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

The discoloration you see in the bottom of the screen is a possible landing issue. If the landing controls on the OSD do not correct the problem, then it has to be adjusted at the Sony Service Center in San Diego.

There are many "quick fix" options such as opening the monitor and placing a small magnet on the CRT frame right where the color discoloration is present, or using the degauss feature, but I do not recommend these options as you only will be puting a "band aid" to the problem, and not fixing it.

Since 2001, I have sold hundred of these monitors to many satisfied eBay customers, and I can tell you with 110% certainty that the GDM-FW900, along with the F520, the C520 and the CPD-G520P, were the best CRT monitors Sony ever made, with the FW900 being the king of all them all.

Hope this helps!

Luis A. Grunauer, Jr.
Unkle Vito!
 
I'm happy with mine!

A big thank you to the original thread starter! I never knew there was a widescreen CRT let alone a 24" CRT monitor untill i seen this thread. I always wished there was. I spent 3 weeks hunting and reserching for the perfect 24"+ LCD and nothing was perfect and the good monitors were way out of reach. $100 bucks for a 24" CRT? hehe love it!

Found mine on Craigs list.. first time i ever used Craigs list and i found one locally. Whats the chance eh?

COD 4 looks AWESOME at 1920x1200 85Hz.
 
Unfortunatly landing controls only the sides of the screen and not the middle top/ bottom. The weird thing is how if ( in my case at least) I rotate the monitor that issue disappears. If only they had landing controls for that part of the screen... I don't think even using the windas cable would help , anyone care to see if they have any options like that?

I prob should buy a cable with a usb hook up anyway since my geometry is not perfect and the osd controls aren't helping too much. Although my g2 brightness is not too big an issue it is creeping up.
 
rawashdeh said:
Unfortunatly landing controls only the sides of the screen and not the middle top/ bottom. The weird thing is how if ( in my case at least) I rotate the monitor that issue disappears. If only they had landing controls for that part of the screen... I don't think even using the windas cable would help , anyone care to see if they have any options like that?

I prob should buy a cable with a usb hook up anyway since my geometry is not perfect and the osd controls aren't helping too much. Although my g2 brightness is not too big an issue it is creeping up.
Click to expand...

Not strange, well know issue with Large CRT's that are susceptible to the Earth's magnetic field lines. Usually this only affects or is seen in Large monitors like 32-36 inch. But I suppose you could see it in a 24". If you rotate the screen where it is pointing a different point on the compass, you should be able to tune this out. Also, make sure it is not near another CRT, or anything that puts out EMI.

Les

Les
 
Thanks Les,

is there something I can put underneath or behind the monitor to block some of the magnetic fields? although the discoloration disappears when I rotate the monitor I don't have too much space and the current positioning is perfect for my needs. Unfortunately no lead lying around :p
 
rawashdeh said:
Thanks Les,

is there something I can put underneath or behind the monitor to block some of the magnetic fields? although the discoloration disappears when I rotate the monitor I don't have too much space and the current positioning is perfect for my needs. Unfortunately no lead lying around :p
Click to expand...

Hi,
There's obviously a way to do it, because New CRT's don't come with the orientation buttons that they used to have. I don't see how to effectively shield it though. The service manual is available on this thread, it may be addressed in there. You mean you haven't read all 179 pages?

Les
 
Lol , I have read about 150+ pages of the thread on my crt before my eyes just couldn't take it anymore.

Anyways I did look in the service manual and it only mentions landing adjustments in the corner and mentions magnetic shields. I am wondering if there is something else I might be missing as those shields seem expensive and I thought the monitor had some sort of shielding. Plus would I need to put this shielding only beneath the monitor ? Not too much magnetic experience I am afraid.
 
rawashdeh said:
Lol , I have read about 150+ pages of the thread on my crt before my eyes just couldn't take it anymore.

Anyways I did look in the service manual and it only mentions landing adjustments in the corner and mentions magnetic shields. I am wondering if there is something else I might be missing as those shields seem expensive and I thought the monitor had some sort of shielding. Plus would I need to put this shielding only beneath the monitor ? Not too much magnetic experience I am afraid.
Click to expand...

The Magnetic filed stretches from the surface to outer space! Remember when you were in school and you put a magnet under a piece of paper and covered it with iron filings to see the magnetic field. Birds fly down these fields like lanes on the interstate and use them to navigate. It's going to be hard to do a shield outside the monitors shell. If you start shielding your house from Magnetic fields, I'm sure Homeland Security will want to know what you are up to!!

