. I plugged that into the FW900 just to check. It works fine with no red tint.

Also, I've got an HDMI cable wired to my plasma tv in the living room. I plugged that into my videocard to check and it too seems to be working fine. No red tint.

But when I plug anything in to the DVI ports on my video card to the FW900, it shows a purple tint.

Is there any reason that the 5-BNC cable and adapter that I got (see links above) would be incompatible or likely to cause any sort of issue?

Thanks.
 
Here is what the screen looks like:

f9a82f8b_2015-06-2920.09.26.jpeg


08b5f0df_2015-06-2920.09.00.jpeg
 
Yea looks like the green channel is completely absent. Would be interesting to test your video card with another analog display. Good to hear that the monitor itself isn't the issue.
 
spacediver said:
Yea looks like the green channel is completely absent. Would be interesting to test your video card with another analog display. Good to hear that the monitor itself isn't the issue.
Click to expand...

Yes it seems like the green channel is absent. This is just totally bizarre since all I did was switch cables one time.

Even when the screen is displaying a purple tinted image, the monitor menu looks normal as do the on-screen messages that display when the monitor boots up. The colors look fine when I hook up my laptop through VGA so the monitor itself seems to be fine.

I have to wonder what possibly happened? It must be the videocard itself that is having an issue, even though it displays fine when sending a digital signal to an lcd monitor or plasma tv.

The DVI cables I used before have always been DVI-D or DVI-I. The new cable had a DVI-A connection. Could this have toggled something on the videocard? Could the video card be trying to force a different color space or something like that?

Aren't there any sorts of settings I could adjust to try and fix this?
 
Not sure what you mean by forcing a different color space - where did you get this idea from? I think it's pretty clear that the lack of a green channel is the problem (you can test this by loading up red, green, and blue patterns. The red and blue patterns should look normal, and the green pattern should look black)

No idea what the cause could be, though this isn't something I know a lot about.
 
Okay so I figured out what the problem is. The problem is with the DVI port on my video card. The C1, C2, C3 and C4 outputs are messed up somehow. A pin or two have bent or broken within the DVI port which explains why certain colors aren't displaying.

The problem is I have no idea what to do now? The monitor is thankfully fine, but this is a Geforce GTX 980 that I paid nearly $500 for. Worse, I got it on Ebay and so there is no warranty.

This should be a fairly simple fix if someone knew how to replace a DVI port on a videocard. I simple soldering job should fix it. But I sure won't take the risk.

And I don't know of anyone who could repair something like this.

As a last resort, could I get some sort of converter which would convert the HDMI or DisplayPort outputs into an analog format?

Somehow I think that would be much less than optimal.


Is there a method of fixing something like this? Has anyone ever replaced a DVI port on a videocard before?

The DVI port works perfectly for digital. The problem is entirely with the analog video pins.
 
If it were a $50 throwaway card, maybe it would be worth trying to fix. But you could easily kill it, and then there's no value in it at all!

Well, luckily for you most people buying cards this powerful won't care about the analog pins. Put it on ebay with the listed damage, and someone will take this problem off your hands :D

Go and buy yourself a card with a warranty. I would never buy something that expensive and difficult to repair with no warranty.
 
Honestly, from the pictures taken (pretty sharp text), I would say that your FW900 is more valuable than any video card. Glad you found the culprit.
 
jbltecnicspro said:
Honestly, from the pictures taken (pretty sharp text), I would say that your FW900 is more valuable than any video card. Glad you found the culprit.
Click to expand...

Yeah I definitely think I got a winner with this FW900. I got it a month ago from a guy in Orange County. It is a June 2001 build and the guy kept it unused in his closet since 2008 when he moved and no longer had a desk that would fit it. Unkle Vito told me that the 2001 manufacturing dates were the best from his experience.

Text is definitely pretty sharp. That probably has a lot to do with this expensive and thick cable I got.

I'll hold on to this one for sure.

Yes, I suppose I could sell this video card on Ebay and buy another one with a warranty. Since virtually no one is going to care about the analog pins not working, I could probably sell it for the same amount and get a replacement card in a few days time.

