BVM-A20F1M or BVM-D20F1E?

[PeterWar]

I can get either a BVM-A20F1M or BVM-D20F1E from a national dealer, they are quite expensive but have multiple input boards that I suspect that I won't need.

Since this dealer also sells input boards separatelly I'm thinking about asking him to remove all unnecessary input boards from these monitors and to leave what's really essential for retrogame play.

This is the BVM-A20F1M, notice that it appears to have analog input boards


And this is the BVM-D20F1E


The plan is to use this monitor and an RGB switch to play my SNES, Megadrive and possibly the Wii, correct me if I'm wrong but it's my understanding that these monitors support 480p which is necessary to play the latest generations of consoles while still mantaining a very good 240p quality.

What do you guys think is removable? is this a good idea at all? thank you!!

[Fudoh]

On the "A" all the boards are optional and can be removed. That analog board is rare as hell, so of course you would want that.

On the "D" all boards EXCEPT the analog board are optional. If you opt for the D keep the 21D board as well for the additional component input, but get rid of the HD-SDI board (that's the one with the fan).

The "D" is more compatible when it comes to off-spec NTSC signals, so I'd probably get that one.

[PeterWar]

Many thanks for your fast reply Fudoh!

On the "A" all the boards are optional and can be removed. That analog board is rare as hell, so of course you would want that.

I would keep the analog board, but how would you use the monitor with all boards removed? I presume you would have to keep at least the board with the LAN connector is that right?

The "D" is more compatible when it comes to off-spec NTSC signals, so I'd probably get that one.

The "D" has two small scratches and a few more operation hours, it would be cheaper to buy though.



I'm attaching a picture of said scratches, maybe I could get reed of them by removing the anti reflecting cover, I asume the "D" has one.

[Guspaz]

One thing to keep in mind is that composite and s-video is complicated with the BVMs, because the monitor can't handle them unless a card is installed that can decode them. For example, if you get the D, you definitely want to keep the 21D, because it is the only card in that photo that supports decoding composite and s-video.

[PeterWar]

The BVM-A20F1M shows 50.000 hours of operation time and 17.000 hours of CRT turn on time.

What do you think is the best parameter to assess the status? Operation time or CRT time?

[svensonson]

the CRT time....17000 is nothing for such a nice Monitor....good luck

[Einzelherz]

I'll take whichever you don't want

[PeterWar]

Alea jacta est!

I just bought the Sony BVM-A20F1M with the necessary RGBS SCART to BNC adapter and four 75 ohm resistors

I finally decided to keep the SDI/Composite board and asked the seller to remove HD-SDI board to get a discount. It's a fully functional monitor with close to 17.000 CRT time hours for 500€.

Thank you so much for the advice provided on this thread guys!

[nissling]

One thing to keep in mind is that composite and s-video is complicated with the BVMs, because the monitor can't handle them unless a card is installed that can decode them. For example, if you get the D, you definitely want to keep the 21D, because it is the only card in that photo that supports decoding composite and s-video.

That is if you actually want composite and S-video. I sure don't.