CRT Fetish Thread

If you buy a 2030, make damn sure you test it first.

They were introduced in the Mid/late 80's and many have a lot of mileage on them.

One thing to note is that they have NO on screen adjustment menus. If the little knobs on the back don't adjust whatever it is that needs to be adjusted (geometry for example), it means you need to open it up and adjust some small pots on one of the circuit boards. Not for the faint of heart if you haven't been inside a CRT monitor or TV before.

Hi CRT's fetishists !

I just bought a Sony PVM 2130 and I have my image is a bit unaligned on the left (horizontally) and is a little crooked (slightly diagonally).

Someone might say a big novice like me how it is done?
Geometry and other settings ?

im lost.... (and im french, sorry for my english)

Finally got my 3DO FZ-10 thoroughly pimped: IDE HDD adapter + RGB video.

Comparison of S-Video vs. RGB below, both on a PVM 20N2U. To tell the truth, I'm having trouble seeing the difference. What say you folks? I'm also not too adept at taking pixel-perfect pixel pictures..

Thanks,
-Jason

RGB:

S-Video:

RGB:

S-Video:

Jassin000 said:

ninoh: The PVM/monitor must accept component (Ypbpr video), on my L5 this is controlled via softmenu option.
If you can only render RGBs video, wrong colors + green washed.

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What makes you say this? The L5 is pretty new. I imagine older PVMs don't know about YPbPr.

mesmer said:

What makes you say this? The L5 is pretty new. I imagine older PVMs don't know about YPbPr.

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You are right, older PVMs can't do component. As Broken pointed out tho, I believe the Euro Wii can do RGB with a SCART cable. Ninoh was talking just about USA Wii only and mentioned he was using a component cable... Again without YPbPr support, it just won't work.

Anyone know anything about the mitsubishi XC-2930c?

I can get my hands on one or maybe two but don't know too much about them.

Don't know if the pic size is too big but I'm having trouble with the pics on my ipad

Next pic....

Any help greatly appreciated.

greeneye8181 said:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141214707398?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

A Sony 2030. Among the best models correct?
Anyway, I talked to the seller on the phone today. Could only talk him down to 100$ if I picked it up...
Priced a little high isn't it?

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The 2030 is not one of the best (although it is not bad, especially if you cant get anything else) and that is a bit high for one of those. Personally I would try to get one of the 700-900 line PVM's. like I said earlier, if you want one of the absolute best ones the 20L5 is the way to go. Anything between 200-250 shipped would be considered a good deal for one (shipping is usually between $60-100 for one so the price is not bad if you can do local pickup).

As a side note although age of the PVM means it may have been used more it does not mean that a PVM actually has been. The MOST important thing when searching for a good CRT is the amount of hours the CRT has on it, not how old the CRT is. Although you can not tell on the number of hours on PVM's one way you can kinda tell is to look for a problem like the one shown in this picture .

If you look closely you see darker bars extending off the bright lettering to the right. This is a sign that the CRT has had heavy use and should probably be avoided. You will notice this problem most on systems like the SNES and NES where you will have bright characters on a mostly single color or dark backdrop. This is a good indicator to how used the PVM you will be getting is. Personally I would take a PVM from 1989 with 100 hours over one from 2005 with 50,000+ hours.

It is actually getting quite difficult to find PVM's with little use on them so if you come across a PVM that does not display this problem in the slightest hop on that chance as it may be awhile before you find one like it again. You can test for this problem by putting the PVM to a black screen and bringing up the white service menu. Once it is up turn the brightness up slowly. The problem becomes more noticeable the higher the brightness is set. The worse the problem the lower you have to set the brightness to see it. I have ran into PVMs that were so bad you could see it with brightness set to almost zero. The PVM's I have found that tend to be the worst for number of hours used are the 500 line PVM's that were meant to be security monitors and any of the white medical monitors. If buying one of those types make sure you check for this issue before buying (if possible).

Help???????......... Anyone

Halfabag said:

Help???????......... Anyone

Click to expand...

Looks pretty similar to a PVM, not sure exactly what you're curious about.

ApolloBoy said:

Looks pretty similar to a PVM, not sure exactly what you're curious about.

Click to expand...

Are they any good, is it too old (circa 1996), any have any experience of them?

My PVM-2950 that I picked up from voltronbadass:




Needs calibrated and geometry adjusted, but not bad looking.

We are using it to demo shadowkn55's Omega CMVS while at MGC.

broken said:

My PVM-2950 that I picked up from voltronbadass:

Needs calibrated and geometry adjusted, but not bad looking.

We are using it to demo shadowkn55's Omega CMVS while at MGC.

Click to expand...

Well, I know what bitch I'm stabbin for a 29 inch PVM. When you get the chance take some real upclose pics of it. I have always wondered how defined the scanlines on these large ones are compared to my L5.