That's probably what I'll have to do.
 
flod said:
:( i had the space i'd horde all the high end crts in the bay area
btw not entirely sure whether antiglare is removeable on those. iirc unklevito said some of the 520s have "baked" on coatings rather than films
Click to expand...

it still can probably be removed by applying some kind of dissolving liquid or whatever that thing is called.
I've read about those things being done on other monitors.
 
flod said:
:( i had the space i'd horde all the high end crts in the bay area
btw not entirely sure whether antiglare is removeable on those. iirc unklevito said some of the 520s have "baked" on coatings rather than films
Click to expand...

Removing the anti glare is really a personal thing, or something you do when yours is jacked. Otherwise, I'd leave it alone. My anti-glare was nicked a little and I removed it. I'm kind of regretting it.

I've been looking into getting an anti-glare film for my FW900. Hoping it's worth my time...
 
well there's really no actual replacement for the ag film

you'd need something that is partially opaque and has a antireflective coating (like the type on eyeglasses)
the only things you can buy nowadays are crappy matte films designed for lcds. if you put those on a crt it would be super blurry
 
http://www.photodon.com/p/3285-01.html

Here's a manufacturer that makes films. I chose the Samsung Syncmaster 2433 because it's a 24-inch 16:10 monitor like the FW900. I realize that the viewable of the Sony is 22.5 inches, but with the bezel off, I would think this size should fit. There are a variety of coatings to choose from.


Flod - could you look at the options and see which ones would be better to choose? My monitor is in a light-controlled environment, but sometimes it would be nice not to have to control it as much as I do...
 
jrodefeld said:
Yeah I definitely think I got a winner with this FW900. I got it a month ago from a guy in Orange County. It is a June 2001 build and the guy kept it unused in his closet since 2008 when he moved and no longer had a desk that would fit it. Unkle Vito told me that the 2001 manufacturing dates were the best from his experience.
Click to expand...

If you do some quick searching, you'll find that it's the newer FW900's that seem to have more issues than the older ones. My model is a January 2001, and it's been great! I have been using it as my daily driver for the last week or so, and I've kept it pegged at 2304x1440 for everything that I use.
 
jbltecnicspro said:
If you do some quick searching, you'll find that it's the newer FW900's that seem to have more issues than the older ones. My model is a January 2001, and it's been great! I have been using it as my daily driver for the last week or so, and I've kept it pegged at 2304x1440 for everything that I use.
Click to expand...

The 2001 production were the best tubes Sony made for the GDM-FW900. They were the brightest and almost trouble free CRTs.

Hope this helps...

UV!
 
jbltecnicspro said:
http://www.photodon.com/p/3285-01.html

Here's a manufacturer that makes films. I chose the Samsung Syncmaster 2433 because it's a 24-inch 16:10 monitor like the FW900. I realize that the viewable of the Sony is 22.5 inches, but with the bezel off, I would think this size should fit. There are a variety of coatings to choose from.


Flod - could you look at the options and see which ones would be better to choose? My monitor is in a light-controlled environment, but sometimes it would be nice not to have to control it as much as I do...
Click to expand...

sorry but i dont think any of those do anything useful for our crts :(
unless you want the image to look like
http://i.imgur.com/aCjSO.jpg
(taken from this thread http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1674033)

btw statements like
If you're doing color critical work, our MXA film is the best, and makes for whiter whites and darker blacks
Click to expand...
are bs

the original antiglare on crt screens solves two things:
1. the high diffuse reflectivity of the phosphors/aperture grill
2. the mirror-like specular reflections from the glass

1 is solved by having the film be tinted. this improves the actual contrast ratio (taking into account ambient light) because outside light has to go through the tinted film, bounce off the aperture grill, and go through the tinted film again before it hits your eyes. but the light of the actual image from the monitor comes from the phosphor layer and only has to pass the tinted coating once.
2 is solved by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-reflective_coating#Interference_coatings

i don't know of any film which addresses 1, since everything is designed for lcds nowadays and there's no reason to have a grey tinted film for lcds, because lcds don't suffer from problem 1
as for 2, there is such a film (nushield dayvue) and i think also a 3m one which i can't remember or couldn't figure out where to buy from. but it's nowhere near as effective as the original antiglare film
see http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1041237570&postcount=14

(i also tried dayvue for my phone but it wears out pretty quickly for some reason and wasn't very fingerprint friendly)
 
Last edited:
Thank you for your explanation. In that case, I'll continue to light control my room. It's not that bad, and the blacks are pretty good. But for weekend day gaming (when the baby's asleep), it's just a little too reflective. Nothing a light-blocking curtain couldn't solve though. :)
 
Can't believe people are still using these....that is so excellently cool!!

