P991 DELL SONY: what is the correct procedure for setting black level on the p1110 assuming everything is working normally?. I tried moving the vertical centering down so that there is a black space at the top of the screen then displaying a black picture then adjusting the brightness down until it blends in but this results in loosing too much detail in photos where I know you can see more.
I also have that problem. If you loose correct color, or detail in the dark end of pictures, I think you should adjust Cutoffs. I couldn't adjust mine correctly because I don't have the right software for my colorimeter, nor do I have the raw command manual for it.
The same problem can happen at the bright end of pictures. Ideally, each step in the greyscale should appear to have the same change in lightness. If you have an image editing program, make test pattern with all 255 shades of color, if you're way off, you'll notice differences in the 255 step 'gray scales' of each primary color (RGB).
What does BCL adjust do?
The geometry is all off the setting also, I dont think Im going to be able to set it correctly. Its gonna need someone with a signal generator and the rest of the equipment. Unless somebody with a good monitor is willing to tell me what each of the following is set too on their monitor?
Even if you have the exact same settings as some one else (with the exact same model monitor), it won't be perfect. I've offered people my P991 .dat EEPROM settings, and tried others. It leaves allot to be desired.
I'd just use a crosshatch in your favorite resolution. Unfortunately, there are resolution adjustments for high frequency video modes, and low frequency modes. Not sure if you can do both, but at least you'll have your main resolution correct.
Ha, Dynamic focus! It's a setting I can't seem to adjust in windas. There must be some way to do it.
GREYSCALE Menu
Min contrast: 50 62%
max contrast: 255 100%
Not sure what these control in terms of grid voltages and the amplifiers.
G2 49 19%
Red Black level: 14 5%
Green black level: 13 5%
Blue black level: 25 3%
I think these are the cutoffs,biases, I think if you display black (0,0,0) adjust theses as far up as you can until they barely fall below the parts of the screen that aren't being scanned (like you were saying you did)
Red amp: 131 51%
Green amp: 112 42%
Blue amp: 130 39%
These are the drives,gains. Not sure how to adjust these, but in windas, it has a rather bright white pattern, and you adjust them until the color is at the right temperature.
Top and bottom edges 127 49%
top right corner 127 49%
bottom right corner 127 49%
top left corner 127 49%
bottom left corner 123 49%
What are edges and corners? Is this focus or convergence?
BL Correction : ON
Save BL input value
BL input 44%
What does this do? BL? Please let me know.
memory settings submenu
type: 0
custom color: 1
DDC : INT. (ST7275)
Initialize eeprom
INT Burn in test
[/quote]
Um, again, I have no idea. Burn in test? hmm.
To answer your question:
The windas procecuder starts with adjusting physical things, like purity, rough convergence, etc. It doesn't actually do anything except instruct you to display a certain pattern and do the adjustment with your bare hands.
Then it gets into geometry. It has linearity, along with the usual geometric controls, for Low mid and High frequency.
Then it does convergence.
At the very end, it does color.
G2, contrast, drives, cutoffs, [repeat last two untill both need no adjustment, one affects the other]
for each color temp. After that, it sets the color return values. Then it's all done.
Let me know what those weird adjustments do. I don't remember anything sounding much like them.
Im not sure what all those weird setting do myself! Ill have a look. First off what does raster do?
is there any order in which you are best to use to set the geometry controls as setting one seem to affect the other? I downloaded the service manual for my monitor its identical to the Nokia 466pro and 466F and that is the service manual you use for this HP1110. It conatins the correct procedure on how to tune up the monitor, But you need all sorts of equipment.
also according to the service manual the greyscale settings only affect 9300k and all other tints are derived from it automaticaly. If you want to download the service manual its here http://www.eserviceinfo.com/fulltext.php?search_ft=HP%20P1110
Well, like I said at the end of my post, Windas does it in that order. Not sure if that is best. It seems intuitive that you would do color last, because everything else is lining up the guns, and if they line up differently, the amount of electrons the RGB phosphors get would change slightly.
Same thing with doing geometry before convergence.
Raster.. hmm, I wasn't entirely sure, I remember when doing the Windas procedure there was a geometry adjustment to center the raster.
So, yours has Nokia electronics. Maybe that explains why it has a service menu, and dynamic focus. (Not to mention, the different way color is set up) Still, it seems weird sony wouln't have dynamic focus, but I'm pretty sure the lack of a service menu atleast on my P991
Out of curiosity, does it have Color return? This would be another example of non-Sony electronics exhibiting the 'too bright'/overbrightness problem so many have blamed on 'software compensation'
Other than that, I have no idea what to say. I'm only familiar with P991 Windas adjustments, and I've described the procedure.
NO there is no color return Also I dont think there is anyway to attach a cable for windas with this monitor. I was actually asking only about the geometric them selfs.
Na The monitor has had its day! Iv damaged it some how. The upper left corner is distorted to the left and no matter how much I play with the geometry settings it will never line up correctly. All three corners are aligned apart from that one. It probably could be fixed but would need to done at a service center and it not worth it. Ill see if I can pick up a bargin on ebay or something.
I just got the USB to TTL cable (TTL-232R-WE version from FTDIchip) to successfully connect to my Sony CPD-G500 & lowered my G2 setting from 161 to 140.
I had a little teething trouble getting WinDAS to work, but re read this thread and realised the crashes and bus connection issues I experienced were nothing to do with the USB cable & so now that I've proven it works I'll summarise everything I did (please excuse the abridged repetition of the standard instructions, I thought it worth including in the summary just re emphasise just how easy it is to do this!)
Making up an ECS cable
I cut the end off a floppy drive power cable and soldered the relevant GND, VCC, TX, RX wires of the TTL-232R-WE. Schematic is here: http://www.ftdichip.com/Images/ttl232rsch1.jpg I also put insulation tape over the soldered joins & over the unused RTS & CTS wires.
Configure WinDas
For my monitor model & Com port the settings are:
WinDAS -> Set up -> Model Sel = CPD-G500
WinDAS -> Set up -> Config -> ECS Port = Com3
WinDAS -> Set up -> Config -> SG Name = manual
N.B. I found that if I tried to skip ahead of the instructions at this point to connect to the monitor and save my dat file after doing this config step the WinDAS program would hang. You need to close & re open WinDAS before you try WinDAS -> File -> Save Data to File.On my system WinDAS hangs 100% if you access config & then try to access anything else!
Prepare PC & monitor for connection
Shut down the PC & switch off the monitor
Remove the outer cover & plug the cable into the monitor service port
Re start PC & switch monitor on (I waited for the monitor to warm up for over 30min so that I could get a good impression of the effect my G2 change would have)
Switch off screen savers & power saving features
Exit any Virus Protection/Internet Security programs (in case it interferes with the connection)
run WinDAS as Administrator!
Right click windas.exe and run as administrator (noted earlier in the thread that there may be connection problems if you don't run WinDAS as admin)
WinDAS -> File -> Save Data to File
Immediately save your current config as a dat file. My monitor went blank & the power light went off for 2-3 minutes while it saved
I copied my newly created dat file & renamed it so I had a backup.
Changing the G2 or other values
If you got your cable working then refer back to the original instructions on how to to edit the .dat file & load it back into the monitor. N.B. I used Windows Start Menu -> Run -> "cmd" -> "edit" to open a suitable editor for the .dat.
just realised Windows Start Menu -> Run -> "edit" opens the editor just fine
Just wanted to say a big Thanks to everyone who contibuted here. My Dell p1110 looks great now. I decided to go with the WinDas solution - bought the components from nck electronics (?) mentioned on P991's how-to site. Total of $10 US shipped. Soldered the pieces together and found an old cd cable and plugged it in.