I had the 27" version of it, scanlines are quite a bit softer than the L5.

The only problem with looking at the hours on a PVM by going into the service menu is that (at least some models) count standby time. The rocker switch on my BVM is always on, but the soft switch in the front is off (meaning that the tube is off) whenever I'm not using it. But the system still counts all of that standby time as running time. So my BVM has like 45k hours on it, which is very misleading.

jasonbar said:

I'm also not too adept at taking pixel-perfect pixel pictures..

Click to expand...

I've been getting better at it myself. I'll share the details...

1. Make the room dark, the screen should be the only light source.
2. Use a quality (10mp or more) digital cam... With the flash turned off/disabled!
3a. Brace your body with an object (like a chair) to reduce shaking and frame up the shot like you normally would. Focus on the entire image, not a just a zoomed in section of the screen.

Very large original size linked


3b. Take many many shots, most will be (between refresh cycles) unusable.
4. Custom/fine rotate (matching up with the scanlines as best you can) the snap. Crop out a character/selection, resize to internet friendly and post.

Good looking pics Jassin.

Received another PVM while I was out of town.

14L5:



Lights on.


Lights out.


Up close.


I haven't calibrated or checked geometry. Only thing I adjusted was turning the brightness down some as it was overly bright out of the box. The color/detail looks even better in real life.


I <3 Sony.

@broken

Is that ghouls and ghosts for genesis, SNES, or SGX?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

RGB supergrafx

greeneye8181 said:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/141214707398?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

A Sony 2030. Among the best models correct?
Anyway, I talked to the seller on the phone today. Could only talk him down to 100$ if I picked it up...
Priced a little high isn't it?

Click to expand...

I might not be the guy to ask because I think people are paying entirely too much for these, but I have a PVM 2030, and I can tell you I'd never pay $100 for one, maybe $50?.

I can promise you'll be opening it up and making adjustments at some point, I have twice, which doesn't bother me, but if you've never fuxed with monitors it might be an issue.
There is no scart connection on the back, so you'll have to beg Yodd to make you a cable that converts the RGB computer socket to SCART. So add a CMPTR to SCART cable.
Not saying it sucks, it's a great CRT, great picture, and I think it looks tits aesthetically, you would have been king-shit if you had that as a kid, and the picture is great, but for $100 and a trip, I'd put it towards something with more options in the RGB department and on-screen wise. Whatever Yodd suggests is how I'd roll if I was looking to go ballzdeep on one of these bastages. Once you're willing to put a BUCK into it you might as well get one that has SCART and more adjustments outside of the casing.

I'd offer that asshole a couple $20's and max $50 and call it a day personally, if he says no, let some other sucker have it.

Here's a picture of mine that I posted in a fury of delight after I got it home. That's how it looked without any adjustment from the thrift joint. That $6.99 price sticker is still on it too. lol

Hi CRT's fetishists !

I just bought a Sony PVM 2130 and I have my image is a bit unaligned on the left (horizontally) and is a little crooked (slightly diagonally).

Someone might say a big novice like me how it is done?
Geometry and other settings ?

im lost.... (and im french, sorry for my english)

Take some photos of it in action, kinda hard to tell otherwise.

Is there a good and affordable PVM in a 20"~ size ? Seeing you guys with your PVM's is making me pretty jealous. I've got a nice 27" Sony T.V.. screen but gosh, that RGB output is making m

Jibbajaba said:

The only problem with looking at the hours on a PVM by going into the service menu is that (at least some models) count standby time. The rocker switch on my BVM is always on, but the soft switch in the front is off (meaning that the tube is off) whenever I'm not using it. But the system still counts all of that standby time as running time. So my BVM has like 45k hours on it, which is very misleading.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately you cant check the hours on a PVM, only the BVM. All you can do to get an idea of how used it is is look for that issue i showed earlier. Aside from Geometry issues this is one of the first issues that a PVM will begin to show before it starts going a bit soft. As for the BVM, did you have the most recent firmware? Mine did not count standby hours when I had it (BVM-20F1U) I have not checked the BVM-14G1U I also have though.

Rori said:

Is there a good and affordable PVM in a 20"~ size ? Seeing you guys with your PVM's is making me pretty jealous. I've got a nice 27" Sony T.V.. screen but gosh, that RGB output is making m

Click to expand...

Sometimes you can find the PVM-1945Q for $50 or so if you keep your eyes open. It is an older model (1998) but if you find one in good working condition it is a great monitor. It also does component. What is killer is not so much the price of the units themselves but shipping if you can not find any decent ones locally. It usually costs $60-80 to ship a $20 inch PVM unless the seller is eating part of the shipping costs.