bikerdude on 12/4/2006 at 17:07
Quote Posted by Aja
BREAKING NEWS
Took apart this monitor this morning, sure enough there was a small black box with three (plastic) knobs - one for horizontal focus, one for vertical focus, and one marked "screen". It was a sensitive little bugger but I managed to adjust it so the blacks are pitch. It looks wonderful now.
Thanks guys, you saved me a trip to the repair shop!
Well done that man!
noisycricket on 12/4/2006 at 19:32
Heya guys, I have a theory about getting games with shadows to look exellent. I was going to explain it, but Im running short of time so I'll just post a link to a post I made. But basically, just try resetting you brightness levels on both the monitor and vid card settings and see how it looks. On my LCD, I had to turn the brightness setting down to 5 in the Thief 3 settings.
(
http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=34652#34652)
I really hope this helps.
Hopefully I didn't just forget how good the game looks on my CTR :angel:
I'd be really intrested to hear your results.
Neil_McCauley on 20/4/2006 at 02:18
Hey, this is a bit off-topic, but as there seem to be several people who know about CRT monitors, so:
My old CRT monitor seems to have a problem. It was in storage for a few years, then started using it again recently. Just today, I was using my paper shredder, which sits next to it. I heard the sound system crackle a little, which sits under the monitor. Then I go to turn on the computer, and the monitor turned on but then the little light started flashing orange. It's a Trinitron;it normally is green if the CPU is on, orange if not. It's like it tried to start up but failed. Any ideas as to what could be wrong? Is it dead? I so loved playing Jedi Knight on that old computer... :( :(
Luthien on 20/4/2006 at 11:47
The orange flashing light usually means that the monitor does recognize the video signal.
Check the video cable and make sure it's plugged into the right video card (e.g. if you have one on the mainboard and a separate one).
If all else fails, read the manual.
Neil_McCauley on 20/4/2006 at 13:01
Quote Posted by Luthien
The orange flashing light usually means that the monitor does recognize the video signal.
Check the video cable and make sure it's plugged into the right video card (e.g. if you have one on the mainboard and a separate one).
If all else fails, read the manual.
Thanks, Luthien, I hope you are right! Strange, that this would happen out of the blue. Or not, I guess. I'll try to find the manual. I was looking forward to playing System Shock 2 on it!
Domarius on 20/4/2006 at 14:58
You need another computer and another monitor to find out which is broken - the computer, the video card, or the monitor.
Basically you have to try each one out in a system that you know works. Well in the case of your whole computer, you need to try it with the monitor and video card from the working computer.
It's a good chance your monitor died, being old... left in storage maybe it collected moisture or dust or rust or something. But the fact that the crackling noise came out of your speakers might suggest something more sinister - something internal to the computer...
Neil_McCauley on 21/4/2006 at 13:51
Quote Posted by Domarius
You need another computer and another monitor to find out which is broken - the computer, the video card, or the monitor.
Basically you have to try each one out in a system that you know works. Well in the case of your whole computer, you need to try it with the monitor and video card from the working computer.
It's a good chance your monitor died, being old... left in storage maybe it collected moisture or dust or rust or something. But the fact that the crackling noise came out of your speakers might suggest something more sinister - something internal to the computer...
The CPU works fine, I can start the computer and use keyboard commands to move around. From what I know from searching around on the web, the blinking light means there's a power problem. I turn it on, the green light comes on, then the amber light starts flashing like this: on for 1.5 seconds, with .5 seconds between. Apparently if the amber light is on for 1.5 seconds, it means power-related problem (I don't know what that involves), .5 seconds on means video signal problem. I can say that the video signal isn't the problem. I've put in an email to Micron support, but as my system is so old, well, we'll see.
I'm saddened by this, as I liked having a CRT monitor for gaming (specifically old games, as the PC it's attached to is from 99). Thief looked great on it, but because of the limitations of the sound card, I couldn't play it on this system. Dammit. Is it possible to get it repaired, and would it be expensive?
Thanks for your advice.
Domarius on 21/4/2006 at 16:15
No, people don't repair CRTs. The system inside is so cross-wired that it would cost ridiculous amounts in labour time. The answer is always to buy a new one.
You can still get them you know (thank god).
Neil_McCauley on 25/4/2006 at 13:28
Quote Posted by Domarius
No, people don't repair CRTs. The system inside is so cross-wired that it would cost ridiculous amounts in labour time. The answer is always to buy a new one.
You can still get them you know (thank god).
I've found a few CRTs on Craig's List; I'm going to check them out. What do you all think of the IBM G78?
I'm itching to play Thief on a CRT after all this time of playing it on my laptop. I think I can hook up an external monitor. Yay.
EDIT: I now have the IBM CRT. Only 17", but better image than my old one. Sweet.