Well. .. . it wasn't exactly that easy. the cable I had, even though it had 4 wires didn't work I kept getting that "can't connect check cable and bus" error so I stipped all the insulation off and found that the 2 center pins (both black) were actually connected to each other and I was connecting Rx (or Tx) to Grnd with out realizing it. I found a different cable and then it worked (after I switched the Rx-Tx.
After that all went smoothly.
Until I reduced the G2 below 100 then My monitor went black and did not power back on.
I plugged in a different monitor to the PC and since it couldn't be read at the dell's settings I had to reboot my computer. Now I had one monitor hooked to my PC and the dell still connected via ECS/serial port.
I started Windas and tried to reload the .dat file with the G2=90 and I saw the error screen that came up (couldn't see it the first time since the monitor blacked out). I then figured out (as some one posted earlier) that you cannot change a value from 3 digits to 2 digits. So, in order to use G2 less than 100 you must enter 090 instead of just 90 in the .dat file
I also came across the locked OSD at one point but found the solution to that in here as well (Thanks again P991) which was to make sure you exit Windas properly and cycle power on your monitor before you tough any of the front panel buttons.
One question for P991_DELL_Sony, (well actually two):
1. Why do you now think the WinDas solution is not neccessary? Are you thinking the HV varistor is a better choice now? Can it be located on all the monitors spoken of here?
2. Have you got more info on Windas and the other adjustments - You have mentioned a number of times about adding it to your how-to but I only see the main page with 4 links at the bottom - not too much on changing other settings.
This is the page I found the How-to at:
www dot geocities dot com / gregua / windas/
Again, I am ever grateful to have found this thread.
Just wanted to say a big Thanks to everyone who contibuted here. My Dell p1110 looks great now. I decided to go with the WinDas solution - bought the components from nck electronics (?) mentioned on P991's how-to site. Total of $10 US shipped. Soldered the pieces together and found an old cd cable and plugged it in.
Well. .. . it wasn't exactly that easy. the cable I had, even though it had 4 wires didn't work I kept getting that "can't connect check cable and bus" error so I stipped all the insulation off and found that the 2 center pins (both black) were actually connected to each other and I was connecting Rx (or Tx) to Grnd with out realizing it. I found a different cable and then it worked (after I switched the Rx-Tx.
After that all went smoothly.
Until I reduced the G2 below 100 then My monitor went black and did not power back on.
I plugged in a different monitor to the PC and since it couldn't be read at the dell's settings I had to reboot my computer. Now I had one monitor hooked to my PC and the dell still connected via ECS/serial port.
I started Windas and tried to reload the .dat file with the G2=90 and I saw the error screen that came up (couldn't see it the first time since the monitor blacked out). I then figured out (as some one posted earlier) that you cannot change a value from 3 digits to 2 digits. So, in order to use G2 less than 100 you must enter 090 instead of just 90 in the .dat file
I also came across the locked OSD at one point but found the solution to that in here as well (Thanks again P991) which was to make sure you exit Windas properly and cycle power on your monitor before you tough any of the front panel buttons.
Ouch. I've actually heard of both these problems, but I neglected to mention them.
One question for P991_DELL_Sony, (well actually two):
1. Why do you now think the WinDas solution is not neccessary? Are you thinking the HV varistor is a better choice now? Can it be located on all the monitors spoken of here?
Well, I followed up with the guy who mentioned it to me. I guessed it would be a better choince based on some things I've heard:
1. That Xweebie had measured each and every grid voltage, and found no change while the monitor warmed up (and the monitors are bright/washed out when warming up.)
2. The screen geometry size/center drifts a bit during warm up. So I figured that maybe it wasn't just the G2 that changes.
3. That adjusting the HV trimmer did affect brightness.
4. Sony service bulletins mention that the brightness problem is something to do with CRT drift.
Anyway. he said that he didn't think HV was the problem. He had measured the G2 voltage and it was high. He holds the rather common opinion that the whole issue is age compensation.
Ofcourse, I should really get an HV probe and see.
Personally, I highly doubt that the problem is software based aged compensation. I've heard:
1. I don't think anyone has noticed their G2 rising, yet quite a few have noticed their monitor keeps getting brighter.
2. I've reset my monitors MPU with the reset MPU function of windas. I think this would reset the age compensation stuff if it were software based, or memorized somehow based on age. I still have a bright warm up.
3. I've read in the 'Chassis Training Manual' for some F99 chasis monitor (not the P991 but close enough) that there is a CRT drift compensation thing. I forget exactly what it does, I didn't quite understand it. The manual was at eservice.info. It described something do do with the charge on the tube? I have no idea really.
I think/hope that there is some component that can be cut/removed which will cease the 'drift compensation' and the monitor will age like all previous trinitrons did. Being dark during warm up, and getting dimmer with age.
If anyone has other theories, I'd love to hear them.
2. Have you got more info on Windas and the other adjustments - You have mentioned a number of times about adding it to your how-to but I only see the main page with 4 links at the bottom - not too much on changing other settings.
This is the page I found the How-to at:
www dot geocities dot com / gregua / windas/
Yes, I haven't mentioned any extra adjustments as they vary by chasis. Furthermore, most of them would be very tedious to make by editing the dat file.
On another thread, at HardForum, there is a user, Foe Hammer, who had found a register that altered contrast. It was FW900 specific though. (I'm sure there are simmiliar registers for other chasis though). Anyway, he really made that thing shine. If you want, you could play around with the values, but ofcourse, there's a rare chance you might break something.
I've mentioned a few times on this thread my experience with the built in procedures. They have instructions as you go, but are hard to follow if you don't have two computer. I believe I've posted the mode lines of the requested patterns.
A while ago, I went through this whole thread and collected all posts I've found interesting or useful, I redid a little bit on of a new howto page, but I never got around to finishing it. What I really wanted to add, was my windas program with patterns, mode setting, and easy adjustment. Without it, you need two computers, and a bunch of hassle.
I think I read that people are having problems getting the brightness & contrast balance right. I suspect the reason may be related to the fact that CRT phosphor only has a limited lifespan - a generalisation is that after 10,000 hours use peak luminance will be approx 1/2 the level it was for a new monitor. By 30,000 hrs the monitor may be totally unusable.
Yeah, phosphors are probably a problem. Screen burn-in is just uneven aging isn't it?
Could it just be the phosphors are less efficient? Can the aging be made up for by bombarding them with more electrons? I figure this would be noticed as a change in the gamma curve. Maybe the tube becomes useless when the electronics can't map the the input signal to electron beam output precisely enough.
There's also cathode wear. I've heard on arcade machines it helps to 're charge' the cathodes with a CRT restorer.
Infact, the 'color restore/return' option measures beam current and compensates for reduced cathode efficiency.
B22 P22 I think are the same thing. If you know anything about the phosphors please tell me.
It does vary by monitor model and the type of phosphor used - I don't think you can even generalise Trinitrons into a single estimated lifespan either. Indeed $40K+ colour accurate broadcast grading monitors may have a warranty in hours much much shorter than a more robust (& less colour accurate) corporate office monitor.
Yeah, I've seen some tubes advertised as Ultra-wide gamut. What is the difference?
