I am new to the forum and I also purchased this beast (on ebay from RPC global for $420 shipped) after reading what some of you guys have posted. Limmie give you a little info about me and my quest for video perfection. Before I heard about this monitor, I was in search of the perfect xbox 360 display. I have been to Best Buy and literally hooked up to 12 to 16 different HD televisions (50" DLP, 46" LCD and Plasma, 32" LCD, 30" CRT, etc). I couldn't afford any of the bigger models but I wanted to see the best and the worst. I was left unimpressed (ghosting, trailing, or any fast movements but motionless was sweet) . However I did like the plasma's picture (even with motion), it was as close to CRT than the others, minus the CRT of course. The one TV I fell in love with, was the SONY XBR 960 but didn't have the purchase price. The seller even offered to drop $300 off just to get rid of it, due to LCD and Plasma profits. I later, bought a Sanyo HT30744 30" widescreen HDTV from a friend for little moola. I had little problems but for the price wasn't bad. I was told, monitors might be better for gaming so I purchased the VGA connection for XBOX 360 and connected to a 17" Viewsonic E771 I had laying around. I was blown away. The level of detail, I felt as if I could pick the characters from the screen they looked so life like. So, now I am here. I ordered the Sony GDM FW900, it arrives with a slight scratch onna screen. I'm like, "here we go." I hook up my laptop via BNC and my XBOX 360 via VGA. Imma gamer first, so I instantly pop in Project Gotham 3. My reason for using this game, is it's a 30 frames per second game and from my experience 30 fps games, I have a hard time playing due to it being too choppy. The first thing outta my mouth after powering everything up was, "WTF? Where is the color? Why is this so blurry? and I just got beat! After calming down and remembering the color gain and bias, brightness and contrast I read on this forum I got everything looking real nice (especially after the warm up period). I have played Call of duty 3, Rainbow 6 Vegas, and Chromehounds, but had to adjust the in game brightness higher to get the right picture. The games that don't have in game brightness control look a bit dark (Project Gotham 3, NBA 2K7, and NHL 2K7). But, I was able to play 30 frame per second games without eye fatigue or strain. The XBOX 360 looks a little dry, but it's not the monitor because my laptop does not suffer from this. I am happy with the monitor but I can't turn the brightness up past 25 due to a green tinge and I wish I had a lil more contrast. I guess I will have to get the program you guys have been talking about with the proper cable.
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24" Widescreen CRT (FW900) From Ebay arrived,Comments.
- Thread starter mathesar
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Mine looks like that at any refresh rate below 85Hz....What is yours set at ?
so i can pick up a sony for 350 or the hp for 275.. maybe 225 if im lucky. Is there a difference between the two? The only thing i kinda worried about is protected HD content. Any suggestions for display that kinda suff or would i be out of luck? I read about a DRM stripper but that are a lot of money and if/when the update the codes it would be no good... I Saw that it shows 1080i great but what about 1080p? EDIT found the answer, it works but it seems to crop some of the picture, at least with an xbox 360. I have been holding out for a nice 24" lcd but it looks like I might have to wait for 6-18 months before something i would except exists. Should it just get it and wait for a nice lcd?
That's what the guy@Emusicraft tells me for the WinDAS cable:
"You should first locate the four pin interface connector. On the back of
the monitor find the small plastic pop-off cover allowing access to the
connector. If it's there, gently pry it off and locate the 4 pin interface
connector. If the plastic cover is not there, then the monitor case would
have to be removed. It is not difficult to remove the case. The connector
is located at the edge of a circuit board. The interface connects to that 4
pin connector and to the 9 pin serial port connection on your PC."
I've located the connector and the plastic pop-off cover is not there, but I don't understand why should I remove the monitor case since the connector is already reachable.
"You should first locate the four pin interface connector. On the back of
the monitor find the small plastic pop-off cover allowing access to the
connector. If it's there, gently pry it off and locate the 4 pin interface
connector. If the plastic cover is not there, then the monitor case would
have to be removed. It is not difficult to remove the case. The connector
is located at the edge of a circuit board. The interface connects to that 4
pin connector and to the 9 pin serial port connection on your PC."