Les
 
After a bit more reading into it I believe I would want deflect the fields rather than shield it ( Doh! ) ahh good old high school physics. Do you have any experience with this at all? So far the only solution is to play with the placement of the crt which is very hard to do with my current space. Ooh well , at least my theory that it could be magnetic field interference is sound ( thought It could be caused by electrical wiring of the house but you mentioned the earth's field which makes more sense).

Thanks for the input !!!
 
les_garten said:
The Magnetic filed stretches from the surface to outer space! Remember when you were in school and you put a magnet under a piece of paper and covered it with iron filings to see the magnetic field. Birds fly down these fields like lanes on the interstate and use them to navigate. It's going to be hard to do a shield outside the monitors shell. If you start shielding your house from Magnetic fields, I'm sure Homeland Security will want to know what you are up to!!

Les
Click to expand...

Homeland security couldn't care less if you built a faraday cage around your house. Your phone, tv, and power company on the other hand will want to know why you're blocking all incoming and outgoing electromagnetic signals with one though.
 
Can anyone who is using the Sony branded FW900 post a copy of the EDID file (can extract using ViewSonic's EDID Editor). I need to compare it to my HP A7217A EDID. The .dat file would be great so I can load into EDID Editor.

Why? I am having trouble getting 1920x1200@85Hz to work under Vista(8800GT video card). Another person who has the FW900 has no problems at all so I am trying to figure out why mine isn't working properly. Thanks.
 
Slackusr said:
Can anyone who is using the Sony branded FW900 post a copy of the EDID file (can extract using ViewSonic's EDID Editor). I need to compare it to my HP A7217A EDID. The .dat file would be great so I can load into EDID Editor.

Why? I am having trouble getting 1920x1200@85Hz to work under Vista(8800GT video card). Another person who has the FW900 has no problems at all so I am trying to figure out why mine isn't working properly. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Hello,
Are you connecting to the monitor via VGA or BNC?

Les
 
Slackusr said:
Can anyone who is using the Sony branded FW900 post a copy of the EDID file (can extract using ViewSonic's EDID Editor). I need to compare it to my HP A7217A EDID. The .dat file would be great so I can load into EDID Editor.

Why? I am having trouble getting 1920x1200@85Hz to work under Vista(8800GT video card). Another person who has the FW900 has no problems at all so I am trying to figure out why mine isn't working properly. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I also have the HP A7217A and 8800GTX SLI and have no probs using 1920x1200 at 85Hz. I'm using both Winxp pro and Vista 64. I'm using the drivers that are built into vista. There for the sony FW900.
 
eclypse said:
I also have the HP A7217A and 8800GTX SLI and have no probs using 1920x1200 at 85Hz. I'm using both Winxp pro and Vista 64. I'm using the drivers that are built into vista. There for the sony FW900.
Click to expand...


That is strange. 1920x1200 is available to me, but my screen is squished from the sides-inward. I am at a loss.
 
Slackusr said:
That is strange. 1920x1200 is available to me, but my screen is squished from the sides-inward. I am at a loss.
Click to expand...

You cant adjust that with the monitor adjustment settings? You should try taking a pic of it and upload it here.
 
All is well. All I needed was a press of the Reset button on the front monitor panel. I never thought to use it before as I have never needed it. It did the trick along with some dimensional fine tuning. Way to over think a simple fix, eh? Thanks for the responses, all. Happy holidays.
 
Slackusr said:
All is well. All I needed was a press of the Reset button on the front monitor panel. I never thought to use it before as I have never needed it. It did the trick along with some dimensional fine tuning. Way to over think a simple fix, eh? Thanks for the responses, all. Happy holidays.
Click to expand...

Sweet! :D Same to you!
 
rawashdeh said:
Thanks Les,

is there something I can put underneath or behind the monitor to block some of the magnetic fields? although the discoloration disappears when I rotate the monitor I don't have too much space and the current positioning is perfect for my needs. Unfortunately no lead lying around :p
Click to expand...

A small, weak, kitchen magnet, placed in front of the monitor, was enough in my case when I had the same situation as you...
 
Do you mind if I ask for more details SH1?

So you always kept the magnet in that location or did it eventually not need it due to bending of the wires inside the monitor? In my case a weak fridge magnet didn't do it. So I got one of the stronger ones with 2 magnets in them. The issue is placement though. Too close and discoloration is much worse, the correct position means it will be in front of the actual screen ( about 1 and a half inch from the bottom of the screen and 2 inches away from it). Would love to hear how you figured out the placement for the magnet.

