Hello,
A few months ago I got myself a Sony BVM-20F1E with the BKM controller, and for a few months the image was very consistent and solid in terms of the contrast, saturation, greyscale, colour accuracy, geometry and so on, but since a month ago the image slightly but noticeably began to wash out a bit.
So fast forward to a few days ago, being dissatisfied with the slightly washed out image I decided to enter the maintenance setup (after guessing the default password) but being a numpty and not researching how to go about this image-related query properly beforehand, I had a "screw it" moment, entered the 'Setup' list and then chose the 'Restore Factory Set All' option, which has caused the screen to act choppy and wobbly and has done something screwy to the channels list, (some channels have the image stretched, other channels show the image sliced in two horizontally) along with the entire display showing a pinkish purple hue/tint.
Same applies with every in-built picture preset and channel buttons via the BKM. I might be tripping balls here but the tube sounds a tad buzzier post-entry selecting.
The question is, is how do I fix it back to how it was before, (or something similar) does this require a PCMCIA card loaded with a calibration setting? and does the 20F1E have tweakable potentiometers on the circuit boards that could revert the affected image back to a more normal state?
The BKM controller didn't have any PCM/PCI card in it during the process, as maybe the option I chose was intended to wipe anything on a card? Again, I'm a total novice when it comes to any of the BVM's technicalities.
I've taken some pictures of the monitor's image for a better impression if need be, and I'm very interested to hear feedback from users who are much more familiar with this model of BVM, particularly anyone who has/had experience in the broadcasting industries with pro-level CRT's.
During the process (up to and after the reset) I've kept tabs on my activity pattern, so if anyone needs extra clarification I can tell you accurately how it went down.
I Hope the above info gives folk an idea of the present state of the monitor, and I look forward to any advice regarding the above.
Thanks in advance .
Sony BVM-20F1E Technical Issue?
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tongshadow
- Posts: 681
- Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2017 5:11 pm
Re: Sony BVM-20F1E Technical Issue?
Afraid you're gonna have to calibrate every parameter in the service menu like at the factory.
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foggyballroomjnr
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2022 4:37 am
Re: Sony BVM-20F1E Technical Issue?
How do you go about this, does it require external calibration gear or some kind of calibration dvd?
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Dochartaigh
- Posts: 1567
- Joined: Thu Mar 02, 2017 6:53 pm
Re: Sony BVM-20F1E Technical Issue?
So first things first: if the image was first fine then changed for the worst without you touching any settings, something has failed/is-failing on your monitor. This is NOT curable by ANY setting in the service menu (it *might* be able to put a bandaid over it... get it to look a little better and get it to be in service with you a little bit longer but it WILL fail in the end, and that settings/bandaid change could stress the worn parts --and possibly others-- even worse than they were already being stressed. That being said, I too would have tried to tweak it to get it to look better lol.
Anyway, resetting EVERYTHING will cause "the screen to act choppy and wobbly and has done something screwy to the channels list" - but this is due to the sync, connection type, widescreen/4:3, etc. stuff all resetting for the saved channels. I always have to re-setup my channels for my RGBS consoles as: RGB (under 'Component' option), External Sync, 4:3 for my 20F1U. BUT having the hue/tint change and double image is NOT normal (unless you're confusing the crazy sync for a double image – which that crazy sync jumping all over the place IS normal if the sync int/ext is the opposite of what you want).
I've 'reset all' on my BVM 14F5U, 20F1U, multiple D14, D20, ~half-dozen D9's and never had to do more than re-setup the channels (I believe a reset does NOT change the basic color calibration, just like on a PVM the bias/gain stay the same as they were before if my memory serves, but the reset I think can change the deeper maintenance level settings which can effect the image as well of course).
FYI, PCMCIA card is only used for firmware update and some things like color profiles synced between different BVM's (maybe channels too, I forget). I don't think that will help with what you're experiencing.
There's not a large variety of internal pots on a BVM-20F1U - mostly everything is done via menus (one of the perks of the highest end CRT monitors - nearly everything is controlled without having to open it up).
Last, I think somebody has been messing around with the settings of your monitor before you got it. With PVM's there's a setting to do a factory reset, and that will reset it to what it was at the factory (in theory). But there's ALSO a setting where you can save a totally different set of numbers to be the 'factory default', so the next time you factory reset it, it'll reset to those numbers instead and NOT what it actually was coming out of the factory... the thing with BVM's is the Service/Maintenance Manual for these doesn't even go into how you would do a similar thing - i.e. save a new set of default 'factory reset' values... I'm going into this because if yours after doing a factory reset is all messed up it certainly is NOT resetting to the values it came out of the factory with. Of course a quasi far-off "if" scenario could be that if a component has drifted so far out of spec (i.e. is damaged/failing) that a value(s) DOES have to be changed from the factory number. And that value was changed BEFORE – and that's how you were getting a stable image before, so when you did a reset that value is what's messing up your image (which again, like I initially said this is most likely indicative of some part(s) being damaged/work and needs to be replaced).
