Sony GPD-FW900 Widescreen CRT

Well I need your guys help. I have my FW900 running fine but I am missing resolutions. I know my video cards can do 2048x1536x85 while the monitor can do 2304x1440 @ 80 Hz but I am stuck at nothing above 1920x1440x85.

And BTW am I using the right drivers? The only ones I could find were from this old Sony site which were Win2K, I could not find any WinXP drivers.
 
Well I am not having so much problems with resolutions any more but now I can definetely notice some text blurring. Is this normal for this monitor? I have seen some people comment on this before.
 
ohnnyj said:
Well I am not having so much problems with resolutions any more but now I can definetely notice some text blurring. Is this normal for this monitor? I have seen some people comment on this before.
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That depends on where. These screens have a variable dot pitch. .23-.27 If I remember right. Is it sharp in the middle and a bit fuzzy at the edges? That could well be normal. The GDM-W900 had noticeable blurring at the edges of the screen (particularly on the sides). The GDM-FW900 is much improved, but still isn't quite as sharp at the edges as it is in the center.
 
Yeah, it is more so at the sides but overall it seems a lot less clear than my Sony G520 but I think that had a .22 dot pitch if I am not mistaken.
 
Hmm... that should't make a big difference. I have .21 Hitachi Shadow mask display in front of my and it's only marginally better on text than a .24 aperture grill tube.
Shadow mask has always been better at text. Which is why it got killed by LCD... AG screens are better for graphics, games, anything involving accurate color, etc. Shadow mask was better for text and highly accurate line drawings. The catch is everything they're better than AG screens for LCDs are even better at. I still like them, as they're a nice balance between gaming performance and text clarity. (I program & game on my rig) But all the business users who might have preferred a shadow mask to an AG screen have gone to LCDs, and high end shadow mask tubes aren't really made anymore. Eizo used to make some of the best, mostly for the CAD market I think. They just sell LCDs now. Hitachi was good, but they quit the monitor business entirely.
Perhaps I'll have more info in a few days. I've got a GDM-FW900 on the way myself.
What sort of cables are you using? Cables can make a huge difference at hig res. Is it the original Sony cable? Have you tried the cable off the G520? If the blur seems to be all horizontal, it could very well be your cable or vid card. If there's a significant vertical component to it your screen may, alas, be hosed.
 
I am using an after market Monster BNC cable but I will try the Sony cable to see if that helps any.
 
You might also try making a couple test images. Make one with 1 pixel wide vertical lines and one with one pixel wide horizontal ones spaced a decent distance apart (maybe 20 pixels or so), then set them as your windows background in tile mode. See if the lines are sharp. A single pixel dot test might also be good. I'd use white lines or dots on a black background.
 
Same story with the Sony cable. Well maybe it is the resolution I am running at, would that make a difference? I went up to 1920x1200x85. Is that asking too much?
 
It should easily handle 1920x1200. It's basically a 21" screen that's streached a bit horizontally. Most of the image should be nice & sharp. Now if the outer inch or two is a bit fuzzy I wouldn't be a bis suprised, but if it's fuzzy all over I'm thinking you probably got a bad one.
I'll let you know more when mine arrives. I don't think it's shipped yet, or at least I don't have tracking info. It's coming ground from NH and I'm in Chicago, so it'll be a few days. At best it went out today.
 
And do you think it would have anything to do with installing a wrong inf file for the monitor? I could only find a Win2K inf and installed that but recently found an XP one and then reinstalled. What is the best way to install fresh? Install XP with the BNC cables and have it be found as a Plug and Play Monitor then switch to the VGA cables afterwards and have XP install the drivers. Or install with the VGA cables during XP setup then afterwards switch to the BNC?
 
ohnnyj said:
And do you think it would have anything to do with installing a wrong inf file for the monitor? I could only find a Win2K inf and installed that but recently found an XP one and then reinstalled. What is the best way to install fresh? Install XP with the BNC cables and have it be found as a Plug and Play Monitor then switch to the VGA cables afterwards and have XP install the drivers. Or install with the VGA cables during XP setup then afterwards switch to the BNC?
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That won't make any difference in the sharpness of the screen. If you have the right resolutions available, it's fine. Those monitor setting files are basically just lists of numbers. 9 if I remember my mode line hacking days correctly...
dot clock
horizontal image width, sync start, sync end, scan line length
vertical image height, sync start, sync end, # of scan lines.
 
