DELL P1110 monitor too bright

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Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited April 2005
    Yeah, unless you're specifically looking for the lines, and you're on a near/pure-white background, you're never going to see them.
  • edited April 2005
    you get used to the lines after awhile, they become "normal"
    the benefits of the trinitron tube by far outweigh the bad things
    they are FAR brighter, have far less moire problems, and can produce much higher resolutions
    i swear by them, every shadowmask tube ive had ive hated, and every sony\mitsu tube ive had that was appe grille i loved.

    ignore the lines, and get used to them, youll never go back......
    they arnt dark, nor big

    super HAIR THIN light "grey" lines id call them if your looking at a bright backround
    but hey, its like a friend of mine said
    you can have 2 small lines from a trinitron tube, or thousands from a shadow mask, take your pick...
  • edited April 2005
    I have the Sony CDP-G500.

    Did the resistor swap on Jan 17, 05. Very successful ... games are much better looking. See Post 99 in this thread for details. Used 6.8M Ohm - 1/2 watt resistor. The color was great after the fix, so I did not monkey with the Image Restoration option. I would agree with an earlier post, once you get the resistor changed and it looks good, don't do the Image Restoration or Color Reset function.

    My brightness is now down to 30 ish so you might want to try the next step down in resistor ... 6.2M Ohm ... In my Post # 96 I have a links to this place for all the supplies, here is the link for the resistors.
    http://www.oselectronics.com/ose_p70.htm#1/2W%20Carbon%20Film

    I like the color settings recommended by a previous post:

    All three BIAS set to 50
    Red Gain set to 86
    Blue Gain set to 80
    Green Gain st to 80

    Finally if you want a second 21 inch, this place has lot's of them:
    http://www.azatek.com/pricelist.asp?CID=59

    Looking forward to Xweebie's web site on how to adjust using cable and sofware.

    Cheers
    RS
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited April 2005
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  • edited April 2005
    Hi All

    I've put up with my overly bright monitor for a few years and don't know why I didn't try to fix it earlier. I've been using a 21" glass monitor filter and some fiddling with the nView brightness/gamma/contrast settings. The damper wires in mine have been very noticable due to this which is annoying but after I while I didn't notice them as much but they were still there.

    Anyway I found this site and http://www.hutzelman.com/home/hardware/mods/monitor and thought hell I'll give it a go, as I'd taken my 17" Dell Flat Panel home for the weekend to try on gaming and movies and it was great. I went and bought a cheap soldering iron and a couple of 5M6 1w Carbon Film resistors from Dicksmiths Electronics. Cutting the old resistor of was a bit tricky but I managed with my tiny pocket knife scissors eventually. I put some paper under the board and heated the old solder out and put the new resistor in the holes and soldered it in (this is probably not how to do it but I've never soldered anything before but it seemed to work fine) Anyway I re-assembled plugged it in turned it on and it was awesome way darker, no visible damper wires and I could then move the brightness from 0 up to 80 and get a decent picture and remove my nView settings.

    So thanks guys this is now awesome and I won't need to replace it as I was planning.

    So anyone thinking should I try this go for it was easy and it works. :thumbsup:

    As for the Sony software I had a look and you can get a DOS version from http://www.eserviceinfo.com/

    namely
    http://www.eserviceinfo.com/downloadsm/2486/Sony_DAS%20J4.2.1..html
    http://www.eserviceinfo.com/downloadsm/2487/Sony_DAS%20J4.2.1..html

    the download also includes a PDF guide to the software and the cabling required which is non-standard. Maybe this will be of use to someone.

    Matt
  • edited April 2005
    Well I looked at the cabling and software, but I really cannot make heads or tales of either one.

    I see the schematics are designed for a DB25 serial port, but I haven't had one on a PC in at least 5 years. Easy enough to convert it to DB9 though. As for the end that's supposed to connect to the monitor, I still don’t know which pin is supposed to go where.

    All the software stuff in the RARs are confusing as well. Am I supposed to install it using the install.exe, or unzip the files from the zip files the RAR contains? When I look through the software, I don't see any model that looks anything like the P1100 or P1110.

    Can anyone else figure this out?
  • edited April 2005
    Have just bought a used Dell P1110 and got pretty sad when I discovered the Brightness problem. Soon I learned that a transistor could be replaced. Now I am not an expert so I was pretty resistant to that option.

