CRT Calibration
Just a quick update on the 21″ Sony Trinitron Last weekend. After spending some time with this TV I’ve managed to get it calibrated and fixed a few issues. Sometimes these old TVs need a bit of tweaking after years of service. Sometimes its due to the consoles outputting a slightly different signal that was calibrated for in the factory. This can cause the image to be not cantered correctly.
Here is before (Left) and after (Right) photos of the 21″ KV-X2182U.
|
|
As you can see, the image is now much better aligned. I was also able to make improvements to the geometry to straighten the edges near the screen edge.
|
|
|
All the adjustments were done in the Service mode. Photos really don’t do justice to a CRT image.
Another problem I fixed was to disable the Auto 16:9 switching mode. Depending on how the scart cables are wired, this TV would almost always go widescreen on AV1-RGB. It was annoying to have to press the aspect button the remote every time. In Service TT mode, I switched off TT14 (“Forced AV 16:9 Detection On/Off”). Also when using an RGB signal with composite video for cync it would default to composite mode. I’d have to press the AV button again to access RGB mode. TT18 enables RGB priority on this TV. Perfect, now the TV just uses 4:3 and RGB (if present) as default.
I’ve been very impressed with this set. The image is so clean and sharp. It might even be one of the best screens I’ve ever seen for displaying 240p, apart from professional PVMs. 480i is also clean and flicker free. Sony really knew how to make a good TV. For my tests I used the 240p Test Suite from my Mega Drive for most of the calibration, then run it again from the Dreamcast to check 480i display modes. Now I’m happy with this units setting I’m going to give it a clean inside and try to remove some of the dust from the chassis board.
Soon I’ll take a closer look at the 25″ TV.
Hi, I have just picked up a KV-25F1U, but can’t get the service mode to work. The online manual says to switch the TV on to standy, and then on the remote press OSD (i+) > 5 > Volume+ > TV, but as soon as I press “5” it just switches on and to channel 5. Any advice on how to access the service menu please? Thanks.
There is a quiet degauss sound on cold start, It’s a good point though I wonder if the degauss coil is working properly? When it’s facing south there is a colour purity issue in the top left corner and the screen tilts to the right. I’m going to open it up to clean out the dust, not sure if i’ll be able to spot anything but worth a go.
It should be a loud “Thud” or “Dunk” noise. Sounds like the degauss isnt working. Its controlled by a thermister that allows AC voltage through the coil for just a second then breaks the connection. This is done by heat, and thats why degauss dosnt happen if you turn off and on again quicly. The thirmister needs to cool down. If the part is faulty it dosnt open and voltage dosnt get to the coil. Not sure yo will see anything unless its burnt out.
Thanks, thats’ really useful. I have a couple of PVMs and the JVC DT-V series in particular has what I might term ‘aggressive degaussing’ It’s loud enough to scare the cat 🙂 Love the site by the way! I refurbed an Astro City this year so i’ve enjoyed your NUC post. 🙂
Hi 👋
I’ve just picked up the same model and I’ve been very impressed by the image quality. For anyone wanting to understand the service menu search for the official service manual, it gives a clear explanation of each setting.
My screen has a tilt to the right unfortunately which needs fixing. There is a tilt setting in the service mode but it doesn’t rotate the screen 🙁
Hi. No tilt/rotate setting unfortunatly. You mighht have to open the TV and chech the yoke isnt loose.
A bit more tinkering and I’ve found that rotating the entire TV to face north east fixes the issue entirely. I’ve read about magnetic forces affecting CRTs before but not sure why it’s so noticeable on this one 🙂
Does it degauss when switching on from cold? It should make a “Dunk!”sound when powering on. If so then it demagnetizes the tube automaticly.
Sorry I clicked reply in the wrong place. 🙁
Hi! I don’t know if my comment got removed as spam or something.
As an update, thanks to your description, I managed to turn off auto 16:9 and turn on RGB by default, so thanks a lot!
My problem is that I still don’t know how to adjust the horizontal offset since my image is also offcentered.
Hi!
I think I have a quite similar model of Trinitron, KV-X2103E (it’s the Spanish model, but I think the KV-X2102 should be the same in UK).
I have the exact same annoyances, but I don’t know how to fix it.
It’s off-centred to the left, it defaults to 16:9 and I need to manually switch to RGB.
I managed to access the Service Menu, but I don’t know how to operate it. The only thing I seem to be able to do is to input a number next to TT – ( ) , but I don’t really know what does it do.
I’d really appreciate your help.