Is it just me, or have any of you noticed that new sets just don't have alot of variation in the brightness setting? I thought I read somewhere that new picture tubes aren't as good as the old ones when they were new. I broke down and decided to get a NEW set for my bedroom and got one of those Sony 24" Wega's. The picture seems pretty good, but I noticed that when a "scene" in a program is at night or in dim lighting that it is hard to see the picture. (anything black is REALLY black) I noticed this on different brands in the store and with people who have gotten new sets. Maxing out the brightness doesn't seem to help. I don't remember the Zeniths "back in the day" looking like that out of the box. I also noticed that the build quality seemed a tad shoddy on this new set as well. What the hell? Is Sony even going the route of "It will last till the warranty expires then go to hell"? Anyway, would like your comments on this! Thanks!

Originally posted by jstout66
Is Sony even going the route of "It will last till the warranty expires then go to hell"? Anyway, would like your comments on this! Thanks!

I have a friend with the sony set, 27 inch vega tv and the vhs/dvd combo. the DVD is not what i'd consider happy, it won't play home brewed CDs nor VCDs at all, and CDs skip something horrid. He told a friend of mine he didn't see a problem, but I know for a fact he told me he rents VHS tapes from blockbuster cause the DVDs won't play on his set, thinking there is something wrong with the blockbuster DVDs.

To make things worse, the warrenty on this unit is only 3 months for parts/labor, then it's just 1 year on parts, no labor. I never worked right out of the box.

An Apex at walmart, one of those sub $50 players outpeforms this Sony DVD player. If I'm not mistaken, the Apex uses a standard PC transport, so even if it buggers up after the warrenty expires, it's only a $20.00 for a PC DVD drive, 8 screws and two cables if my facts are correct. If it's not the Apex, i'd have to do some hunting around to see who makes a home dvd player with a PC transport.

I've not been happy with Sony quality control as of late. It's my belief they are cutting costs in order to keep China from totally taking over the home electronics market.

OH NO! I bought a Sony VCR/DVD combo at the same time I got the set.

Originally posted by jstout66
OH NO! I bought a Sony VCR/DVD combo at the same time I got the set.

No idea if it the one I bought, when I was looking around I found that the Sony combo I was looking at was a rebadged Samsung so I bought the Samsung at about $50 cheaper. Have no problems reading DVD, CD, CD-R.

Rob

Originally posted by merrylander
No idea if it the one I bought, when I was looking around I found that the Sony combo I was looking at was a rebadged Samsung so I bought the Samsung at about $50 cheaper. Have no problems reading DVD, CD, CD-R.

Rob

I've had NO issues with Magnavox DVD players playing CDs, DVDs, and CD-r / CD-rws. I made sure to bring CD-rs with CD and VCD / SVCD to see if it will read what I toss at it.

I'm willing to believe that my friend just has a bum unit.... which happens.... it's just the lame warrenty has expired already and damned if I can reccomend to anyone paying labor on something who's replacement value is sub $50.00 for something with a full warrenty.

But, there is a way to get more brightenss from your sony wega. You have to go into the service manu, and access the sub. brightness control.

(WARNING-WARNING!!) What I am about to tell you, should be done ONLY if you are famaiiar with tv's and menu-driven ones in particular. if not, then, leave the set alone, or get someone to do the adjustment, that will do it without messing up some critical areas, on the service menu. I take NO responsibility, for the use, or misuse, of the information i will post here.

