Sony GDM-FW900 Monitor Brightness Problem

[Bob Kos]

Hi All:

I was recently given a Sony GDM-FW900 widescreen monitor. It was in horrible
condition as received. I went to great pains to clean up spilled beer and
other vile stuff that was inside this monitor. To my suprise and delight, it
actually powers up. However - There is a problem with it that I need help
with . The screen is WAY over bright. Also, there are retrace ( term?) lines
running diagonally down the screen about every two inches. It will display a
windows desktop properly although out of focus a little bit. The additional
brightness and lines are included with the desktop image. I would like to
get this monitor running 100%. I can do some basic repairs myself, but will
yield this job to a good tech if the required repair is highly specialized
( SM IC, reprogram, etc ). Can anybody help get me working in the right
direction? Thanks for any replies.

 

[Tom MacIntyre]

Hi All:

I was recently given a Sony GDM-FW900 widescreen monitor. It was in horrible
condition as received. I went to great pains to clean up spilled beer and
other vile stuff that was inside this monitor. To my suprise and delight, it
actually powers up. However - There is a problem with it that I need help
with . The screen is WAY over bright. Also, there are retrace ( term?) lines
running diagonally down the screen about every two inches. It will display a
windows desktop properly although out of focus a little bit. The additional
brightness and lines are included with the desktop image. I would like to
get this monitor running 100%. I can do some basic repairs myself, but will
yield this job to a good tech if the required repair is highly specialized
( SM IC, reprogram, etc ). Can anybody help get me working in the right
direction? Thanks for any replies.

Is the Screen voltage set correctly?

Tom

 

[Bob Kos]

Is the Screen voltage set correctly?

Tom

I don't know if the screen voltage is set correctly. I'm not familiar with
that term. I presume that you are referring to the 'Focus' adjustments on
the flyback? I carefully marked those and moved each a little to see if the
condition got better or worsened. It didn't change much for better or
worse, so I set them back where they were.

 

[Tom MacIntyre]

I don't know if the screen voltage is set correctly. I'm not familiar with
that term. I presume that you are referring to the 'Focus' adjustments on
the flyback? I carefully marked those and moved each a little to see if the
condition got better or worsened. It didn't change much for better or
worse, so I set them back where they were.

No, the screen is different, usually on the flyback, but I think on
Sony monitors there is special software you need to use.

Tom

 

[[email protected]]

Look here! Dani.

http://www.hutzelman.com/home/hardware/mods/monitor/


There is a modification used on some Sony monitors, I have done it
three times, with no problems. If your screen is too dark, then maybe
your G2 is too low. try the "R459 fix"!
Not sure if your model is the same. It's a 4 - 10 meg I think on the
CRT board. You have to play around with the value, as the level of
overall brightness varies. solder a 1 Megohm resistor piggyback on top
of the one there sometimes works.

 

[Bob Kos]

Hi All:

I was recently given a Sony GDM-FW900 widescreen monitor. It was in horrible
condition as received. I went to great pains to clean up spilled beer and
other vile stuff that was inside this monitor. To my suprise and delight, it
actually powers up. However - There is a problem with it that I need help
with . The screen is WAY over bright. Also, there are retrace ( term?) lines
running diagonally down the screen about every two inches. It will display a
windows desktop properly although out of focus a little bit. The additional
brightness and lines are included with the desktop image. I would like to
get this monitor running 100%. I can do some basic repairs myself, but will
yield this job to a good tech if the required repair is highly specialized
( SM IC, reprogram, etc ). Can anybody help get me working in the right
direction? Thanks for any replies.

Problem solved. I found a setting in the menu system called 'Image
Restore'. This setting doesn't work until the monitor has been on &
stabilized for a while. I selected this menu option and the monitor went to
work. It corrected the overbright condition and retrace lines on its own!!
The colors are very nice now! I'm happy!

Thanks to all who replied with help.

 

[Andy Cuffe]

Problem solved. I found a setting in the menu system called 'Image
Restore'. This setting doesn't work until the monitor has been on &
stabilized for a while. I selected this menu option and the monitor went to
work. It corrected the overbright condition and retrace lines on its own!!
The colors are very nice now! I'm happy!

Thanks to all who replied with help.

I've fixed countless large Sony monitors with that.
Andy Cuffe

[email protected]

 

[Bob Kos]

I've fixed countless large Sony monitors with that.
Andy Cuffe

[email protected]

Any idea what the actual purpose of this menu selection is? The fact that
it fixed my monitor is great, but I can't imagine a menu setting designed to
compensate for screwed up components or anything like that. The manual is
quiet regarding the use of this option. Any thoughts?

 

[Andy Cuffe]

Any idea what the actual purpose of this menu selection is? The fact that
it fixed my monitor is great, but I can't imagine a menu setting designed to
compensate for screwed up components or anything like that. The manual is
quiet regarding the use of this option. Any thoughts?

I believe it measures the CRT cathode current for each gun and adjusts
them to the correct preset levels. It's similar to the AKB used in
TVs, only it doesn't operate continuously. My only question is why
the CRTs in these monitors get so much brighter with age.

The monitors made before they added the restore feature required
either a DAS calibration, or a modification to reduce the G2 voltage.
There are also a lot of 21" Sony monitors with a restore feature that
doesn't work.
Andy Cuffe

[email protected]

 

[Bob Kos]

I believe it measures the CRT cathode current for each gun and adjusts
them to the correct preset levels. It's similar to the AKB used in
TVs, only it doesn't operate continuously. My only question is why
the CRTs in these monitors get so much brighter with age.

The monitors made before they added the restore feature required
either a DAS calibration, or a modification to reduce the G2 voltage.
There are also a lot of 21" Sony monitors with a restore feature that
doesn't work.
Andy Cuffe

[email protected]

I'd like to try and find out more information as to how this feature should
be PROPERLY used. If you know of any good sources of info, please send me
in the right direction. I'll continue to Google on it.

Thanks again.

 

[Andy Cuffe]

I'd like to try and find out more information as to how this feature should
be PROPERLY used. If you know of any good sources of info, please send me
in the right direction. I'll continue to Google on it.

Thanks again.

Did you try the manual? I'm pretty sure all it's supposed to do is
compensate for aging of the CRT and electronics. It allows the
monitor to maintain accurate color reproduction over its entire life.
Monitors without this feature gradually lose proper gray scale
tracking and the guns age unevenly.

Andy Cuffe

[email protected]