These monitors require a lot of settings adjustment to get the picture optimized. Rarely will the monitors come shipped with the settings perfect. It took me weeks before I finally got my W900 clone looking its best back in 1998. After time, additional periodic adjustment will be necessary to get the picture optimized again.
 
A word of advice to fellow FW900 owners: DVDs look best at 960x600. This is the closest available 16x10 resolution to the actual DVD signal resolution, which minimizes stretching of the image.

I watched the new Fifth Element ultimate edition DVD like this, and it looked niiiiice :eek:
 
APOLLO said:
These monitors require a lot of settings adjustment to get the picture optimized. Rarely will the monitors come shipped with the settings perfect. It took me weeks before I finally got my W900 clone looking its best back in 1998. After time, additional periodic adjustment will be necessary to get the picture optimized again.
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I think you are right. After playing around with the settings for a while I think it is starting to look a lot better. I even switched over to my G520 to get a quick comparison and I guess it is about the same quality. Maybe I was expecting too much as I am a little spoiled after seeing some Dell 2005FWPs and 1705s in action at work. LCDs definetely are cripser when it comes to text so I may have to get one of these for browsing the web and writing up documents and such. But I got a chance to load up Half Life 2 and all I can say is wow. This monitor is definetely made for graphics.
 
I always wondered if these existed, it's too bad they don't seem to make them anymore but I'd most likely pick one up if I could find one for 400-600 used.
 
peacetilence said:
I always wondered if these existed, it's too bad they don't seem to make them anymore but I'd most likely pick one up if I could find one for 400-600 used.
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I paid 480 shipped for mine on eBay. The seller handles liquidation of off-lease equipment, so I'm assuming that's what this is. They've had several of these listed at a time lately. I should have it tomorrow. It's an HP branded one though. It seems the SGI, Sun, and HP versions sell for less than the Sony. I'm thinking this is because some people are clueless (don't realize they're all the same except for the cabinet) and the Sony branded one looks "better". Mine will apparently be beige, while the Sony has a "cool multicolored appearance".
 
It's here! Unlike ohnnyj I haven't had to muck with the convergence to get a clear picture. I guess I got lucky. Perhaps the lessee that had it before me tweaked the crap out of it. I should make some test patterns and tweak this thing, but at the moment I'm just basking in the widesreen goodness.
I am, however, having a problem. The 2304x1440 mode doesn't show up unless I uncheck the "show resolutions this monitor cannot display" (or something like that) in display properties. That in itself isn't a problem, but 2304x1440 isn't available in HL2. Not that is a problem. HL2 is gorgeous in 2048x1280, but I still want to see 2304x1440.
So far I've tried 4 different monitor profiles + "plug and play". Powerstrip maybe?
 
I think it is a limitation of our graphics cards as the 6800 series can only go up to 2048x1536 at 85hz as is reported on nVidia's site.
 
And BTW do you notice any screen warping? I see the top of my screen a little arched.
 
Don't buy that 24". It's an older tech., so they can't focus the screen as sharp on the side as compares to the center. I have a technician friend who own one of those for repair.

Even if it is new, don't buy it. You can see the side is no where as sharp as the center. If it is old, don't bother. It won't last, it is too old, it came out 1997. A trinitron tube only last 6 yr.
 
My friend bought the SGI version on ebay last year and that thing is nice.
He does graphics (mainly book covers) and music (Pro Tools) on his machine and loves this 24" display.
 
Happy Hopping: said:
Don't buy that 24". It's an older tech., so they can't focus the screen as sharp on the side as compares to the center. I have a technician friend who own one of those for repair.

Even if it is new, don't buy it. You can see the side is no where as sharp as the center. If it is old, don't bother. It won't last, it is too old, it came out 1997. A trinitron tube only last 6 yr.
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There are two versions of the Sony 24" trinitron tube. What you're referring to is the older tube like the one in my monitor (GDM-W900). This thread concerns the newer version which was released a few years later. Even though it's not up to LCD standards in sharpness, these monitors make eceptionally nice displays. They are very versatile and for those who can't afford the latest greatest wide-screen 23-24" LCD, there is no choice because these are the only wide-screen CRTs still available. Actually, a lot of people would rather have a Sony FW900 than a 23" LCD, especially when video, color accuracy and general graphics work is concerned. Everyone's needs are different.
 
ohnnyj said:
I think it is a limitation of our graphics cards as the 6800 series can only go up to 2048x1536 at 85hz as is reported on nVidia's site.
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That'd be annoying. I can run that mode on my desktop though... Perhaps I'll play around with power strip this weekend.

ohnnyj said:
And BTW do you notice any screen warping? I see the top of my screen a little arched.
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Yes, I have noticed that. The left corners are squashed vertically a little. The NEC I had at my last job did that, as did my 21" Hitachi. I don't remember noticing it on either of them in the last couple of years though.
 
zandor said:
That'd be annoying. I can run that mode on my desktop though... Perhaps I'll play around with power strip this weekend.


