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

I've plugged in the adapter in that order, in a different dp port and it defaults at 1280x1024, this is how CRU looks like
dptovga.png

That same detailed res. was listed in a clean install of windows 10, no gpu drivers nor internet conection.
I also tried to manually replace the .inf file of the monitor with a custom one made with CRU. No difference, then tried one of the prelisted (gdm F520) with no luck again.

To top it off, the dp ports have "memory", and If I change the adapter to another one, it loads the custom .inf file and CRU settings made on that specific port.
 
Blutrache said:
No idea about the specific model, brand is Rankie. Mine looks like this
View attachment 129512
Click to expand...
Sounds like your DisplayPort connection is running only in HBR transmission mode, instead of HBR2 which you need for pixel clocks >175 Mhz: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort#Main_link
The transmission mode used by the DisplayPort main link is negotiated by the source and sink device when a connection is made, through a process called Link Training. This process determines the maximum possible speed of the connection. If the quality of the DisplayPort cable is insufficient to reliably handle HBR2 speeds for example, the DisplayPort devices will detect this and switch down to a lower mode to maintain a stable connection.[9](§2.1.1) The link can be re-negotiated at any time if a loss of synchronization is detected.[9](§1.7.3)
Click to expand...

When I had this problem, it was due to a bad GPU <-> DP-adapter connection. Try replugging and refitting your DP-plug to make sure it has a tight fit. Also try completely shutting down your whole system (PC, displays, etc.) and disconnect it from mains power for a minute, then boot again. Good chance the design and/or quality of the adapter's DP connection isn't great anyway, since I still can't do stable higher pixelclocks with my current Delock DP->VGA adapter.

Edit: you may wonder, why does it work on the other GPU just fine? We have seen this behavior cause different GPUs have different physical DP interface designs, resulting in better or worse DP signal integrity to the outside world. Which can make the difference if the DP signal is decent enough for the (bad) DP->VGA adapter.
 
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My flyback started popping on waking the tube today. I'm wondering what the exact mode of failure is here like Strat_84 said:

Strat_84 said:
There's a long time that that flyback has been out of stock everywhere. There may still be some spare D boards for sale around (Unkle Vito if he's still in the business ?) but it's quite expensive.

IMO that kind of issue should be investigated more seriously before stating it's really coming from the flyback itself. The only thing that seems to be sure it that replacing the entire D board fixes the issue, but it might well be caused by some other inexpensive component in the vicinity of the flyback. For instance, there are some polyester foil capacitors around which may evolve a very suspicious way. I've seen quite a bunch of them with some sort of oily yellow substance spreading inside, behind the transparent plastic layer, whereas normal ones are plain grey. Maybe polyester decomposing under the action of heat and electricity ? Anyway it's rather vicious as I've controlled some of these with a component tester and they read fine, if there are problems they probably occur at higher voltages than a few volts, and they may be intermittent/heat related as well.
Click to expand...

Has anyone ever replaced their flyback vs putting in an entire D-board? How do these things go bad anyway? It's definitely a progressive wear and tear thing going on from what people have described with the issue getting worse and worse. Is it thermal expansion that basically rips these things apart? I wonder if extra cooling or even heating could help prolong their lives and delay the inevitable.
 
Just an FYI that this adapter seems to be working well at displaying whatever resolution i throw at it (currently running 1920x1200) - TNP DP Adapter.

Just curious if anyone has a stock FW900 .dat file they could send me, i know calibration will be off but mine is seriously messed up.

Thanks
 
Looking back earlier in this thread it would seem that there's really only two ways of fixing the "popping" issue: check tube for shorts with Sencore CR70 or CR7000 rejuvenators and check FBT with Sencore CM2000 or CM2025 with the ringer and replace either as necessary; or, leave the monitor on for a period of days to weeks and "burn out" the short wherever it exists as some have described. I don't see any Sencore CR7000's on Ebay currently, any idea where to look locally? Arcade enthusiasts maybe?