Edit: After looking around more I found a magnet with the correct shape and strength and I was successfull in removing 90% of the discoloration. I am extremely happy now since the discoloration was very annoying. Thank you very much SH1 !!! Now I can focus more on geometry problems, might need to grab that windas cable as I don't think OSD corrections can fix all of them.
 
Cool -- glad to hear of your success!

(I started by adjusting the lower landing controls to increase the discoloration so it was even more visible. Then I tried different magnet positions until I got the most clean up of the discoloration from the magnet. Then I re-adjusted the landing controls until all was clear.)
 
After getting my monitor off of the speakers, pretty much everything is cleared up now except that scratch on the screen. I can't tell if it's a scratch on the anti glare coating, or a scratch on the screen itself. When I move my head side to side the scratch will shimmer.

I do notice some small, faint vertical lines on the very left edge of the monitor. They're not the horizontal aperture grille lines, but something different. I haven't been able to get them to go away using any of the controls.
 
zerohaste said:
After getting my monitor off of the speakers, pretty much everything is cleared up now except that scratch on the screen. I can't tell if it's a scratch on the anti glare coating, or a scratch on the screen itself. When I move my head side to side the scratch will shimmer.

I do notice some small, faint vertical lines on the very left edge of the monitor. They're not the horizontal aperture grille lines, but something different. I haven't been able to get them to go away using any of the controls.
Click to expand...

The anti glare coatingis not just a coating. It is on plastic layer that is over the glass. Even if your scratch looks deep, it didn't get past the plastic layer.
 
Yeah. I can't fee anything on the scratch when running my finger across it, and I can only see it on a white background.

Looking at the screen more, I noticed a shadow to the right of any black or dark colored vertical line on a light background. Messing with the convergence doesn't fix it. I'll see the line, then to the right there are 3-4 very light lines that get lighter as they go to the right.
 
zerohaste said:
Looking at the screen more, I noticed a shadow to the right any black or dark colored vertical line on a light background. Messing with the convergence doesn't fix it. I'll see the line, then to the right there are 3-4 very light lines that get lighter as they go to the right.
Click to expand...

I've had that same exact screen problem. for me, it turned out to be the cable. after getting a new svga cable it went away.
 
I am an avid gamer, and for the past 5 years or so I have been using the NEC FE211SB-BK 22" CRT Monitor. It's a great monitor but I wanted to upgrade to something larger. I decided to go the LCD route, since CRTs (for the most part) are not being made anymore. I purchased the Samsung 245BW 24" LCD. When I first hooked it up, I was very impressed with the colors, vividness, and clarity. In fact, I fell in love immediately. That is until I played a game on it.

I have been a die-hard CRT fan and I have contemplated upgrading to LCD for a few years now. Each time I looked into it, bad reviews from gamers have always left me wanting to keep my CRT. I would have thought by now the LCD technology would be good enough for me and I could finally go for the upgrade. I recently upgraded my entire PC and I thought this would be a good time for a new monitor as well. I scoured the internet for reviews of the best gaming LCD, and came up with the Samsung 245BW. I read numerous reviews from gamers saying how good this LCD monitor was for gaming. So I purchased it.

Back to paragraph one, in my opinion, the thing that gets me with LCD monitors is the lack of depth. Never mind the bad viewing angles; it is the lack of depth that is the deal breaker for me. 3D games hardly looked like they were 3D…and I have a geforce8800ultra and a quad core mind you…and my Vista PC is rated at 5.9 for everything. I was very much let down by the 245BW. I hooked my NEC back up and was relieved to see the depth back in my games.

So what now? I still want a larger monitor…and I want a widescreen. Just on a whim I did a search for widescreen CRT and I found this forum. I did not even know this FW900 CRT monitor existed. So after a couple weeks of researching it, it seems this monitor is what I am looking for. I have ordered one from accurateit. I am so excited! When I get it in I will be sure to post pics.
 
I just wanted to chime in and say that I've had this monitor for about 18 months now ......and for some reason when I got home today, I decided to do an image restoration........and OMG......I just fell in love all over again......

I guess over the past year, the image had degraded a bit...not that I really noticed, but after the restoration....well, lets just say I had to go and wipe up..:)


The blacks are what I love the best.....the blackest black I have ever seen....Im gonna cry like a baby if this thing dies and I cant find another one.....
 
