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

Surly73 said:
Raising the refresh raises the frequencies. Since this is an all-analog technology, you will typically get a lower quality picture the higher your frequencies. Historically I've been able to see the picture quality decrease with each step from 60i, 60p, 70, 75, 80 etc... Hz for a given resolution.
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I never heard that higher frequency = worse picture quality. Do you have any write ups on this? I can't notice a decrease from 70 to 85Hz, but I do notice flicker at anything under 85Hz. I don't care about frames in games...flicker though, I am very subject too. I can't even take it when a co-worker in my peripheral vision has it.

This has been the cause of many "Holy CRA*! this is SO MUCH BETTER!" once I adjusted their screens :)
 
I'm pretty sure the higher resolution you go and the higher the refresh rate, things tend to be slightly more blurry. This can be due to the analog components on the videocard itself and partly due to the monitor, but for the FW900 I think it should be amazingly sharp at almost any refreshrate IF the supplied videocard has good analog output.

But in general, in most CRTs I have seen, 60hz will usually be sharper than say, 85hz or 100hz, sometimes it's by a lot and sometimes it's not very noticable unless you're constantly A and B'ing.
 
christpunchersg said:
For Vista, if I were to run a BNC cable to the FW900 do I need to do anything special to run at 1920x1200 @ 85hz using a Nvidia card?

Using XP right now on an ATI card I usually need to use ATI Tool Tray, set the DDC from the default 1600x1200 resolution limit to a higher number as well as the refresh rate. I'm just worried that in Vista there will be no such way of tweaking the values. Or is there a switch built into the Nvidia's driver to disable reading off DDC info and just allowing us to set the resolution/refreshrate based off the FW900 driver?
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In Vista the BNC cable will not detect your monitor as a FW900. You will have to use VGA for it to detect the monitor correctly. Even after making custom resolutions for the BNC cable some games would not work right. Nvidia cards have a built in custom resoltion utility and you will have no problem. ATI does not. I use Powerstrip for ATI.

I use 2304 x 1440 at 60 hertz. With ATI I cannot get higher than 60 hertz at high resolutions with Crossfire enabled or I would be running 75 hertz. Most games will not run with an odd refresh rate setting. Refresh rate settings need to be a standard rate that is commonly used. The higher the better of course but not some made up refresh rate.
 
16floz470ml said:
In Vista the BNC cable will not detect your monitor as a FW900. You will have to use VGA for it to detect the monitor correctly. Even after making custom resolutions for the BNC cable some games would not work right. Nvidia cards have a built in custom resoltion utility and you will have no problem. ATI does not. I use Powerstrip for ATI.

I use 2304 x 1440 at 60 hertz. With ATI I cannot get higher than 60 hertz at high resolutions with Crossfire enabled or I would be running 75 hertz. Most games will not run with an odd refresh rate setting. Refresh rate settings need to be a standard rate that is commonly used. The higher the better of course but not some made up refresh rate.
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Okay so I should use the custom resolution utility included in the Nvidia driver? Is there any way for Vista to identify the monitor as FW900 through BNC or is this impossible?
 
I have not found a way to use it and have everything work right with the BNC. Even when I was using Nvidia. I would rather use it too. The only way I can see making it work is having both inputs to the monitor hooked up to the video card and try cloning it. I have not got it to work for me yet but I am on ATI now and Nvidia is much easier to work with when it comes to custom resolutions.

If you hook it up with just the VGA connection you will have the resolution you want automatically. In Vista the only resolutions it will not give you automatically are 2048 x 1280 and 2304 x 1440.
 
I can tell you it looks better at 96HZ than at 85HZ at 1920x1200 in game and on Desktop.

It is not as if its out within its range, it officially supports it.

75HZ is the Min and 85HZ is the RES going by that USA Medical Boards finding long ago for CRT users.
 
I agree with you but in Vista you run into issues with non standard refresh rates. Somes games will not work. I think this is even true in XP. Try to play BF2 at a non standard refresh rate.
 
BTW, I am on Vista 64 Ult and use a short a high quality (ferrites at both ends) VGA to DVI Cable.