    Looking at Dell's homepage I found the solution: Open Menu -> Color -> Set Color return to "ON". Note that this is only possible after monitor has been turned on for ½ an hour. Screen is auto adjusting and now my screen is looking perfect. :)
  • edited April 2005
    Hi guys. I've repaired some SONY GDM monitors and others OEM wich are all Sony made inside. I´ve done the completelly adj some times using Sony's sotwares (windas wincats),and I can tell you that it was not easy even if you have all the stuff needed (the key, pattern generator,etc.).
    I've been following this thread for a while and want to share something.
    Usually the low bright is caused by this two failures. The resistor's failure you all have been talk about or the eeprom memory faulty.
    The First case could be solved if you replace the faulty resistor for a new one with the same resistance and would be better if the new one used had a higher potency ratio (Watts).To find the Faulty resistor, please be sure that the monitor is turned off locate at the A board (the one behind the tube) you must find the G2 Pin at the picture tube socket folowing the track you find the resistors of some Mega ohms, disconect one side from de board and mesure with a multmeter.If the resistor are ok then the software would be really good ,but I can't help with that yet,problems with the key thing.
    Roughlly talking,it works this way,there is usually a big conector which brings aproximately 1000V tho the socket board this 1000v must be divided to reach the perfect value of G2 Voltage.This is done through this mega resistors and a couple of transistor which has it's resistance controled by a PWM.
    Then here goes My tip (note, I Have Not done it before) if you find a Potenciometer usually found in that oldests Tv sets of tens of mega ohms 1/2 Watts or more you can put it in the trasistor place or design a voltage divider to replace the hole circuit so you will be able to adj the G2 value to best performance.If someone give me some pictures from the socket board I can try to show you how.
  • edited April 2005
    Great post by Mattosaur ... thanks!

    To B@RE,
    Thanks for attempting to share your technical knowledge. Have you seen the pictures on the hutlzeman fix web page? (here is the link)
    http://www.hutzelman.com/home/hardware/mods/monitor/

    Are you saying you support hutzelman's fix procedure since using the adjustment software is too complex? Can you make your comments again using the photo's on hutzelman's fix page (or the one I've inserted below) as reference?

    Thanks!
    RS

    monitor3.jpg
  • GTIGTI
    edited April 2005
    I just fixed mine. I used a 10 Mohm 1/4 watt resistor (couldn't find any 1/2 watt or 1 watt at my local electronics store and hutzelman's picture looked like a 1/4 watt). I soldered it in parallel with the existing one (I think that one is 1/2 watt) and now I can finally see black on my monitor. :thumbsup:

    The hardest part was getting the damn plastic cover off. After scratching the hell outta everything it was like "Oh, that's how it comes off". Basically remove the 2 screws. Get something like a putty knife and pop it in at the top and bottom of the sides of the monitor to free the tabs. Then use something like a flat head screwdriver and push down on the two tabs on the top of the monitor. You should be able to see those tabs on the top of the monitor easily.

    The resistors only cost me $2 for 100. To think that a 2 cent resistor saved my monitor from the dumpster. I would have just bought something newer instead of spending the money at the repair shop. Yeah most of the cost would be the diagnostics. Thanks to everyone here and also to the hutzelman web site :thumbsup:
  • edited May 2005
    Thanks.

    I just finished the mod/repair on my P1110 and the black is rich and creamy!

    Mine was a "refurbished" monitor. Cheap enough but I noticed after a while that black just wasn't black. Last time I searched, I found nothing. This time, this thread was #1.

    I looked inside and found that a repair had been attempted. The two mismatched resistors had a total impedence of 8Mohms and one was a 1/4Watt or smaller.
    (by the way, the plastic tabs everyone was referring to are a the top of the monitor on each side. look for little slots)
    I replaced them with a resistence of 6Mohm and things were better.
    Looking closely, I could see that I wasn't as black as could be and brightness was still at 0.

    I opened 'er up and used a 4Mohm impedence and this time everything was REAL dark. Way too dark. Remembering some wise words from earlier in the thread, I went shopping, came back and pressed "color restore".

    BINGO

    Perfect.