This still leaves the matter of how the problem incurs. Were these FBTs inherently faulty or is this some function of how the tube develops the higher brightness and washed out color that requires the G2 or WPB adjustment? The issue with mine developed during this fall and now winter when I started using the monitor more heavily, leaving it on for longer durations and not turning it off completely in conjunction with not having done a WPB recently so it was beginning to be rather overbright. Power delivery, heat stress, the voltages going out of control or what?

Now the question is whether to shelve this unit or run it until it drops. Is the actual popping only symptomatic or does it cause an acceleration of the process, damaging the unit further itself?

By the way, has anyone been in touch with Unkle Vito aka LAGRUNAUER recently? Did he close up shop?
 
Well, I'm pretty sure the G2 drift issue isn't connected at all to any other. That line is completely insulated from the FBT anyway. I think it comes from a poor quality disc ceramic capacitor aging, either getting leaky or losing capacitance, and messing up the G2 regulation (C919). Time will tell if I'm right, I applied a fix in one of my screens.
 
sencore CR70 isn't really compatible with FW900 - the CR70 doesn't have enough range of bias voltage for what the FW900 requires.

CR7000 is probably best bet, but there are other restorers out there that, in combination with a universal adaptor, should work well. The BK 467 is one such device. I own one but have never tried using it, but I can't see why it wouldn't work.
 
spacediver said:
sencore CR70 isn't really compatible with FW900 - the CR70 doesn't have enough range of bias voltage for what the FW900 requires.

CR7000 is probably best bet, but there are other restorers out there that, in combination with a universal adaptor, should work well. The BK 467 is one such device. I own one but have never tried using it, but I can't see why it wouldn't work.
Click to expand...
Yes, as long as it can diagnose and fix a G1 short it should work. I think you have to make sure the rejuvenator itself is working properly, though, and the B&K’s seem on the older end. You haven’t had this popping issue at all, spacediver?
 
aeliusg said:
Looking back earlier in this thread it would seem that there's really only two ways of fixing the "popping" issue: check tube for shorts with Sencore CR70 or CR7000 rejuvenators and check FBT with Sencore CM2000 or CM2025 with the ringer and replace either as necessary; or, leave the monitor on for a period of days to weeks and "burn out" the short wherever it exists as some have described. I don't see any Sencore CR7000's on Ebay currently, any idea where to look locally? Arcade enthusiasts maybe?

This still leaves the matter of how the problem incurs. Were these FBTs inherently faulty or is this some function of how the tube develops the higher brightness and washed out color that requires the G2 or WPB adjustment? The issue with mine developed during this fall and now winter when I started using the monitor more heavily, leaving it on for longer durations and not turning it off completely in conjunction with not having done a WPB recently so it was beginning to be rather overbright. Power delivery, heat stress, the voltages going out of control or what?

Now the question is whether to shelve this unit or run it until it drops. Is the actual popping only symptomatic or does it cause an acceleration of the process, damaging the unit further itself?

By the way, has anyone been in touch with Unkle Vito aka LAGRUNAUER recently? Did he close up shop?
Click to expand...

FWIW...My original FW900 developed the popping issue. Left it on for a couple of days straight and it appeared to go away. It was like some contaminate had been burned up or something. Monitor lived on for years afterwards.


I don't think we've heard from Unkle Vito here or elsewhere for some time? Maybe retired? Was great he was still sourcing these...
 
BTW...earlier read something about screensavers set to 30 minutes. For CRT, I do more like 3 minutes, figuring if video, games, or me typing, it will override the screensaver anyway.
 
SH1 said:
FWIW...My original FW900 developed the popping issue. Left it on for a couple of days straight and it appeared to go away. It was like some contaminate had been burned up or something. Monitor lived on for years afterwards.


I don't think we've heard from Unkle Vito here or elsewhere for some time? Maybe retired? Was great he was still sourcing these...
Click to expand...
Yeah, it was one of your posts from a few years back, that I got that from. Seems to have worked for at least one other person I found just googling fw900 popping. Going to do that now since it popped twice in a row today.
Do you remember what season it was when it started happening to yours?
 
SH1 said:
FWIW...My original FW900 developed the popping issue. Left it on for a couple of days straight and it appeared to go away. It was like some contaminate had been burned up or something. Monitor lived on for years afterwards.


