Dang it...my CRT is crapping out

[SonicIce]

best genesis screencap ive seen. what cable from the system do u use?

 

[exdeath]

It's a custom mini DIN to SCART cable running RGB sync built into the AV out, shielded, from a Genesis 2 with the Samsung KA2195, then running through a passive SCART switch with a 1.5 meter externally and individually shielded SCART to 4 BNC to a Sony PVM-20M4U.

Picture taken with a Droid X then scaled down to forum size in MS Paint Really does not do it justice, it's very hard to take pics of a CRT without getting moire, chroma aberration and miss convergence from the glass, catching the refresh, etc. Even with that it's resampled twice without trying anyway: by the CMOS sensor in the camera and again when the picture is viewed on your LCD, so it doesn't really communicate what CRT is all about. In person it's flawless; white text is solid white with no red/blue fringe, and the electron guns start and stop on a dime, no, on the edge of a fine hair, when feed an accurate signal.

Consoles of that era are still a little faintly smudged due to DC bias in the RGB lines requiring 220uF caps in the cable, but this is as good as it gets.

Here is standard yellow composite on the same exact monitor. Left the 358 colorburst/comb filter off for maximum possible sharpness for the best comparison which is why you see crazy dot crawl.

 

[QueBert]

Wait there are actually people who have seen a good Diamontron monitor and still think LCD's are better? I could understand a cheap to mid level CRT, but LCD over a Diamontron? wowzers, and NO I don't use a CRT for nostalgia reasons. I spent forever and a day looking for a Diamontron on Craigslist, and when the tube starts to go out I will pay whatever it costs to get it repaired back to like new again.

 

[Matt1970]

I still run my Viewsonic 20" CRT on my old XP machine. Manufacturered in 1993 and it is still pretty sharp.

 

[VirtualLarry]

that's all well and good when you want to bust out your old console, but for high-res text, a good lcd blows away a crt anyday.

 

[Modelworks]

that's all well and good when you want to bust out your old console, but for high-res text, a good lcd blows away a crt anyday.

LCD have to smooth the fonts to make them presentable, how is that good ?

I still keep an IBM 21" trinitron based monitor. It is one of the last ones made and has DVI inputs. I haven't seen an LCD yet that can beat it for color reproduction. If you go to studios where they do final output of film you will still find CRT being used. LCD as a technology will always be an emulation of analog color. CRT can vary the output of pixels on a per pixel level by varying the energy put into each pixel, LCD is stuck with a constant back light level until they get LED tech small enough to light each pixel with its own LED.

I think people have looked at LCD so long now that they have become accustomed to the LCD look. If you have never seen a bluray movie playing back on a trinitron screen you are missing out. It is a shame the technology doesn't scale up to lcd screen sizes. Plasma is about as close as it gets.

 

[Matt1970]

LCD have to smooth the fonts to make them presentable, how is that good ?

I still keep an IBM 21" trinitron based monitor. It is one of the last ones made and has DVI inputs. I haven't seen an LCD yet that can beat it for color reproduction. If you go to studios where they do final output of film you will still find CRT being used. LCD as a technology will always be an emulation of analog color. CRT can vary the output of pixels on a per pixel level by varying the energy put into each pixel, LCD is stuck with a constant back light level until they get LED tech small enough to light each pixel with its own LED.

I think people have looked at LCD so long now that they have become accustomed to the LCD look. If you have never seen a bluray movie playing back on a trinitron screen you are missing out. It is a shame the technology doesn't scale up to lcd screen sizes. Plasma is about as close as it gets.

I hear ya. There are some definite pro’s and con’s for each, but for most people the pro’s on an LCD outweigh the con’s.

 

[rickon66]

I had several high end crt monitors before switching to LCD's about 7 years ago and I do not miss them one bit. My last CRT was a $1200 Mitsubishi 22"(20" Viewable) Diamondtron with BNC and D-SUB inputs - it was an 80 pound monster-Good riddance. I replaced it with a Dell 2405WFP and have since gone to a Dell U3011. I think that people who are replacing premium CRT's are looking at cheap LCD's and that is an unfair comparison. The real truth of the matter is that they just miss the warm CRT x-rays that enveloped them as they played DOOM and Half Life and got a nice tan while doing it. Just kidding!

