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

Hurin said:
Fair enough. I'm not sure I was clear that I was saying that someone who doubts the efficacy of BNC would probably also then not have a problem adding one more point of (probably insignificant) signal degradation via a DVI-to-VGA adapter.
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Ya i'm sure the results will vary depending on the quality of the adapters and cables used, and even the environment where they are running (stray signals interfering etc). But i have seen, and read of many instances where people clear up visible issues by removing dvi-vga adapters and crappy vga extension cables, in most cases people were running higher resolutions of course >1600x1200 etc.

Funny though how your results are the complete opposite from others that have had issues :D

Ever think about returning that cable to bluejeans? I bet you paid a pretty penny for it.
 
Im about to buy this monitor one of the days used. It's 6 years old and supposedly in fine condition. going to look at one of the next few days, but i have a couple of questions about the screen that i would like to clear up, before going to look at it.

here is how i use my comp and xbox

50% xbox 360
30% Pc games
10% Surfing and general application use
10% Movies

currently im using a dell 2005fpw hooked up with dvi to my computer, and vga hooked up with a xbox 360.

but this lcd screen is starting to piss me off badly, and im starting to miss the response time, good blacks and non scaling issues of CRT tech :)

what im thinking of doing is buying a fw900 to replace to 2005fpw and hook it up to my comp, with the bnc cable and a dvi-vga adapter (included with the gfx card, my 7800GT gfx card only has 2 dvi outputs).
and then keep the xbox 360 connected with the left over vga

currently i use both my pc and xbox alot, and have gotten really used to my setup and realise i tend to switch between comp and xbox alot

so to my questions?

1 can the FW900 remember image settings for bnc and vga independently so i dont have to adjust, recalibrate etc. everytime i switch between pc and xbox (about every half hour that is) :D

2 what is the rated contrast ratio on a FW900? will it have better or worse contrast than my 2005fpw (1:600 for the lazy ones) :D

3 am i generally just nuts in thinking of switching out a 2005fpw for a 6 year old used fw900? wich of these 2 screens have the best overall image quality?

4. also would appreciate if anyone can give me any hints on what to look for on the used monitor. how to check if it really is in as good a condition as the seller claims.
 
I don't want to sound like a noob but why does everyone love this monitor? And if its so good why was it discontinued? :p

I'm asking because I really dont like LCDs and such, and from what im getting is this is pretty much like a nice 24" widescreen LCD but you dont have to compromise on anything.
 
You have to use one to understand...

I pretty much thought the same thing until I found a listing on craigslist at 3am and drove over to the guys house and handed him $250 and drove home...

HD Video editing is amazing...

setup2.jpg


I want 2 FW900's and to put the speakers ontop... omg :)
 
...what is the rated contrast ratio on a FW900? will it have better or worse contrast than my 2005fpw (1:600 for the lazy ones)...

Assuming it's the same as its 4:3 sibling, GDM-F520: 266:1 checkerboard contrast and 15000:1 full screen contrast...

Or in other words, text is still rendered lovely enough, and images, graphics, and video can look amazing...
 
Svengali said:
I don't want to sound like a noob but why does everyone love this monitor? And if its so good why was it discontinued? :p

I'm asking because I really dont like LCDs and such, and from what im getting is this is pretty much like a nice 24" widescreen LCD but you dont have to compromise on anything.
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Well, you sorta answered your own question.

But as for why it was discontinued: Because the average consumer is willing to compromise on image quality in order to get something "thin" and "light." A CRT this size would now be considered a "niche" product. And, because it would sell to a niche market, I have to assume that it would cost a lot (as it did four years ago) because so few would be produced. . . hence "economies of scale" wouldn't help to lower prices.

In a nutshell, it was cancelled because the vast majority of display consumers are willing to settle for crappy images.
 
Hurin said:
Well, you sorta answered your own question.

But as for why it was discontinued: Because the average consumer is willing to compromise on image quality in order to get something "thin" and "light." A CRT this size would now be considered a "niche" product. And, because it would sell to a niche market, I have to assume that it would cost a lot (as it did four years ago) because so few would be produced. . . hence "economies of scale" wouldn't help to lower prices.