    You guys kick ass.
  • shodanshodan New
    edited May 2005
    Hi,

    I found the DAS and WinDAS software , but now I'm looking for a cable
    I tried looking for one on ebay but no luck

    I assume the versions of das I have are cracked or else I'll have to fix that too

    I read that Xweenie sucessfully made an interfacing cable , did anyone received some schematics or anything about the pin out/protocol/levels etc.. that this connection needs ?

    thanks !

    (btw , I have a lot of sony monitors from that time and a lot of Dell P1110 they all work great but I'd love to be able to get under the hood without using my weller and scope so any further contribution would be extremely welcomed !)
  • edited May 2005
    Hi!

    I have also Sony E500 monitor with brightness problem.

    I will try the fix, but i also have other problems:

    All horizontal lines have some kind of "shade" so all lines are doubled(for example in Exel). Vertical lines are ok. Cable should be good.

    Any ideas what to do?

    -zero
  • edited May 2005
    Sounds like either your focus setting on your monitor are out of whack, or your cable is indeed bad. Have you tried the monitor on other computers to make sure it's not just one machine?

    I wouldn't even bother with fixing any brightness issues if the monitor is really that messed up in the first place.
  • edited May 2005
    perhaps convergance?
  • edited May 2005
    I have build the adapter to communicate with the monitor and hooked it up and it works. Now I think I have the too bright issue but I get following error:

    H Stop: Error
    H Stop: Error (Picture)

    If anybody is interrested in seeing my adapter go here:
    http://atom.port11.net/p1110/

    Having that error I have issues adjusting settings.
  • edited May 2005
    I have a Sony G500 that has displayed this same problem of over brightness, I have spent and wasted allot of time on this problem, nonetheless I pass on to my brethren all I have learnt in the last 48 hours. I leeched enough information from other posters to form an educated opinion. For those that want to know, I am an EE who works in the embedded processor field, I just state this as there is more than the fair share of disinformation on topic that has been posted.

    a) Electrical Safety
    I do not, and have never worked on monitors (up until now) due to the inherit safety issues. Gents, 50ma through the body will KILL. DEAD – HEART STOPS – DEAD. All TV’s and monitors contain lethal voltages (it’s actually the current that kills but at 10KVA inside a monitor it doesn’t matter that much).

    Even turned off and unplugged these monitors still have enough power stored to kill; the screen alone WILL hold its charge for several days (even with bleed off resistors).

    If you must work on your monitor always use the one hand rule, only use one hand and keep the other in your pocket. Makes working difficult but it decreases the risk of death by an order of magnitude.

    b) Infamous resistor change for G2.
    I downloaded a schematic of my G500 and had a look at the whole G2 voltage issue. In my case all of the components were OK it is a corrupted E2ROM that is causing the processor to over drive the G2.

    The voltage level of G2 is controlled by two feedback resistors, namely R457 & R459. These provide feedback to an opamp that controls the voltage on G2, which is also driven by a PWM signal that the monitor’s processor controls.

    Contrary to what has been posted on this thread about the wattage of the resistors they carry very little current. The reason that 1/2W is specified has to do with the input being 1500V, which can arc across a very small space. 1/2W resistors are long and are also bound in nonconductive material (plastic/ceramic).

    I made my 10M resistor out of 5 x 2Meg 1/8watt resistors in series. Easy to find, just soldered them together and then put them inside heat shrink tubing.

    The trick is to add the resistor in parallel to R457 (NEVER attempt doing this on R459). R457 only carries a fraction of current as R459 is on the high side (1500V).

    There is another issue with changing the feedback via resistors, it will cause the op amp to become unbalanced which will show when you attempt to change the brightness & contrast on the monitor through the front panel.

    Its not an elegant solution but the modification is simple and it works. The best method is to use the DAS software which I cover in our next series.
  • edited May 2005
    Digital Alignment.

    Sony, as most other monitor manufacturers use microcontrollers/DSP’s to control the many different voltages required to drive a CRT so that it works and looks good.

    Sony has software called Digital Alignment System or DAS that is run on a PC and connects to the monitor. It allows an inordinate number of variables to be changed, all of which have to be set just right for the monitor to display the colors correctly and in a nice crisp manner.

    One of our posters had talked about the Sony DAS software which piqued my interest. It requires the software, an interface box and a special cable.

    At first I was worried about signal inversion or other problems (it was mentioned earlier in the thread that the Sony converter box actually converted the RS232 to I2C) and is just hearsay.