 

[BoomerD]

I had several high end crt monitors before switching to LCD's about 7 years ago and I do not miss them one bit. My last CRT was a $1200 Mitsubishi 22"(20" Viewable) Diamondtron with BNC and D-SUB inputs - it was an 80 pound monster-Good riddance. I replaced it with a Dell 2405WFP and have since gone to a Dell U3011. I think that people who are replacing premium CRT's are looking at cheap LCD's and that is an unfair comparison. The real truth of the matter is that they just miss the warm CRT x-rays that enveloped them as they played DOOM and Half Life and got a nice tan while doing it. Just kidding!

My home office is always the warmest room in the house...between the CPU/GPU heat...and the large Sony Trinitron radiator on top of my desk...it's usually 4-5 degrees warmer in here than any other room.

 

[BoomerD]

Well...it looks like Newegg and I are going to have a chat on Monday. There are some...discrepancies" between what their product page says and the actual product.
1) Warranty. Newegg says 3 years, Samsung says 1 year. The three year warranty was a big factor in this purchase.
2) "Tilt" Newegg says "0 to 20 degrees," but there appears to be no tilt option anywhere on the stand, and there's noting about it in the manual.

NOT happy.
Picture is OK...pretty damned good actually...

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Sad to see another CRT biting the dust. My FW900 is still alive and doing pretty well. Convergence is off, but I can fix that, I just have been too busy to spend a few hours destroying my eyeballs fixing it.

 

[sandorski]

Well...it looks like Newegg and I are going to have a chat on Monday. There are some...discrepancies" between what their product page says and the actual product.
1) Warranty. Newegg says 3 years, Samsung says 1 year. The three year warranty was a big factor in this purchase.
2) "Tilt" Newegg says "0 to 20 degrees," but there appears to be no tilt option anywhere on the stand, and there's noting about it in the manual.

NOT happy.
Picture is OK...pretty damned good actually...

That sucks.

 

[BoomerD]

I didn't notice the cable being thin. I remember it being stiff to the point that it was annoying to manage. But definitely not 1/2"

OK, not quite 1/2", but only slightly smaller than 3/8"...(.0365")

edit: Bah...forgot the picture.

The white cable is the Sony VGA cable, the skinny black cable is the VGA cable that came with the Samsung LCD monitor.

 

[repoman0]

LCD have to smooth the fonts to make them presentable, how is that good ?

I still keep an IBM 21" trinitron based monitor. It is one of the last ones made and has DVI inputs. I haven't seen an LCD yet that can beat it for color reproduction. If you go to studios where they do final output of film you will still find CRT being used. LCD as a technology will always be an emulation of analog color. CRT can vary the output of pixels on a per pixel level by varying the energy put into each pixel, LCD is stuck with a constant back light level until they get LED tech small enough to light each pixel with its own LED.

I think people have looked at LCD so long now that they have become accustomed to the LCD look. If you have never seen a bluray movie playing back on a trinitron screen you are missing out. It is a shame the technology doesn't scale up to lcd screen sizes. Plasma is about as close as it gets.

Because after they're smoothed they look great. CRT is blurry and difficult to read in comparison.

Somewhat agree with you on the rest of the points though. LCD color is still not as good as CRT, but it's pretty damn close. I still like my 2209WA better than I ever liked my Dell/Trinitron 21" (forget the model but it did 1920x1440 at 85hz)

 

[exdeath]

Because after they're smoothed they look great. CRT is blurry and difficult to read in comparison.

Somewhat agree with you on the rest of the points though. LCD color is still not as good as CRT, but it's pretty damn close. I still like my 2209WA better than I ever liked my Dell/Trinitron 21" (forget the model but it did 1920x1440 at 85hz)

If it's blurry you either have a crap CRT or you are trying to run 1600000 x 1200000 @ 10000 hrz through a unshielded spaghetti noodle of a capacitor er I mean cable. :awe:

 

[repoman0]

If it's blurry you either have a crap CRT or you are trying to run 1600000 x 1200000 @ 10000 hrz through a unshielded spaghetti noodle of a capacitor er I mean cable. :awe:

I usually ran 1600x1200 at 100Hz, or sometimes higher if I felt like it (1732x1320 (?) at 90Hz, 1920x1440 at 85). It was a good Dell-branded Trinitron but you might be right about the cable I don't remember what it looked like.