I've located the connector and the plastic pop-off cover is not there, but I don't understand why should I remove the monitor case since the connector is already reachable.
mathesar
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2005
- Messages
- 1,590
That's what the guy@Emusicraft tells me for the WinDAS cable:
"You should first locate the four pin interface connector. On the back of
the monitor find the small plastic pop-off cover allowing access to the
connector. If it's there, gently pry it off and locate the 4 pin interface
connector. If the plastic cover is not there, then the monitor case would
have to be removed. It is not difficult to remove the case. The connector
is located at the edge of a circuit board. The interface connects to that 4
pin connector and to the 9 pin serial port connection on your PC."
I've located the connector and the plastic pop-off cover is not there, but I don't understand why should I remove the monitor case since the connector is already reachable.
?? ... The plastic cover would be blocking access to the pins from the outside of the monitor , if you're able to reach the pins then the cover has been removed. You dont have to remove the monitor casing on the FW900 to use the cable.
Hopefully you can adjust out the green tinge.
At 1920x1200, it's at 60Hz. At 1600x1000, I set it to 85Hz. Both show the same problem.
So, I should get a VGA to 5BNC cable?Yes! Ghosting is often caused by cables. Try out a nice high-quality BNC cable if you can. Most have said that they don't notice a difference between VGA and BNC. . . but when in doubt, I always go BNC.
mathesar
[H]ard|Gawd
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Just an update, I was able to adjust the focus on my monitor without removing the monitor casing, If anything leaving the casing on helps because the screwdriver is held in place by the monitor backing & ventilation holes, I used 2 screwdrivers and had one on each focus screw , I got a slight improvment in overall sharpness after the adjustment but beware they are VERY sensitive , just a slight turn can go from razor sharp to blury so it took awhile for me to get it 'just right', I was using my LCD as a refrence but of course theres no way its going to get that sharp lol.
My G2 is still at 156 with the monitor requiring a brightness of 13 to get deep blacks (PC) ,But I just turned up the brightness to 45 and ran Image Restore and now my black levels are deep at Brightness 24 , Strange how that works ...
My G2 is still at 156 with the monitor requiring a brightness of 13 to get deep blacks (PC) ,But I just turned up the brightness to 45 and ran Image Restore and now my black levels are deep at Brightness 24 , Strange how that works ...
So my monitor is blurry on both sides.. think of a vertical gradient of blurriness, startging from the left and right edges of the monitor, that gets progressively less pronounced (more crisp) as it gets toward the center.
The center region of my monitor is crystal, but the sides aren't -- it feels like I need to put on glasses to get a clear read of the text.
It is perfectly readable, even small font sizes, but so blurry it's constantly annoying. This is most apparent at large resolutions.
I have already tweaked my focus POTs. It won't get any better.
MY QUESTION TO YOU GENTLEMEN: Should I bother getting a higher quality VGA cable to see if that clears up the issue?
I know the DVI->VGA adapter I'm using is good cause it worked without blurriness on another monitor.
thanks
The center region of my monitor is crystal, but the sides aren't -- it feels like I need to put on glasses to get a clear read of the text.
It is perfectly readable, even small font sizes, but so blurry it's constantly annoying. This is most apparent at large resolutions.
I have already tweaked my focus POTs. It won't get any better.
MY QUESTION TO YOU GENTLEMEN: Should I bother getting a higher quality VGA cable to see if that clears up the issue?
I know the DVI->VGA adapter I'm using is good cause it worked without blurriness on another monitor.
thanks
This will probably get you rolling. . .Ok, I bought the cable. I need a brief guide to WinDAS software now!
http://www.geocities.com/gregua/windas/
I think FoeHammer was working on a tutorial that was also going to cover "fine convergence" via Windas. That would rule. But, as with so many projects on the interwebs, this one seems to have been back-burnered. I myself have several projects on permanent hiatus.
The center region of my monitor is crystal, but the sides aren't -- it feels like I need to put on glasses to get a clear read of the text.
thanks
Well, the aperture grill technology means that the dot pitch is larger on the sides than the center (i think it's .24 in the center, and .28 or so on the edges, someone will probably correct me on that), so that could be part of it.
I also see that the convergence on mine (the HP version) is slightly off on the sides, and especially the corners. That makes the corners look pretty fuzzy, depending on the res and use at the time.
Lately, I've been seeing ghosting when viewing bright objects on black backgrounds while playing games. I'm thinking of replacing my current VGA cable that came with the monitor to see if that will ameliorate the ghosting. I'm ordering a super VGA cable from monoprice.com, but should I get a m-f or m-m cable? I'm to lazy to look at my current VGA cable. Thanks in advance.