Biggest benefits of this 24" CRT over LCD's:

1: Scalability of resolutions while maintaining pixel integrity (no pixel interpolation). Can even "overclock" the monitor's resolutions using Powerstrip.

2: Refresh rates, baby!!! Even 1920x1200 can be done comfortably @ 90Hz, which is 50% better than LCD's 60Hz. Also allows for Stereo-3D gaming with cheap shutter glasses.

3. Zero input lag or blurry "compensation" by LCD's OverDrive intended to fix response time on paper. Some call it ghosting, but it's more than just ghosting (when scrolling or moving around in games, there's too much "motion blur").

4. Far less screen noise (glitter) and zero mercury spikes caused by fluorescent tubes. Also allows for a far greater degree of color temperature adjusting, up to 11000 Kelvin.

5. Zero viewing angle problems, amen that!
 
doadea said:
I am an avid gamer, and for the past 5 years or so I have been using the NEC FE211SB-BK 22" CRT Monitor. It's a great monitor but I wanted to upgrade to something larger. I decided to go the LCD route, since CRTs (for the most part) are not being made anymore. I purchased the Samsung 245BW 24" LCD. When I first hooked it up, I was very impressed with the colors, vividness, and clarity. In fact, I fell in love immediately. That is until I played a game on it.

I have been a die-hard CRT fan and I have contemplated upgrading to LCD for a few years now. Each time I looked into it, bad reviews from gamers have always left me wanting to keep my CRT. I would have thought by now the LCD technology would be good enough for me and I could finally go for the upgrade. I recently upgraded my entire PC and I thought this would be a good time for a new monitor as well. I scoured the internet for reviews of the best gaming LCD, and came up with the Samsung 245BW. I read numerous reviews from gamers saying how good this LCD monitor was for gaming. So I purchased it.

Back to paragraph one, in my opinion, the thing that gets me with LCD monitors is the lack of depth. Never mind the bad viewing angles; it is the lack of depth that is the deal breaker for me. 3D games hardly looked like they were 3D…and I have a geforce8800ultra and a quad core mind you…and my Vista PC is rated at 5.9 for everything. I was very much let down by the 245BW. I hooked my NEC back up and was relieved to see the depth back in my games.

So what now? I still want a larger monitor…and I want a widescreen. Just on a whim I did a search for widescreen CRT and I found this forum. I did not even know this FW900 CRT monitor existed. So after a couple weeks of researching it, it seems this monitor is what I am looking for. I have ordered one from accurateit. I am so excited! When I get it in I will be sure to post pics.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat, on a 19 inch KDS XF-9B atm though. I'm getting my new rig around the q9450 and 9800 GTX launch...I pretty much have to grab one of these, I can't stand LCD's.

Curious though, which grade did you buy from accurateit? B or A-?...also was it the sony branded model?...or was it the HP badged one?...Curious on which you are getting. I'm planning to nab the sony badged FW900, is the 200 dollars worth it over the HP badged version?...no idea, but hopefully paying that extra 200 means they'll fine tune it to perfection...lol..
 
What kind of desks are you guys using to support this monster? The way I have it set up now is killing my right shoulder. I have to twist my body around and pretty much look over my left shoulder to use my mouse. My current desk supports a 19" CRT, and that's it. It's one of those desks with a hutch around it on both sides, so it doesn't hold a bigger monitor.

I've been looking for a desk for this thing for over 3 weeks and I still haven't found one that looks like it will work. I hate keyboard trays because they're so weak and small, so I need something that has enough space so I'm not sitting with my nose to the screen. Corner or L shaped desk preferred...

Every inepensive desk I can find is made for an LCD. No one makes desks that support the weight and size of a CRT any more...
 
zerohaste said:
What kind of desks are you guys using to support this monster? The way I have it set up now is killing my right shoulder. I have to twist my body around and pretty much look over my left shoulder to use my mouse. My current desk supports a 19" CRT, and that's it. It's one of those desks with a hutch around it on both sides, so it doesn't hold a bigger monitor.

I've been looking for a desk for this thing for over 3 weeks and I still haven't found one that looks like it will work. I hate keyboard trays because they're so weak and small, so I need something that has enough space so I'm not sitting with my nose to the screen. Corner or L shaped desk preferred...

Every inepensive desk I can find is made for an LCD. No one makes desks that support the weight and size of a CRT any more...
Click to expand...

I've been using a desk I got from Ikea several years back that will be used for my upcoming fw900. Basically a standard rectangular desk with a large support wood running below.