With the set "off", push the following buttons on the remote, in rapid succession: display, 5, volume up, and then power. the set will come on, and the service menu will be displayed ,in green, on the crt.

you are looking for a function labbled "sub brt", or "s brt" (it is labelled differently, on different sets) use the "2" button to navigate through the various menus on the screen, ( DO NOT touch ANY of the deflection or greyscale settings!) the one you are looking for will probably be in with others in the drive level controls for the crt. when you find this group of controls,( the group of drive controls,),use buttons "1" and"4", to toggle up and down, through the groups, until you find this one, you are looking for.use the "3" button to raise the level( on the right side of the screen, there will be a number, like "12", or something, raise this a few notches , until the screen is visibly brighter). if you go too high, use the "6" button to lower it. (DO NOT change any other settings, unless you know what you are setting, or the set needs it).

once you raise this level, you need to store it to the eeprom. when you are satisfied, that you have the brightness level you desire(don't go too high, or you will not be able to turn down the brightness on the normal menu enough, and things will look washed out), then, push "mute", on the remote. you will see a word "write" appear on the screen. then push "enter", and the word"write", will change color. now, turn off the set, and the new setting will be in effect.

If you do make a mistake, and are not sure what you have done, when in the service menu, don't make things worse, by randonly changing things. just push "power,", DO NOT PUSH MUTE, and the set will revert back to its original settings, this is nice, about this kind of system. if you do mess up(and I have MANY times), you can get out of it, easy.

Good luck, and BE CAREFUL.

Here on the ship, the captain just bought a new Sony Wega flatscreen to go in the crew's lounge. We've got satellite hooked up to it, and quite frankly, we're disappointed with the picture quality too. The old Panasonic we had seemed a lot better. Doesn't seem very impressive for a Sony.

Originally posted by rca2000
But, there is a way to get more brightenss from your sony wega. You have to go into the service manu, and access the sub. brightness control.

(WARNING-WARNING!!) What I am about to tell you, should be done ONLY if you are famaiiar with tv's and menu-driven ones in particular. if not, then, leave the set alone, or get someone to do the adjustment, that will do it without messing up some critical areas, on the service menu. I take NO responsibility, for the use, or misuse, of the information i will post here.

With the set "off", push the following buttons on the remote, in rapid succession: display, 5, volume up, and then power. the set will come on, and the service menu will be displayed ,in green, on the crt.

you are looking for a function labbled "sub brt", or "s brt" (it is labelled differently, on different sets) use the "2" button to navigate through the various menus on the screen, ( DO NOT touch ANY of the deflection or greyscale settings!) the one you are looking for will probably be in with others in the drive level controls for the crt. when you find this group of controls,( the group of drive controls,),use buttons "1" and"4", to toggle up and down, through the groups, until you find this one, you are looking for.use the "3" button to raise the level( on the right side of the screen, there will be a number, like "12", or something, raise this a few notches , until the screen is visibly brighter). if you go too high, use the "6" button to lower it. (DO NOT change any other settings, unless you know what you are setting, or the set needs it).

once you raise this level, you need to store it to the eeprom. when you are satisfied, that you have the brightness level you desire(don't go too high, or you will not be able to turn down the brightness on the normal menu enough, and things will look washed out), then, push "mute", on the remote. you will see a word "write" appear on the screen. then push "enter", and the word"write", will change color. now, turn off the set, and the new setting will be in effect.

If you do make a mistake, and are not sure what you have done, when in the service menu, don't make things worse, by randonly changing things. just push "power,", DO NOT PUSH MUTE, and the set will revert back to its original settings, this is nice, about this kind of system. if you do mess up(and I have MANY times), you can get out of it, easy.

Good luck, and BE CAREFUL.

I agree with your warning. I have a hidden service menu on my CTC185A7 RCA XL-100 (saw a technician bring it up once), but don't know how to bring it up--and I don't *want* to know. (I don't know if my set's menus have an escape function, either.) I knew pretty much what I was doing when I adjusted my old sets (all of which had the old potentiometer controls for height, linearity, etc.) thirty-some years ago, but these new ones with all adjustments accessible only in software as menu controls...well, I wouldn't touch those service menus with a 10-foot pole, unless and only unless I knew exactly what each control did (and I don't on my CTC185, as its service "menu" only shows a row of numbers on-screen when it is invoked--one needs the set's service notes to find out the different menu functions). One can do incredible damage to today's sets by random fiddling with those hidden service menus. If you don't know what you're doing, for Pete's sake stay away from them!

and another thing I want to bitch about on this set. The convergency seems a tad "off" You can see it while looking at any printing on the screen. What the hell is up with that? I thought one did not need to worry about that with a Trinitron. It's got a single gun, so how can it be off?? I am NOT happy with this set at all. I think I'll make the store take it back for another brand. Anybody else have any new Sony "gripes"????