I don't think it's convergence. Go to 1940x1200 or 2304x1440 and see if you have the same issue as me.
I can still see it at any widescreen resolution, even 1600x1000, but much less.
Well I just bought the one linked in the first post; http://www.cablesnmor.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=614
If this doesn't fix it, start making offers, cause I have a hp gdm-fw900 I'll be looking to get off my hands
mathesar
[H]ard|Gawd
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The vertical pitch on the FW900 is .23 in the center and .27 on the sides so its normal to see a slight loss in sharpness at the edges BUT it shouldn't be very noticeable, I can hardly tell the difference on mine even at 1920x1200 , If adjusting the focus / convergence and trying new cables doesnt fix it then im not sure where else to look ... does WinDAS have any Focus adjustments? I know on my Sony CRT HDTV theres a focus adjustment in the service menu specifically for the edges of the screen.
It is highly noticable on black text/white background, literally looks like I need glasses as I read text that goes from the center and gets blurrier towards the right. It's not really make-or-break, but it's extremely annoying. The center is crystal though.
I'll see if I can get some monitor pictures later.
If anyone is familiar with a focus adjustment in WinDAS please let me know.
TheBeelzebub
Limp Gawd
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- 371
I am getting a weird type of ghosting/repeating with my fw900. Its hard to describe, but it looks like vertical dim gray lines on the right of text or other things. It seems to go away after the monitor has been on for a while, but I take this as a sign that the monitor is going down the crapper. Why can't these monitors just freekn work and stop screwing up all the time? I can't really deal with fixing it myself, so I will probobly have to bring it to a repair place.
Just lower the refresh rate; that did it for me and many other users.
Sometimes you only need to lower it by 2 or 3 Hz to stop the "vertical scan line" thing.
Use DCNV in Windas, this allows you to adjust the focus dynamically in each area of the screen. It will have a bunch of boxes, move from the bottom up left to right, because each area you adjust will effect the others a bit, but the ones to the left and right of the one you are adjusting tend to be less effected. If you don't get anywhere with Windas then you can give manual adjustments inside the monitor a try, because it sounds like your yoke might need adjusting.
Really it's nothing to worry about. Using WINDAS and manual adjustments, you can fix nearly any age-related problem with a CRT. Even on normal CRTs without a software interface most problems can be addressed by manual adjustment of the yoke or static convergence rings.
Don't be too scared of opening the monitor up, just be sure to never put both hands in there at the same time, unless you want a some voltage going directly through your chest
Code:
If the center of the screen is properly converged but there is still
misconvergence at the screen edges, you must tilt the -front- of the yoke
up or down (without loosening the mounting clamp), or side to side for
compensation while observing a crosshatch pattern on the screen. Note that
up/down movement of the yoke will affect convergence at the screen left and
right sides, and side to side movement of the yoke will affect screen edge
convergence at the top and bottom of the screen. Smaller tubes don't
normally require adjustment, but larger screen sizes can show quite a bit
of misconvergence at the edges. When adjustment is optimised, small rubber
or plastic wedges are used to hold the yoke in place. Sometimes these
blocks fall out. If edge convergence is bad and center convergence is OK,
look for loose or missing blocks. They are fitted with double-sided tape or
glue to keep them in position between the yoke and the bell of the tube so
the yoke can't move. Silicon rubber sealer works well as glue.http://personalpages.tds.net/~rcarlsen/cbm/converge.txt
Blazestorm
Supreme [H]ardness
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- 6,940
This really intrigued me...
My first "gaming" monitor persay was in like 1998... a Sony Trinitron 17"... ran like $450
It had the best image out of any of our computers playing Counter-strike beta on Pentium 3's and Athlons... Voodoo 3 cards... 512mb of ram!111
I had that monitor for a long time, I think it eventually died or we gave it away... then I bought a VX922... I love the monitor but am really interested in going widescreen... I look at the prices of LCD's (I honestly hate them... but the vx922 was a nice compromise with the fast refresh rates and low response time... ) It's been good to me for however long I've had it... (I'm not too good with math )
Now I'm looking to upgrade, this is basically what I started out with but 24" and widescreen...
I see all of these posts about prying it open and adjusting the focus, or having blurriness in some corners...
There are 2 on ebay for $275 + freight shipping... I checked with fedex and the freight shipping to my area was like $500... just rediculous... maybe I did something wrong... but I'll check with the seller...
Are people really having that many problems? and are higher quality cables necessary (I was reading a bit about that)... I've always used the provided cables with no issues...
