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

StoleMyOwnCar said:
Hmmm... yeah. Okay, I've decided this probably isn't for me.

- I read over that white point guide topic and I don't know how I feel about having the Battle for Middle Earth (and mastering it through repetition) every 6 months. I don't have that kind of time.

- The lack of screen estate is a bit too killer. I realized I'm too used to my 27 inch Qnix, and that the usable screen size on this is actually about 22.X inches according to another post.

- There is going to be no warranty to speak of. While yes they should perform as expected if I take care of it, it's just too much of a leap, even with play money. Reason being then you either struggle to repair or replace it which costs too much time. I at least got square trade on my Qnix. You're located in California apparently which means if I need any repairs it's going to cost a fortune in both time and money.

- Finally, wiring money to get one of these with no warranty for that much money is... still somewhat tempting I admit, but it's just too much of a leap of faith for my mindset. I understand needing some protection from fraudulent buyers and that you're likely a trustworthy seller, but I just can't. Probably tons of people lining up to buy those things anyway, so good luck with your sales. I'll keep the opportunity in mind in the future. I'm pretty mercurial about these things sometimes.

I also don't know how I feel about taking the dice roll on another PG278Q considering I have horrible luck with LCDs, but at least it was close enough to my Qnix in every other way. I guess I'll be using this little Korean thing for a while yet.
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All of our units have standard six (6) months warranty parts, labor and replacement provided that the units were not tampered with, abused, misused and/or damaged by the user.

Good luck in your search for a decent GDM-FW900.

UV!
 
how many of these fw900 have you actually sold over the years uncle vito? Just curious how you got your hand on all these units.

Are most from broke company sales (apart from the ones you had unboxed)
 
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atwix said:
how many of these fw900 have you actually sold over the years uncle vito? Just curious how you got your hand on all these units.

Are most from broke company sales (apart from the ones you had unboxed)
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I used to be a Sony VAR in the past. The # is in the thousands...

UV!
 
i notice that my cpd-g520p warms up essentially immediately whereas my fw900 takes 20min or so to warm up. is this related to how much the monitors have been used?
 
By warmup, do you mean until the luminance stabilizes and black levels are reached, or do you mean until image restoration gets passed the monitor warm up message?
 
ya just luminance and black levels. i can press power and it takes ~5 seconds for the image to come into good focus and the colors are immediately fine.
 
might be related to tube size - larger tubes might require more beam current, which could require a hotter cathode? just guessing.

Or could just be the voltage regulation circuitry in the FW900 is slower, and perhaps more accurate...
 
well the tube sizes aren't that different. fw900 is like 30% larger horizontally at most

another interesting thing: the cpd-g520p makes no noise when changing resolution
 
that is interesting - I'm assuming (i.e. hoping) that the differences between the models reflect an evolution of technology, but who knows :p
 
For what it's worth, my C520K (Artisan) and F-520 warm up a little quicker than my FW900 too. But the difference isn't huge. I remember reading that one military review that spacediver has linked to before, and they seemed to report that the luminance took about 30 minutes to fully stabilize too, so it's probably just the nature of the beast, so to speak.

Also, just popped my head in to say that GTX-980 and GTX-970 have analog out! The beasts still live! :D
 
flod said:
well the tube sizes aren't that different. fw900 is like 30% larger horizontally at most

another interesting thing: the cpd-g520p makes no noise when changing resolution
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Neither do my 520's. The FW900 does. I'd say it's probably the difference between the two "generations" that SH1 alluded to earlier. There are several characteristics that implicate the FW900 as being part of the older generation:

1. Anti-glare glued on at the factory
2. FBT "click" when changing resolutions
3. Round tube
4. Shot from the hip, but I think it uses a different logic chip too. But I need to dive into the WinDAS program (the technical, behind-the-scenes bit) to confirm.*

Here are the certain characteristics that implicate the 520's as being the later generation:
1. Anti-glare baked into the tube at factory
2. FBT is silent when changing resolutions
3. Flat tube
4. Newer controller.*

* I need to confirm this. When I was diving into the source code of WinDAS, or at least trying to, I saw that the CR1 monitors had a different file type for the geometry procedures. I would think that either the logic chip is different in the newer ones, or the deflection unit is different as well. But in this case, the older models offer more correction options in WinDAS (which really sucks, in my opinion). The older models, like the P991 can do top and bottom pincushion adjustment, top and bottom pin balance, and even individual corner adjustments. While CR1 (520's) don't offer that.
 
