Trapezoidal distortion on Sony 17 SE II monitor

[Dave C]

I have a 6 year old Sony 17 SE II monitor which is still a great monitor
except that it has developed a severe trapezoidal (keystone?) distortion,
broad at the top and narrow at the bottom.

My local PC repair shop says that they need to replace a board which will
take about 4 weeks to obtain from Sony. Total repair cost will be about
$160.

Looks to me like it is only a single component on a board; a toasted cap or
resistor? Doesn't anybody do component level repairs anymore? Would save a
lot of time and money.

Any ideas; or should I junk it?

Thanks,

DaveLC

 

[Jerry G.]

If the service rep wants to change the complete board, there may be a more
complex problem than just a simple cap. These monitors use high density SMD
technology on most of the boards. These boards are not usually cost
effective to service at the component level, unless it is a simple problem.
Special soldering tools, and equipment are require to change the high
density devices on these boards, which most service companies don't find it
worth to invest in. Many of these boards are very complex, and cannot be
troubleshooted with the standard bench type test instruments.

If your monitor is not a very high end unit, it would not be worth to
service. Also, considering that it is six years old, there may not be too
many hours left on the tube. There are also potentially many other parts
that can fail from age. You may get in to a situation where the monitor
will require periodic service, considering its age.

If you are interested to have a CRT monitor for the next number of years, it
may be a good idea to get a new one now. In about a year or so, the major
manufactures will no longer be making CRT type monitors. For computer
applications, they are going to be manufacturing LCD type monitors only.

--

Greetings,

Jerry Greenberg GLG Technologies GLG
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I have a 6 year old Sony 17 SE II monitor which is still a great monitor
except that it has developed a severe trapezoidal (keystone?) distortion,
broad at the top and narrow at the bottom.

My local PC repair shop says that they need to replace a board which will
take about 4 weeks to obtain from Sony. Total repair cost will be about
$160.

Looks to me like it is only a single component on a board; a toasted cap or
resistor? Doesn't anybody do component level repairs anymore? Would save a
lot of time and money.

Any ideas; or should I junk it?

Thanks,

DaveLC

 

[Rick]

If you are interested to have a CRT monitor for the next number of years, it
may be a good idea to get a new one now. In about a year or so, the major
manufactures will no longer be making CRT type monitors. For computer
applications, they are going to be manufacturing LCD type monitors only.

Jerry, on what do you base that last claim? There are plenty of
graphics pros and others who still require a CRT's greater color
gamut. LCDs just aren't there yet, unless one spends a few
thousand dollars (and even then, most LCDs aren't as good).

Rick

 

[BOB URZ]

Jerry, on what do you base that last claim? There are plenty of
graphics pros and others who still require a CRT's greater color
gamut. LCDs just aren't there yet, unless one spends a few
thousand dollars (and even then, most LCDs aren't as good).

Rick

While i don't totally disagree with Jerry about replacing the board issue, there
are alternatives. Most problems in monitors are bad caps or bad solder
connections. Its a pain to get to the under sides on some monitors boards,
but it must be done. Then anything suspicious is resoldered. Every cap is
checked in circuit with a ESR meter. If your lucky, you might catch the bad ones.
Is this 100%? No. Have i fixed a LOT of monitors this way? Yes.


Bob

 

[Andy Cuffe]

Jerry, on what do you base that last claim? There are plenty of
graphics pros and others who still require a CRT's greater color
gamut. LCDs just aren't there yet, unless one spends a few
thousand dollars (and even then, most LCDs aren't as good).

Rick

I just checked Sony's web site and they no longer list any new CRT
monitors under 21". The only smaller ones I could find on their web
site were in a section called 'clearance' and are refurbished. It looks
like Sony has gotten out of the CRT monitor market except for high end
users. I've always considered Sony to be the leader in CRT monitors.
I'm sure it will be a few years before other major monitor manufacturers
do the same thing and even then, there will be off brand CRTs available
for some time.

 

[Jerry Greenberg]

Check out thre following:



Sony To Stop All Production Of CRT Monitors And CRT type TV Sets. They
will produce other display technologies for the main stream.

http://www.nestor.minsk.by/kge/0_net/3102107.html

--

Hitachi, the same as the above.

http://www.itworld.com/Comp/3952/IDG010726hitachi/

--

Toshiba, the same as the above.

http://asia.tech.yahoo.com/031108/afp/031108220658aht.html

--

Panasonic, and Samsung are soon to officialy announce the same as the
above.

--

Infact, most of the major manufactures actualy stopped making the
tubes about a year ago. The are presently using up the present stock.
The prediction is that they will be out of them by August 2004, when
most of them are planning to roll the last ones off the assembly
lines. This is the reason for the drastic drop in CRT monitor prices.
Infact, a typical CRT monitor is selling for less than the actual
manufacture price. They are trying to get rid of them. The prices
are going to start dropping again in the new year approaching the
summer months, to accelerate the depletion of their inventories.

This has to do with many reasons, such as the very high demand for the
LCD types. Sony will be making only 2 or 3 models of very high end CRT
monitors, but they will be very expensive. The manufactures are also
supposed to be comming out with some very good LCD computer monitors
that are supposed to be very much like a discent CRT type.

They are under an extreme pressure to deal with the environmental
problem from the disposing of the old CRT's. The chemicals that are
in these tubes are extremely toxic, and damaging to the environment.

There is also the mass power savings from the use of LCD screens. On
the average they consume about 1/3 to 1/4 of the power of a CRT
monitor for the same size of screen.


Jerry Greenberg

 

[Rick]

Check out thre following:
This has to do with many reasons, such as the very high demand for the
LCD types. Sony will be making only 2 or 3 models of very high end CRT
monitors, but they will be very expensive. The manufactures are also
supposed to be comming out with some very good LCD computer monitors
that are supposed to be very much like a discent CRT type.

They've been promising "very much like a decent CRT" for
years now. At least with regard to color gamut, so far LCDs
have ranged from fair to pathetic, with the vast majority being
toward the latter.

They are under an extreme pressure to deal with the environmental
problem from the disposing of the old CRT's. The chemicals that are
in these tubes are extremely toxic, and damaging to the environment.

As if computer monitors are any different than TVs? It really
sounds like an excuse more than anything else -- simply because
profit margins are higher on LCDs than on CRTs.

There is also the mass power savings from the use of LCD screens. On
the average they consume about 1/3 to 1/4 of the power of a CRT
monitor for the same size of screen.

Again, that doesn't explain direct view TV, which continue to
outsell all other types.

I'll be amazed if the industry gets away with phasing out CRTs
within the next year or two -- there are far too many people
who need their better color gamut, resolution flexibility etc.

Rick

 

[John Gill]

Dave:
What is the full FCC number on your Sony ?
I have a couple of Dell/Sony main chassis boards from the FCC GDM17SE2T
series. I have never seen your problem on one of these, but I have seen
narrow screens caused by a small transformer going bad.
John