I don't think we've heard from Unkle Vito here or elsewhere for some time? Maybe retired? Was great he was still sourcing these...
Click to expand...

Pretty sure he's still around, but just not on the forums. I've been thinking about reaching out to him just to see how he's doing. I'd love to get another monitor from him but with my current life situation, I just can't.

TLDR - We sold our house to move in and help care for family. No longer have the space for the great tube collection I used to have.
 
aeliusg said:
Yeah, it was one of your posts from a few years back, that I got that from. Seems to have worked for at least one other person I found just googling fw900 popping. Going to do that now since it popped twice in a row today.
Do you remember what season it was when it started happening to yours?
Click to expand...

I want to say it was warm outside like in Summer, but sorry I'm not sure actually.
 
jbltecnicspro said:
Pretty sure he's still around, but just not on the forums. I've been thinking about reaching out to him just to see how he's doing. I'd love to get another monitor from him but with my current life situation, I just can't.

TLDR - We sold our house to move in and help care for family. No longer have the space for the great tube collection I used to have.
Click to expand...

Can't argue with family over tubes. Will be interesting to hear from CES what the latest light and thin emissive tech is offering...
 
SH1 said:
Can't argue with family over tubes. Will be interesting to hear from CES what the latest light and thin emissive tech is offering...
Click to expand...

Pretty much. I love my hobby - but I love my peeps even more. :) Glad to see you around. And can you believe it? It's 2019 and the GDM-F520 and GDM-FW900 are still some of the finest PC displays created.
 
aeliusg said:
Yes, as long as it can diagnose and fix a G1 short it should work. I think you have to make sure the rejuvenator itself is working properly, though, and the B&K’s seem on the older end. You haven’t had this popping issue at all, spacediver?
Click to expand...

Yea I've had popping issues sometimes, they seem to come in clusters and then disappear though. Usually the focus will resolve by itself once it "pops" back. Recently, that didn't work but as soon as i turned monitor off and on it was normal.

re restoring, it's been a while since I dove deep into this, but here is some info you guys might find useful:

Here is a field test I ran with my CR70 (you can see that bias voltage only goes to -68 in CR70, and that's nominal - when I measured it it was -50 something, as video shows).

Also, for what it's worth, the BK field test performed perfectly when I ran it.

Tube number of FW900: M57LRX15X

filament voltage is 5V

and from a sencore CR7000 setup spreadsheet I have:

2qwlooz.png


Based on the image below, I'm assuming G2 voltage should be 600V:

2l8yjb9.png
 
jbltecnicspro said:
Pretty much. I love my hobby - but I love my peeps even more. :) Glad to see you around. And can you believe it? It's 2019 and the GDM-F520 and GDM-FW900 are still some of the finest PC displays created.
Click to expand...

Yeah, never would have expected back in the day that these monitors would still have relevance in 2019. It's both awesome and sad... :)
 
cdoublejj said:
any one know of any FW900s for sale in Indiana or kentucky?

EDIT: i read some news article posted @ OCN forums about possibly some OLED PC monitors next year or something like that.

https://www.overclock.net/forum/225...s-pc-monitors-expected-hit-market-2019-a.html

source: tech power up

still won't match in latency but, depending on use i might not complain.
Click to expand...

These survivors from an age of past emissive glory are getting a bit long in the tooth. Hopefully the cavalry arrives soon. :)
 
SH1 said:
These survivors from an age of past emissive glory are getting a bit long in the tooth. Hopefully the cavalry arrives soon. :)
Click to expand...
CRT is vacuum tube technology. Harsh looking transistor based xLED technology won't ever be able to replace it ;)
 
anyone here good with Windas and OSD format on fw900? im having issues getting it perfect, Im near north carolina.
 