My CPD-G500 monitor is from Jan 2001 and I blagged it from Sony Computer Entertainment while I worked there. Now this monitor of mine has seen many years of use, so while I'm messing with the brightness & contrast I'm not sure if I will ever get it restored to quote the right level.
I know some of the artists in my old dev studio leave their monitors on 24/7 to avoid the warm up period i.e. that's approx 8500 hous used per year and in 2-3 years the CRT could be effectively worn out - impossible to ever again get high contrast & good colour!
Eh.. another depressing fact. Buying a refurbished CRT could mean buying something on the end of it's life. No way to buy a new one for a reasonable price . Hopefully the black screen doesn't wear the tube as much as a brighter screen, but thanks to the brightness issue, black isn't so dim.
Right now my blacks are just short of being black, whites are a little grey, detail is a bit lacking in dark areas (as if the gamma is messed up) & I don't seem to have quite the vibrancy & contrast compared to my Sony 21" CRT television. If you have any thoughts on this or remember any posts in the thread that may be useful let me know.
It's hard to beat a television in contrast. There's a dot pitch/ beam current trade off. If you increase contrast too much, the spots 'bloom'. Maybe there's a third factor like accelerating the electrons to the screen faster, so they have less time to repel each other. Ofcourse, I don't know much about that. Does electron velocity have much to do with brightness when it impacts the screen?
I have exactly your problem though. I try to get a good black level, and it's impossible without losing detail in the darkest end of the video signal.
But, I've adjusted other old tubes fine, not sure what's going on here.
Also I've been trying to get hold of a couple of FW900 widescreen CRTs and may be able to get one from a reseller who does refurb work in the UK. If I do buy from them I will ask if they have any tips about getting the contrast balance right - can't promise anything on this, I guess their willingness to help will depend on wether I decide to buy from them or not...
That'd be interesting to hear.
If you want to refurbish, try doing the white balance procedure with a colorimeter. I got my year 2000 P991 to work within the stated specs (Well, I needed the 30IRE grey, which I didn't get exactly, and my colorimeter was crapping out on the low luminances, but the monitor could well exceeded the brightness. I should actually have checked the color coordinates for sRGB and see if it matched.
If it can get pitch black, and become as bright as the spec says it should, can't it do everything inbetween? And if so, doesn't that mean a perfect display is possible? I fear it's probably more complicated than that, but, maybe not.
Hmm, this usuallly happens to people who do the resistor mod. Interesting that it happens on un-touched monitors.
See if you can find differences between a normal monitors .dat and a 'slow warmup' monitors dat. I doubt there is a warmup setting, but it's worth a look. Maybe it's one of the un-named REG* settings. Backup the .dat of a slow warmup one, then load in the .dat of a normal one, things will look screwy, but maybe it fixes the slow warmup problem. Who knows. If it does, narrow down to what value made the difference.
You may also want to confirm that the resistors in the G2 circuit are all within specs, just to completely rule out any hardware issues.
Goodluck, and be sure to let us know of a solution if you find it.
Hey,
I see someone is actually on-line in this huge thread, I am about to install the new resistor you all were talking about. Any last minute suggestions
Hey,
I see someone is actually on-line in this huge thread, I am about to install the new resistor you all were talking about. Any last minute suggestions
Never mind me. The resistor mod only results in a slow warm up if the resistance is too small.
It has close to the exact same function as lowering the G2 value. Color return should be able to sort out any issues that might crop up. Then, there were a few who said their brightness controls were messed up.
I think in the end the perfect solution for this flaw is going to be hardware based. If it were software based, reseting the MPU should have helped.
The 'bright warm up' is very irritating, and neither 'fix' available deals with it. Who knows, maybe we are lowering G2 to compensate for wide open G1s? (actually, the G2 voltage was too high)
If you have a multi-meter, and can get the service manual, I'd suggest you put the voltage right back where it should be. It'd be interesting to see if that solves everything.
Oh, what am I saying? It'll just work. Don't worry about it. Have fun.
Hi all,
thank you all for your helpful postings. I bought two HP P1130 and was a bit disappointed that the colors were not equal and the contrast was too low.
After trying different G2 settings without great success I ran the WINDAS procedures. Great tool! If you have a color measurement device it is even more helpful. I bought a Colorvision Spyder 2 (doesn't cost more than a used monitor) because I have to manage 4 CRTs in my office. With this, you can measure x, y, and Y (gamma) and adjust them to the point. Sometimes this is a bit tricky because the values influence each other. This is how I adjusted my monitors:
Bought a RS232-TTL kit, soldered it together and connected a COM cable and some connector pins for the monitor port.
Installed the Spyder software on a second computer, started it in RGB mode and put the sensor to the screen to be adjusted. It should also be possible to use only one PC.
Created some test pattern HTML-pages (load them into your browser and go to full screen mode) with white, black, 30% gray and grayscale content. You can find the patterns in the attachment URLs below.
Installed WINDAS on my notebook and connected it to the monitor via COM1
Set the SG settings to manual (WINDAS->Set up->Configuration)
Started the procedure in WINDAS (adjustment menu)
Ran the 'Prime Mode Adjustment' for basic geometry
Ran the 'Convergence Adjustment'
Ran the 'White Balance Adjustment'. WINDAS tells you which test pattern ist required. The White Balance Adjustment contains four procedures (9300K, 6500K, 5000K, sRGB). This took me about one hour per monitor
Finished the settings with "Final Setting'. This is important because otherwise the changed values can not be saved in the monitor EPROM.
Switched the monitor off, diconnected the RS232 cable and closed WINDAS. IMPORTANT: Do not touch any of the monitor's OSD controls. If you do so before switching off, the monitor goes back to the default values and will not save any changes you do with the OSD menu.
You can also run only one procedure and then go to 'Final Setting'. Procedures can be carried out in any order.
I attached a little geometry helper image that describes the settings in the geometry adjustment section. Attachment not found.
And this is a handy pattern generator from Nokia. No installation required, just run the .exe. It's clean, you can get it directly from Nokia if you want.
So, get yourself a Spyder, buy it, steal it, rent it, it's worth the effort. The colors of my monitors are crystal clear now, feels as if you got new eyes.
And DON'T forget to save your monitor settings before you do anything!
Many thanks again, especially to P991,
you saved my life.
Peter (Germany)
I dont quite get the last step...
after I have changed all the setting I need, you will need to go to "final setting"
a screen will then ask you " Do you set the final values?"
do you disconnect the cable first before you click ok or how does this work?
A big thanks to P991 Dell Sony. I got my brand new (to me) 21" Dell P1110 monitor's G2 voltage setting changed from 195 down to 140 and its a really great monitor now.