No such issue with Nvidia GPU's for me.
 
innocenceisdeath said:
What's the best way to clean the screen of one of these? It still has the AR coating on it.
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a soft lint free rag and some distilled water. one rag slightly damp and one rag to wipe off rub off the excess water. i usually just rub in gentle circular motions.

do not use an ammonia based glass cleaner. i think vinegar based may be ok, but im not positive. anyone else?
 
Got this display friday and man my lcd can go to hell now, I'm not changing this anytime soon unless it dies.

The only downside is the text isnt as sharp and its not as bright as my lcd. I still didnt adjusted the focus knob because I didnt find a tool small enough to reach it and I can't adjust the right bottom spot convergence without messing up the entire screen (with osd only).
 
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Haste266 said:
a soft lint free rag and some distilled water. one rag slightly damp and one rag to wipe off rub off the excess water. i usually just rub in gentle circular motions.

do not use an ammonia based glass cleaner. i think vinegar based may be ok, but im not positive. anyone else?
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Would isopropyl alcohol be good to use? Or is distilled water better? I have both to hand.
 
I always used a soft cloth and a cleaner specified for coated optics...

Do not use any solution that is "anti-static" as that scratches or any paper based wipe for the same reason...
 
Haste266 said:
a soft lint free rag and some distilled water. one rag slightly damp and one rag to wipe off rub off the excess water. i usually just rub in gentle circular motions.

do not use an ammonia based glass cleaner. i think vinegar based may be ok, but im not positive. anyone else?
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circular on almost anything is a bad way to 'rub'...if you go straight strokes and end up scratching it at least it will only usually be visible at one angle. With circles they are visible at all angles.

For a monitor water and a microfiber cloth is all you should need. If more is needed a plain jane soap should be enough.
 
.

My previous (faulty) GDM-FW900 was greatly missed in my setup. For almost two years I was looking for a perfect example of almost mint monitor. So I’ve placed many ads and awaited for his presence.

No order or unseen praise would do in my case. I just wanted one owner's FW900. A few days ago, such promise finally arrived.

Architecture studio, made a silent transition toward LCDs setup only. FW900 was lying for 2 years boxed and unused. Even that prior usage was strictly a few hours per day work since they already parted most of their CRTs. They felt FW900 is just too big (imagine that) for their work and our hero was less and less used.

To voyage this charm back to my room was out of the question. That is, without serious service check. If there was even a slightest attention needed to be addressed inside, I wanted to deal with that momentarily and go back with comfortable reassurance.

Would you believe that beside obligatory "picture restoration" there was nothing, I mean nothing wrong with my monitor. Not a single noise from the back, and I really wanted to find something. Beside habitual cleaning ritual, there was nothing else to do with this monitor. Cosmetics and looks? Just perfect = 10/10.

Pardon my messy table, but those are just transition pictures while nesting for perfect and final space.


01) http://www.shrani.si/f/2d/Eb/2WvfkA2w/copy-of-001-img3216a.jpg

02) http://www.shrani.si/f/3o/71/gHSSkeK/copy-of-004-img0110.jpg

03) http://www.shrani.si/f/42/zL/1i5Rx3qW/copy-of-003-img0106.jpg

04) http://www.shrani.si/f/y/1i/2rRAI9kw/copy-of-002-img0105.jpg

05) http://www.shrani.si/f/3p/CW/43Uk7H65/copy-of-005-img3230.jpg

06) http://www.shrani.si/f/3d/4e/14ugp5WQ/copy-of-006a-img3159.jpg

07) http://www.shrani.si/f/1v/NF/1HmIY3VD/copy-of-008-img3181.jpg

08) http://www.shrani.si/f/z/YQ/14bneJ0e/copy-of-007--img3192.jpg

09) http://www.shrani.si/f/41/MR/4Vdo54Av/copy-of-009aimg3172.jpg

10) http://www.shrani.si/f/27/NZ/3fifjkw1/copy-of-007a-img3195.jpg

11) http://www.shrani.si/f/V/An/2P3jsnfn/copy-of-006bimg3209.jpg

12) http://www.shrani.si/f/1c/11H/Rb9aMnw/copy-of-009e-img3215.jpg

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Nice find, Volken8. That is one hell of a score. Did they charge you much, or were they like, "let just get rid of this POS".
 