Mumble said:
@Enhanced Interrogator okay eastern north carolina, east of Raleigh

@aeliusg Geometry my colours are damn near perfect. I cant get it just right. im just not good at it.
Click to expand...
It's been too long since I did mine so I can't honestly give you any proper method to do it but point you to this post by etienne51 which I think might have helped me in the past:
24" Widescreen CRT (FW900) From Ebay arrived,Comments.
I did mine via WinDAS. After a going back and forth a few times in the procedures mine came out looking accurate enough to the naked eye for daily viewing and browsing. Eizo Monitor Test has a good pattern IMO which is a usable alternative to the Nokia monitor test referenced in the thread... I'm sorry, it's been a while so I can't give you any more detailed info. My only suggestion is to back up your settings in WinDAS via the .dat file in case fiddling around makes it any worse than it already is. Good luck (literally, because there's no real algorithm that can guarantee it comes out perfectly that I know of, I think you just have to get it to the point where it looks okay to you by messing around).
 
aeliusg said:
It's been too long since I did mine so I can't honestly give you any proper method to do it but point you to this post by etienne51 which I think might have helped me in the past:
24" Widescreen CRT (FW900) From Ebay arrived,Comments.
I did mine via WinDAS. After a going back and forth a few times in the procedures mine came out looking accurate enough to the naked eye for daily viewing and browsing. Eizo Monitor Test has a good pattern IMO which is a usable alternative to the Nokia monitor test referenced in the thread... I'm sorry, it's been a while so I can't give you any more detailed info. My only suggestion is to back up your settings in WinDAS via the .dat file in case fiddling around makes it any worse than it already is. Good luck (literally, because there's no real algorithm that can guarantee it comes out perfectly that I know of, I think you just have to get it to the point where it looks okay to you by messing around).
Click to expand...


im willing to drive and pay for someones time whos skilled enough to do it/teach me. I dont own the windas adapter but I also do need that winxp rar file with XP as well. i was thinking of buying a spyder2 to colour calibrate it as well.

here is my exio test so far

ITS DRIVING ME NUTS.

Edit: seems the ones I need to adjust are windas exclusives
 

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Mumble said:
im willing to drive and pay for someones time whos skilled enough to do it/teach me. I dont own the windas adapter but I also do need that winxp rar file with XP as well. i was thinking of buying a spyder2 to colour calibrate it as well.

here is my exio test so far

ITS DRIVING ME NUTS.

Edit: seems the ones I need to adjust are windas exclusives
Click to expand...
Looks fine on my phone as far as I can tell so it’s not a glaring issue.

Some tips for WinDAS:
Last time I checked I think the software works fine in compatibility mode even on Windows 10 according to some YouTube comment or forum post, can’t remember which.

Get a genuine USB-TTL adapter and check it out with the software from the Taiwanese chip company that makes the ICs. The reviews on Amazon or wherever should tell you that, too. This will save you some trouble from having to deal with a possible non-functioning or improperly functioning TTL in addition to any quirks or quibbles WinDAS and your setup might have. Might even save your monitor in case it writes some garbage to it when you finalize the settings.

The pinout I will look at again to give you the right info, but it’s four pins. I believe the power pin may not be necessary since the TTL adapter is powered by USB.

As mentioned above finalizing your settings is the last and key step otherwise you will have to do the procedure again and/or be locked out of your OSD.

Another thing is that WinDAS is still service-level control over your monitor so you can definitely mess it up badly if you leave it on certain modes. I had to replace a component on one board when I left it on during one of the geometry settings and the deflection went wrong somehow. As long as it looks right, that shouldn’t happen to you, so if it looks wrong, skip the step to get out of that mode.

Besides all that and a mistranslated step regarding ASC calibration, I believe, the procedure really is very straightforward. You will need a ruler or something to eyeball measurements on the screen, I recall, so try to get one of those soft plastic ones so as not to mar the film or keep it in contact with the bezel only.

I’ll see if I can’t remember anything else, but I do recommend using DisplayCal which is a good free color calibration and profile management suite if you do get a device to do the WPB with. You can find more about that under the White point balance guide spacediver wrote here in a thread on this forum.
 
Mumble said:
@aeliusg Geometry my colours are damn near perfect. I cant get it just right. im just not good at it.
Click to expand...
SONY GDM-FW900 is not monitor that can even achieve perfect colors.
Especially if you cannot do 10bit color (eg. DP/HDMI to VGA converter on Nvidia card) where you are screwed because mandatory gamma correction will introduce banding.
Best you can get is using Radeon with EDID hackwhere you provide real gamut so that monitor can correct it to sRGB/Rec.709. There you can even use converters as Radeons do pretty decent job at dithering output to 8bit.
Also even with all that CRTs have specific effects that make colors... "imperfect", so there might be not that much that can be done with that. It is not OLED and even good LCD will have better color performance.