Anyway, I thought I'd tell you that the interface cable can be made much simpiler than what is shown. There is no need to translate the TTL levels in the monitor interface to RS232 levels, as any PC serial port built after about 1990 will respond to TTL. All you need is 2 gates out of a 74F04 or 74S04 chip to invert and re-drive. I also threw in a couple of series resistors because this is what my company has been using for over 5 years now without any problems what so ever. I also tied some of the RS232 signals togeather...I don't know if this is necessary, but its the right way to do it, and it doesn't hurt anything. I'll list what's involved:
PC serial port
1 - usually black - DCD
2 - usually brown - RD
3 - usually red - TD
4 - usually orange - DTR
5 - usually yellow - gnd
6 - usually green - DSR
7 - usually blue - RTS
8 - usually violet - CTS
9 - usually grey - RING
case - gnd
Monitor signals
1 - gnd
2 - +5 volts
3 - input Rx (measures a low voltage to gnd when open - like 0.2v)
4 - output Tx (measures a high voltage to gnd when open - like 4.9v)
Connect PC RTS to CTS (connect PC pin 7 and 8)
Connect PC DCD to DTR to DSR (connect PC pins 1 and 4 and 6)
PC pin 9 (ring) is a no connect
connect PC grounds (pin 5 and case)
Connect PC pin 3 (transmit data) thru a 330 ohm resistor to pin 3 of 74F04
connect pin 4 of 74F04 thru 1k ohm resistor to the monitor interface pin 3
connect PC pin 2 (receive data) thru 1k ohm resistor to pin 2 of 74F04
connect pin 1 of 74F04 to the monitor interface pin 4
connect monitor intf pin 1 (gnd) to PC pin 5 & case AND to pin 7 of 74F04
connect monitor intf pin 2 (+5v) to pin 14 of 74F04
Can anyone help me with my GDM-W900. On dark background you can see retrace lines and picture is slightly reddish. If I adjust color settings(R,G,B Bias and Gain) to zero, some of the retrace lines fade but some are still visible.
There is a service port behind the monitor(looks somewhat S-video port but there is place for 8 pins in three rows). Where can get service cable and software(or is WinDAS appropriate)?
I have opened monitors casing and I found one potentiometer for picture focus. Could there be more hidden somewhere? Also noticed that I cant use Hutzelmans instructions for brightness modification because this monitor uses different circuit board.
Thanks to the information here and on the howto I've been able to fix two of my monitors, one of which came this way but the other of which developed these problems, with very excess brightness and visible retrace lines over two or three years - that was my only hint it might be something up with the design itself and what, after quite a while of mild annoyance set me on the trail for more information, which eventually led here.
I "built" my cable/converter for windas from a kit for a total cost of around £5.33, and at that price the difference to these once-more fantastic monitors is virtually like magic.
The monitors consist of a Sun GDM5410 and a SGI branded GDM5411, and for record the pinouts on each of these monitors from top to down are:
GND
5V
RX
TX
Note RX/TX are reversed, from what may be listed from some of the dell branded monitors elsewhere in this thread.
Hi
I have a Sony F400 (19'inch) that suffers also from overbrightness.
Can anyone tell me what is the resistor that I have to change for this model? Please? It has this problem for years now, but the good thing is, it doesn't get worse. Other model an E400 that I have, through the time it was getting worse and worse. I tried the R053 mod and it worked beautifully. And the resistor only costed 2 cents! The 2 cents solution LOL!
For what I've researched around here and elsewhere, the board (flyback?) of the F400 is different from the other solutions showed here. The R053 for the E400 and the R459 for the G500(G400?).
And I can't find any R053 in there... I found an R459 but it's a bit different resistor, so I'm guessing it's not it.
I can't try the windas software because I'm not techie enough to build one of those cables, and don't know where to buy one here in Lisbon, Portugal.:(
Okay so I have a Dell Trinitron P991, that a friend didn't want it anymore said it worked good but he wanted something more bigger and lighter (in weight), so he got a LCD Flatscreen, wise choice for him. Anyways, I got this monitor from him used. It was awesome.
Although I noticed right away that at first it had a very slight tint of green but nothing noticeable. I loved the monitor then about a few months later I noticed that black was a little green at first then it would slowly change to black after it was on for a while. I looked this up and the Dell website said it was part of the warm up. Okay so I continued using it. Then the screen started getting a little bright so I turned it down then brighter, to the point where it wasn't horrible but I had the brightness turned to 0 and the contrast at about 67.
Then it continued to get brighter, so I started using my Video Card Software that came with my ATI x1650 Pro, the Catylist Control Center and turned the brightness down with that. Then it got a little worse.
Now black is usally always green unless you have had the monitor on for a few hours, even then it's pretty green and colors are messed up. I'm tried many different programs to help me lower the brightness to the right settings and but the Control Center Software no longer is as effective becuase it dims it not lessens the brightness os it looks horrible either way so the text ends up hard to read. It got so bad that now I can't even look at the monitor it really kills my eyes.
Upon looking up this problem I have seen things like opening the monitor and replacing stuff. But I don't want to do that. I think that is pretty stupid to open a monitor and risk getting killed I have no idea what to look for and I don't want to die. So I thought that the Windas software would work but then I started to read the recent pages and people are talking about making a cable for the software?!?!??
No way am I ever going to open the monitor. Do I really need to? Please help me I am so confused. I have read tons of the pages and stuff.
And how exactly am I supposed to use the program? Do I just open it up and mess around till I find what I want? Or is that risky?
Thanks (and cheers to the resolution by Dellp991 user),
-Mike
Can anyone help me with my GDM-W900. On dark background you can see retrace lines and picture is slightly reddish. If I adjust color settings(R,G,B Bias and Gain) to zero, some of the retrace lines fade but some are still visible.
There is a service port behind the monitor(looks somewhat S-video port but there is place for 8 pins in three rows). Where can get service cable and software(or is WinDAS appropriate)?
I've got the same problem. Anyone knows the pinout of the service port, used by sony?
I promised an updated howto some months ago, but haven't delivered it.
I wanted to address some recent posts.
Why bother with resistors or windas? What about color return?
Color return has a split reputation on this thread. Some people report it solved their problems, others report it made their problems worse or caused them all together.
Many , if not most, people on this thread and elsewhere have said that they think this whole brightness thing is a software problem. They think it is aging compensation gone wrong.
However, the problem has happened on monitors without color return. (Maybe they have some software aging compensation.)
I've also reset my monitor's MPU to factor default safe settings. As far as I k now, this gets rid of any memory. After calibrating it from scratch, I still have a 'bright warm-up' problem.
If you read the Chassis Training Manuals, you can see that warm up compensation is not software controlled. (Yes the software can tell when you've waited long enough to warm-up, but the chassis training manual does describe a purely hardware implemented warm-up compensation mechanism)
Whatever case, be it hardware or software, color return didn't work for everybody.
What does work for everybody, is lowering the G2, be it by service menu (most convenient), resistor, or software.
(As time drags on, the G2 needs to be lowered again, and so, this isn't a prefect solution)
This still doesn't fix the bright warm-up problem, or screen zooming/ geometric distortion. This problem is still an open book, please read the Chassis Training Manuals, and service manuals.
How do I access my service menu?
It's usually mentioned in the service manual. Sometimes people mention it online. I think it's per chassis, not per model, but I may be wrong.
If you can access it, you don't need resistors or windas. You can then do almost anything windas does.
What's DDC, why is it relevant?
DDC is a clock and data line from your video card to your monitor. Some LCD panels can be user adjusted and shop serviced from it.
Mitsubishi/NEC monitors don't use a 'Windas Cable', they use the DDC lines.
Hopefully there is some way to make arbitrary adjustments on Sony Trinitron monitors. They do support a 2 way DDC bus, so there must be some reason for that.
My color is off, what do I do about it?
If you can, adjust RBG Bias/Cuttoff for darker colors, and Drive/Gain for brighter colors.
That's really all you can do. If you can't do this through the OSD, you'll need windas.
You can also mess with your video cards LUT, but that is just working around the problem
Thanks IanM for finding cheaper suppliers, and a USB solution. I'll add them to my page if you don't mind.