In a nutshell, it was cancelled because the vast majority of display consumers are willing to settle for crappy images.
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Well when I finally move over to getting a big monitor, I'll try to find one of these. It's better quality than the best LCDs at its size? The only reason people are all OMG LCD is size? I really don't care about size, its on my desk all the time. Doesn't go anywhere. But I dont want to deal with all those LCD issues like ghosting and fixed resolutions yadda yadda. It's why I havent bought a HDTV either, I need one to enjoy say a 360 but it's all so damn complicated trying to find one that doesnt have issues! CRTs are much more simple :p
 
mathesar said:
Text is nicer on LCDs but I prefer using the CRT for Games & Movies due to the superior response time / resolution flexibilitly & true black levels :)

fw900_20wmgx2.jpg
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That pic makes the LCD look better, its nice and bright..

Or is that just a problem with taking pics of a CRT? So far in all the pics the FW900 looks kind of dulled, but maybe thats because of how a camera works vs a LCD and a CRT.
 
Svengali said:
Well when I finally move over to getting a big monitor, I'll try to find one of these. It's better quality than the best LCDs at its size? The only reason people are all OMG LCD is size? I really don't care about size, its on my desk all the time. Doesn't go anywhere. But I dont want to deal with all those LCD issues like ghosting and fixed resolutions yadda yadda. It's why I havent bought a HDTV either, I need one to enjoy say a 360 but it's all so damn complicated trying to find one that doesnt have issues! CRTs are much more simple :p
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The only area where an LCD beats CRTs in image quality regularly is in text sharpness. CRTs can seem a bit blurry, especially at higher resolutions around the edges on larger monitors. But if you get the convergence dialed in and you have a well-focused CRT (which can be adjusted via tips in this thread), you probably won't really notice the difference.

I'm actually experimenting with "Dynamic Convergence" through the Windas software and interface cable as I write this. I have an older one that I'm selling, so I thought I'd fix it up before it goes. . .

H
 
Svengali said:
That pic makes the LCD look better, its nice and bright..

Or is that just a problem with taking pics of a CRT? So far in all the pics the FW900 looks kind of dulled, but maybe thats because of how a camera works vs a LCD and a CRT.
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You hit the nail on the head, just a problem when taking pictures of a crt in action, makes them look real bad, as if it had three layers of tint and the scan lines are a lot more visible in pics.

Wouldn't look anything like that in real life.
 
Svengali said:
That pic makes the LCD look better, its nice and bright..

Or is that just a problem with taking pics of a CRT? So far in all the pics the FW900 looks kind of dulled, but maybe thats because of how a camera works vs a LCD and a CRT.
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if u look at it close enough the LCD actually looks washed out compared to the CRT.
you can see much more detail in the picture being displayed on the CRT.
nevermind the actual colors, that may just be the camera.
 
Haste266 said:
if u look at it close enough the LCD actually looks washed out compared to the CRT.
you can see much more detail in the picture being displayed on the CRT.
nevermind the actual colors, that may just be the camera.
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Yeah noticed the detail, was worried about the brightness. Thanks for clearing it up. I'll probably try to nab one later this year.
 
i just picked my fw900 up and im having a major problem. its like the whole screen has a blue tint to it like here on hardforum what used to be gray backgrounds is now dark blue. if i put up a completly black picture it will just be dark blue. i have tried messing around with just about every setting i could find on the monitor. does anyone know if there is a way to removed this blue hue tint the image has?
 
Check your cables, my dvi-vga adapter is very sensitive, if you bump it my FW900 turns a purplish tint... just check the cables though... I'm betting they just got bumped out a bit...
 
unfortunatly it didnt work, double checked all cables with no luck :(

the monitor has the blue tint with both bnc on the computer, and with vga to the xbox
 
Watching video on both screens...

I have half the video on one screen and half on the other

The LCD has black's that look deep and sharp, and the entire video seems much more accurate... the FW900 seems washed out...

Is it the G2 value I have to drop? or other settings I have to play with...

I think it looked a lot better before...
 
