Intro BVM CRT issues

[Nogame]

I thought I should try a good professional CRT monitor for gaming, and decided to order a pair of Sony 13 or 14" models- BVM-14F5 and BVM-D14. 90K and 15K hours respectively. Unimpressed so far. Both have geometry issues that can't be fixed, and the older one has a interlaced-like flicker with 240P signal. How can I fix a picture that's a few lines taller on the right side? Atleast 5 lines taller on the BVM14f5 and even more on the BVMd14- looks like the lower right corners are pulled down. Outlines are mostly straight on the 14F5.

I tried my best with an average digital camera, but details are impossible to show in photos.

Any helpful advice is appreciated. I probably can't return the BVM14F5 without wasting more money on shipping, but I'm considering it.

[Nogame]

Still no luck with the poor picture. Both monitors have no deflection settings in the maintenance menu that help, but some options are in blue text and unavailable. The BVM-14FU has more adjustments available though for some reason. Would an external controller help?

The 14FU seems to have poor focus or something and has a slight flickering-like effect. Does anyone have an idea about the problem?

Overall though, I'm not seeing a big picture improvement between a BVM 14" monitor and my crappy WEGA Sony Trinitron consumer TV, at least in person.

My camera's focus varies, but here are a few photos if anyone cares...

BVM-14F5U:





BVM-D14H5U:


WEGA Trinitron 27":

[tacoguy64]

I don't see a problem here. Sorry I am not very experienced with monitors even though i do own a BVM myself. And this might sound like a stupid question but how are you connecting your consoles to your monitors? Because it kinda seems like composite level quality from your screen shots.

[Nogame]

Component connection to each from the same source, which should be similar to RGB. The flicker/focus issues with the older 14F5U can't be shown well in photos. The WEGA looks better than that one in person.

[Guspaz]

The problem isn't apparent in your photos. You could try playing with the geometry settings in the service menu, or you could try taping magnets to the tube.

[tacoguy64]

Yeah it doesn't seem as sharp as it should. The BVM is more than capable of providing a sharper picture so I am not sure what is going on. Is that a playstation game? If so then it should not need any sort of modification to get a nice picture. I know the bigger model BVM you can plug in the component cables on the rgb inputs and still get a nice picture but I am not so sure if that is true for the smaller BVM models.

[Nogame]

The geometry is way off and can't be fixed through the service menu. Both sides of the picture have different issues, and each monitor has a taller image on the right side with the lower right corner being too low. There is no adjustment that helps with that part, but some of the options are highlighted blue and inaccessible. I have no way to use that 240P test suite without spending more money. The 14F5U has a input test grid though, while the D14 doesn't have any options to use that I can find.

The 14F5U does not have a stable-looking image like the WEGA, but the D14 seems okay. I hope these monitors don't need completely refurbished because I can't even solder. Maybe someone can explain how to try fixing the issues, but I'm skeptical of their superiority to TV's. RGB seems to be the only main advantage.

I just wish that there were a way to test a HD CRT TV with 240P, but maybe a 480P TV that can upscale properly is the best overall option since many can be found for nearly free.

[Blaasvis]

Service menu is blue, You probably have a broken flash chip on the isr.
Did you terminated all the video lines on both monitors ? I am sure the 14F4 needs it. Not sure about the 20D.
Can you post some pictures how you hooked everything up .

What kind of since are you using on the monitors (Csync/composite sync/sync on luma)? Which console ?
I had some small issue with my NES with nesrgb, until is switched it to CSYNC.

[Nogame]

I'd like to set up my SNES eventually, but I'm just testing the monitors with a PS2 slim using good component cables. I wasn't using terminators, and don't understand how they're used. I only have two available. Is the service menu accessed after I enter maintenance password? Some deflection options are either blue or green depending on monitor, and inaccessible.

Anyway, the 14F5U may just be a bad one after 90k hours. I took out the extra input adapter to see if that would affect anything, and that may have slightly improved the screen flicker. However, now am noticing color problem in at least one corner.

Screen Burn?

[kamiboy]

If you have a nice looking 27" SONY consumer model why would you bother with a pro model? Is the image quality not up to snuff? Pictures cannot convey the true nature of a display, but in your shots the Wega looks okay.

Don't believe the BVM/PVM hype. A BVM in good shape might net you a slightly sharper picture, but you lose screen size going down to 14" or 20", and the pro monitor road goes through a minefield.