Indeed "How do I access my Service Menu"???
My classic overbright problem is on a DEll P992. There's no much mention of this model throughout this thread.
I do not feel confident about the complexity of the Windas route; and one thing I learned from this thread is that the P992 does not have the much-talked-of resistor.
This leaves two options.
(1)Can it be reduced using a "screen" control inside?
or (2) the service menu???? Obviously I would like to accesss it.
Anyone know how?......please!
I found this supreb thread, I have 1 year with the same problem, i never imagine that my monitor can be fixed, my monitor is not the dell P1110, is the sony CPD-E400. I downloaded the windas files and programs and tested in my desktop and do not work, then I copy the files to my laptop and I get the same error, when start the programa some error occurs:
How can I fix this? Im sure I have all the dll´s and files, can some one rar the windas and send it to my mail or upload it to rapidshare?
Or some one that successfully fixed the same monitor and used with Windows Xp Pro Sp2 give some clues!
after i can run windas i will star to build the cable !
A GREAT HACK I just wanted to thank everyone for posting this information. I located the resistor on ebay UK and bought from fullspeedit (quick and did not charge me double postage) two sets of 50 4.7MOHM 1/2 watt and 6.2M OHM 1/2 watt resistors and installed the 4.7MOHM and the result is stunning!
I never did anything quit this invasive but this site gave me the full confidence and I agree, getting the black case off was the worst of it.
Took me with research 2 hours and £3 GBP and my P1110 is beautiful again, maybe better than new.
I've got the same problem. Anyone knows the pinout of the service port, used by sony?
Me too - let me know if you have any luck. I'm making enquiries on other forums and may ring Sony (can't do any harm).
I just have a problem with retrace lines - picture is perfect otherwise. I'd rather not have to open the case - it's back-breaking just moving the beast around!
Turn brightness and contrast on max through onscreen controls.
Be careful here .... use screwdriver to adjust brightness control knob in back of monitor. Look for the access hole through the casing, do not open the monitor. Do not mix up focus with brightness.
Turn the brightness down so retrace lines are just vanished.
Using montor calibration utility such as Ntest.exe (Nokia Monitor Test -download free on web) and adjust brightness level down with on screen control to obtain correct greyscale. Contrast should remain at 100%.
Sorry if I'm being a bit blind, but I can't see any brightness knob at the back. All that's at the back are the HD-15 and BNC sockets plus the 9-pin Service socket. There don't appear to be any holes in the casing. Contrast at 100% looks pretty extreme (plus won't it shorten the life of the monitor?).
Ok, I solved this problem for myself. I soldered 22MΩ(I didn't take away original resistor because it's a bit tricky to remove) resistor on R1819 and that's it. Black is black and no more retrace lines.
Kesgreen, my apologies for a quick and somewhat short reply previously.
I am not CRT qualified in any way, but I have done this tune-up before.
To locate the brightness and focus control screws, have a look at the lower, left or right side of the monitor toward the back when looking from the front. It will be located on the left side for the Dell/Sony P1130.
The focus and brightness screw adjusters are located together on a step-up transformer module. The module is usually all black with "low" voltage cables coming from the control electronics, and "high" voltage cables going to the cathode of the tube. The transformer module is well insulated and protected, however be careful regardless when probing in the monitor chassis. Death or serious injury is possible.
The casing of the typical monitor has a grille pattern for ventilation, however some monitors like the P1130 have no clearly defined access holes in the casing for adjusting the control screws.
The metal shielding under the casing does have an opening for screwdriver access and this should be visible somewhere through the casing grille.
On the P1130 it is possible to adjust the screws through an aperture in the casing grille and the metal shielding - with a small #1 or #0 screwdriver.
If you need the accessibility then do take the outer casing off. You will not have to insert the screwdriver very far at all.
Usually there are three screws. Look carefully to see if there is some inscription there such as brightness, and focus 1 or focus 2 as an example. Try to adjust brightness only for now, as focus adjustments can be trickier.
There may be some light glue on the screw to keep it fixed in position. Just gently and slowly turn the screw to break it. I suggest turning the brightness down before adjusting the oncreen control brightness all the way up. Do it in steps if necessary, keeping retrace effects minimised. This is to avoid the X-ray protection unit from possibly cutting out the monitor completely at high cathode currents. At 100% brightness and contrast, turn the brightness screw down so that trace lines vanish.
Using the monitor calibration utility (Nokia Monitor Test for example), adjust greyscale so black is pure black and white is pure white, by turning the on screen brightness control down.
Ironically, in CRT terminology, brightness is actually contrast and contrast is actually brightness. Next, turn contrast down to suit your light level preference. Note: there is no need to touch the the brightness setting again. Contrast may be varied at will.
There is plenty of information on the net if you want to go further. So I hope this advice has assisted rather than confused you.:bigggrin:
Kesgreen, my apologies for a quick and somewhat short reply previously.
<SNIP>
There is plenty of information on the net if you want to go further. So I hope this advice has assisted rather than confused you.:bigggrin:
Thanks.
No problem and thank you for taking the time to type it all in again. I actually have a GDM-W900 - I'm not sure how similar that is to the ones you mentioned but I expect it will have the same sort of controls inside. I'll open it up anyway and have a look-see. It's a shame I can't just get hold of a cable and plug it in the service port, but the monitor is pretty old I suppose.
There certainly is a lot of information - almost too much and it can be a little overwhelming sometimes. Still, it's good to have lots of alternatives to try before I resort to using the old 'Birmingham screwdriver' on the old beast (that's a hammer for non-UK readers).
Having opened up the monitor and found the module, it only has 2 screws both of which seem to affect focus. On the tube itself is a large grey module with large wheels to adjust: TLH, APH, XCV and XBV along with screwdriver adjustable YBH, YCH and TLV. Any idea if one of these affects the brightness? I don't really want to start fiddling around with them in case I damage something or do something I can't correct.
Comments
I also have that problem. If you loose correct color, or detail in the dark end of pictures, I think you should adjust Cutoffs. I couldn't adjust mine correctly because I don't have the right software for my colorimeter, nor do I have the raw command manual for it.
The same problem can happen at the bright end of pictures. Ideally, each step in the greyscale should appear to have the same change in lightness. If you have an image editing program, make test pattern with all 255 shades of color, if you're way off, you'll notice differences in the 255 step 'gray scales' of each primary color (RGB).
What does BCL adjust do?
Even if you have the exact same settings as some one else (with the exact same model monitor), it won't be perfect. I've offered people my P991 .dat EEPROM settings, and tried others. It leaves allot to be desired.
I'd just use a crosshatch in your favorite resolution. Unfortunately, there are resolution adjustments for high frequency video modes, and low frequency modes. Not sure if you can do both, but at least you'll have your main resolution correct.
Ha, Dynamic focus! It's a setting I can't seem to adjust in windas. There must be some way to do it.
Not sure what these control in terms of grid voltages and the amplifiers.
I think these are the cutoffs,biases, I think if you display black (0,0,0) adjust theses as far up as you can until they barely fall below the parts of the screen that aren't being scanned (like you were saying you did)
These are the drives,gains. Not sure how to adjust these, but in windas, it has a rather bright white pattern, and you adjust them until the color is at the right temperature.
What is this? Let me know.
What are edges and corners? Is this focus or convergence?
What does this do? BL? Please let me know.
[/quote]
Um, again, I have no idea. Burn in test? hmm.