That is a great irony Rock&Roll :)

I’ve placed several ads over the year offering top money for FW900 in great shape. Nothing substantial was offered. I would get an occasional call from some service individuals, wanting to see whether I keep spare parts for this monitor. And then, when you least expect; someone placed an add in the local newsgroup with subject : "24" CRT for free" - provided someone quickly relieves them of this burden! I’ve learned about this several days too late thinking this is surely ad-acta. But just for sake of luck - not having any contact details - I’ve sent them an email with subject : Sold to me !

Inside I wrote : I don’t care if you are giving this monitor for free, because I will give you money anyway! Just need to know is it working or dead? The next day, I received a telephone number with superb news. They told me this ad (!) generated more then 140 emails from folks wanting to collect FW900 as soon as possible. But my offer made all the difference. Good strategy that paid off.

How much you ask? I would say embarrassingly less then €100 :eek:

.
 
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My monitor seems a little blurry in the corners but the centre is fine, I presume this means I need to adjust the focus pots. I would've thought it would have affected the entire screen though and not just the corners.

Will it be obvious when the glue comes off when adjusting the pots?
 
that could be true. Adjusting the focus is pretty easy when you get the case off. make tiny adjustments if you mess with it at all. As in, barely nudging the screwdriver will make a huge diff. You won't need to break the glue

More than likely though, your problem is with convergence and will need fixed in WinDAS.
 
Yeh, I suspect it may be. I'll have to order a cable.

Looking again though, I think that the centre of the screen where convergence is definitely perfect could be sharper. I think I will try the focus pots anyway.

I would prefer to make the adjustments with the case on. I've located the focus pots and they look easy enough to get at.

So yeh, will I have to turn them much before the glue unsticks?
 
mine's blurry as well
131l1057.jpg
 
I thought mine was blurry at first, tried adjusting the focus but looks it was alreasy perfect, just dont expect the same sharpness as a lcd
 
I came to a sad realization today. I will have to switch to another display within the year, probably in a couple of months. Over the past year or so, my monitor would suddenly go out of focus for about 3-4 seconds, and then "pop" back into focus. This happens a few times a week. Recently, that going out of focus has been joined by a pinging sound and a slight "phasing" of the screen, which now lasts about 10 seconds.

So, yeah... Hopefully something good comes out at a reasonable price soon, otherwise it looks like I'll be shelling out at least a grand for a replacement monitor.
 
innocenceisdeath said:
Yeh, I suspect it may be. I'll have to order a cable.

Looking again though, I think that the centre of the screen where convergence is definitely perfect could be sharper. I think I will try the focus pots anyway.

I would prefer to make the adjustments with the case on. I've located the focus pots and they look easy enough to get at.

So yeh, will I have to turn them much before the glue unsticks?
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i just turned them both and broke the glue because they kept moving back to the original position on me. i just hope you are patient. take your time trying to get the focus set correctly...
 
Here is my beauty. I bought it a few weeks ago and it looks like new, no scratches anywhere!
At first I noticed a bit of an echo/ghosting to the right. I connected a different VGA cable, but that one didn't give a sharp image.
A few days ago I received my BNC cable, and it looks awesome now!

First it gave me some problems with the drivers, but it works fine now. Only when I press the menu button on my monitor it says it's running 1600 x 1200 @ 85Hz while I'm actually using 1920 x 1200 @ 85Hz. It's not really a problem, but it's kinda weird.

Also the upper left and right corners are slightly bend down, so it's not really a nice straight line. Is this normal, or is there a way to fix this?

dsc02548b.jpg
 
LokiNya said:
Here is my beauty. I bought it a few weeks ago and it looks like new, no scratches anywhere!
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Great find LokiNya,

I truly hate SGI ("economy") decision to cut where there was no sense to cut. Your find is great just the same, but I truly wish they never used this cheap SGI signs.

