Calibrating my new CRT

[UltimaBoB]

I finally have my new machine and all is going well.

My new CRT is a March '05 manufacturing date, sold overstock in early '06, very slightly used HP-P1230 22" Diamondtron CRT. It is really sweet.

However, when it shipped they had it on its side for like 6 days. No bumps etc.... but had it on it's side not upright on the base. But seems to be no issues from that - can this cause problems in theory?

Anyways, no scratches, no obvious fadings, etc... But I am a noob when it comes to computers and monitors - this is my first high-end rig. How can I properly adjust and calibrate my CRT screen? It is a little off - but seems to just need adjusting. However, the "auto" function on the monitor is not perfect. I still need to adjust the squiggly stuff and auto just seems to center it but not do the "trapezoid to rhombus to square" kinda shaping function - that is on a different part of the menu,

Is there any perfect way to center and shape the screen or is it all just by feel using the monitor buttons? Any way to test if your magnets are unaligned or anything is wrong that you need service with? Luckily, because this is so new I actually have 2 more years of HP after-service warranty with this and the original owner is happy to facilitate me using it if I need it!

 

[SonicIce]

auto calibrate probably isn't perfect, but i never had a monitor with the feature. you will have to do some manual adjustments with the buttons. see if naviset works for your monitor: http://www.necdisplay.com/naviset/body.htm you can use it to adjust your monitor though windows and it has some test patterns. you can also get the free nokia monitor test tool: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia...r-VIDEO-Tools/Nokia-Monitor-Test.shtml it has some test patterns too.

 

[UltimaBoB]

wow seems like an art not a science.

do CRTs esp. ones that have say travelled and sit on their sides, not bottoms, for 7 days often take a lot of calibrating work to get just perfect?

This doesn't seem like something a newbie can just do in 20 minutes - seems like its a learning and then fiddling experience that could take multiple hours to get right the first time Is that true?

 

[SonicIce]

its not realy that hard unless you have major problems. did you even turn it on yet?

 

[UltimaBoB]

Yeah it is all good to the eye.

That wasn't so hard. The first 90% of the job takes only a few minutes eg. to get things acceptable or do the "heavy lifting". I was just stressing that the last 10% - getting everything right, might be one of those skills that you simply have to learn and that takes awhile at first. And now that I have gotten into it I see it is - but instead of whining I should have just been sucking it up and calibrating cause life is like that lol

Thanks.

 

[CP5670]

You pretty much have to just play around with the controls until it looks right. The Naviset utility SonicIce linked to is very useful here. It generally takes 5-10 minutes to set all the parameters for each resolution/refresh setting you want to use, but you don't need to worry about it again later on.

Does your monitor have any holes on the side? The P1230 is internally identical to one of the NEC/Mitsu monitors, which all have them, but it has a different cabinet so I'm not sure. If you have the holes, you can put a screwdriver through those holes and adjust the focus controls. This takes a fair amount of time and effort but can often make the monitor look significantly sharper.

By the way, what kind of resolutions and refresh rates does your P1230 do? The P1230 is a rebadge of either the NEC 2111 or 2141/2070, but I'm not entirely sure which one. If you got a manual or something with it, it should list the maximum horizontal frequency somewhere. 115khz would be the 2111 and 140khz would indicate the 2141.

The auto adjust function on these monitors is useless, don't bother with it.

However, when it shipped they had it on its side for like 6 days. No bumps etc.... but had it on it's side not upright on the base. But seems to be no issues from that - can this cause problems in theory?

I don't think that should matter, if you don't notice any problems.

 

[UltimaBoB]

No holes on the side. From the internet max refresh is 110 and resolution is 2048 x 1536.

Yeah I am gonna get all into it tomorrow. This new machine man...even after paying the techs extra to set it all up...there's still tons of work to do to get it all optimal. Seems if you are a noob but buy a seriously elite rig there is no way around spending a lot of time learning crap and tinkering.

I think I need to find a way to accept it and see that as part of the fun rather than an onerous chore and then I will be good lol.

 

[UltimaBoB]

I started trying it now. This really is gonna be one of those things I see now that you tinker with on and off for a long time as a new user of Aperture Grille CRTs and expensive rigs etc...

I have it playable now - but I can tell it could be better. However, there are controls on the monitor geometry and settings for color and other things I have no clue about. I have been skimming posts and and guys are talking about "moire" and stuff LOL I never heard that word before. My last machines have been mediocre and I did not have true Aperture Grille CRTs - I just took them new and fiddled out any obvious geometry issues when I changed rez and left them at that.

But I now my eyes are opened to a whole new world of image quality obsession Anyone know any good guides or posts for a beginer looking at tweaking his CRT and who really doesnt even know the basics? The nokia program has been helpful - naviset unfortunately will not work for me. If only their were a hacked version that would accept my monitor lol.

Thanks a ton for the help. Clearly a new extreme PC is NOT a turnkey solution when you have one built, not pre-assembled

 

[Maxspeed996]

out of curiosity , what is the rest of your "extreme pc" ?
grats on the monitor btw! :thumbsup:

 

[UltimaBoB]

Thanks!!