My first "gaming" monitor persay was in like 1998... a Sony Trinitron 17"... ran like $450
It had the best image out of any of our computers playing Counter-strike beta on Pentium 3's and Athlons... Voodoo 3 cards... 512mb of ram!111
I had that monitor for a long time, I think it eventually died or we gave it away... then I bought a VX922... I love the monitor but am really interested in going widescreen... I look at the prices of LCD's (I honestly hate them... but the vx922 was a nice compromise with the fast refresh rates and low response time... ) It's been good to me for however long I've had it... (I'm not too good with math
)Now I'm looking to upgrade, this is basically what I started out with but 24" and widescreen...
I see all of these posts about prying it open and adjusting the focus, or having blurriness in some corners...
There are 2 on ebay for $275 + freight shipping... I checked with fedex and the freight shipping to my area was like $500... just rediculous... maybe I did something wrong... but I'll check with the seller...
Are people really having that many problems? and are higher quality cables necessary (I was reading a bit about that)... I've always used the provided cables with no issues...
Use DCNV in Windas, this allows you to adjust the focus dynamically in each area of the screen. It will have a bunch of boxes, move from the bottom up left to right, because each area you adjust will effect the others a bit, but the ones to the left and right of the one you are adjusting tend to be less effected. If you don't get anywhere with Windas then you can give manual adjustments inside the monitor a try, because it sounds like your yoke might need adjusting.
Really it's nothing to worry about. Using WINDAS and manual adjustments, you can fix nearly any age-related problem with a CRT. Even on normal CRTs without a software interface most problems can be addressed by manual adjustment of the yoke or static convergence rings.
Don't be too scared of opening the monitor up, just be sure to never put both hands in there at the same time, unless you want a some voltage going directly through your chest
Code:If the center of the screen is properly converged but there is still misconvergence at the screen edges, you must tilt the -front- of the yoke up or down (without loosening the mounting clamp), or side to side for compensation while observing a crosshatch pattern on the screen. Note that up/down movement of the yoke will affect convergence at the screen left and right sides, and side to side movement of the yoke will affect screen edge convergence at the top and bottom of the screen. Smaller tubes don't normally require adjustment, but larger screen sizes can show quite a bit of misconvergence at the edges. When adjustment is optimised, small rubber or plastic wedges are used to hold the yoke in place. Sometimes these blocks fall out. If edge convergence is bad and center convergence is OK, look for loose or missing blocks. They are fitted with double-sided tape or glue to keep them in position between the yoke and the bell of the tube so the yoke can't move. Silicon rubber sealer works well as glue.
http://personalpages.tds.net/~rcarlsen/cbm/converge.txt
Thank you so much for the reply -- I have no fear of opening the boy up; only a fear of adequate tutorials for someone with zero WinDAS/CRT-tweaking experience.
I'm gonna soak up all this info.
I've just used the standard VGA cable with no problems. I think there are a great number of lurkers who have this monitor but don't post because they're having no problems, so they're having no need to post.
Do you live in Alaska or something? Maybe you made the mistake of requesting residential delivery, don't do that, it will cost you at least $100 extra. Just have them hold it at the nearest Fedex shipping hub, and drive there and pick it up yourself. Best of course is local pickup, you can also check Craigslist as there are some on there. Or if your job has a shipping platform for freight deliveries you could have it delivered there for no extra cost.
http://www.fedex.com/us/freight/main/
Blazestorm
Supreme [H]ardness
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Ah ya, I have the shipping up like 10 minutes from me, I didn't know that...
Either way it's still around $200... I guess I put the weight class as 150 and set the weight to 150 and then added residential delivery and liftgate on delivery... haha... I'll recalculate it
I could get a sceptre widescreen 22" LCD for $300.... vs. $450 for a CRT...
I think I'd rather see one in person first...
Either way it's still around $200... I guess I put the weight class as 150 and set the weight to 150 and then added residential delivery and liftgate on delivery... haha... I'll recalculate it
I could get a sceptre widescreen 22" LCD for $300.... vs. $450 for a CRT...
I think I'd rather see one in person first...
bah, I've just learned to live with the poor convergence at the corners of my fw900.
I purchased an HP approved refurb and expected it to be in good condition...the convergence problem is a bit annoying.
HP too eh?