Image Restore + played w/ Color temp and contrast/brightness...

Looks a lot better now :)

Thsi monitor definitely needs the right settings...
 
Deluzion said:
i just picked my fw900 up and im having a major problem. its like the whole screen has a blue tint to it like here on hardforum what used to be gray backgrounds is now dark blue. if i put up a completly black picture it will just be dark blue. i have tried messing around with just about every setting i could find on the monitor. does anyone know if there is a way to removed this blue hue tint the image has?
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I ended up recycling a monitor in that condition. User controls were to no avail. However, maybe WinDAS could have fixed it...

(It was before I knew about WinDAS.)
 
i'd love one of these babies! i can't seem to adjust to LCD so i'd cream myself over one of these things. problem is shipping is over $250 US to canada....
 
This may be the wrong thread. I recently picked up a free LaCie 22" Electron Blue III from my local craigslist. It's looking mucho great. The great thing about it is, literally two days before I picked up the same exact monitor for $125 on craigslist. So now I have two 22" LaCie Electron Blue III montiros. Is there reason to keep both?
 
rhiohki said:
This may be the wrong thread. I recently picked up a free LaCie 22" Electron Blue III from my local craigslist. It's looking mucho great. The great thing about it is, literally two days before I picked up the same exact monitor for $125 on craigslist. So now I have two 22" LaCie Electron Blue III montiros. Is there reason to keep both?
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Yes, as a backup. Never know when a CRT may go blurry or fizzle out on you.


Oh yea, did i forget to call you a lucky bastard? :p :D
 
Sony Windas said:
This happens all the time to Sony CRTs which are suspectible to the brightness issue. Even ones that are not tweaked. It happens without any bright screen provocation on monitors where the brightness issue has advanced far enough.

It usually means the ABL_SHUTDOWN or some other diagnostic failure was triggered and the monitor doesn't want to turn back on. This has happened to me many times before. Hopefully, the same reason it happened to you is the same reason it happened to me.

Use windas to access the failures dialog precedures->failures.

Just checking the failures should clear them, consider using a lower DRIVE_MAX, a lower ABL_MAX, or a higher ABL_SHUTDOWN. ABL_SHUTDOWN is an X-ray protection measure for when the average brightness of the screen exceeds some value (such as, a high contrast max white screen, maybe a flash of a bomb going off in a game?).

Ofcourse, that advice asumes the failure was ABL related. It may have been another failure. The failures dialog sometimes falsely reports failures, so don't take it too seriously. The blinking light is a good sign, it usually blinks a code specified in the service manual (get a copy of this on the web).

Hope the problem was just an an ABL_SHUTDOWN trigger. Whatvere it was, you can atleast get it to turn on again via windas.
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Ok i FINALLY got my windas cable but unfortunetly i still can't revive my fw900 from its limbo. It keeps going into standby mode which also makes the windas cable stop working. When powering on the cable gets a signal at first (red led is on) but after a couple seconds the monitor light goes from green to orange and the red led on the cable turns off too.

So in other words i am unable to run the failure procedure at all. Windas stops functioning as soon as the cable loses its signal. :(

got any other ideas?
 
SJetski71 said:
Yes, as a backup. Never know when a CRT may go blurry or fizzle out on you.


Oh yea, did i forget to call you a lucky bastard? :p :D
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Indeed I may do that. I think I'll run both in extended desktop with my PowerMac G5. I often think about the chances of me getting two of these monitors within the same exact week locally, and one being absolutely FREE no less. Well, mostly free, I did have to drive about 30 minutes to get it, but definitely time well spent. It seems almost like the LaCie Gods were guiding me that day. Both have the manuals and software, and one has the hood.

Before I saw the LaCie, I was planning on bidding on that refurbished Sony GDM-FW900 on ebay recently that went for a ridiculous $940+ , but now that I have two Lacie 22" Electron Blue III monitors that I only paid $125 for I'm glad I didn't bid. The problem now is getting a desk to fit the two monitors and the powermac G5. Any ideas on desks?
 
Help! I need help with figuring out what to do with my FW900 issue.