Yes, I have noticed that. The left corners are squashed vertically a little. The NEC I had at my last job did that, as did my 21" Hitachi. I don't remember noticing it on either of them in the last couple of years though.
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Well I am very glad to hear that it is not just a problem with my monitor. I was about ready to RMA the thing, but it is pain to have to repackage and ship such a large monitor. I guess I can live with it as the rest of the display is looking great.

And as for the issues of sharpness I was having, well I think it just takes a while for the monitor to warm up. I don't know if it happens to you but the screen will be a little larger than normal upon first starting but then shrinks back to its proper proportions after about five minutes or so. And the screen actually becomes clearer. The fuzziness is still there on the edges but not very much and definetely not noticeable during gaming and the like. So I guess this one is a keeper :). Hope you enjoy yours as well.
 
That slightly off geometry thing is annoying, but I could swear it gets better over time. I wonder if it has something to do with the monitor being whacked around during shipping. I've seen it lots of times on new screens, but it seems to mostly go away over time. Either that or you just get used to it.
Oh, and apparently I'm just a dumbass. I guess I had too much beer last night before messing with HL2. All I had to do was add a custom mode in the NVidia control panels. Now HL2 works in 2304x1440, and I can use it w/o unchecking the show resolutions this monitor doesn't support box. The only catch is I can't take a screenshot. Actually, I'll just have to be careful when playing HL2. Apparently 2304x1440 is too much for whatever mechanism handles screenshots. HL2 immediately crashes whenever I hit F5 at that res.
 
Wow, how did you manage to do that? And at what refresh rate are you running? I can't seem to get anything to show in the Display Props above 1920x1200x85.
 
You have an NV card right? Er... if you're an "SLI beta tester" I'm guessing you have two. It's always offered me 2048x1280. I just went into the NV specific settings in the control panel and added a 2304x1440 res. If you can't get it to work that way maybe try turning off SLI. Of course, for SLI supported games you can probably run 4x AA in 1920x1200, and that'd probably look better than my 2304x1440 w/ no AA.
 
Yes I have two BFG 6800GTs.

I have run HL2 at 1920x1200 but get inconsistent framerates with 4xAA. At times it will be smooth a silk but will get rather choppy at other times but it is still playable. When i go to 2xAA then all is well and everything still looks awesome.
 
You guys should try the OSD settings to get the geometry as rectangular as possible. Even on my monitor which uses the predecessor tube has at least 12 geometry adjusters. Once these monitors are adjusted they're great, better than most LCDs out there.
 
I've already set the geometry pretty well. I made a little test pattern to look for spots that might need a convergence adjustment. Would you believe I couldn't find any? I think whoever had this monitor before I aquired it knew what they were doing and tweaked the crap out of it, as it was pretty close to perfect already when I fired it up. I also think my slightly off of rectangular image is getting better. The sides seem to be about the same height now. The lower left hand corner still seems a tiny bit dented. I doubt I'll be able to fix that one though. It's really not bothering me, and I had the same minor problem on both an NEC diamondtron and a Hitachi shadow mask monitor. Just based on that alone I'm thinking it's just "normal".
Of course, I'm just being incredibly picky here. I'm looking for somethin to tweak, and I can't seem to find any convergence or moire problems to mess with and I've already got the geometry where I like it.
I'm really wondering if perhaps the aperture grill wobbles a bit during shipping, and needs to get good and warmed up to find it's way back into it's "normal" position.
 
zandor: said:
I'm really wondering if perhaps the aperture grill wobbles a bit during shipping, and needs to get good and warmed up to find it's way back into it's "normal" position.
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Yes it does apparently. That's what a local computer parts retailer told me a while back. It was one of the reasons I purchased mine close to home. Unfortunately I don't know how long it will take to settle.
 
