Sony G400 CRT problem identification ...

Hello,

I am hoping that someone can help me identify the problem(s) with
a Sony G400 19" CRT that I recently was given. After connecting and
powering on the G400, the display showed these symptoms:

1) The picture was far too bright. Black displays as a light gray.
Adjusting the brightness through the onscreen menu makes no
difference.

2) Vertical retrace lines are clearly visible (white or very light
gray) as a zig zag pattern. From the bottom left of the monitor a
line will go diagonally to about an inch above the bottom on the
right, then go straight back to the left side, etc. Repeats about
twelve times. The retrace lines get closer together as they get to
the top of the monitor.

3) There are very bright lines on both edges of the picture. If I
reduce the horizontal picture size (by decreasing the horizontal size
in the onscreen menu), the bright lines move with the picture. Could
these be the horizontal retrace lines ?

4) The display seems a bit fuzzy. Text is hard to read at 1280x1024
on a monitor that should support 1600x1200. This could easily be due
to point 1), but I decided to mention it in case it is a important
detail.

5) All of the onscreen menu options work, with the exception of the
horizontal position slider. Varying that slider does not change the
picture in any way. The vertical position slider does work, as do both
horizontal and vertical size sliders.

6) Leaving the monitor on for 45 minutes did not improve any of the
symptoms.


After reading the Monitor repair FAQ (
http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/monfaq.htm ), I think that this is
probably a failure of the blanking system (misadjustment, a power
supply or connection issue, or a failure of the blanking circuit).
However I can't find a mention of anything like 5) in the FAQ (which
could be due more to reader error rather than absence of the
information), and I think it is probably telling me something
important.

Has anyone seen these symptoms, either alone or together ? I am
fairly certain that 1) to 4) form a group caused by a single defect,
but I hope that 1) to 5) can narrow the failed (loose) or misadjusted
component a bit more. Can anyone tell me how best to proceed with an
attempted repair on this monitor ? In addition, I don't know how long
the monitor has been in this state. Is there likely to be permenant
damage if the monitor was run this way for an extended period of time
?

Thanks very much for any help or suggestions.

Search the monitor repair forum here
http://www.network54.com/Forum/87612
Common problem usually easily remedied by a simple hardware mod

Wayne

On 21 Oct 2004 09:38:41 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) (erik vogan)
wrote:

>Hello,
>
> I am hoping that someone can help me identify the problem(s) with
>a Sony G400 19" CRT that I recently was given. After connecting and
>powering on the G400, the display showed these symptoms:
>
>1) The picture was far too bright. Black displays as a light gray.
>Adjusting the brightness through the onscreen menu makes no
>difference.
>
>2) Vertical retrace lines are clearly visible (white or very light
>gray) as a zig zag pattern. From the bottom left of the monitor a
>line will go diagonally to about an inch above the bottom on the
>right, then go straight back to the left side, etc. Repeats about
>twelve times. The retrace lines get closer together as they get to
>the top of the monitor.
>
>3) There are very bright lines on both edges of the picture. If I
>reduce the horizontal picture size (by decreasing the horizontal size
>in the onscreen menu), the bright lines move with the picture. Could
>these be the horizontal retrace lines ?
>
>4) The display seems a bit fuzzy. Text is hard to read at 1280x1024
>on a monitor that should support 1600x1200. This could easily be due
>to point 1), but I decided to mention it in case it is a important
>detail.
>
>5) All of the onscreen menu options work, with the exception of the
>horizontal position slider. Varying that slider does not change the
>picture in any way. The vertical position slider does work, as do both
>horizontal and vertical size sliders.
>
>6) Leaving the monitor on for 45 minutes did not improve any of the
>symptoms.
>
>
> After reading the Monitor repair FAQ (
>http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/monfaq.htm ), I think that this is
>probably a failure of the blanking system (misadjustment, a power
>supply or connection issue, or a failure of the blanking circuit).
>However I can't find a mention of anything like 5) in the FAQ (which
>could be due more to reader error rather than absence of the
>information), and I think it is probably telling me something
>important.
>
> Has anyone seen these symptoms, either alone or together ? I am
>fairly certain that 1) to 4) form a group caused by a single defect,
>but I hope that 1) to 5) can narrow the failed (loose) or misadjusted
>component a bit more. Can anyone tell me how best to proceed with an
>attempted repair on this monitor ? In addition, I don't know how long
>the monitor has been in this state. Is there likely to be permenant
>damage if the monitor was run this way for an extended period of time
>?
>
> Thanks very much for any help or suggestions.