Maybe there's some reason AccurateIT sells the HP for $500 and the Sony for $700 then... are these things inferior or what?
mathesar
[H]ard|Gawd
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It depends on what you plan on doing most with your PC .. I have the FW900 and NEC 20WMGX2 LCD side by side ..when it comes to web browsing the LCD is superior due to its extremely crisp picture and brightness, but gaming & movie quality look better on the CRT mainly due to the much better black levels , especially if you like watching movies or gaming at night , For gaming Its nice being able to run without Vsync and choose from multiple resolutions on the CRT, and I like how everything just feels smoother on the CRT , mouse pointer speed & response, framerates in games etc. My LCD is rated 6ms but you can still tell the differance in response from a CRT.
Blazestorm
Supreme [H]ardness
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I found one local on craigslist for $525... I might be able to get it lower...
I use it for everything really... movies, games, video editing, image editing, web browsing...
I really hate LCDs for the ghosting, my eyes are sensitive... I've gotten used to the LCD... but the 2ms response time helps, I had one with a 12ms and I couldn't stand it... I'd be playing UT2004 and see a ghost of EVERYTHING... switched to this and it looked like my old CRT... in terms of ghosting...
I don't think I'd like the 100lb weight of it, cause I do go to LAN parties... but... I bet I could get a strap for it so I could throw it over my back...
I use it for everything really... movies, games, video editing, image editing, web browsing...
I really hate LCDs for the ghosting, my eyes are sensitive... I've gotten used to the LCD... but the 2ms response time helps, I had one with a 12ms and I couldn't stand it... I'd be playing UT2004 and see a ghost of EVERYTHING... switched to this and it looked like my old CRT... in terms of ghosting...
I don't think I'd like the 100lb weight of it, cause I do go to LAN parties... but... I bet I could get a strap for it so I could throw it over my back...
as far as I know the compaq and HP is just a rebadged sony.
Where do you live? Perhaps someone on [H]ard could show you their FW900. Either way I doubt you'll be able to find any in a store to look at.
As an aside, it's interesting that the FW900 is now the high end, and 22" widescreen LCDs are for those with less of a budget. Back in the day, when LCD technology was much worse then it is now (in every way), it was the other way around. Now the resale value of the FW900 is hovering above that of the retail for a comperable LCD - even though LCD technology has advanced so far since the late 90s.
GreenMonkey
2[H]4U
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The only problem I have with mine is a slight bit of misconvergence in the corners. After a few hours of incessantly tweaking on it with the test pattern I settled. The bottom right is shows tiny bit blue and the bottom left shows a tiny bit red.
It's barely noticeable. The only time I notice it is on Civ4 @ 1920x1200 as there is small text in the bottom right corner.
BTW I use a standard VGA cable as I find it just fine...I've got my DOS box hooked up with the VGA-BNC cable to the other input
The cables looked essentially the same to me (and likely should since the source signal is the same - VGA). Perhaps a DVI-BNC cable would look better, but I don't feel like spending the money.Blazestorm
Supreme [H]ardness
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I'm in the Seattle area...
Put the base of the monitor further back, then pile up a bunch of bricks to support the bottom of the desk. This is the most ghetto solution I can think of. Or you could just add a few extra table legs beneath the monitor if you have a nearby home depot and a little freetime.
w00t. Getting my hands on a second FW900 tomorrow at 3PM, can't wait. Glad I've got a beastly steelcase metal desk from Draper Labs circa 1960 (actually it was still the MIT instrumentation labratory at that time) to hold these babies up. This will be pretty badass.
Blazestorm
Supreme [H]ardness
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I think the disadvantages outweigh the advantages for me... maybe in a year or so... might be able to get one for even cheaper
Sony Windas
n00b
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- Jan 8, 2007
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If you use the Windows DAS, there is an adjustment procedure called dynamic convergence.
If you don't know where to get, or how to use Windas, you can get started at my howto:
http://www.geocities.com/gregua/windas/
I cover how to install the software, use it to make any adjustment and the many ways you can build/buy a cable.
Though the program would like you to switch modes and do a test pattern, you can adjust the convergence of each 'square' of the screen precisely.
However, some monitors dont' have the hardware to support this.
If you have a dual head video card, you can display the test pattern on the monitor you are adjusting, while displaying the DAS controlls on another monitor.
This allows you to switch to any mode, and display any recommended pattern.
I've completely wiped clean my monitors EEPROM and redjusted everything from scratch with this method.