APOLLO said:
There are two versions of the Sony 24" trinitron tube. What you're referring to is the older tube like the one in my monitor (GDM-W900). This thread concerns the newer version which was released a few years later. Even though it's not up to LCD standards in sharpness, these monitors make eceptionally nice displays. They are very versatile and for those who can't afford the latest greatest wide-screen 23-24" LCD, there is no choice because these are the only wide-screen CRTs still available. Actually, a lot of people would rather have a Sony FW900 than a 23" LCD, especially when video, color accuracy and general graphics work is concerned. Everyone's needs are different.
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How did they fix that problem of the gun control sharpness btwn center and far corner? As even w/ a regular 20", it is variable dot pitch between corner and center. So w/ a wide screen, I imagine the different must significant to the pt. that you can see blur image at the corner vs. shaper image at the center.

As well, I don't usual care about desk space, but a 24"? That's a s$# load of desk space.

The third problem is for those who have lower back problem--don't carry this monitor for repair or even carry it upstair--your computer room better be downstair.
 
Happy Hopping said:
How did they fix that problem of the gun control sharpness btwn center and far corner? As even w/ a regular 20", it is variable dot pitch between corner and center. So w/ a wide screen, I imagine the different must significant to the pt. that you can see blur image at the corner vs. shaper image at the center.
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I don't know what they did, but the decreaded dot pitch at the edges really isn't a problem. It's not as sharp as the center, but it still looks quite good. It certainly doesn't make text blurry.

Happy Hopping said:
As well, I don't usual care about desk space, but a 24"? That's a s$# load of desk space.
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Of it's not that bad. In my point of view it doesn't take any more desk space than an LCD would. It just takes more floor spce. I just hang the backs of the screens off the back of my desk. This monitor actually seems to be meant for that- the video connectors are at the back of the housing and point down.
Also, I went from a 21" + 2x 19" setup to a 24" + 2x 19" setup. I can't get my work to get me 2 22" monitors, so I'm planning on taking my 21" into the office. That's what started this whole thing. I was looking for a cheap refurb 21-22" for my desk at work when I suddenly realized 24" screens had become affordable. Last time I looked at one they were > $2000.

Happy Hopping said:
The third problem is for those who have lower back problem--don't carry this monitor for repair or even carry it upstair--your computer room better be downstair.
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I actually didn't find it to be that bad, but at 92.6 lbs it could definately be a problem for some people. I had mine delivered to the office so I wouldn't have to wait for it at home. I just parked as close as I could get to the door, rolled it out to the door on a cart, carried it to my car, and set it in the passenger seat.
 
Happy Hopping said:
As well, I don't usual care about desk space, but a 24"? That's a s$# load of desk space.
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According to many reviews and descriptions of the monitor it does not take up any more desktop space than your average 21" monitor, the only thing that may take up more room is having the wider screen that extends a little farther in each direction but you would get that with a widescreen LCD as well.
 
I'd say it takes up maybe 3" more horizontally than my 21" did. For me that's really not an issue. I don't care how much larger a screen is as long as the growth translates into viewable area @ a decent pixel density and I can fit it in my computer room.
I think I'm going to need a remote starter for this screen. It literally takes 5-10 minutes to warm up. Starts out mostly sharp, gets blurry, then mostly sharp... repeat a few times, then all of a sudden there's a little popping sound, the screen flips on and off, and it's razor sharp until it gets turned off for a while. Perhaps I can rig something up once I get my Palm Treo 650 from work. (We're getting the 650s so we can run ssh decently on our phones). The GSM model finally came out last week, so it shouldn't be too much longer.
 
I've noticed a popping sound when it turns off as well. It is kind of unnerving as it sounds like its going to blow out or something. But, yeah, I hear you on the warm up, mine takes a good 5-10 minutes as well to shrink the screen back to its adjusted dimensions. But after that it is smooth sailing.

One thing I noticed is that I started up my old machine with my Sony 21" G520 just to get a comparison about the warping I am seeing and what do you know it had it as well, just less pernounced as I was running at a lower resolution. I guess the higher you go the more it becomes noticeable.
 
ohnnyj said:
I've noticed a popping sound when it turns off as well. It is kind of unnerving as it sounds like its going to blow out or something. But, yeah, I hear you on the warm up, mine takes a good 5-10 minutes as well to shrink the screen back to its adjusted dimensions. But after that it is smooth sailing.
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I'm glad to hear this is normal. It takes a load off my mind. I haven't noticed any odd shutdown sounds, but this thing has made me jump a couple of times when it finishes warming up. The end of warm-up is apparently accompanied by a quick pop noise and the screen either going blank or the image changing size drastically. I haven't figured out which yet as so far it's always caught me by suprise and it happens really fast. As soon as it's over the screen goes from wandering between decently sharp and fuzzy to a constant razor sharp. That "pop" signals the beginning of happy time, but it still makes me jump.
 
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