    I have written firmware on many occasions to communicate with I2C devices and there is no simple method to generate the correct timing pulses from a PC via RS232 to correctly talk to an I2C bus device.

    After reviewing the schematics of the G500 it became apparent that the ECS port (that’s what Sony call it - allows connection to a PC) is nothing more than RX/TX & GND. More importantly these signals run directly to the microcontroller inside the monitor to its UART pins. All of the I2C signals are generated by the microcontroller on separate lines.

    The connection to the monitor is nothing more than a standard RS232<>TTL converter (AKA MAX232). These are available from a variety of sources but RE Smith make some inexpensive ones @ RS485.COM.

    My ECS port is labeled as CN503:

    Pin 1 = GND / Ground
    Pin 2 = STBY5 / 5VDC when monitor in Standby mode (use it to power the converter)
    Pin 3 = RXD / TTL – Connect to TXD of TTL<>RS232 converter
    Pin 4 = TXD / TTL – Connect to RXD of TTL<>RS232 converter

    The connector is a 4 pin .100” header, all very standard stuff.

    I downloaded a copy of the DAS J4.1.2.1 software; DOS based only and turned out to be somewhat of a waste of time. My monitor will talk to the software but then immediately shuts down due to a version mismatch. This was after I wasted many hours transferring it to a DOS box and screwing around with it.

    What I hope is that some kind sole will be able to send me the later Windows version of DAS so I can have a go at adjusting the G2 output.

    I have done the resistor mod for now, albeit its not what I would like as the screen controls no longer function as they should (increasing brightness dims the gun output).

    :)
  • edited May 2005
    http://rs485.com/prs232it.html

    Is that the converter you used?
  • edited May 2005
    I apologize for any vagueness in specifying the converter I used, I just happened to have one laying around (I do allot of comms work).

    The converter used is RS232IT from RS485.COM. You DO NOT need to purchase a transformer to power it - the power can be supplied from the monitor. You MUST make sure that J5 is set to A (rather than B), this bypasses the regulator and allows power to be supplied by Pin 4.

    This is the cable I made for the G500 to the RS232IT, the RS232IT has a 4 pin .100" header that can be connected directly to the monitor with a cable.

    Monitor
    R232IT
    Pin 1---GND
    Pin 1---GND
    Pin 2---STBY +5VDC--Pin 4---+5VDC (connect NO power is needed)
    Pin 3---RXD
    Pin 2---TXD
    Pin 4---TXD
    Pin 3---RXD

    Standard cross over for serial comms, but do please be careful about Pin 2 as it can F-Up the monitor if you accidentally connect it to ground.

    Regards
  • edited May 2005
    I built this adapter with parts from jameco electronics for ~$15.

    http://atom.port11.net/DB25.GIF

    All of this are common parts. Slapped them on a prototyping board and voila.

    Somebody posted a link to the DAS software earlier that works.
  • edited May 2005
    WinDAS is available somewhere in the net, but it requires dongle:(

    I want to know that it is possible to adjust focus with DAS(dos based) software or is there other way to adjust focus? In my case all horizontal lines have "shade" under(about 1,5mm) the "real" line. Computer and cable are ok.

    Older model this was easy to do with potentiometers...
  • edited May 2005
    zero wrote:
    I want to know that it is possible to adjust focus with DAS(dos based) software or is there other way to adjust focus? In my case all horizontal lines have "shade" under(about 1,5mm) the "real" line. Computer and cable are ok.

    Older model this was easy to do with potentiometers...

    You can do focus on the flyback, there are two adjustments. These adjusments are usually fixed in place by some white paint. They should not need readjustment under normal circumstances. Maybe instead the problem is convergence?

    Focus:
    Adjust F2 focus VR for best vertical focus.
    1) Adjust the F1 focus VR for best horizontal overall focus.
    2) Repeat F1 and F2 as there is some interaction.
  • edited May 2005
    Xweebie wrote:
    You can do focus on the flyback, there are two adjustments. These adjusments are usually fixed in place by some white paint. They should not need readjustment under normal circumstances. Maybe instead the problem is convergence?

    Focus:
    Adjust F2 focus VR for best vertical focus.
    1) Adjust the F1 focus VR for best horizontal overall focus.
    2) Repeat F1 and F2 as there is some interaction.