Had one back in university, envy of the dorms I was.
 
I'm not sure this is the best place to ask this, but it is a follow up to my comments on the last page. I found out that the video card I bought on Ebay actually IS under warranty with EVGA so I can get a replacement!

I was just approved for an RMA. However, I water cool my system so I've got an EK waterblock on my 980 at the moment. And I cannot for the life of me seem to find the stock cooler and heatsink!

I can't imagine that I would throw something like that away but I may not be able to find it.

Do you suppose EVGA would be understanding of this situation and replace the card anyway? Or would my lack of having the original heatsink and cooler be a deal breaker? I could email them and ask but I am hesitant to give them too much extra information about how I used the card. I don't know if they are less likely to honor the warranty if you remove the stock cooler and install watercooling parts.

I've never had to do this before. The stock cooler may turn up but I have to consider that it may be lost.

What do you think I should do?
 
I am unable to locate the heatsink and fans for the Geforce 980 so I'll have to put off sending it for a replacement. So I'm looking for alternatives.

Is there any disadvantage to using a Displayport adapter? They make Displayport to VGA and Displayport to DVI adapters.

I haven't heard of many people using this approach to connecting to an FW900. Would there be any disadvantage in running high resolutions and high refresh rates?

What about this adapter?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DisplayPort...290?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item234d781f2a
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
I guess those sorts of adapters are no good for these monitors. They all seem to be limited to 1920x1200 at 60hz or so. I can't access the 400mhz RAMDAC and instead am limited to 165mhz or something like that.

Maybe I can work something out with EVGA? I guess I don't have much of a choice at this point?
 
yea might as well ask them

or sell it :p

i don't think they'll mind that you watercooled it since they'd still accept it if it has the original hsf on
 
jrodefeld said:
I guess those sorts of adapters are no good for these monitors. They all seem to be limited to 1920x1200 at 60hz or so. I can't access the 400mhz RAMDAC and instead am limited to 165mhz or something like that.

Maybe I can work something out with EVGA? I guess I don't have much of a choice at this point?
Click to expand...

i wrote about my experince with that here

tl;dr: you want native dvi-i on your gpu when you want to properly use your fw900
 
Was that one of the Sony Trinitron TV's, or did they actually develop a CRT monitor called Trinitron? If it was the TV, I had that model, possibly even that size in my room as a TV growing up. Even took it to college. If I had known it'd make that good of a monitor...
 
jssaylor2007 said:
Was that one of the Sony Trinitron TV's, or did they actually develop a CRT monitor called Trinitron? If it was the TV, I had that model, possibly even that size in my room as a TV growing up. Even took it to college. If I had known it'd make that good of a monitor...
Click to expand...
Trinitron was Sony's brand name for Aperture Grille CRT tubes.
Your TV will still have been a low resolution CRT that wouldn't have made a good monitor.
 
Anyone know what a good brightness level for a CRT TV is? I just got a Sony KV36-310FV television, and while it looks okay, it seems that at full white (full screen - 100 IRE), I was only able to get 85 cd/m2 from it. I see that "peak white level" seems to be measured with a 100 IRE window and not a full-screen white. Does this sound reasonable? Or does my television sound a bit too used?

Also, another thing I was wondering was... Does the size of the screen, and the fact that it's a 480i mean that my DTP-94 may be unsuitable for measuring it? There was another 36 inch CRT TV that I had possession of and it only reached around 84 cd/m2 and couldn't go higher. But again, I was only doing a full screen white. Anyways... Time for bed. I'm rambling now...
 
I don't think the DTP-94's an issue.

85 nits is fine for my monitor in a light controlled environment. I assume it would be the same for a TV.

Where did you read that peak white should be measured with a window rather than full screen. I can see this being relevant for plasmas that have automatic brightness limiters built in. Not sure about CRTs though. As far as I recall on my own display, windowed and fullscreen give similar luminance readings, though I'd have to double check.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top