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

1920x1200 at 60Hz? Oh my eyes get sore just thinking about that. 80Hz is the absolute minimum for me but I prefer 90+.

GTX580 should still do you good with nVidia. They have better CRT support. All CRT's will have a little bit of phosphor glow with light items on black backgrounds. This is one negative of CRT's but is still much better than all the LCD problems.
 
thx so much for the answer vega
im just gonna complete the payment for gtx580
i won the auction for 335.00 which i think is a pretty reasonable price

anyone know a way to fix it when the top and bottom of the screen is bent?
 
Sinizar said:
I have a Pioneer Plasma and previous to that I ran a widescreen CRT for my console gaming. I really like the plasma and since consoles run at 60Hz I would much rather game on my plasma than have it hooked up to my FW900. For computer gaming though the FW900 is the way to go.
Click to expand...

I agree Plasma's are great for gaming as they have much smoother motion than any LCD ive seen (Especially when comparing 60fps games), I used to run my FW900 & Kuro Plasma side by side and it was difficult to prefer the CRT when you're staring at a 50" screen with excellent black levels, shadow detail and contrast punch (The FW900 also had awesome black levels / shadow details but not as much contrast).

When it comes to console gaming it was easy to prefer the Plasma but PC gaming on the CRT was awesome.

Only pics I have of both together (when FW900 was working):
5080_Lagtest_GameModeOFF_02.jpg


PC output to the Plasma was hooked up via VGA in this shot, it looks considerably better now that Ive got it hooked up via HDMI (sharper, better color, way less input lag)
IMG_5155_plasma_fw900.jpg
 
That is one thing I prefer about the FW900. It looks really good in low light/no light conditions if set up properly. Although, I do miss the super bright LCD's simply punching through ambient lighting in a lit room during the daytime and still having a view-able image. CRT's don't like ambient lighting at all.
 
photos are usually biased concerning quality. You have the room lighting conditions during the photo shoot, the settings of the monitor(s), the the bias of the camera and how it records the image of the screen vs contrasts in room lighting, the way the photo is presented in file format.. then you have the person's monitor limitations itself on their end. the settings they have their monitor on, their room lighting at any given hour of the day, and then the way their own eyes perceive it.
.
An extreme example is that my fw900 would often look pale in photos when it was actually lush in person, since it was a contrast vs the photo flash. if i used one.
.
Regarding room lighting, I keep three sets of settings on my tv that I switch between at different times of day/night. My computer monitors have their backs to the room itself so they don't get any direct light sources hitting their screens. I set them up so that direct daylight in a window at the far end of the room is fine, and I have lighting in the room available to avoid a drastic difference at night. I took over a whole corner of a room with my corner desk rather than the desk tucked against the wall like a bookshelf stereotypical setup. there is also a lamp on the far end of each side panel of the desk, adjacent to the monitors. No lights above and behind me that would show in the monitor surfaces.
 
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dowant120hz said:
judging from the pictures i'd prefer the fw900
seems much more neutral and realistic imo
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Ya both my FW900 & XBR960 CRT had the kind of depth you still don't see in modern flat panels, but it's worth noting the screenshot above is not a good indicator of the plasma's picture quality, its over exposed (whites overbright, due to camera settings) vs. how it looked in person.
 
I have the slightly smaller cousin of the FW900, the 21" G520P, and it is starting to have some of the same issues being discussed in this thread. It has the cold start issue where it will not start properly. When I first turn it on it will often go dark just as the Windows desktop is about to display, with the power indicator turning orange instead of green. If I turn the monitor off and then back on it is fine.

Is there anyway to find out if there is a Sony authorized service center nearby (Maryland) to take this for repair? I bought this new in 2004 and want to get it fixed as it is an awesome monitor. I did the Image Restore about a month ago and it reminded me of how nice a display this can be.

Can everything be repaired/replaced on these monitors outside of the tube itself? Are replacement parts still available for these monitors?
 