For acureate color, there are cheap colorimeters on Ebay. When you use these with windas, you get the exact same image on multiple monitors, without having to resort to the video cards LUT.
I'm wondering whether the FW900 or some other 24 incher is capable of doing the Dynamic Covergence adjustments? I had crappy convergence on my P991, it makes the focous apear bad, but in reality it is just misconvergence. You can adjust focous on the flyback if you think that is really the problem, however, you will have to sacrifice focous at corners to get the sharpest focous in the middle.
Oh, and to those pople fooling with CNT_MAX_CNT and ABL_*, be carefull. The reason the monitor has an Automatic Brightness Limiter is to make sure that the X-ray emmisions do not go overboard.
Seriously, you can adjust the monitor to really crank out lumens, but X-ray emmisions will go out of controll.
Concentrate more on having an even scale of brightness for each color
Make sure you can see level 0-255 for each color, try this in photo shop. You can be surprised how many steps can be swallowed by black, or be sitting ontop of a pedstool of grey.
Also, make sure you that when a mix of RGB is equal, such as 1,1,1 2,2,2 that the shade of gray does not have a different tint, say at 40,40,40 or 230,230,230.
You can adjust all those color problems with Windas, and the adjustments can be made VERY quickly and acureately with a colorimeter.
Keep tweaking your monitors and sharing your results. I'm new to this thread and I"m quite impressed with where it's been.
If you don't know where to get, or how to use Windas, you can get started at my howto:
http://www.geocities.com/gregua/windas/
I cover how to install the software, use it to make any adjustment and the many ways you can build/buy a cable.
Though the program would like you to switch modes and do a test pattern, you can adjust the convergence of each 'square' of the screen precisely.
However, some monitors dont' have the hardware to support this.
If you have a dual head video card, you can display the test pattern on the monitor you are adjusting, while displaying the DAS controlls on another monitor.
This allows you to switch to any mode, and display any recommended pattern.
I've completely wiped clean my monitors EEPROM and redjusted everything from scratch with this method.
For acureate color, there are cheap colorimeters on Ebay. When you use these with windas, you get the exact same image on multiple monitors, without having to resort to the video cards LUT.
I'm wondering whether the FW900 or some other 24 incher is capable of doing the Dynamic Covergence adjustments? I had crappy convergence on my P991, it makes the focous apear bad, but in reality it is just misconvergence. You can adjust focous on the flyback if you think that is really the problem, however, you will have to sacrifice focous at corners to get the sharpest focous in the middle.
Oh, and to those pople fooling with CNT_MAX_CNT and ABL_*, be carefull. The reason the monitor has an Automatic Brightness Limiter is to make sure that the X-ray emmisions do not go overboard.
Seriously, you can adjust the monitor to really crank out lumens, but X-ray emmisions will go out of controll.
Concentrate more on having an even scale of brightness for each color
Make sure you can see level 0-255 for each color, try this in photo shop. You can be surprised how many steps can be swallowed by black, or be sitting ontop of a pedstool of grey.
Also, make sure you that when a mix of RGB is equal, such as 1,1,1 2,2,2 that the shade of gray does not have a different tint, say at 40,40,40 or 230,230,230.
You can adjust all those color problems with Windas, and the adjustments can be made VERY quickly and acureately with a colorimeter.
Keep tweaking your monitors and sharing your results. I'm new to this thread and I"m quite impressed with where it's been.
Sony Windas
n00b
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- Jan 8, 2007
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Yeah the ABL limits the current bombarding the screen, as current bombarding the screen produces x-rays. Average(Automatic) Brightness Limiter.
The average brightness of the screen cannot exceed some limit.
If it does, the ABL will limit the current going into each pixel (or, contrast). And so when displaying lots of white on the screen, the high average brightness will cause the ABL to limit the contrast, thus bringing the average brightness( and hence current, and hence x-rays) back to some acceptable value.
However, the ABL takes time ta adjust, and if the brightness goes too high, it will shutdown the monitor, and the LED on the front will blink orange. Windas will report on ABL_ERROR.
You should seriously play this as conservatively as you can.
As far as the whole cause of the brightness problem, the problem does NOT appeare to be G2.
Xweebie, the guy you know from Emusicraft, has monitored the voltages to just about every grid on the CRT.
Do any of you guys still have a bright picture during warmup of the CRT? Xweebie has monitored every voltage and has found that none of the voltages change as the picture goes from being bright when you first turn it on, to normal.
The onlything he hasn't measured is the HV across the tube itself.