To answer your question:
The windas procecuder starts with adjusting physical things, like purity, rough convergence, etc. It doesn't actually do anything except instruct you to display a certain pattern and do the adjustment with your bare hands.
Then it gets into geometry. It has linearity, along with the usual geometric controls, for Low mid and High frequency.
Then it does convergence.
At the very end, it does color.
G2, contrast, drives, cutoffs, [repeat last two untill both need no adjustment, one affects the other]
for each color temp. After that, it sets the color return values. Then it's all done.
Let me know what those weird adjustments do. I don't remember anything sounding much like them.
thanks
is there any order in which you are best to use to set the geometry controls as setting one seem to affect the other? I downloaded the service manual for my monitor its identical to the Nokia 466pro and 466F and that is the service manual you use for this HP1110. It conatins the correct procedure on how to tune up the monitor, But you need all sorts of equipment.
Same thing with doing geometry before convergence.
Raster.. hmm, I wasn't entirely sure, I remember when doing the Windas procedure there was a geometry adjustment to center the raster.
So, yours has Nokia electronics. Maybe that explains why it has a service menu, and dynamic focus. (Not to mention, the different way color is set up) Still, it seems weird sony wouln't have dynamic focus, but I'm pretty sure the lack of a service menu atleast on my P991
Out of curiosity, does it have Color return? This would be another example of non-Sony electronics exhibiting the 'too bright'/overbrightness problem so many have blamed on 'software compensation'
Other than that, I have no idea what to say. I'm only familiar with P991 Windas adjustments, and I've described the procedure.
cheers guys
I just got the USB to TTL cable (TTL-232R-WE version from FTDIchip) to successfully connect to my Sony CPD-G500 & lowered my G2 setting from 161 to 140.
Details of where to get the the cable I already posted:
http://icrontic.com/forum/showpost.php?p=564684&postcount=833
The matching drivers are on this page:
http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm
On my PC (Windows XP Pro 32bit) it installed a USB serial port on Com 3
I had a little teething trouble getting WinDAS to work, but re read this thread and realised the crashes and bus connection issues I experienced were nothing to do with the USB cable & so now that I've proven it works I'll summarise everything I did (please excuse the abridged repetition of the standard instructions, I thought it worth including in the summary just re emphasise just how easy it is to do this!)
Making up an ECS cable
I cut the end off a floppy drive power cable and soldered the relevant GND, VCC, TX, RX wires of the TTL-232R-WE. Schematic is here: http://www.ftdichip.com/Images/ttl232rsch1.jpg I also put insulation tape over the soldered joins & over the unused RTS & CTS wires.
Pic of my cable is attached below.
Installing FTDI's USB serial Com port drivers
Download the driver package & unzip it. Plug in the TTL-232R cable to a USB port, Windows detects it just fine & you just need to browse for the folder where you unzipped the driver package
http://www.ftdichip.com/Documents/InstallGuides/Windows_XP_Installation_Guide.pdf
Installing WinDAS -2 minutes work with the handy zip file linked below!!!
This page has all the WinDAS files as a convenient zip file:
http://www.myblog.bloggybloggy.com/hacking-monitor-to-fix-too-bright-screens-26-09-2007/
direct to the zip:
http://www.bloggybloggy.com/randomdownloads/windas.zip
Unzipped & ran the activex.bat as per the instructions, the activex.bat with this zip is already edited for Windows XP
Configure WinDas
For my monitor model & Com port the settings are:
WinDAS -> Set up -> Model Sel = CPD-G500
WinDAS -> Set up -> Config -> ECS Port = Com3
WinDAS -> Set up -> Config -> SG Name = manual
N.B. I found that if I tried to skip ahead of the instructions at this point to connect to the monitor and save my dat file after doing this config step the WinDAS program would hang. You need to close & re open WinDAS before you try WinDAS -> File -> Save Data to File. On my system WinDAS hangs 100% if you access config & then try to access anything else!
Prepare PC & monitor for connection
- Shut down the PC & switch off the monitor
- Remove the outer cover & plug the cable into the monitor service port
- Re start PC & switch monitor on (I waited for the monitor to warm up for over 30min so that I could get a good impression of the effect my G2 change would have)
- Switch off screen savers & power saving features
- Exit any Virus Protection/Internet Security programs (in case it interferes with the connection)
run WinDAS as Administrator!Right click windas.exe and run as administrator (noted earlier in the thread that there may be connection problems if you don't run WinDAS as admin)
WinDAS -> File -> Save Data to File
Immediately save your current config as a dat file. My monitor went blank & the power light went off for 2-3 minutes while it saved
I copied my newly created dat file & renamed it so I had a backup.
Changing the G2 or other values
If you got your cable working then refer back to the original instructions on how to to edit the .dat file & load it back into the monitor. N.B. I used Windows Start Menu -> Run -> "cmd" -> "edit" to open a suitable editor for the .dat.
just realised Windows Start Menu -> Run -> "edit" opens the editor just fine
http://www.geocities.com/gregua/windas/adjustment.html
or
http://www.myblog.bloggybloggy.com/hacking-monitor-to-fix-too-bright-screens-26-09-2007/
Well. .. . it wasn't exactly that easy. the cable I had, even though it had 4 wires didn't work I kept getting that "can't connect check cable and bus" error so I stipped all the insulation off and found that the 2 center pins (both black) were actually connected to each other and I was connecting Rx (or Tx) to Grnd with out realizing it. I found a different cable and then it worked (after I switched the Rx-Tx.
After that all went smoothly.
Until I reduced the G2 below 100 then My monitor went black and did not power back on.
I plugged in a different monitor to the PC and since it couldn't be read at the dell's settings I had to reboot my computer. Now I had one monitor hooked to my PC and the dell still connected via ECS/serial port.
I started Windas and tried to reload the .dat file with the G2=90 and I saw the error screen that came up (couldn't see it the first time since the monitor blacked out). I then figured out (as some one posted earlier) that you cannot change a value from 3 digits to 2 digits. So, in order to use G2 less than 100 you must enter 090 instead of just 90 in the .dat file
I also came across the locked OSD at one point but found the solution to that in here as well (Thanks again P991) which was to make sure you exit Windas properly and cycle power on your monitor before you tough any of the front panel buttons.
One question for P991_DELL_Sony, (well actually two):
1. Why do you now think the WinDas solution is not neccessary? Are you thinking the HV varistor is a better choice now? Can it be located on all the monitors spoken of here?
2. Have you got more info on Windas and the other adjustments - You have mentioned a number of times about adding it to your how-to but I only see the main page with 4 links at the bottom - not too much on changing other settings.
This is the page I found the How-to at:
www dot geocities dot com / gregua / windas/
Again, I am ever grateful to have found this thread.
Dave
Ouch. I've actually heard of both these problems, but I neglected to mention them.
Well, I followed up with the guy who mentioned it to me. I guessed it would be a better choince based on some things I've heard:
1. That Xweebie had measured each and every grid voltage, and found no change while the monitor warmed up (and the monitors are bright/washed out when warming up.)
2. The screen geometry size/center drifts a bit during warm up. So I figured that maybe it wasn't just the G2 that changes.
3. That adjusting the HV trimmer did affect brightness.
4. Sony service bulletins mention that the brightness problem is something to do with CRT drift.
Anyway. he said that he didn't think HV was the problem. He had measured the G2 voltage and it was high. He holds the rather common opinion that the whole issue is age compensation.
Ofcourse, I should really get an HV probe and see.