2304x1440 is noticeably better than 1920x1200 on my FW900. 2304x1440 was the reference resolution i used during calibration, since i wanted that res above all to look the best it could; its the resolution i want to play all my games at, with 1920x1200 for everyday windows stuff.

im not sure my pioneer plasma uses any sort of interpolation (my better judgement says no, but cant be sure).

ill run skyrim on both monitors again, side-by-side, afk camera spin, at the same resolution and refresh rates, then again with each monitor at its maximum respective refresh rates. maybe ill take some photos.

both monitors is be hooked up via VGA.
 
so my gtx580 has arrived
bnc cable was unusable with my old lame ati hd5870
so finally i tryed bnc cable on my fw900 with my gtx580
with vga i can go 2304x1440 @ 80hz
with bnc i can go 1920X1200 @ 85hz
which one should i use?

i heard some people going like 130hz
is that possible? how do you do that?
 
130Hz requires a lower resolution. My FW-900's can do 140Hz at 1280x800. For 99.9% of what you do, 85Hz will be fine. If the options aren't available in your control panel, you'll need to install a monitor driver--possibly a modified one. There's been one or two posted in this thread.

If you haven't already, pull out the pin from your BNC cable that carries EDID information, as this will only cause headaches in Windows 7. There's instructions for that in this thread as well.

I really recommend turning off v-sync, as tearing becomes nearly non-existent with higher refresh rates. While I wont claim it to be the gospel, I do believe running a high refresh rate causes faster phosphor wear (Correct me if I'm wrong). So, I generally try to run 85Hz if it's just desktop apps I'm using. High refreshes for gaming.
 
Somewhere here many links were posted to the Monitor drivers but to find them often need a lot of time since this thread is so HUGE ^^

So i uploaded it new on Mediafire, heres the link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?lsz7alvnubecjf9

This is the modded FW900 driver to work with 64 bit Windows.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And here also the Original 32 bit Driver from Sony:
http://www.mediafire.com/?8gf68npc0vsz1hb

You need 7zip or another program that can extract .7z files. If you dont have one than download 7zip for free here: http://www.7-zip.org/

When the drivers are installed than you can also use 2304x1440 @ 80Hz over BNC cable.
 
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Nice to keep the files alive thanks. Its too bad we can't have a bank of stickied posts on a thread this large. Like a persistent link at the top of the page to a post-bank of links or something.
 
Myramond said:
Somewhere here many links were posted to the Monitor drivers but to find them often need a lot of time since this thread is so HUGE ^^

So i uploaded it new on Mediafire, heres the link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?lsz7alvnubecjf9

This is the modded FW900 drivers to work with 64 bit Windows.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And here also the Original 32 bit Driver from Sony:
http://www.mediafire.com/?8gf68npc0vsz1hb

You need 7zip or another program that can extract .7z files. If you dont have one than download 7zip for free here: http://www.7-zip.org/

When the drivers are installed than you can also use 2304:1440 @ 80Hz over BNC cable.
Click to expand...

and here are the modded drivers I did for Win7 64 that allow higher refresh rates at 1600x1000, 1680x1050, and 1280x800 rather than the 60 Hz Win 7 sometimes forces when you use the stock drivers:

http://www.mediafire.com/?zqif0zqdt9x65d7

The driver is specifically set up for these refresh rates in Win 7:

1280x800x120
1600x1000x110
1680x1050x106

You may still have to add some of them as custom resolutions in your video driver, depending on your video driver version; but this monitor driver should keep Win 7 from choosing 60Hz if you change resolution for gaming.

To get Win7 to accept it you will need to get to device manager/update driver software/browse my computer/let me pick/have disk.

Do not use "search for drivers in this location". It will not work.
 
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I don't want to keep polluting vega's fw900 fresnel lens eyfinity thread with fw900 stuff too much. Here is a pic of one of my fw900's on those night table stands. The pic gives an idea of how well it fits. The base fits almost exactly front to back (no overhang) and leaves 4" or so on each side past the base. The actual monitor width is wider than the stand itself. I face it so that the door faces outward, and butt it up against my desk since my desk is out in the room and not against the wall. I took over a corner of a room with my corner desk, boxing the corner off.

fw900-stand_sm1.jpg



desk_nightstand_1.jpg


desk_nightstand_2.jpg
 
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There is a seller who is selling their FW900 for $325 on craigslist around me.