You could make it if you wanted...or just nab a weaker desk and add your own support column =P.
 
Ikasu said:
I've been using a desk I got from Ikea several years back that will be used for my upcoming fw900. Basically a standard rectangular desk with a large support wood running below.

You could make it if you wanted...or just nab a weaker desk and add your own support column =P.
Click to expand...

Exactly, that's what I'm doing to my new desk from OfficeMax, with a 1x4 wood supporting it right in the middle! My new residence doesn't have enough room for my former L-shaped desk that I used for 2 computers, so I had to buy 2 separate desks.
 
I've got a good one for you guys. Guess what this monitor does at 1600x1200 @85hz, aside from display the dreaded side-black-bars. It displays almost entirely in focus, even bright colors, and is so bright that I had to lower the brightness and contrast to almost 90-20 to get it to how I like it.

But for some reason this thing absolutely hates widescreen resolutions.
 
Ikasu said:
I'm in the same boat, on a 19 inch KDS XF-9B atm though. I'm getting my new rig around the q9450 and 9800 GTX launch...I pretty much have to grab one of these, I can't stand LCD's.

Curious though, which grade did you buy from AccurateIT? B or A-?...also was it the Sony branded model?...or was it the HP badged one?...Curious on which you are getting. I'm planning to nab the sony badged FW900, is the 200 dollars worth it over the HP badged version?...no idea, but hopefully paying that extra 200 means they'll fine tune it to perfection...lol..
Click to expand...

I got the A- Sony Brand from AccurateIT...I paid a pretty penny for it, but I am a brand-name whore and the look of my equipment means just as much as the performance of it. I would not be able to stand the ugly white/beige color of the HP version, and if I got a B grade and if it had a screen blemish it would drive me nuts, no matter how small it was. I thought that the extra steps they take to insure that it is cleaned and calibrated was worth the extra money, plus the 1 year warranty...a 1 year warranty on a 5-8 year old monitor? Can't beat that...

I have not received the monitor yet...I ordered it on the 25th of Dec. I had hoped I would have got it by now, but no the holidays delayed it (which is understandable). Bax Global called me on Monday to set up a delivery time, which will be on the 7th of January. Not sure why they could not deliver it sometime this week, as it's sitting in Bax's shipping warehouse which is in Baltimore, only 2 hours from my house. I am going to be taking pictures of the package before I open it, along with the monitor and giving a full review of the service and monitor I have received from AccurateIT.
 
2 hours from my house??? Man i'd be calling them up and letting them know i'm on my way to pick it up! No freakin way i'd wait another 5 days for it. Yes its worth the freakin 4 hour ride. ;)
 
eclypse said:
2 hours from my house??? Man i'd be calling them up and letting them know i'm on my way to pick it up! No freakin way i'd wait another 5 days for it. Yes its worth the freakin 4 hour ride. ;)
Click to expand...


Well I did call and I do have the option to do this....I might do it :)


Edit: Decided not to do this because it would be too much of a hastle. I would have to trade cars with the wife for the day, remove car seats, remove bench seat, etc. Actually my wife decided for me...she said no. LOL. Hey she is letting me buy the monitor so I can't complain.
 
doadea said:
I got the A- Sony Brand from AccurateIT...I paid a pretty penny for it, but I am a brand-name whore and the look of my equipment means just as much as the performance of it. I would not be able to stand the ugly white/beige color of the HP version, and if I got a B grade and if it had a screen blemish it would drive me nuts, no matter how small it was. I thought that the extra steps they take to insure that it is cleaned and calibrated was worth the extra money, plus the 1 year warranty...a 1 year warranty on a 5-8 year old monitor? Can't beat that...

I have not received the monitor yet...I ordered it on the 25th of Dec. I had hoped I would have got it by now, but no the holidays delayed it (which is understandable). Bax Global called me on Monday to set up a delivery time, which will be on the 7th of January. Not sure why they could not deliver it sometime this week, as it's sitting in Bax's shipping warehouse which is in Baltimore, only 2 hours from my house. I am going to be taking pictures of the package before I open it, along with the monitor and giving a full review of the service and monitor I have received from AccurateIT.
Click to expand...

That's strange because I am waiting on a UPS delivery that is slated for the seventh also. I ordered it about the same time you did. It's like they shut down for a number of days from Xmas to new years.

Les
 
New, better shielded cables seems to have fixed the problem from what I can tell. The left side of the monitor still looks a little odd, but it could just be my eyes playing tricks on me, so I'll give it a few days.
 
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