Personally, I highly doubt that the problem is software based aged compensation. I've heard:
1. I don't think anyone has noticed their G2 rising, yet quite a few have noticed their monitor keeps getting brighter.
2. I've reset my monitors MPU with the reset MPU function of windas. I think this would reset the age compensation stuff if it were software based, or memorized somehow based on age. I still have a bright warm up.
3. I've read in the 'Chassis Training Manual' for some F99 chasis monitor (not the P991 but close enough) that there is a CRT drift compensation thing. I forget exactly what it does, I didn't quite understand it. The manual was at eservice.info. It described something do do with the charge on the tube? I have no idea really.
I think/hope that there is some component that can be cut/removed which will cease the 'drift compensation' and the monitor will age like all previous trinitrons did. Being dark during warm up, and getting dimmer with age.
If anyone has other theories, I'd love to hear them.
Yes, I haven't mentioned any extra adjustments as they vary by chasis. Furthermore, most of them would be very tedious to make by editing the dat file.
On another thread, at HardForum, there is a user, Foe Hammer, who had found a register that altered contrast. It was FW900 specific though. (I'm sure there are simmiliar registers for other chasis though). Anyway, he really made that thing shine. If you want, you could play around with the values, but ofcourse, there's a rare chance you might break something.
I've mentioned a few times on this thread my experience with the built in procedures. They have instructions as you go, but are hard to follow if you don't have two computer. I believe I've posted the mode lines of the requested patterns.
A while ago, I went through this whole thread and collected all posts I've found interesting or useful, I redid a little bit on of a new howto page, but I never got around to finishing it. What I really wanted to add, was my windas program with patterns, mode setting, and easy adjustment. Without it, you need two computers, and a bunch of hassle.
Could it just be the phosphors are less efficient? Can the aging be made up for by bombarding them with more electrons? I figure this would be noticed as a change in the gamma curve. Maybe the tube becomes useless when the electronics can't map the the input signal to electron beam output precisely enough.
There's also cathode wear. I've heard on arcade machines it helps to 're charge' the cathodes with a CRT restorer.
Infact, the 'color restore/return' option measures beam current and compensates for reduced cathode efficiency.
B22 P22 I think are the same thing. If you know anything about the phosphors please tell me.
Yeah, I've seen some tubes advertised as Ultra-wide gamut. What is the difference?
Eh.. another depressing fact. Buying a refurbished CRT could mean buying something on the end of it's life. No way to buy a new one for a reasonable price . Hopefully the black screen doesn't wear the tube as much as a brighter screen, but thanks to the brightness issue, black isn't so dim.
It's hard to beat a television in contrast. There's a dot pitch/ beam current trade off. If you increase contrast too much, the spots 'bloom'. Maybe there's a third factor like accelerating the electrons to the screen faster, so they have less time to repel each other. Ofcourse, I don't know much about that. Does electron velocity have much to do with brightness when it impacts the screen?
I have exactly your problem though. I try to get a good black level, and it's impossible without losing detail in the darkest end of the video signal.
But, I've adjusted other old tubes fine, not sure what's going on here.
That'd be interesting to hear.
If you want to refurbish, try doing the white balance procedure with a colorimeter. I got my year 2000 P991 to work within the stated specs (Well, I needed the 30IRE grey, which I didn't get exactly, and my colorimeter was crapping out on the low luminances, but the monitor could well exceeded the brightness. I should actually have checked the color coordinates for sRGB and see if it matched.
If it can get pitch black, and become as bright as the spec says it should, can't it do everything inbetween? And if so, doesn't that mean a perfect display is possible? I fear it's probably more complicated than that, but, maybe not.
Thanks
Hey,
I see someone is actually on-line in this huge thread, I am about to install the new resistor you all were talking about. Any last minute suggestions
Never mind me. The resistor mod only results in a slow warm up if the resistance is too small.
It has close to the exact same function as lowering the G2 value. Color return should be able to sort out any issues that might crop up. Then, there were a few who said their brightness controls were messed up.
I think in the end the perfect solution for this flaw is going to be hardware based. If it were software based, reseting the MPU should have helped.
The 'bright warm up' is very irritating, and neither 'fix' available deals with it. Who knows, maybe we are lowering G2 to compensate for wide open G1s? (actually, the G2 voltage was too high)
If you have a multi-meter, and can get the service manual, I'd suggest you put the voltage right back where it should be. It'd be interesting to see if that solves everything.
Oh, what am I saying? It'll just work. Don't worry about it. Have fun.
I dont quite get the last step...
after I have changed all the setting I need, you will need to go to "final setting"
a screen will then ask you " Do you set the final values?"
do you disconnect the cable first before you click ok or how does this work?
Mike
Anyway, I thought I'd tell you that the interface cable can be made much simpiler than what is shown. There is no need to translate the TTL levels in the monitor interface to RS232 levels, as any PC serial port built after about 1990 will respond to TTL. All you need is 2 gates out of a 74F04 or 74S04 chip to invert and re-drive. I also threw in a couple of series resistors because this is what my company has been using for over 5 years now without any problems what so ever. I also tied some of the RS232 signals togeather...I don't know if this is necessary, but its the right way to do it, and it doesn't hurt anything. I'll list what's involved:
PC serial port
1 - usually black - DCD
2 - usually brown - RD
3 - usually red - TD
4 - usually orange - DTR
5 - usually yellow - gnd
6 - usually green - DSR
7 - usually blue - RTS
8 - usually violet - CTS
9 - usually grey - RING
case - gnd
Monitor signals
1 - gnd
2 - +5 volts
3 - input Rx (measures a low voltage to gnd when open - like 0.2v)
4 - output Tx (measures a high voltage to gnd when open - like 4.9v)
Connect PC RTS to CTS (connect PC pin 7 and 8)
Connect PC DCD to DTR to DSR (connect PC pins 1 and 4 and 6)
PC pin 9 (ring) is a no connect
connect PC grounds (pin 5 and case)
Connect PC pin 3 (transmit data) thru a 330 ohm resistor to pin 3 of 74F04
connect pin 4 of 74F04 thru 1k ohm resistor to the monitor interface pin 3
connect PC pin 2 (receive data) thru 1k ohm resistor to pin 2 of 74F04
connect pin 1 of 74F04 to the monitor interface pin 4
connect monitor intf pin 1 (gnd) to PC pin 5 & case AND to pin 7 of 74F04
connect monitor intf pin 2 (+5v) to pin 14 of 74F04
Thats is, enjoy!
Can anyone help me with my GDM-W900. On dark background you can see retrace lines and picture is slightly reddish. If I adjust color settings(R,G,B Bias and Gain) to zero, some of the retrace lines fade but some are still visible.
There is a service port behind the monitor(looks somewhat S-video port but there is place for 8 pins in three rows). Where can get service cable and software(or is WinDAS appropriate)?
I have opened monitors casing and I found one potentiometer for picture focus. Could there be more hidden somewhere? Also noticed that I cant use Hutzelmans instructions for brightness modification because this monitor uses different circuit board.
WICH CABLE USE FOR THIS MONITOR WITH WINDAS?!
thank's
I "built" my cable/converter for windas from a kit for a total cost of around £5.33, and at that price the difference to these once-more fantastic monitors is virtually like magic.
The monitors consist of a Sun GDM5410 and a SGI branded GDM5411, and for record the pinouts on each of these monitors from top to down are:
GND
5V
RX
TX
Note RX/TX are reversed, from what may be listed from some of the dell branded monitors elsewhere in this thread.