BTW. Avoid Spyder, or 3 for that matter. Get Eye One i1 Display Pro instead. It should allow you to get white point and gamma right. Cheaper solution can work to a degree and for some aspect of image but won't guarantee absolute accuracy where it comes to white point. Spyder2 is also not very precise on near black end of the things and most of them have worn out color filters so are less accurate than in the past.

Good thing is that in games these things matter very little so just enjoy the monitor instead of nitpicking on its imperfections :)
 
aeliusg said:
Another thing is that WinDAS is still service-level control over your monitor so you can definitely mess it up badly if you leave it on certain modes. I had to replace a component on one board when I left it on during one of the geometry settings and the deflection went wrong somehow. As long as it looks right, that shouldn’t happen to you, so if it looks wrong, skip the step to get out of that mode.
Click to expand...
Out of curiosity, what component ran amok ? With which symtoms ?

Mumble : Regarding geometry, be careful because doing the full procedure thing is a real pain in the ass, expecially with the parallax reading errors. I'm not seing much of an issue with your picture.
I made some flexible cardboard rulers to check more easily the display dimensions that are asked to set. Be wary of the measuring tapes as they are quite inaccurate, and you may find noticeable measurement differences between 2 rigid rulers.
 
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I have a New D-board and Flyback that is available for sell if anyone is interested. $185 shipped, I am located in Ga.
 
XoR_ said:
SONY GDM-FW900 is not monitor that can even achieve perfect colors.
Click to expand...


dont be so literally bro, by "perfect' I mean good enough where i cant tell the difference to the naked eye. im just trying to get the last bit there, its just slight uneven wobble on the sides, when my monitors warms up Ill retake some photos.




spacediver said:
mumble, have you gone through the WPB guide?
Click to expand...

no can you link it, Ive just been doing everything by eye and OSD.[/QUOTE]
 
Strat_84 said:
Out of curiosity, what component ran amok ? With which symtoms ?

Mumble : Regarding geometry, be careful because doing the full procedure thing is a real pain in the ass, expecially with the parallax reading errors. I'm not seing much of an issue with your picture.
I made some flexible cardboard rulers to check more easily the display dimensions that are asked to set. Be wary of the measuring tapes as they are quite inaccurate, and you may find noticeable measurement differences between 2 rigid rulers.
Click to expand...
It was the first mosfet on the horizontal deflection side as I remember. I think something went wrong between WinDAS and the screen itself because the picture was extremely distorted, but I had no idea what was going on so I left it on while I was trying to figure that out. Sometime later I smelled the burnt out component-smell which helped me pinpoint the mosfet that had overheated. Fortunately it was only the one component that failed but who knows how that affected the aging of the rest. Popped a new one in and it worked again.

Mumble said:
no can you link it, Ive just been doing everything by eye and OSD.
Click to expand...
Here you go: https://hardforum.com/threads/windas-white-point-balance-guide-for-sony-trinitron-crts.1830788/
 
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aeliusg said:
It was the first mosfet on the horizontal deflection side as I remember. I think something went wrong between WinDAS and the screen itself because the picture was extremely distorted, but I had no idea what was going on so I left it on while I was trying to figure that out. Sometime later I smelled the burnt out component-smell which helped me pinpoint the mosfet that had overheated. Fortunately it was only the one component that failed but who knows how that affected the aging of the rest. Popped a new one in and it worked again.
Click to expand...
So you mean the mosfet supplying power to the horizontal side, the component which is 2nd on the top of the board on the huge heatsink, Q508 ?
 
Strat_84 said:
So you mean the mosfet supplying power to the horizontal side, the component which is 2nd on the top of the board on the huge heatsink, Q508 ?
Click to expand...
Let me take a look at the schematic.

Edit: Actually, it was one of these 2SK3262 ones:
xlLW6wK.png
 
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