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ViewSonic G90fB

T

TCK

n00b
Joined
Nov 16, 2006
Messages
55
I had an LCD for a while and recently switched to CRT. I haven't used a crt in a while but there is like little black dots maybe? I don't really know, it seems like it's not as crisp or clear as an LCD. Maybe that's how it is or not, I just wanna know if it's normal.

I'm running 1280x1024 @ 85hz.
 
isn't the suggested res for that monitor 1600x1200?

a CRT won't be as "razor sharp" as an LCD, if thats what you're noticing, although there shouldn't be artifacts (thats a bad sign, basically)
 
My beloved g90fb just died and is the reason I'm here! (See my post about the HP LP2475W.) Anyways, it sounds like something may be wrong if there are "black dots," but the blurriness on close inspection is a CRT thing, definitely. In fact, it's the only real disadvantage of CRTs over LCDs IMO, but oddly enough, you don't hear it mentioned that often. Instead, lame things like size, weight, and power consumption are what the typical consumer seems to consider the main selling points of LCDs. :confused:
 
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Thanks alot for the responses, obobski I was running 1280x1024 and that seems to have been the problem. When I ran it at 1600x1200 it made it more clear and crisp. Appreciate it.

Everything is just so small, is there an alternative resolution?
 
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TCK said:
Thanks alot for the responses, obobski I was running 1280x1024 and that seems to have been the problem. When I ran it at 1600x1200 it made it more clear and crisp. Appreciate it.

Everything is just so small, is there an alternative resolution?
Click to expand...


You could try 1280x960 or 1440x1080 which are actual 4:3 resolutions and not a 5:4 resolution like 1280x1024. You could also try a refresh rate of 75Hz if you don't notice flicker at that refresh rate. You could also try to replace your VGA cable. (Not recommending some high dollar cables or anything of the sort, but VGA is analog, and an old worn out cable can cause fuzziness or blurriness while still working) You can run "checkmon.exe" to check convergence and geometry and adjust your settings in the monitor's OSD if they are out of whack.
There are things you can do to improve the crispness of text on a crt, but they will never be as quite good as a LCD at native res when it comes to text.

edit for checkmon link: http://www.ykwong.com/cgi-bin/dl.pl?file=checkemon
 
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GORANKAR said:
You could try 1280x960 or 1440x1080 which are actual 4:3 resolutions and not a 5:4 resolution like 1280x1024. You could also try a refresh rate of 75Hz if you don't notice flicker at that refresh rate. You could also try to replace your VGA cable. (Not recommending some high dollar cables or anything of the sort, but VGA is analog, and an old worn out cable can cause fuzziness or blurriness while still working) You can run "checkmon.exe" to check convergence and geometry and adjust your settings in the monitor's OSD if they are out of whack.
There are things you can do to improve the crispness of text on a crt, but they will never be as quite good as a LCD at native res when it comes to text.

edit for checkmon link: http://www.ykwong.com/cgi-bin/dl.pl?file=checkemon
Click to expand...

regarding the 4:3 resolutions: good call

also make sure you adjust the monitor to the new resolution (it'll take some tweaking), there isn't a native resoultion, although too high or too low will likely not look as good (pixel pitch is the issue, basically)

on the cables, would only consider this if you don't have to cut the cable out of the monitor to replace it, and if the existing cable is shot/frayed, could cause interference, but this would more likely be hum bars or similar (you'd have like static or pulsing lines on the screen)
 
obobski said:
regarding the 4:3 resolutions: good call

also make sure you adjust the monitor to the new resolution (it'll take some tweaking), there isn't a native resoultion, although too high or too low will likely not look as good (pixel pitch is the issue, basically)

on the cables, would only consider this if you don't have to cut the cable out of the monitor to replace it, and if the existing cable is shot/frayed, could cause interference, but this would more likely be hum bars or similar (you'd have like static or pulsing lines on the screen)
Click to expand...

Yeah, forgot about many CRT's not using the female to female VGA cable. My newer, (by CRT standards), Trinitrons and Diamondtron all use them, but many CRT's just have the cable hard wired. Replacing them, while not all that difficult usually, is still something you would only do if it was obviously the cable.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I don't have the option for 1440x1080 and the VGA cable seems to be built in, in the back of the monitor.
 
TCK said:
Thanks alot for the responses, obobski I was running 1280x1024 and that seems to have been the problem. When I ran it at 1600x1200 it made it more clear and crisp. Appreciate it.

Everything is just so small, is there an alternative resolution?
Click to expand...

I prefer that, it's like having a bigger screen, you can do a lot more at once. Alternatively you could run the 1280x960 and run multiple desktops (I don't know how you do it on a PC, but i'm sure its possible).
 