I have IBM p275 (SONY G520 inside) same problem...overbright. On the A1 board there is not a similar R459 resistor related to G2.
What can I do?
I have a Sony F400 (19'inch) that suffers also from overbrightness.
Can anyone tell me what is the resistor that I have to change for this model? Please? It has this problem for years now, but the good thing is, it doesn't get worse. Other model an E400 that I have, through the time it was getting worse and worse. I tried the R053 mod and it worked beautifully. And the resistor only costed 2 cents! The 2 cents solution LOL!
For what I've researched around here and elsewhere, the board (flyback?) of the F400 is different from the other solutions showed here. The R053 for the E400 and the R459 for the G500(G400?).
And I can't find any R053 in there... I found an R459 but it's a bit different resistor, so I'm guessing it's not it.
I can't try the windas software because I'm not techie enough to build one of those cables, and don't know where to buy one here in Lisbon, Portugal.:(
Although I noticed right away that at first it had a very slight tint of green but nothing noticeable. I loved the monitor then about a few months later I noticed that black was a little green at first then it would slowly change to black after it was on for a while. I looked this up and the Dell website said it was part of the warm up. Okay so I continued using it. Then the screen started getting a little bright so I turned it down then brighter, to the point where it wasn't horrible but I had the brightness turned to 0 and the contrast at about 67.
Then it continued to get brighter, so I started using my Video Card Software that came with my ATI x1650 Pro, the Catylist Control Center and turned the brightness down with that. Then it got a little worse.
Now black is usally always green unless you have had the monitor on for a few hours, even then it's pretty green and colors are messed up. I'm tried many different programs to help me lower the brightness to the right settings and but the Control Center Software no longer is as effective becuase it dims it not lessens the brightness os it looks horrible either way so the text ends up hard to read. It got so bad that now I can't even look at the monitor it really kills my eyes.
Upon looking up this problem I have seen things like opening the monitor and replacing stuff. But I don't want to do that. I think that is pretty stupid to open a monitor and risk getting killed I have no idea what to look for and I don't want to die. So I thought that the Windas software would work but then I started to read the recent pages and people are talking about making a cable for the software?!?!??
No way am I ever going to open the monitor. Do I really need to? Please help me I am so confused. I have read tons of the pages and stuff.
And how exactly am I supposed to use the program? Do I just open it up and mess around till I find what I want? Or is that risky?
Thanks (and cheers to the resolution by Dellp991 user),
-Mike
Indeed "How do I access my Service Menu"???
My classic overbright problem is on a DEll P992. There's no much mention of this model throughout this thread.
I do not feel confident about the complexity of the Windas route; and one thing I learned from this thread is that the P992 does not have the much-talked-of resistor.
This leaves two options.
(1)Can it be reduced using a "screen" control inside?
or (2) the service menu???? Obviously I would like to accesss it.
Anyone know how?......please!
Many Thanks
eljay
I found this supreb thread, I have 1 year with the same problem, i never imagine that my monitor can be fixed, my monitor is not the dell P1110, is the sony CPD-E400. I downloaded the windas files and programs and tested in my desktop and do not work, then I copy the files to my laptop and I get the same error, when start the programa some error occurs:
How can I fix this? Im sure I have all the dll´s and files, can some one rar the windas and send it to my mail or upload it to rapidshare?
Or some one that successfully fixed the same monitor and used with Windows Xp Pro Sp2 give some clues!
after i can run windas i will star to build the cable !
cheers!
Henn
Mexico city
I never did anything quit this invasive but this site gave me the full confidence and I agree, getting the black case off was the worst of it.
Took me with research 2 hours and £3 GBP and my P1110 is beautiful again, maybe better than new.
Greatly appreciated, many thanks!!!
Me too - let me know if you have any luck. I'm making enquiries on other forums and may ring Sony (can't do any harm).
I just have a problem with retrace lines - picture is perfect otherwise. I'd rather not have to open the case - it's back-breaking just moving the beast around!
Turn brightness and contrast on max through onscreen controls.
Be careful here .... use screwdriver to adjust brightness control knob in back of monitor. Look for the access hole through the casing, do not open the monitor. Do not mix up focus with brightness.
Turn the brightness down so retrace lines are just vanished.
Using montor calibration utility such as Ntest.exe (Nokia Monitor Test -download free on web) and adjust brightness level down with on screen control to obtain correct greyscale. Contrast should remain at 100%.
Adjust focus at this point if necessary.
Good luck.
I wrote a long article explaining the process, but the "quick reply" cuts out after a short time, preventing detailed and informative responses.
The quick reply scroll box also prevents any method of cutting and pasting such article elsewhere. Refresh loses the information too.
Sorry mate, I wont be supporting this madness.
That's a pity. I did find a post in this thread which may help:
I may give this a go.
I am not CRT qualified in any way, but I have done this tune-up before.
To locate the brightness and focus control screws, have a look at the lower, left or right side of the monitor toward the back when looking from the front. It will be located on the left side for the Dell/Sony P1130.
The focus and brightness screw adjusters are located together on a step-up transformer module. The module is usually all black with "low" voltage cables coming from the control electronics, and "high" voltage cables going to the cathode of the tube. The transformer module is well insulated and protected, however be careful regardless when probing in the monitor chassis. Death or serious injury is possible.
The casing of the typical monitor has a grille pattern for ventilation, however some monitors like the P1130 have no clearly defined access holes in the casing for adjusting the control screws.
The metal shielding under the casing does have an opening for screwdriver access and this should be visible somewhere through the casing grille.
On the P1130 it is possible to adjust the screws through an aperture in the casing grille and the metal shielding - with a small #1 or #0 screwdriver.
If you need the accessibility then do take the outer casing off. You will not have to insert the screwdriver very far at all.
Usually there are three screws. Look carefully to see if there is some inscription there such as brightness, and focus 1 or focus 2 as an example. Try to adjust brightness only for now, as focus adjustments can be trickier.
There may be some light glue on the screw to keep it fixed in position. Just gently and slowly turn the screw to break it. I suggest turning the brightness down before adjusting the oncreen control brightness all the way up. Do it in steps if necessary, keeping retrace effects minimised. This is to avoid the X-ray protection unit from possibly cutting out the monitor completely at high cathode currents. At 100% brightness and contrast, turn the brightness screw down so that trace lines vanish.
Using the monitor calibration utility (Nokia Monitor Test for example), adjust greyscale so black is pure black and white is pure white, by turning the on screen brightness control down.
Ironically, in CRT terminology, brightness is actually contrast and contrast is actually brightness. Next, turn contrast down to suit your light level preference. Note: there is no need to touch the the brightness setting again. Contrast may be varied at will.
There is plenty of information on the net if you want to go further. So I hope this advice has assisted rather than confused you.:bigggrin:
Thanks.
No problem and thank you for taking the time to type it all in again. I actually have a GDM-W900 - I'm not sure how similar that is to the ones you mentioned but I expect it will have the same sort of controls inside. I'll open it up anyway and have a look-see. It's a shame I can't just get hold of a cable and plug it in the service port, but the monitor is pretty old I suppose.
There certainly is a lot of information - almost too much and it can be a little overwhelming sometimes. Still, it's good to have lots of alternatives to try before I resort to using the old 'Birmingham screwdriver' on the old beast (that's a hammer for non-UK readers).