Anti-glare baked into the tube at factory
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for my g520p, i opened the bezel a little and saw some of the film detached from the glass near the very edge of the screen.

i'm not sure but i dont think the tube is completely flat. reflections from the phosphor layer seem slightly distorted near the edges
 
I have a question about the "focus" controls. I've done a pretty basic calibration. I did the white balance calibration and everything is pretty close to where it should be at D6500. But the sharpness is not as good as it could be.

Is there anything else that can be done other than adjusting the two controls on the back of the monitor? I've noticed that I can get the middle of the screen pretty sharp but the edges are still blurry. Is there anything that can be done about that?

Thanks.
 
jrodefeld said:
ing else that can be done other than adjusting the two controls on the back of the monitor? I've noticed that I can get the middle of the screen pretty sharp but the edges are still blurry
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same problem on my fw900
anyone know if this is related to aging? or did we just get unlucky
 
jrodefeld said:
I have a question about the "focus" controls. I've done a pretty basic calibration. I did the white balance calibration and everything is pretty close to where it should be at D6500. But the sharpness is not as good as it could be.

Is there anything else that can be done other than adjusting the two controls on the back of the monitor? I've noticed that I can get the middle of the screen pretty sharp but the edges are still blurry. Is there anything that can be done about that?

Thanks.
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What resolution are you running?
In the color mode screen option your running the low end of easy

4 easy steps to do
Run a test pattern at highest resolution you can after a hour warm up
Tweak it ...landing, image restore, degauss, what ever to get the image sized and tight
Use a black and white test pattern for screen balance and uniformity
Use focus pods in back to sharpen pattern
Colors settings can effect image I use level 3 expert for my settings
Good luck
 
How has this held up after a decade? my Iiyama Ha202dt finally crapped out 10 years later. The color clarity just went to crap by year 9
 
dpoverlord said:
How has this held up after a decade? my Iiyama Ha202dt finally crapped out 10 years later. The color clarity just went to crap by year 9
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No modern computer monitor can compare to the FW900, so I'd say it has held up amazingly.
 
dpoverlord said:
How has this held up after a decade? my Iiyama Ha202dt finally crapped out 10 years later. The color clarity just went to crap by year 9
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I wonder if you were able to do a service adjustment and restore black levels by adjusting the G2 to compensate for drift whether you'd've been able to get more life.
 
do any other crt's allow adjustment of g2 and other things like the sony trinitrons?
 
flod said:
do any other crt's allow adjustment of g2 and other things like the sony trinitrons?
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Yes they do. Some have a service menu like a television, others have soft-jig software (Samsung comes to mind), Others simply have G2 knobs (some are labeled "screen" or "bright"). It all depends on the screen, but yes - most have these adjustments available on them.

I have personally performed adjustments on almost all CRT's that I've owned, including my television.
 
Thanks. I was asking on behalf of my Samsung 900IF. Not my primary monitor, so I'm not sure if I want to go through the trouble to make an interface cable for it (it uses a different system from WinDAS). I turned down the G2 manually on it, now my gamma is at ~2.4.
 
Yea you really can't fine tune the gamma easily without an instrument. You could try just raising the whole function by using the gamma settings in Nvidia control panel, but if isn't flat, you're just gonna lower gamma across the board by the same amount, so it won't be consistent.
 
Oh it's possible, but would take some involved programming and time to carry out :)

p.s. just completed a bunch of measurements to estimate black level. About to start programming :)
 
Yeah, I've compensated by adjusting gamma, brightness, and contrast in AMD's control panel, but it throws off colors in the lower-mid range. So I'll be switching back to my LaCie or Dell P1110 soon.

Do PM me if you ever come across any Soft-jig hardware for Samsung CRT's. I have the Soft-jig manual in pdf but when I looked up the model numbers for the cable and interface board I couldn't find anything. This is a project I'd like to come back to, especially if my other monitors start to wear out.
 
Is nVidia DSR supported on the FW900? It would be nice to have 160Hz without the issues jaggie associated with the use of 720p.
 
maybe a silly question, but here goes.

When i bought this fw900, i used brightness 30.

Then 25, 20,15 and now i'm at 10. I used windows 7 test for brightness and some others (and yes, the X is still vaguely visible as it should be)

I wonder, is this case of being too used to washed out blacks or something wrong with the tube?

I Always thought a worn out tube requires your setting of brightness to go higher and higher, not lower.

Or maybe i'm just getting old and i can't stand bright light anymore.
 
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