PDA

View Full Version : Some questions about old monitors

CaptNKILL
09-05-04, 11:15 PM
OK, I recently was given some old CRT monitors to do whatever I want with... (me likes handouts).

One is a "digital" (brand name) VRT19-HA that has RGB connectors and a 19" viewable screen (also weighs 75 pounds... after lugging it around a bit, im glad im not using it for LAN parties).

Another is a "leading Technology" 1441V 14".

The "digital" is extremely nice... its quite old, deffinitely early 90s but the screen is gigantic... its an inch bigger than my 19" (mine only has 18" viewable). Problem is, it uses a "sync on green" signal. Which means, the vertical and horizontal sync signals are sent with the green color channel. Sounds ok, but apparently I need a video card that supports output to "sync on green" monitors. I have some Matrox cards that should work, but is there some other way to get this to work with another computer? A huge, high quality screen like that is too good to waste on an ancient video card... plus, i want dual huge-ass monitors :D

I tried it with my 6800GT, once with DVI adapter, once with straight VGA and it wont work. I just get garbled lines and patterns like a bad refresh rate, so its looking like newer cards like this dont support sync-on-green. Its pretty obvious too because the VGA connector for this monitor has like 7 or 8 pins... which is normal for this kind of monitor, but waaay different than most new ones (which have what, 14 or 15? i cant remember). What im wondering is, can I get some sort of adapter or even a driver that can make this work on newer video cards? I dont think id actually use it myself, im starting a computer business and itd be nice to have some hardware to start out with in used machines, but I cant sell someone a decent speed computer with a gigantic monitor and a 10 year old 4Mb Matrox card... I want this running on newer video cards. It also has a Macintosh cable, but... I dont swing that way ;)

As for the other monitor, my sister found it at a garage sale in the free pile and I dont know if its dead or not. The screen displays windows just fine but the picture rolls like a screwed up TV station, is this fixable? Is there anything that can be done? If not, its ok, i planned on shooting it with my 16 Gauge if it didnt work.

Thanks for the help guys :)
SlyBoots
09-06-04, 07:11 PM
http://www.si87.com/Products/Cabling/Adapters/adapters.html

Maybe one of the 'sync adapters' listed here will work for you?
CaptNKILL
09-06-04, 09:03 PM
http://www.si87.com/Products/Cabling/Adapters/adapters.html

Maybe one of the 'sync adapters' listed here will work for you?
Hmm, nice find. I think one of those will work... $50 is really steap though, ill see if i can find one cheaper.

What about the other monitor? Does a rolling picture mean its dead? Pretty simple question, I just havent seen many dead monitors in my days as a tech, and this is the first ive seen with a rolling picture.
CaptNKILL
09-06-04, 10:02 PM
Ok it looks like a sync adapter\converter is my only option. The Matrox cards arent working with it either... id need to do some driver level changes to get it working, and id rather not go through all that when i have another monitor here that works just fine.

Anyone know where i can find a sync converter\adapter for a good price? Or does anyone know of any message boards or similar places that I might be able to find people with odd hardware like this? I cant even find any sync converters on ebay...

Id buy one, but not for $50... thats quite a bit for a little tiny box.
kraigc
09-06-04, 11:08 PM
Dont know how good you are with building cables or modifying existing ones, but these articles might help you.

http://www.hut.fi/Misc/Electronics/circuits/sync_r.html
http://www.hut.fi/Misc/Electronics/circuits/vga2rgbs.html
CaptNKILL
09-06-04, 11:25 PM
That looks a bit out of my league... if I knew an electrician that could help me figure that out better, id do it, but i dont really understand most of that. Ive only done very basic PCB\wire soldering projects, nothing like that.

Thanks for the tip though, ill consider it.

EDIT: Check the diagram on that first link, does anyone know how to read it exactly? I dont know what the "o", "!" , "___" and "---" mean. If i knew what it all meant I think i could probably do that pretty easily.
kraigc
09-07-04, 11:04 AM
the 'o' is a tie in, the '!' and '---' are just signal paths. the '_' is a leg of off the transistor. If I had the materials, I *might* be inclined to do it. I'm an aircraft electrician, so I have to do that crap on a daily basis.
CaptNKILL
09-07-04, 11:34 AM
So what exactly would I need for that?
100uF Condensator (no idea what this is)
680E resistor (i know what this is)
BC548 transistor (i think i know what this is)
1K resistor (i know what this is too)
Would I need a different VGA connector to go with this? Because i dont think there are enough pins to work with on the original.

Also, a tie-in is just 2 wires wrapped together, soldered and taped right?

EDIT: Also, where the heck can i find parts like these? :P
kraigc
09-07-04, 06:02 PM
radioshack is your friend in this case
CaptNKILL
09-07-04, 07:05 PM
ah, ok

ill go there tomorrow to see what they have

and someone please tell me, yes or no... rolling picture on an old monitor: worth fixing or not?
I dont want to throw it out (shoot it) if I can still use it on an old computer... but i really need some more floor space in my room. So if its dead, its going out back :D
SlyBoots
09-08-04, 08:54 PM
ah, ok

ill go there tomorrow to see what they have

and someone please tell me, yes or no... rolling picture on an old monitor: worth fixing or not?
I dont want to throw it out (shoot it) if I can still use it on an old computer... but i really need some more floor space in my room. So if its dead, its going out back :D

http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/monfaq.htm#monrwphb

that sound like the problem?

more> http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/monfaq.htm
CaptNKILL
09-09-04, 03:54 AM
http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/monfaq.htm#monrwphb

that sound like the problem?

more> http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/monfaq.htm
No thats something else... mine just rolls like a TV station. Like the whole picture moves down to the bottom, then starts at the top and goes down then over and over real fast. Like its continuously scrolling from top to bottom.

Its looking like its pretty dead since no one knows what this is:p
CaptNKILL
09-15-04, 03:11 AM
You guys arent going to believe this (and you probably dont give a damn :p) but I was JUST about to toss that old monitor out, the screen rolling one. I tried it on a computer one last time, still rolling screen. I was going to cut the VGA adapter off the end so i could reuse it. Upon inspection of the adapter, I saw a horribly bent pin.

I straightened it out with some pliers and tried it again... VOILA, WORKS FINE! The screen has no size adjustments so its a bit off center, and seems to only support up to 640x480, but Im happy :D

I was a bit disapointed because I wanted to shoot it and I needed the space it was taking up... but i rearranged my room and also found some other things to shoot, so now niether of those are a problem.

Eventually ill probably make the adapter for that big ass workstation monitor, but for right now, it makes a great shelf. ;)

BTW, Id still like to BUY an adapter for that monitor. If anyone can find an alternate source, id be extremely gratefull.

Thanks