Its hard to see in that pic, but its like that all over the screen. Its just a bunch of vertical lines and its been getting worse over time. If I smack the side of the monitor, it goes away or it just remains slightly until I smack it again. Sometimes it comes back very slightly after a few hours after I knocked it away. It always happens every time the monitor has been off. What is wrong with it and how much do you think a repair shop would charge to fix it?

Thanks!
 
this monitor i picked up is beginning to annoy me, In comparison to a 17" crt I have, it just seems washed out and blurry. I've played with the contrast/brightness/color settings and i just can't get it any better. the most noticeable is the open applications at the bottom of the screen in windows. the white lettering is really fuzzy. the whole monitor kinda hurts my eyes even.
 
I just sold my sony fw900. I have a windas cd and the cable for $25 shipped in the lower 48 states only. Please message me if you're interested / want pictures.I accept paypal and have 100% on ebay etc..
 
Hi everyone, I bought the WinDAS cable but I'm unable to connect it to the monitor at the moment: I have to remove the monitor's casing and I don't know how to do it. Can you help me, or provide me a guide or such? :confused:

Also, I would like to bring to your attention this announcement made by a Microsoft guy on AVSForum.


Hello everyone. Sorry for the late response. As I posted before, I was at a 2-day offsite with no net access (or time to use it!). Trying to catch up with all the questions asked.

Xbox 360 Elite supports HDMI 1.2 profile. For audio, you can select DD, DTS (at 1.5 Mbps), and WMA-Pro (Microsoft high fidelity multi-channel codec supported in some AVRs such as Pioneer). Since it is not based on 1.3, it will not support output of DD+ or TrueHD (even if it did, mixing would have been turned off).

PCM output is available but only for 2-channels (not 5.1). Please, please, don’t say you don’t like this. There is nothing you are going to say which we don’t know . Our goal was to provide a digital connection for video which people wanted for some of their TVs. And of course, single cable A/V connection. So if having analog video bothered you before, you can now use digital. If you lacked component/VGA on your TV, you are in business with Xbox 360 Elite.

Keep in mind that the spring software update for HD DVD substantially improves audio fidelity. Per above, you now have a choice of no less than three output formats.

If you are keen on having 5.1 PCM output, I recommend purchasing the Toshiba A2 player which after the price drop, will be much cheaper than Elite.

Answering other questions, both Xbox 360 Elite and current Xbox 360 units will have a spring (console) update which adds support for different video levels for VGA output (“7.5 IRE vs 0”). And as someone mentioned, using this setting you should be able to use computer monitors in addition to TVs with resolutions all the way up to 1080p with high fidelity and no issues with HDCP handshaking. So for current users, I highly recommend trying this update with your VGA connection to see if it does the job for you. Note that this is a console update and will work for both games and of course, HD DVD. The HD DVD software update is separate from this (and will be available on both Xbox Live and xbox.com).

On output video format, Xbox 360 Elite will perform a handshake and select the appropriate RGB/YUV settings over HDMI. You cannot select it yourself.

The spring HD DVD software update will fix all the lip sync issues that have been reported/we know of.

There is no support for the WMV-HD disc format but of course, you can put WMV files on discs and Xbox 360 will play them.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10176889&&#post10176889


This should hopefully fix the problem with colors we all have through VGA!We may have FoeHammer to change the recommend settings, though. U still here, mate?
 
Just got my first Lacie up and running. I still have yet to receive my blue eye calibrator in the mail, but this is just fidling with the settings. Yeah, it's not widescreen, but what do I care....2048 x 1536. The second two pics you can see the reflectin of the light in the backgound in the top...ah well...my poor camera skills. Sorry to be hijacking this Sony thread. I figured it was time for some eye candy

showoff3.jpg


showoff2.jpg


showoff.jpg
 
rhiohki said:
Just got my first Lacie up and running. I still have yet to receive my blue eye calibrator in the mail, but this is just fidling with the settings. Yeah, it's not widescreen, but what do I care....2048 x 1536. The second two pics you can see the reflectin of the light in the backgound in the top...ah well...my poor camera skills. Sorry to be hijacking this Sony thread. I figured it was time for some eye candy
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Hey, but The Lacie does use a large AG tube, just like the sony does :). Loving this 22" NEC 2141SB-BK that i picked up recently, they can be had for sooo cheap nowadays that it's hard to resist all of these deals. As a matter of fact i "had read somewhere" that the Lacie Blue III uses the exact same tube as the Mitsu 2070SB and my NEC 2141SB-BK (?), not sure if they use the same electronics though...

