Is my monitor on its last legs?

[Ian Stark]

Hi all,

I have a 'mature' (OK, ancient) JVC 14" monitor which has served me well, if only for focusing purposes. I have always known that the colour was not great but until tonight I didn't realise quite HOW not great!

I got fed up having to cart the big old 14" monitor around so I recently bought a second hand but immaculate 9" JVC monitor.

I have just hooked the two together and to my horror, when I viewed a white background frame, the 14" monitor has a VERY obvious blue cast to it that no amount of tweaking can get rid of! The 9" monitor, on the other hand, is bright white. Like I said, it's only now that I realise how bad the old monitor really is.

So my question is, is this a sign that the old monitor is on its last legs? Is there anything that can be done to treat the problem or have the tubes given their last?

All advice welcomed.

Cheers,

Ian . . .

[Paul Del Vecchio]

I actually have the same problem, except mine has a warm cast over it.... I don't think there's much that can be done. Am I wrong?

[Chris Soucy]

You could try getting them in front of a techie who really knows CRT systems.

There's all sorts of stuff a welll equipped tech can do to "temporarily" resurect ageing crt's, tho' it's possible they only require correct calibration of the guns etc.

If as you say the term "ancient" applies, the electronics will have drifted, capacitors dried out, resistors gone completely off value etc etc etc.

In some cases the tube can go "gassy" which is unfixable, but a slight drop in one or more of the guns can possibly be tweaked out.

It basically comes down to finance. Getting a techy on the case for two or three hours could work wonders, but is the box really worth the $$$$ it's going to cost?

For such ancient boxes, you could spend the dosh only to have the CRT go "fitzed" three days later. As the "fitzed" won't be the techies fault, it won't have any sort of warranty, so another box on the tip and a heap out of pocket.

Guess it's your call - is it worth it to fix the old, or better to spend on a new warrantied unit?


CS

[Glenn Chan]

It might simply be a difference in color temperature.

You might be able to adjust the gain on R, G, B to get color temperature to match.

Display white on both monitors and match away. Your eyes kind of AWB to what it's looking at so it gets somewhat tricky when you're close.

2- I recommend that you try to get all the white points of your monitor to match.

[Ervin Farkas]

Keep your watchful eye on the DVi classifieds, eBay, Craigslist, or some other marketplace (better yet, all of them). With the TV studios changing over to HD, they are literally throwing out their SD monitors.

I got a truckload of Sony studio monitors for less than $150 on eBay (for the truckload, not each!), with local pickup here in Atlanta - four 20" monitors and two 25" monitors. Half of them are in perfect shape, I use some at my church, one at home, and I have given away one to a friend.