Sony PVM 20L5 Geometry problem, please help?

[tjstogy]

I recently purchased a PVM 20L5 and noticed the geometry is off. I have gone into the advanced settings via menu, and pressing degauss/enter at the same time. I messed a bit with the geometry and probably made it worse than it was before. Does anyone know a way to reset the monitor to factory defaults? If not, does anyone with a PVM-20L5 have their numbers from their Geometry screen so I can copy it and get somewhere close to normal? Right now it's bowing on top, bottom, and it's wavy. Blah. Thanks for your help... !

[Ed Oscuro]

Don't do a factory reset, it can make the problem worse.

Instead, sit down with the monitor again, write down the settings, and change them, one at a time, CAREFULLY.

There are no shortcuts. It does help if you read up on what each setting does!

Of course, the "wavy" bit (you haven't defined this explicitly enough) could be a symptom of some different problem, but without details I'd just be guessing and that could be unhelpful.

[Einzelherz]

OP, do you have access to grid patterns like the 240p test suite? If you follow Ed's advice with a good even pattern you should be able to fix any setting issue.

[tjstogy]

OP, do you have access to grid patterns like the 240p test suite? If you follow Ed's advice with a good even pattern you should be able to fix any setting issue.

I don't, no not yet. I'm just trying to get it looking somewhat normal in the meantime... I do plan on getting 240p test suite once I get a flash cart... don't have one yet.

I tried messing with it, back and forth for like 30 minutes before I gave up and posted this thread... it's very frustrating trying to get it to be a simple square with no bowing.

Does anyone OWN a PVM 20L5 and if so would you be so kind to let me know your geometry settings so I could get in the "ballpark" ? I realize every monitor is different, but I really need a good starting point.

Thank you all........

[kel]

Just download the service manual. All the default values are in there for each resolution that the monitor can display.

If you can't get it to look correct from there the maybe it's time to replace the caps on the deflection circuit.

[Ed Oscuro]

Just download the service manual. All the default values are in there for each resolution that the monitor can display.

No, don't just punch in random values out of a book either. The monitors have to be calibrated at the factory; there's no one-size-fits-all settings. In a few cases you might be able to use those values as a rough guide if you didn't have basic values and had corrupt NVRAM (or if you screwed around with a non-picture setting like HV SENSE), but when it comes to the actual picture and geometry settings, forget it.

@ op: If you have a DVD player and a DVD burner, you can use something like the Spears & Munsil disc, Digital Video Essentials, or some homebrew ones off various respected websites, like this one.

Does anyone OWN a PVM 20L5

yes

and if so would you be so kind to let me know your geometry settings

no, I've already explained why. A TV is an analog device and isn't necessarily completely straightforward to set up.

I don't know what everybody's maintenance routine is like, but I'd start with color, brightness, and brightness floor (I forget the name of it on Sony sets, but there's a setting which reduces glow on totally black backgrounds), then picture adjustments: h and v picture size and location (to get roughly the right amount of picture onscreen), then trapezoid, then the other settings.

Don't fear the problem because it appears complex - just take things one setting at a time. Just be aware that some things are going to be greatly affected by other settings, so you might find yourself going back for a later correction.

[Skips]

Just download the service manual. All the default values are in there for each resolution that the monitor can display.

No, don't just punch in random values out of a book either. The monitors have to be calibrated at the factory

Sony did not input different settings into PVM's from the factory. They all were shipped with their defaults which is what the monitor will default to when doing a factory reset. You don't need to copy settings from a manual unless the default values have somehow been overwritten or corrupted, they are already set as the factory defaults. Any further calibration of the settings were done by the people purchasing said monitors later in their service life, not Sony (unless the monitor was sent back to Sony for some sort of repairs).

There was a one size fits all for the 20L5/14L5 (speaking solely about these models, not all CRT's) when they were new, which is the factory defaults. The differences did not come until later when the CRT's and components begin to age with heavy use. If your 20L5 has zero issues you can reset it to factory defaults and the geometry will still be spot on. I have had a few 20L5's that were still like this and many that were not.

On the ones that were not I would recap the deflection circuit and the factory defaults would be just fine once again (in terms of geometry not color). The only time I had to drastically change the factory defaults for the geometry was when I was too lazy to recap the 20L5/14L5 because its a pain in the butt and extremely time consuming to do. All this also goes for its smaller brother, the 14L5, as well. Keep in mind I am talking solely about geometry not the color settings. Color settings of course are calibrated to the needs of the user.

I have owned many 20L5's (used to buy, calibrate/recap, and resell them before they got expensive and have had about 8 of them so far) and the few that were imperfect I would start by resetting to factory defaults then going from there. Most of the time the previous owners of the monitors would have Geometry settings set incorrectly so it was far easier to start over than try to adjust from where they left off. This also goes for the 6 14L5's I have also owned, serviced, and repaired.