Xweebie said an authorized sony service guy had claimed that the flyback was bad on these monitors. However, he is skeptical about that claim for 2 reasons: the tech denied knowing anythingt about windas/das, and the monitors sitting around didn't apear to have had their flyback replaced.
A tv repairman on a certain thread mentioned that an overly bright picture maybe the result of a leaky CRT whose flyback has to work extra hard.
Here are two sony memos which seem to sugest a problem with the MCU , but also tweak the ABL.
Sony Confidential Memo from RAYMAN said:CONFIDENTIAL
Last Update
3/6/2002 Event ID
E14653134 Model
CPDG500
Subject
Countermeasure to prevent background brightness intensifying
with
time
SYMPTOMS
The background brightness may intensify with the passage of
time,
not allowing the brightness control and color return function to make
adjustment.
RESOLUTION
The following measures for the applicable series of models that
are returned for repair.
1. ReplaceIC001 on the N board with the microcomputer
(CXD8744Q-0032 P/N 6-801-416-01) for which measures have been
taken.
2. Change the register set value.
1. When the power is turned on without changing the set value,
images will appear with abnormally high screen brightness.
2. Change the register value shown below and conduct service
save.
OSD_ENILARGE_LINES = 128
V_BLK_WIDTH_MIN_FV = 90
V_BLK_WIDTH_MAX_FV = 10
Please use the latest software to change the monitor register
data.
WinDAS :1.420.117
DAS
3. White balance control:
The control method is the same as that for sets in which
conventional microcomputers are mounted. It will take several seconds
longer for detection of the standard state of color return, but the
process and control commands is the same.
4. Control of deflecting system (screen distortion)
Control of the deflection system is necessary after replacement
of microcomputers.
MORE INFORMATION
o
Unit/Model Details
o
Links
Unit/Model Detail
Unit(s): SN Start SN End Factory Family Name Product
Category
CPDG500 2,700,001 2,707,200 INY G1 C/P
This next memo describes how to fix the zooming/brightness at warmup.
sony confidential memo from RAYMAN said:CONFIDENTIAL
Last Update
3/6/2002 Event ID
E14653134 Model
CPDG500
Subject
Countermeasure to prevent background brightness intensifying
with
time
SYMPTOMS
The background brightness may intensify with the passage of
time,
not allowing the brightness control and color return function to make
adjustment.
RESOLUTION
The following measures for the applicable series of models that
are returned for repair.
1. ReplaceIC001 on the N board with the microcomputer
(CXD8744Q-0032 P/N 6-801-416-01) for which measures have been
taken.
2. Change the register set value.
1. When the power is turned on without changing the set value,
images will appear with abnormally high screen brightness.
2. Change the register value shown below and conduct service
save.
OSD_ENILARGE_LINES = 128
V_BLK_WIDTH_MIN_FV = 90
V_BLK_WIDTH_MAX_FV = 10
Please use the latest software to change the monitor register
data.
WinDAS :1.420.117
DAS
3. White balance control:
The control method is the same as that for sets in which
conventional microcomputers are mounted. It will take several seconds
longer for detection of the standard state of color return, but the
process and control commands is the same.
4. Control of deflecting system (screen distortion)
Control of the deflection system is necessary after replacement
of microcomputers.
MORE INFORMATION
o
Unit/Model Details
o
Links
Unit/Model Detail
Unit(s): SN Start SN End Factory Family Name Product
Category
CPDG500 2,700,001 2,707,200 INY G1 C/P
A change to the ABL hardware seems to sugest that something other than the G2 value is off on these monitors.
If or when some one measures the HV, and determines it is at the specified value in the service manual, we can be that much closer to solving the true riddle of the brightness problem.
This will also exlpain the notorious focus problem a few have mentioned, as if the HV is off, focus will be off, infact, all the grids will be off.
Goodluck all with discovering new tweaks and fixes.
Actually mine looks pretty good. I took off the plasticy covering of fake wood and below it has solid steel, it looks like a modern desk. Could be a problen if you live in a room with a lot of sunlight, but mine's in the basement so that's fine
Blazestorm said:
I'm not sure I would bet on that. Prices have gone up in the last year for this monitor because it's totally out of production. Since the quanitity is so small this thread actually might be significantly responsible for the rise in price. That's why I just got my second FW900, better to have it now for relatively cheap rather then have a hard time looking around for one later. I suppose you could say I'm stockpiling.