Every day a new thread like this shows up from a new BVM owner that got screwed over because they forgot to consider the alternative, cheap, hassle free consumer sets.

[atheistgod1999]

If you have a nice looking 27" SONY consumer model why would you bother with a pro model? Is the image quality not up to snuff? Pictures cannot convey the true nature of a display, but in your shots the Wega looks okay.

Don't believe the BVM/PVM hype. A BVM in good shape might net you a slightly sharper picture, but you lose screen size going down to 14" or 20", and the pro monitor road goes through a minefield.

Every day a new thread like this shows up from a new BVM owner that got screwed over because they forgot to consider the alternative, cheap, hassle free consumer sets.

Dude, before I bought a BVM, I bought 3 different Trinitrons with major issues.

The first Trinitron had a massive horizontal convergence issue on the top right corner, the second Trinitron had a pretty severe vertical red convergence issue that went higher than the blue or green faster gradually higher up on the screen (it didn't have S-Video inputs, though, so it was pretty much garbage anyway). The third and final Trinitron had a bad green tint issue like I was watching The Matrix or something, and the sides were stretched, not to mention tons of convergence issues. I don't get why all of them had issues; I used a consumer-grade CRT that wasn't even a trinitron for the first 10+ years of my life to play my Gamecube (later Wii and PS2, and a ton of retro consoles when I briefly got into retro gaming in mid-late elementary school), watch VHS tapes and DVDs, and watch Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon pretty much all the time and I didn't ever notice a convergence or geometry issue on it. Anyway, after 3 bad Trinitrons, I thought "Screw this, I'm getting a BVM".

[kamiboy]

Well, CRT hunting is a crapshoot by nature. You have to buy them used, and most are from 10 years ago at least.

But consumer sets tend to be very cheap, if not free, so getting a dud is not as big a deal. Not as big as paying hundreds to have a pro monitor shipped, or driving for hours to pick one up, and then discovering that the thing has one leg in the grave, as pro monitors are wont to do.

[Nogame]

So, is the geometry of a picture adjustable or not? Can the vertical size of one side or one corner be changed? If so, what is the specific deflection setting called?

All three of the monitors that I've had did also have that type of geometry fault along with other issues. Are they just all permanently flawed? Based on my last photograph, does the old 14F5U monitor have screen burn-in as well? Is that fixable?

The old WEGA TV of mine hasn't been used in while, and I'd like to upgrade. It has plenty of geometry problems too, but I'm not sure about the top and bottom right now. The picture is acceptable, but of course in US it only has one s-video and component input. A little more resolution would be nice, but I guess no HDTV CRT is capable of displaying 240P picture.

[kamiboy]

The discolouration problem in the corner is not burn-in. Looks more like a discharge issue, or it could he sign of tube damage.

I am only familiar with the BVM F1 series of models. In those you can use a service menu to adjust any geometry setting to your heart is content. You will have to get hold of a service menu for the F5 to see whether it can do the same.

That being said if you are very anal about geometry then CRT's are not an ideal match.

[Guspaz]

I had similar discolouration in the corner of my PVM. Blue splotches in the red channel, with the blue and green channels unaffected. Degaussing with a really powerful degaussing coil didn't help (although you should also try that).

In the end, I taped some magnets to the tube in just the right place and pretty much completely fixed the problems. It also slightly improved the geometry in that corner.

You can make geometry corrections with magnets too, although doing so without ruining convergence is probably tough.

[Nogame]

I'll assume that discoloration can't be corrected then. If not screen burn, then I have no idea what caused it. It shows through in each color and white range, but not noticeable on dark screen. I still cant find the right vertical adjustments in the maintenance menu though..

[Guspaz]

Well, try degaussing, if not, try some magnets. Doesn't really cost anything to try the magnets. If you don't have any that are strong enough, you can probably buy some little disc fridge magnets at an art store for a few bucks.

[Nogame]

I haven't had much time to mess with it. I don't have magnets or many tools, but I'm also afraid of putting my hands inside especially without insulating gloves and tools right now. However, I do believe magnets would help in the worst corner. My small speaker placement improved it slightly. The yellowing/darkening of a white picture was lessened in that corner with the speaker nearby. The picture is a wreck overall though, so I'm just wondering what would be necessary to properly fix it. Convergence and geometry vary throughout the screen. Convergence is also worst in the same lower left corner, but the upper right corner is bad too. Would a degaussing coil likely be a good investment then? Why do the adjustment options seem to vary between BVM monitors? Would a external controller give more options?