Another quick question. The bottom black bar seems to curve up on the right side which makes it not level, is there anyway to fix that or level it out. If you don't know what I'm talking about I can clarify.
 
TCK said:
Another quick question. The bottom black bar seems to curve up on the right side which makes it not level, is there anyway to fix that or level it out. If you don't know what I'm talking about I can clarify.
Click to expand...

There are settings in your OSD that can fix that. Pincushion, pin balance, trapezoid, parallel, and tilt/rotation are the ones to try out to fix issues like yours.

It might take a little bit to get it perfect, but putting up a geometry test image and fiddling with those settings til it is all the way it is supposed to be is worth it. There are other settings like moire and interference to look at as well if you want to get the best possible image out of your CRT. It generally takes 30 minutes or more to go through checkmons test images and set up a CRT properly.
 
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Yeah if you don't know what does what it gets somewhat frustrating but after a while fiddling with it I got it pretty good. Thanks for the response.

How do I go about getting the 'best possible image' out of my monitor? Moire seems like it does nothing?
 
I just thought I'd chime in an give some info.

G90fB is based on DynaFlat panel type hence you may find it rather blurry compared to LCD especially at the corners. DynaFlat is the worst type of CRTs IMO even if it was the latest type because they have the most blurry image (of course it varies a bit from sample to another) and the only good thing about them is that the screen is flat (like Trinitron/Diamondtron tubes) but doesn't have the slightly visible horizontal lines if viewed against a bright/white background color. Another good thing to know is that the specified dot pitch of 0.20mm for a DynaFlat could perhaps be compared to some 0.29-0.30mm Trinitron CRT perhaps (the finest trinitron CRTs goes down to 0.24mm dot pitch). But even the really old "Shadow Mask" ie, curved screen type had better sharpness (especially at displaying text) than DynaFlat but more dull/faint looking colors.

I don't know what black dots you're talking about unless it's some small bugs that's found the way into your monitor which have happened to several LCD screen owners or the screen is damaged in some way (my parents Samsung 959NF have like one very little black dot at left side (roughly the same size of a pixel on a LCD or possibly slightly smaller) but don't know if similiar things can happen to DynaFlat screens.

Anyway the only real way to increase sharpness is to reduce the refresh rate to a lower setting but then you have to deal with flickering. And of course playing around with color temp setting if you're unsatisfied with the colors. Moire setting should be "off" or very low, because a high setting will start interrupting the image ("buzzing" text/lines etc). It's supposed to counter the moire effect tho, google it up if u don't know what it is.
 
Is there like software you can use to edit the pin balance/trapezoid etc rather than using the buttons on the monitor to make it slightly easier? And I appreciate the feedback RPG.
 
TCK said:
Yeah if you don't know what does what it gets somewhat frustrating but after a while fiddling with it I got it pretty good. Thanks for the response.

How do I go about getting the 'best possible image' out of my monitor? Moire seems like it does nothing?
Click to expand...

Download checkmon, I linked it above, and use the moire test image. On an LCD you will just see one flat color because lcd tech is not really susceptible to it, on a crt you will see what looks like barely perceptible waves or wrinkles. The moire setting in the OSD can minimize the effect greatly. Though, granted, moire, unless it is really bad, is only slightly noticeable most of the time.

I just use the checkmon test images to adjust everything to as nearly perfect as possible, then follow it up with a color calibration, to make sure the monitor is outputting the best possible image. After that it is mostly down to the environment. CRT's tend to look best in rooms with that are dark or only have limited, non fluorescent lighting.

A color calibration is not really needed to be honest unless you are doing color critical work. Usually you can get the color close enough just by looking at a picture of people in a busy and colorful environment and adjusting the color til it "looks" right to you. Often enough, one of the default color settings is already close enough.
 
Appreciate all the info and I just used the checkemon thing and it made it much easier.

The hardest thing to do is to make it straight on the top, bottom, left and right.
 
Yeah trying to make the screen perfect is ridiculous. Like, the tilt works great but getting the sides to be completely straight is really hard.
 
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TCK said:
Yeah trying to make the screen perfect is ridiculous. Like, the tilt works great but getting the sides to be completely straight is really hard.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the club, my Sony G400 trinitron CRT have geometry issues so I can't get left side perfectly straight no matter how I'd tweak the geometry settings I can't get it perfect across the whole screen. It's another disadvantage for CRTs. Of course some CRTs have (almost) perfect geometry and some have smarter geometry configuration (for each corner etc). This parent's Samsung 959NF I'm sitting at currently has like perfect geometry but the screen is scratched a bit. :s
 
Yeah the best feature in the 2 LCD's I had was the "Auto Adjust" button =]
 
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