Someone stop me...
 
I think my FW900 is about to quit :( Bright red flash when I power it up and you can hear ticking noises until it warms up.
 
My repair guy called and left a message. Apparently he is having a hard time finding any service manuals for the FW900. This is an authorized Sony repair facility.

Is there a .pdf or a link to a service manual online? I'll call him on Monday and find out exactly what he's done, but I wanted to get a head-start on what I think he needs.
 
Does anyone have an FW900 that when you adjust things like brightness, contrast, size and geometry if you turn it off or change resolutions it does not save the previous set parameters and reverts back to default? One of my four does this, it's like wherever the parameters are saved in a ROM chip or EPROM or something it does not save properly or is read only.

EDIT: I've just tested that the problem is with the BNC input only and does not effect the VGA input. Not sure how the FW900 circuitry handle's them differently and why it saves the settings for the VGA input and not the BNC input. Most strange. I may need to find a BNC to VGA adapter now.
 
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michaelslade said:
My repair guy called and left a message. Apparently he is having a hard time finding any service manuals for the FW900. This is an authorized Sony repair facility.

Is there a .pdf or a link to a service manual online? I'll call him on Monday and find out exactly what he's done, but I wanted to get a head-start on what I think he needs.
Click to expand...

It's a little hard to believe a Sony repair facility can't find a manual. I don't remember where I found this so I'll upload my copy.

FW900 manual
 
elvn said:
I don't want to keep polluting vega's fw900 fresnel lens eyfinity thread with fw900 stuff too much. Here is a pic of one of my fw900's on those night table stands. The pic gives an idea of how well it fits. The base fits almost exactly front to back (no overhang) and leaves 4" or so on each side past the base. The actual monitor width is wider than the stand itself. I face it so that the door faces outward, and butt it up against my desk since my desk is out in the room and not against the wall. I took over a corner of a room with my corner desk, boxing the corner off.

fw900-stand_sm1.jpg



desk_nightstand_1.jpg


desk_nightstand_2.jpg
Click to expand...

i feel sorry for that particleboard stand
 
its actually a pretty solid stand.. not oak or anything but its not like those cheap foamy-wood tv stands you might see more commonly at target either. Might be pine idk. The table-tops are solid like a cutting board, as are the beams/frame members.
 
UrielDagda said:
Yes, this is what I do, and have the same result.

According to my UPS though, the monitor is drawing between 75-90 watts.. not the 170w somebody else was talking about..
Click to expand...

Can any other owners confirm that this monitor consumes less than 100W?
 
~170w at full brightness but more towards ~100w at typical brightness of 20-30%.
 
muli gpu users, overclockers, multi monitor users.. with surorund systems and subwoofers concerned about a crt monitor power. :p
 
has anyone ever achieved near-perfect geometry?

does windas offer robust calibration tools for geometry? my fw900 is still an unwashed heathen, yet to be properly saved by windas.
 
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cinnamonandgravy said:
has anyone ever achieved near-perfect geometry?

does windas offer robust calibration tools for geometry? my fw900 is still an unwashed heathen, yet to be properly saved by windas.
Click to expand...

During our regular calibration and adjustments of the GDM and CPD line of monitors (FW900, F520, C520K, E540, G520 and G520P), we are able to achieve calibration parameters in order of +/- 0.005% of the targets. In order to do that, you would need special equipment such as digital video signal generator with customized patterns at an specific dot clock and bandwidth, a laboratory grade spectrophotometer or a high end colorimeter, Sony WinDAS/WinCAT application and the probe with the dongle.

Hope this helps...

Sincerely,

Unkle Vito!
 
Durty said:
eyefinte with 3 of those bad boys?
Click to expand...

Someone call me? lol JK.

If anyone is looking for a top notch FW900, get in contact with Unkle Vito (LAGRUNAUER) above. I have three of his FW900's now and they are virtually perfect.
 
Well, my repair place called, they have reassembled the unit and are going to refund my $75 deposit to have it repaired.

They cannot find any information on it anywhere. I will call around to see if I can't find a better place to repair it locally.

If not, Uncle Vito may be getting it!

GRRRRRRRR.
 
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