How do I reallign the picture/color in my large Trinitron CRT?

[Mad Mage]

I recently fixed my large Sony HD CRT. I moved it along with my arcade cabinets to my back room and I'm gonna set it up for Stepmania and Mame and the like. But now that I'm reevaluating the TV's picture, it doesn't seem so good:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5Vwouk_rzk_OXd3dVo5S3dsN1E

You can see red ghosting to the left, and blue to the right. and along the bottom you can see more red and blue out of whack. The screen output also doesn't fit the boarders of the TV.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5Vwouk_rzk_VjdUenVMUmRUZnc

I read degaussing is supposed to fix this, but my TV auto degausses when I turn it on. Unless I'm doing it wrong?

I also read unshielded speakers can mess up a CRT. I've moved the TV next to my Neo-Geo cabinet which of course has speakers. is this a problem?

It kind of looks like there is an obvious answer on how to fix the picture but I don't know anything about CRTs, so please point me in the right direction.

 

[DanAdamKOF]

If it's like the 34XBR800 I used to have, you'll have access to convergence and image size settings in service mode. Since you're inexperienced you may want to look into the how and why of the adjustments before you jump in so you're not just guessing, but in any case you'll want to write down all the initial values, display a test pattern such as a grid, and use that to adjust convergence and overscan. You'll probably want to check geometry is correct after adjusting overscan (pull up some circles and if they look OK you should be good, and your grid's squares should also be even throughout). If you think your adjustments have made it worse, you can turn the set off and back on and the new values won't be written, otherwise once you're good you can input a command to save your new adjustments (again, I recommend writing down the initial values if you end up needing to return later).

 

[Mad Mage]

Thank you for your reply. From the way my picture looks crisp but out of sync, it does indeed seem like changing the image settings in service mode is what I need to do. I've figured out how to enter service mode, but man does it seem complex changing anything. Do you think resetting to default will help?

I found this info

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showt...ice-menu-Tips-Tricks-and-settings-suggestions

but I'm not even sure where I should be starting.

 

[Doom]

This doesn't look too bad. You're going to get some kind of covergence problems visible somewhere when up close on consumer tv's. Is that tv an HS model? I think HS tv's might not have the convergence controls in the service menu but I could be wrong (I think those are only found on XBR models). You might have to open up the back and fix convergence manually. For the geometry though you can do that in the service menu. You should be able to great geometry with the large amount of options found on Sony sets.

 

[DanAdamKOF]

I don't think resetting to defaults will correct it, but I could be wrong. And if what Doom says applies here, then you might not have a means of adjusting convergence via the service menu, which means you'd be stuck with the misconvergence unless you open up the set and tape some magnets to the tube (greatly simplifying but that's what it typically entails).

Even if not you should be able to pull the image in so there's no overscan, if you can find your set's service manual it should break down all of the service mode adjustments, otherwise I'm sure someone out on the net has made a list of which entry adjusts which setting. I'd imagine they're probably HSIZ/VSIZ/HPOS/VPOS but it's been a while since I've done this on a similar set. Avoid HLIN and VLIN settings which may seem to shrink the image depending, but those are linearity settings and not what you need for adjusting size.

Cool that you play Stepmania btw, I missed that at first

 

[Mad Mage]

Yeah, I'm going to use the TV for Pop'n Music too!

So I've been playing with the service menu settings. There are like over 100 options to adjust and I am not finding much info online. The only thing that is really bugging me about my picture is this:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5Vwouk_rzk_QzZaQmtDeHVucW8

You can see overwhelming red and blue color bleeding/ghosting/shadows (I don't know what it's called). If anyone has an idea which settings can fix that, or even simply what this color problem is called, please chime in. Otherwise I'll keep fiddling with it.

Edit: Been messing with it. I can resize the picture easily, but I have found no option that seems to even effect the red/blue overlap. I can turn the red or blue up or down like on the back of an arcade monitor, but it does not help with the color position at all.

Is this not fixable or am I just missing what to adjust?

 

[Doom]

That's not bleeding, it's a deconverged picture. As I said though some degree of that is normal on consumer tubes when looking face up to the screen. You took that photo up close to the screen right? If you did then that's "NORMAL". It looks to me like you should be able to improve it if it really bothers you but as DanAdamKOF said, you're likely going to have to go inside the tv and touch the convergence knobs (you should have a couple of them on the deflection board and you adjust them with a screw driver). Doing this is a fairly simple procedure but it might move the problem elsewhere on the screen. So it's all about finding the sweet spot that you like.

Further improvements require permalloy strips be glued around the yoke. Using these is a bit of an art as it also affects geometry. It's possible to improve both geometry and convergence but it takes a lot of time and practice. If you're not too confident on doing this it might be better to first read up a lot on it since theoretically it's possible to die if you don't know what you're doing.


By the way for the service menus, just stick to the deflection board related settings, the first 15 or so should be geometry related, after that they go into other aspects of the tv and won't affect geometry.

 

[Mad Mage]

Okay, thank you. When I have time I'll take the back off the tv and find those knobs. Anything I should keep in mind while adjusting them? Can I adjust them with the TV plugged in and turned on, or is that dangerous?

 

[Doom]

Okay, thank you. When I have time I'll take the back off the tv and find those knobs. Anything I should keep in mind while adjusting them? Can I adjust them with the TV plugged in and turned on, or is that dangerous?

Yes you need it to be on and you need to have a test pattern up like the one you used for the pictures. Try not to touch anything, all you want is to gently put the screw driver on those knobs and adjust them. At least one will affect focus and I think you might have a vertical or horizontal size knob as well, you might find the G2 there too but don't touch that. If you could find the service manual for your model it would make it easier to locate those convergence knobs.

Try to avoid touching any of the boards because there's always the potential of getting zapped. The most dangerous part with the highest voltages is the suction cup you'll see attached to the tube on the neck. I think general tips people give others is don't do it if you're alone in the house, if you get zapped you may need medical assistance, also it can help to have a second person looking at the screen to help in calibrating, because if you can you'll want to always keep your eyes on your hands.

 

[Mad Mage]

Yeah, I'm always nervous around exposed crt monitors. Before I open up my TV, is there a way I can be sure the convergence controls are back there and not in the service menu? What do you think they would be called in the service menu if they were there? I can figure out my exact model # if I need to, but it's an HD 32 inch Trinitron.

 

[Doom]

Yes I am quite sure you will find convergence knobs, all Sony crt's I have seen have them. You probably will have two of them.

I have never seen convergence options in the service menu of a Sony crt aside from XBR models. I'm sorry but I don't remember the abbreviations for these settings I don't own any XBR tv's so I can't check either.