    Thanks! This helps me a lot. It is not convergence, i have already tried it.

    -zero
  • edited June 2005
    I have a Dell P1130 (an OEM Sony CPD-G520) and also have the brightness problem but its different from what has been said by all of you here.

    My monitor is manufactured in 'Dec 2003' and 'Made in Mexico' and the casing colour is a silver/grey front with a black back.

    Basically 3 out of 5 times I switch on the monitor, the brightness is 30% more than it should be making blacks look like faded grey so I have to switch the monitor off 2 or 3 times before the image is displayed at the correct brightness.

    Anyone have similiar problems or know how to fix this since its a P1130 I'm talking about here with "CHASSIS CR1" and not a P1110 :confused:

    Also as someone mentioned earlier about the picture flickering for 2 seconds and returning after extended usage, I also have this problem and it usually happens after the monitor has been on for over 2 hours or so.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated :)
  • edited June 2005
    Vegeta wrote:
    Basically 3 out of 5 times I switch on the monitor, the brightness is 30% more than it should be so I have to switch the monitor off 2 or 3 times before the image is displayed at the correct brightness.

    Also as someone mentioned earlier about the picture flickering for 2 seconds and returning after extended usage, I also have this problem and it usually happens after the monitor has been on for over 2 hours or so.

    Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

    Not familiar with that model but in any case maybe more information is needed.
    When the brightness is incorrect, is the number displayed in the on screen menu for brightness incorrect also (does it change or remain constant regardless of brightness)? Are all colors equally bright, or does the screen take on some particular hue? Have you tapped the chassis in various places when it's on to see if anything changes?

    On the flickering also.
    Is the screen blanking or jumping or do you mean brightness changes?

    You would have to find the out of spec voltage during the too-bright condition. There should be an easily measurable difference when it is ok and when it is not. Since it reverts to normal it does not sound related to the usual P1110 defect.
  • edited June 2005
    Xweebie wrote:
    Not familiar with that model but in any case maybe more information is needed.
    When the brightness is incorrect, is the number displayed in the on screen menu for brightness incorrect also (does it change or remain constant regardless of brightness)? Are all colors equally bright, or does the screen take on some particular hue? Have you tapped the chassis in various places when it's on to see if anything changes?

    On the flickering also.
    Is the screen blanking or jumping or do you mean brightness changes?

    You would have to find the out of spec voltage during the too-bright condition. There should be an easily measurable difference when it is ok and when it is not. Since it reverts to normal it does not sound related to the usual P1110 defect.

    The brightness number remains constant when I have the brightness problem. I have contrast set at 50 and brightness at 42 with colour temp at 9300k.

    All colours are equally bright, it just seems the brightness goes up by about 30% making blacks look like faded grey. I have tapped the chassis and there is no change only power cycling the monitor a few times resolves the problem.

    The flickering I'd say resembles the kind of flicker/picture jump you get when you change screen resolutions. I run the monitor at 1280x1024 @ 75Hz.

    Its driving me insane and I don't want to open up a high voltage monitor :(
  • edited June 2005
    Ok, I decided to change the 15-pin VGA D-Sub cable from one that had no ferrite cores to one with 2 ferrite cores and the problem so far seems to have been eliminated.

    Can a VGA cable with no ferrites really cause a random brightness problem?

    I do still have the flickering problem but I have managed to find a way to trigger it anytime.

    Basically if I right-click any video file on my PC (Windows XP Pro) I get the flickering for 2 seconds.

    I still don't understand why its happening. I only recently did a clean install of XP and I have also tried various other gfx card drivers and switched out my gfx card for another one.

    Here is a short video clip I made illustrating the problem:

    http://rapidshare.de/files/2223736/VIDPROB.AVI.html
  • edited June 2005
    Hi,

    I'm very happy to have found this thread with all the useful information.

    I have 2 Dell P1130's that are way to bright to use.

    I am desperately looking fo the das software that can be used without a security key. If you have a copy or a link could you PLEASE email or private message me?

    Thank you!

    Albert
  • edited June 2005
    Well, after a few days it seems the random brightness problem is back :scratch: so the problem couldn't have been the cable.

    Another strange thing I noticed is the brightness problem isn't always on both inputs. My monitor can accept 2 D-Sub connections so I have 2 PCs connected up but the brightness problem doesn't always affect both inputs :confused:
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