I still need to calibrate all of my crt's, makes it hard for me to make an honest comparison....wish i hadn't lost my calibration setup :(

Good luck with those georgous Lacie's, especially that free one (you lucky bastard :p) lol
 
What type of calibration software do you guys recommend. I'm pending an SGI 22" here in a day or so to replace my 8 year old Multiscan GS (19"),
 
SJetski71 said:
Hey, but The Lacie does use a large AG tube, just like the sony does :). Loving this 22" NEC 2141SB-BK that i picked up recently, they can be had for sooo cheap nowadays that it's hard to resist all of these deals. As a matter of fact i "had read somewhere" that the Lacie Blue III uses the exact same tube as the Mitsu 2070SB and my NEC 2141SB-BK (?), not sure if they use the same electronics though...

I still need to calibrate all of my crt's, makes it hard for me to make an honest comparison....wish i hadn't lost my calibration setup :(

Good luck with those georgous Lacie's, especially that free one (you lucky bastard :p) lol
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Nice find. I had never heard of the Lacie before. Another nice CRT is the old Iiyama A201HT (Vision Master Pro510), although they are very hard to find now. I moved mine to work and replaced it with a NEC 2141SB-BK 3 or 4 years ago, mainly because I wanted a black bezel for my home PC. They have about the same specs and resolution, but surprisingly the Iiyama picture is holding up better even though it is about 3 years older. Lately I have been having problems with edge focus and convergence on the NEC and have had to reduce the timing to 75Hz @ 1600x1200 to compensate, while the Iiyama is almost spot on at 85Hz. I just ordered a FW900 and can't wait, but am a little concerned about longevity as my wife's 21" Sony is fading fast.

If you want a 21" CRT and can find the Iiyama, it is a hell of a monitor. Better than the NEC or 21" Sony in my experience.
 
I think my beloved FW900 is dying:(
It will go blurry on me once in a while..turning it off and then back on will sometimes fix it for a bit....
its weird, it just goes into a blurry screen..the first time it happened, I thought my eyes were going bad .....
its been doing it for about a month, but now its getting more frequent...
anyone else have this happen?
is it fixable, or is it time to find another one?
 
@ crosshairs,

sorry to hear about that. I'm sure this is something all owners fear. Let's hope there is an easy fix. If not, may a super-cheap, reliable, non-scratched model come your way!;)

I thought I might post a strange issue that recently raised it's ugly head...
This morning I powered-on my computer and it seemed like the resolution in my video card's settings had reverted to something other that my prescribed 1920x1200.
Now, as background info, I haven't had this monitor long enough to set the all the resolutions to fit the screen. Just 1920x1200 @ 60Hz, 75Hz, 85Hz and 100Hz.

I went into "Display Properties" and thought I would reset the resolution, but it was already @ 1920x1200 75Hz. Opened Catalyst Control Center. It too was set to 1920x1200 75Hz. Then I opened the monitor's menu and it showed that it was operating @ 1600(x1000) 75Hz! Changing the res/refresh in "Display Properties" and CCC would occasionally find the correct monitor setting, but the monitor's OSD would only show a refresh rate, no resolution setting.

Anyone had a scenario like this occur before? Any suggestions?

Cheers,

Bryan
 
Crosshairs said:
I think my beloved FW900 is dying:(
It will go blurry on me once in a while..turning it off and then back on will sometimes fix it for a bit....
its weird, it just goes into a blurry screen..the first time it happened, I thought my eyes were going bad .....
its been doing it for about a month, but now its getting more frequent...
anyone else have this happen?
is it fixable, or is it time to find another one?
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Yes, both I and (I think) Urieldaga have had this problem. I've noted that it only happens if I've recently had the monitor off. Within the next 12 hours, I'll have an episode of it snapping out of focus, then back into focus. It does this repeatedly (sometimes staying in the unfocused state for several minutes or even longer before snapping back). . . until finally it just snaps back into focus (sometimes with an audible sound of arcing or popping). If I leave the monitor on after it works its way through this process, the problem does not recur.