What I would do is go through EVERY setting in the maintenance menu one by one (ignoring simple stuff like geometry H/V size width, Pin/Trap Bal Key Lin type stuff) and go up and down slowly, remembering where it initially was to go back to that if nothing happens (i.e. do NOT hit enter on a changed value, hit Menu/back and it'll automatically revert to the original value). I'm hoping (no promises) it's one weird value that is out of spec (but of course if somebody saved a lot of messed-up values as the factory reset defaults YMMV). This is exactly how I found out how to fix my monitors dark banding with 480p sources (a seemingly random value that isn't even mentioned in the service menu).
You can also look for a full set of values/pictures of somebody else's 20F1U and set yours to be the same as those but be forewarned NO monitor has the exact same settings as anybody else's (even from the factory, even if the manual –--like PVM's have- give you values in the service manual). I also think there is a hardware issue with your monitor still so that will have to be fixed... and if that's what is causing an issue like this no value changes might be able to fix this - the hardware has to be fixed first.
Anyway, resetting EVERYTHING will cause "the screen to act choppy and wobbly and has done something screwy to the channels list" - but this is due to the sync, connection type, widescreen/4:3, etc. stuff all resetting for the saved channels. I always have to re-setup my channels for my RGBS consoles as: RGB (under 'Component' option), External Sync, 4:3 for my 20F1U. BUT having the hue/tint change and double image is NOT normal (unless you're confusing the crazy sync for a double image – which that crazy sync jumping all over the place IS normal if the sync int/ext is the opposite of what you want).
I've 'reset all' on my BVM 14F5U, 20F1U, multiple D14, D20, ~half-dozen D9's and never had to do more than re-setup the channels (I believe a reset does NOT change the basic color calibration, just like on a PVM the bias/gain stay the same as they were before if my memory serves, but the reset I think can change the deeper maintenance level settings which can effect the image as well of course).
FYI, PCMCIA card is only used for firmware update and some things like color profiles synced between different BVM's (maybe channels too, I forget). I don't think that will help with what you're experiencing.
There's not a large variety of internal pots on a BVM-20F1U - mostly everything is done via menus (one of the perks of the highest end CRT monitors - nearly everything is controlled without having to open it up).
Last, I think somebody has been messing around with the settings of your monitor before you got it. With PVM's there's a setting to do a factory reset, and that will reset it to what it was at the factory (in theory). But there's ALSO a setting where you can save a totally different set of numbers to be the 'factory default', so the next time you factory reset it, it'll reset to those numbers instead and NOT what it actually was coming out of the factory... the thing with BVM's is the Service/Maintenance Manual for these doesn't even go into how you would do a similar thing - i.e. save a new set of default 'factory reset' values... I'm going into this because if yours after doing a factory reset is all messed up it certainly is NOT resetting to the values it came out of the factory with. Of course a quasi far-off "if" scenario could be that if a component has drifted so far out of spec (i.e. is damaged/failing) that a value(s) DOES have to be changed from the factory number. And that value was changed BEFORE – and that's how you were getting a stable image before, so when you did a reset that value is what's messing up your image (which again, like I initially said this is most likely indicative of some part(s) being damaged/work and needs to be replaced).
What I would do is go through EVERY setting in the maintenance menu one by one (ignoring simple stuff like geometry H/V size width, Pin/Trap Bal Key Lin type stuff) and go up and down slowly, remembering where it initially was to go back to that if nothing happens (i.e. do NOT hit enter on a changed value, hit Menu/back and it'll automatically revert to the original value). I'm hoping (no promises) it's one weird value that is out of spec (but of course if somebody saved a lot of messed-up values as the factory reset defaults YMMV). This is exactly how I found out how to fix my monitors dark banding with 480p sources (a seemingly random value that isn't even mentioned in the service menu).
You can also look for a full set of values/pictures of somebody else's 20F1U and set yours to be the same as those but be forewarned NO monitor has the exact same settings as anybody else's (even from the factory, even if the manual –--like PVM's have- give you values in the service manual). I also think there is a hardware issue with your monitor still so that will have to be fixed... and if that's what is causing an issue like this no value changes might be able to fix this - the hardware has to be fixed first.