It may not be a Trinitron. I bought a 27" Sony from Crutchfield two years ago and it had a Gold Star tube in it! :mad:

Are you sure about that? I've never seen a Sony color TV without Sony's easy to spot cylindrical CRT (at least until the wegas came out). I have seen TV/VCR combos that used a Sony CRT, but goldstar electronics. I've also seen some low end Trinitron CRTs that used a standard in-line electron gun.

Yep, there was no doubt as it had a Gold Star label pasted on the tube. I was appalled to say the least. I didn't keep the set much longer after that as it developed audio problems that I couldn''t get resolved. BTW, it was made (or assembled) in Mexico. I have since purchased two Panasonic sets, one of them a Tau and am fairly happy with them.

Originally posted by jstout66
The convergency seems a tad "off" You can see it while looking at any printing on the screen. What the hell is up with that? I thought one did not need to worry about that with a Trinitron. It's got a single gun, so how can it be off??

EVERY UK Trinitron Sony I've ever seen has had misconvergence problems - either in the top left or top right of the screen. Mine is top left; it also needed a whole new motherboard 2 weeks after I bought it, due to duff control software. I've had the TV seven years now and other than that it's been fine, but that convergence problem is still there.

All Sony 14inch portables I've seen (in the UK at least) seem to have problems with degaussing - they always seem to have a random "splodge" of colour distortion somewhere on the screen.

Oh yeah - SOny VHS videos in my experience are unmittigated horseplops, and I've not got on too well with their portable MD units either. Let's not even mention their early DVD players (£450 for a player with lipsync problems at random since day 1) or their CD players - my first CD player was a Sony and it spent 5 months out of the first 12 in the repair shop - due to a design fault transport they were offloading from the previous year's range...

My next TV won't be a Sony I don't think - that's for sure.

BTW - does that service mode key sequence work on UK spec Sony TVs??

I'm curious, was it a Trinitron CRT that had the goldstar logo?

I'd like to know as well. If Sony is attached to GoldStar somehow, that would be bad. As for the convergency issues, a true Trinitron tube should never have that problem. They only have 1 gun so there is nothing to allign. Also...... Apex isn't tied in with Sony are they? Heard a rumor and thought it was odd that Apex offers a 24" set. My Wega is a 24" set, and why would both companies offer such an ODD size?? I'm just po'd that the only sets I ever bought turned out to be such "dogs". I bought an RCA CTC-185 in 2000. The picture is great but it is developing sound "issues". The Sony I just got has a CRAPPY picture and the sound is "odd". I've had OLD Sony's in the past that were great. That's what I get for buying a new set........

I can't remember if the cabinet said "Trinitron" or not. I assumed it did. But the picture tube had a white and orange paper label that said "Gold Star". I saw it when I tried to solve its intermittant audio problem. That and the picture tube had a slightly uneven front surface that bothered me. It had bad audio even when it worked. It was a real POS.

trinitrons have 3 guns like any other crt and need convergence adjustments just the same.
the one gun is a bunch of bull.
it has 3 cathodes .
a true one gun would have only one.
what is more unique about a trinitron is it's cylindrical screen and electrostatic h convergence.