Well I should have used a more guarded term than "extreme OC" here lol 'cause now my little machine will look kinda silly to you true "enthusiasts" - esp. since I am not overclocking anything, nor have I added any thermal stuffs or cooling or custom fans. But to me it is pretty extreme compared to what I have ever had before.

*Specs*

-E6700
-P5W DH Deluxe
-2 x HIS ATI x1950XTX Crossfire GPU
-Creative X-Fi
-2GB Hynix DDR2-800 Ram
-150 GB W/D S-ATA HDD "Raptor"
-2005 manu. HP-P1230 22" Diamontron CRT
-Logitech G5 Mouse
-Logitch G15 Keyboard
-Enermax 620 Watt "Liberty" PSU
-Antec P-180 Case
-Creative Inspire 5.1 Channel Speakers
-LG DVD Reader/Burner
-3.5" Floppy
3dMark06 10,670 w/ modded Catalysts 6.8 drivers and all factory clock speeds

 

[SonicIce]

Originally posted by: UltimaBoB
Thanks!!

Well I should have used a more guarded term than "extreme OC" here lol 'cause now my little machine will look kinda silly to you true "enthusiasts" - esp. since I am not overclocking anything, nor have I added any thermal stuffs or cooling or custom fans. But to me it is pretty extreme compared to what I have ever had before.

*Specs*

-E6700
-P5W DH Deluxe
-2 x HIS ATI x1950XTX Crossfire GPU
-Creative X-Fi
-2GB Hynix DDR2-800 Ram
-150 GB W/D S-ATA HDD "Raptor"
-2005 manu. HP-P1230 22" Diamontron CRT
-Logitech G5 Mouse
-Logitch G15 Keyboard
-Enermax 620 Watt "Liberty" PSU
-Antec P-180 Case
-Creative Inspire 5.1 Channel Speakers
-LG DVD Reader/Burner
-3.5" Floppy
3dMark06 10,670 w/ modded Catalysts 6.8 drivers and all factory clock speeds

thats extreme compared to what anybody has :Q.

my monitor also has a zillion other options which i dont whow what they are. you paid someone to set up your system?

acording to these specs (140khz, .24 pitch), it looks like the equivelent of a Mitsu 2070 or NEC 2141. No word on the U-NX gun though. no matter. it does have superbright. its a great monitor. if only i could get my hands on one of those gems...

 

[Maxspeed996]

Originally posted by: UltimaBoB
Thanks!!

Well I should have used a more guarded term than "extreme OC" here lol 'cause now my little machine will look kinda silly to you true "enthusiasts" - esp. since I am not overclocking anything, nor have I added any thermal stuffs or cooling or custom fans. But to me it is pretty extreme compared to what I have ever had before.

*Specs*

-E6700
-P5W DH Deluxe
-2 x HIS ATI x1950XTX Crossfire GPU
-Creative X-Fi
-2GB Hynix DDR2-800 Ram
-150 GB W/D S-ATA HDD "Raptor"
-2005 manu. HP-P1230 22" Diamontron CRT
-Logitech G5 Mouse
-Logitch G15 Keyboard
-Enermax 620 Watt "Liberty" PSU
-Antec P-180 Case
-Creative Inspire 5.1 Channel Speakers
-LG DVD Reader/Burner
-3.5" Floppy
3dMark06 10,670 w/ modded Catalysts 6.8 drivers and all factory clock speeds

Brother , that's pretty extreme...I'd be running a big ass widescreen with that mamajama though. CRT's are still nice though for the quality, just big and heavy!!!

 

[UltimaBoB]

Yeah I paid a Korean shop to assemble and order the parts. I teach English in Korea and there is a language barrier plus a newbie barrier lol.

I'm not sure if my monitor is slightly misaligned in a way you cannot fix with the controls. If this is true it is in a small way - but it is gonna take me a lot of learning to know if I need to call HP service or not Oh well, nothing worthwhile is ez or whatever crap they say lol.

Yeah I heard the HP doesn't have as good a Gun as the mitsubishi it shares a tube with - but it may have other edges, or the gun is fairly close in quality to the NEC or Mitsu. But hard to beat the 2 year afterservice warranty remaining and march 2005 manu. date...

 

[CP5670]

Actually, with that 140khz rating I'm betting it's one of the numerous 2070 clones, the same monitor that Newegg is currently selling for $800. A very appropriate display for a rig like that.

It does take some time to configure these things, but the results are well worth it in the end.

I'm not sure if my monitor is slightly misaligned in a way you cannot fix with the controls. If this is true it is in a small way - but it is gonna take me a lot of learning to know if I need to call HP service or not Oh well, nothing worthwhile is ez or whatever crap they say lol.

Is there something in particular that looks off?

 

[UltimaBoB]

When you shrink the image vertically or horizontally you can see the true balack area that is clearly not active at all beyond the image. But then the lesser black border surrounding the colored image is narrower on the bottom than on the top and nothing I can do will change that. And on the sides this border between the true black and and the normal black is a teenie bit tilted and I cant change that either. It is like being on its side for 7 days (oops) threw the whole mechanism ever so itty bitty slightly off kilter. Or it could all be in my head since every post I have read says CRTs are never 110% perfectly aligned.