So, the solution for me is to leave the monitor on 24/7 with power savings for the monitor disabled (so it doesn't go to sleep). I just use the standard Windows screen saver (black with the windows logo moving around). While it's a bit wasteful electricity-wise, it fixes the problem. And at least now I don't have to wait for the screen to warm up any more. :D

I think Urieldaga has found that leaving his monitor on likewise mitigates the problem.
 
Yeah, I just leave it on all the time. Only problem is it accelerates the brightness problem.

I have noticed I have that problem even if I turn the monitor off for as little as 30-45 seconds, or disconnect the reconnect the VGA cable.
 
Has anyone had problems setting the Hz after installing the official Sony display driver? Cause I set the monitor to 100 but in the monitor's menu it shows that it's still at 60. Plus it's flickering and hurting my eyes, so I know it's not at 100. This problem is independent of BNC or VGA cables, it's on both.
 
Hurin said:
Yes, both I and (I think) Urieldaga have had this problem. I've noted that it only happens if I've recently had the monitor off. Within the next 12 hours, I'll have an episode of it snapping out of focus, then back into focus. It does this repeatedly (sometimes staying in the unfocused state for several minutes or even longer before snapping back). . . until finally it just snaps back into focus (sometimes with an audible sound of arcing or popping). If I leave the monitor on after it works its way through this process, the problem does not recur.

So, the solution for me is to leave the monitor on 24/7 with power savings for the monitor disabled (so it doesn't go to sleep). I just use the standard Windows screen saver (black with the windows logo moving around). While it's a bit wasteful electricity-wise, it fixes the problem. And at least now I don't have to wait for the screen to warm up any more. :D

I think Urieldaga has found that leaving his monitor on likewise mitigates the problem.
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UrielDagda said:
Yeah, I just leave it on all the time. Only problem is it accelerates the brightness problem.

I have noticed I have that problem even if I turn the monitor off for as little as 30-45 seconds, or disconnect the reconnect the VGA cable.
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OK, so I'm not alone....I also leave it on 24/7...but recently have been switching video cards around...thats when the problem occurs......About 10 minutes after I hook the VGA cable back up, it goes blurry...I don't even turn the monitor off while switching, just unplug the VGA cable......then it takes a while to "snap" back into focus...Its a loud snap too..I guess you 2 know what I mean :)

Now today, it hasn't done it, but I didn't switch any cards or unplug the cable today.. ..(I was bench,marking 3 cards, trying to decide which one to keep) ..so maybe now I can just go on and enjoy my beautiful screen..:)
 
Crosshairs said:
OK, so I'm not alone....I also leave it on 24/7...but recently have been switching video cards around...thats when the problem occurs......About 10 minutes after I hook the VGA cable back up, it goes blurry...I don't even turn the monitor off while switching, just unplug the VGA cable......then it takes a while to "snap" back into focus...Its a loud snap too..I guess you 2 know what I mean :)

Now today, it hasn't done it, but I didn't switch any cards or unplug the cable today.. ..(I was bench,marking 3 cards, trying to decide which one to keep) ..so maybe now I can just go on and enjoy my beautiful screen..:)
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And then there were three. . . :D

Yeah, you'll probably be fine. Mine doesn't even do it as often as it used to in the cases where I have to leave it off for a few minutes or even hours (rebuilding my machine, etc.). Or, it does it, but after I've gone to sleep and I'm blissfully unaware.

It does indeed seem to make the "brightness creep" problem "creep" a bit faster. . . but otherwise, no complaints. I just keep setting the G2 value lower via Windas. And at this rate, I won't "run out" of G2 for another two or three years. And by that time, I'll probably have given into a newer display technology (hopefully SED, if it ever makes it into the world!).
 
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