Resetting the 20L5 to factory defaults does not hurt anything and is a good way of getting a clean slate for you to work off of. Keep in mind, the factory defaults for the geometry are what the monitor should be set at. Any deviation from this is caused by aging of the CRT (how many hours of use it has received) and or aging/failing components. This is why, over time, you get those differences between monitors that require you to make minor/major adjustments to the geometry settings. It is not because Sony had them set differently. The only time Sony would do this is if they had to service the monitor at a later date for the customer due to the above issues listed.

[kel]

Thank you skips for a more reasonable explanation.

I was sure that SONY didn't just put those values in the service manual for the hell of it which your post has confirmed for me.

Good point about the factory reset. My decision to recommend the Service manual was influenced by the fact that on my 20L2 it is possible to save new settings over the original settings which seems to have been done on my monitor as the factory reset values don't match up with the service manual values but then again neither do some of the electrolytic cap values inside the set so who knows.

Does the 20L5 also have the option to save over the default values?

[Skips]

Thank you skips for a more reasonable explanation.

I was sure that SONY didn't just put those values in the service manual for the hell of it which your post has confirmed for me.

Good point about the factory reset. My decision to recommend the Service manual was influenced by the fact that on my 20L2 it is possible to save new settings over the original settings which seems to have been done on my monitor as the factory reset values don't match up with the service manual values but then again neither do some of the electrolytic cap values inside the set so who knows.

Does the 20L5 also have the option to save over the default values?

To be honest I can not remember if it does or not. However, if you do have the service manual handy it will tell you if it does. If it does it will have it as an option somewhere in the service menu.

[kel]

Just had a quick look and the 20L5 also seems to have the factory save option just in case the eeprom is replaced or the data gets corrupted somehow.

I suppose if it has ever been serviced before then there is a possibility that the service engineer saved some adjustments over the original data but from your experience with several L5s it seems that it is not very common for that to happen.

[Skips]

Just had a quick look and the 20L5 also seems to have the factory save option just in case the eeprom is replaced or the data gets corrupted somehow.

I suppose if it has ever been serviced before then there is a possibility that the service engineer saved some adjustments over the original data but from your experience with several L5s it seems that it is not very common for that to happen.

I'm sure it is possible but yeah all the units I have personally had still had the actual factory defaults saved on the monitor.

[Ed Oscuro]

The bit about factory settings is interesting (where have you been all this time, Skips?! ), but do be prepared for it not to actually fix the problems.

If you are betting that the problems are due to bad user settings, and not aged components which won't be fixed by going back to factory defaults (as Skips says), you should still write down the settings first. Anyhow, let us know how it goes

[Skips]

The bit about factory settings is interesting (where have you been all this time, Skips?! ), but do be prepared for it not to actually fix the problems.

If you are betting that the problems are due to bad user settings, and not aged components which won't be fixed by going back to factory defaults (as Skips says), you should still write down the settings first. Anyhow, let us know how it goes

I did not say defaults will fix the issues nor did I say it was not aged components. I was merely stating that it is wise to first reset the monitor if you have geometry issues as configuration changes by previous users tend to make the problem worse than it actually is.

Failing/aging components can totally still be a problem. Its just good to start with a clean slate to rule the possibility of it being a problem caused by a previous owner. I said in a perfectly working monitor the defaults should result in proper geometry since those are the values Sony originally designed the monitor to run at, not that they will fix his issues. You still may need to make adjustments even after they have been set due to the issues I previously stated. Even after adjustments the monitor may still need to have its deflection circuit's capacitors replaced. There are many things that cause these problems. My point was that it is a good starting place and not that its a fix to his issue.

[Ed Oscuro]

I did not say defaults will fix the issues nor did I say it was not aged components.

I realize that, but just wanted to point it out specifically as the OP might not have realized this. For example, when the OP implied I wasn't being "reasonable" for handing over my monitor's configuration settings - in that case I was certainly right; you do say that this would not be any help, for the reason you gave that it might be set up wrong. At best this would just be uselessly copying over the factory setting, when the OP should just use theirs if they are looking for defaults.

I was merely stating that it is wise to first reset the monitor if you have geometry issues as configuration changes by previous users tend to make the problem worse than it actually is.

I'm happy to admit that I never really regarded this as a likely problem & solution until you gave this evidence, but I'll take it more seriously now.

[tjstogy]

Thanks for everyone's help. Now How do I do a factory reset??

[Ed Oscuro]

Did you get into the service menu? I believe with the PVM-20L5 it's holding down both Enter and Degauss at the same time (I did it recently enough). Look around through the options there.

Please note: Don't select the "aging mode" option if you see it. It will just display a bright all-white screen, and many people can't figure out how to turn it off.

[Skips]

Aging mode can be disabled simply by switching the input you are on. Just figured that little bit might be helpful for people.