If only they remained with that proper badge and title to match. Just a few days ago, I gave all my spare SGI (19"/20") monitors to SGI/SUN friends. Mostly GDM-20D11models :

1) http://www.shrani.si/?e/yF/3v1CmOIP/copy-of-02-img0112.jpg
2) http://www.shrani.si/?7/eO/3snpoYpE/copy-of-06-img3254.jpg

FW900 truly deserves to have that SGI badge!
 
I picked up a couple a few weeks ago. I'm really enjoying it for games and movies.

I can't seem to get the convergence perfect anywhere on the screen. I have either a blue or red ghosting edge on text. Does the dynamic convergence adjust in windas offer alot more adjustments? I've already inproved the brightness and contrast with windas, although I had hoped it would be a little better, I still really like it.
 
Yes, windas dconv gives a lot of fine adjustability. Be patient doing it, and you'll be all right. You have to do dconv for each resolution and refresh rate you intend to use.
 
LokiNya said:
Here is my beauty. I bought it a few weeks ago and it looks like new, no scratches anywhere!
At first I noticed a bit of an echo/ghosting to the right. I connected a different VGA cable, but that one didn't give a sharp image.
A few days ago I received my BNC cable, and it looks awesome now!

First it gave me some problems with the drivers, but it works fine now. Only when I press the menu button on my monitor it says it's running 1600 x 1200 @ 85Hz while I'm actually using 1920 x 1200 @ 85Hz. It's not really a problem, but it's kinda weird.

Also the upper left and right corners are slightly bend down, so it's not really a nice straight line. Is this normal, or is there a way to fix this?

dsc02548b.jpg
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Cool.
 
Main Target said:
i think i found one on craigslist....im not sure about the 40~ minute drive to pick it up though :-(

My question to you is...

Is it worth it?!

edit:
Is this the same monitor guys?

http://www.ceu-inc.com/intergr_5d.html
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That's the previous version. GDM-W900 or something like that. One of the guys at work had one at a place I worked back in 2001-04.
The screen isn't flat (though it's not too bad), the dot pitch isn't as fine and it can't run as high a resolution. If I remember right the recommended video mode for those is about 1600x1000 & it should run 1680x1050 without any trouble, so it's pretty close to a 22" LCD in both viewable area and resolution.

I can't really say if it's worth it. Personally I'd rather have a nice flat 21" or 22" CRT that could run 1600x1200 at 90Hz+ if the FW900 was out of the picture. FW900s are still around though, you just have to find one. If it was cheap or free I'd probably go get it. I wouldn't mind an upgrade from the 7yo 19" round-screened CRT I'm using as a third display. It'd make a rather nice side screen for watching TV/movies on.
 
If I remember correctly the older Sony Tubes are only flat in 1 direction I'm sure its curved slightly from top to bottom.
 
F-series Trinitrons are in a league of their own.

Traditional Trinitrons are vertically flat, and curved horizontally (like the side of an oil drum).
 
has anyone ordered one of these off ebay through accurateit? I've seen these from time to time but they've always been B- condition, which claims only damage to anti-glare coating and outer plastic, would it be fair to assume the picture will still look great? (would most likely remove the anti-glare coating)
 
I bought two like this. It's really rolling the dice. One I bought was in truly excellent condition. The second one will need a pretty hardcore tune up in windas to get convergence back on target. I also plan to remove (and possible replace) the antiglare coating on the worse one.

Since I live locally, this was no big deal. But, if I had to have one shipped to me, I would want to be 100% sure it was in great condition. So in that case I would pay extra for a A grade unit. Double check their listing, but I think they come with a 30-day warranty.
 
I bought a B grade condition monitor from A IT and the bezel is tore up pretty bad. The glare coating has about 4-5 noticeable scratches ranging from 2-4 inches in length right in the middle of the screen and a bunch of smaller scratches that you can't see unless you really look for them.
 
Ok so ive decided to order one of these, what will I need in order to use it with my macbook pro (which has a GeForce 8600M GT) through it's DVI out. Will I need to buy BNC cables?
 
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