 

[BoomerD]

Well...to my great embarrassment (and relief), Samsung helped me deal with the "tilt" issue...I just didn't apply enough pressure to make it tilt. I was afraid I'd break it...but the rep I spoke to assured me that it wouldn't break...but if it did, she said they'd replace the monitor.
The warranty issue is another story. I spent some time with a Newegg rep this morning...and they'll have to get back to me.


Dammit! Newegg advertises a 3-year warranty, but Samsung says it's only a 1-year warranty.

The longer warranty was a significant part of the decision to buy this monitor.

 

[BoomerD]

It took a full business week, (M-F) but Newegg and I finally resolved the warranty issue. I was right...Samsung only offers a 1 year Mfg. warranty, so Newegg gave me the option of RMA-ing the monitor or getting a 3 year extended warranty. I chose the warranty coverage.

 

[coolpurplefan]

From my own point of view, if you want to get a monitor on your desk, I'd go for 24 inch (or maybe 23 inch) instead of 25 inch. I bought a 25 inch on sale and find it's almost more screen than I'd want right in front of my face. It's cool though for watching Bloomberg. Maybe we'll see the whole world economy implode in the next year. Haha, fun. (I'm kidding a little.)

 

[BoomerD]

From my own point of view, if you want to get a monitor on your desk, I'd go for 24 inch (or maybe 23 inch) instead of 25 inch. I bought a 25 inch on sale and find it's almost more screen than I'd want right in front of my face. It's cool though for watching Bloomberg. Maybe we'll see the whole world economy implode in the next year. Haha, fun. (I'm kidding a little.)

Going from a 19" CRT to the 24" widescreen LCD monitor is going to take some getting used to. It's freaking HUGE by comparison.

(my wife has decided that unless the CRT completely dies, I have to wait for Christmas to get the new monitor"

 

[sandorski]

Going from a 19" CRT to the 24" widescreen LCD monitor is going to take some getting used to. It's freaking HUGE by comparison.

(my wife has decided that unless the CRT completely dies, I have to wait for Christmas to get the new monitor"

Maybe, just maybe, you'll have a 24" gift under the tree?

 

[BoomerD]

Maybe, just maybe, you'll have a 24" gift under the tree?

<sigh> yeah...most likely.

Oddly enough, since the day when I started this thread about the monitor, it's been "behaving." No "popping" noises, no picture resetting...maybe talking about replacing it got its attention.

Part of me STILL wants to make the 125 mile (each way) drive to go get that 21" Sony GS520 CRT for $30...:whiste: It'll cost more in gas to go get it than the guy wants for it...

 

[SonicIce]

<sigh> yeah...most likely.

Oddly enough, since the day when I started this thread about the monitor, it's been "behaving." No "popping" noises, no picture resetting...maybe talking about replacing it got its attention.

Part of me STILL wants to make the 125 mile (each way) drive to go get that 21" Sony GS520 CRT for $30...:whiste: It'll cost more in gas to go get it than the guy wants for it...

i would say wait for one to turn up locally. they're pretty common

 

[BoomerD]

i would say wait for one to turn up locally. they're pretty common

Could be. I haven't seen one in quite a while. It seems like folks are just recycling them rather than selling them.

 

[BoomerD]

Well crap...After dealing with Newegg for about 3 weeks over the discrepancy in warranty on the Samsung monitor:

And not getting the issue resolved, I RMA'd the monitor today.
(After playing games with me for a week, they offered me a three year extended warranty...but I had to pay for it then get it credited back--in 3-5 days...but after 10 days the credit still hadn't gone through)

So...I'm back to looking for a decent monitor. Happily, since I originally started this thread, the Sony Trinitron has been behaving itself. It hasn't done the "<SNAP/POP!> picture reset" once. Still, I know it's starting to go...I'm still kicking around the idea of a good quality CRT as a replacement.