Originally posted by jstout66
I'd like to know as well. If Sony is attached to GoldStar somehow, that would be bad. As for the convergency issues, a true Trinitron tube should never have that problem. They only have 1 gun so there is nothing to allign. Also...... Apex isn't tied in with Sony are they? Heard a rumor and thought it was odd that Apex offers a 24" set. My Wega is a 24" set, and why would both companies offer such an ODD size?? I'm just po'd that the only sets I ever bought turned out to be such "dogs". I bought an RCA CTC-185 in 2000. The picture is great but it is developing sound "issues". The Sony I just got has a CRAPPY picture and the sound is "odd". I've had OLD Sony's in the past that were great. That's what I get for buying a new set........

It's sort of a hybrid between one gun and three guns. It has 3 cathodes, 3 G1's and 3 G2's, but only one focus grid and one accelerating grid. The idea of the single large focus grid is that it will allow for sharper focus compared to an inline gun of equal quality. The electrostatic horizontal convergence is the only way to straghten out the beams after they cross in the focus grid. They do require convergence, but were much simpler to converge than delta gun CRTs.

Interestingly, Sony abandoned their unique gun design in computer monitor CRTs in the late 90's. I'm not sure if it was cost, or some technical reason. I can say their current monitor CRTs have the sharpest focus I've ever seen, but very poor reliability. I've junked lots of 19" flat Trinitron monitors because of gun defects that cuased various focus, or brightness defects. I'm using a 21" Sony right now that every few months decides to go way out of focus for a few min, then snap back in. I saw a 19" that looked perfect sometimes, but other times would go very bright and COMPLETELY out of focus.

Jack, I have a question regarding the service menu.

The CRT in my 14 year old XBR is slowly dying. I've gone into the menu a couple times to readjust the tracking (getting to the point where it won't track well anymore) I notice the up/down settings aren't strictly 0-30 or whatever but there are some letters settings too, i.e. 19, 2a, 2b, 2c... and then back to numbers. what the heck does that mean?

Eric

Originally posted by rca2000
But, there is a way to get more brightenss from your sony wega. You have to go into the service manu, and access the sub. brightness control.

Those numbers are OCTAL. this is a combination of numearls, and digits, used by some computers, for data. it starts off a 01, goes through the digits, then 1a,or so, and then so on. some digital menus use this, (panasonic, for one.)


still, it is adjusted the same way. if your brightness is too low, and will not come up with the menu, try the screen control probably on the crt board. BE CAREFUL. do not raise the level too high, or you will get retrace lines. raise the level till you get retrace lines, then back off, till these disappear. do this wiht the brightnell at minimumm, as sometimes the lines are hidden by bright scenes.

the g1 and g2 are common.
and i too am seeing lots of bad crt's in esp the flat trinitrons.
seems the redesign introduced problems with intermittant shorts.


Originally posted by andy
It's sort of a hybrid between one gun and three guns. It has 3 cathodes, 3 G1's and 3 G2's, but only one focus grid and one accelerating grid. The idea of the single large focus grid is that it will allow for sharper focus compared to an inline gun of equal quality. The electrostatic horizontal convergence is the only way to straghten out the beams after they cross in the focus grid. They do require convergence, but were much simpler to converge than delta gun CRTs.

Interestingly, Sony abandoned their unique gun design in computer monitor CRTs in the late 90's. I'm not sure if it was cost, or some technical reason. I can say their current monitor CRTs have the sharpest focus I've ever seen, but very poor reliability. I've junked lots of 19" flat Trinitron monitors because of gun defects that cuased various focus, or brightness defects. I'm using a 21" Sony right now that every few months decides to go way out of focus for a few min, then snap back in. I saw a 19" that looked perfect sometimes, but other times would go very bright and COMPLETELY out of focus.

Just thoght I'd update you all. (I'm the one that started the post) that I called the store and told them to pick up the piece of CRAP Sony that I made the mistake of buying. I can't believe I would have to say that about a Sony, but the final straw was when I tried to watch some DVD's last night and the picture was so dark you couldn't see the movie! The sound sucked as well. After looking at "eopinions" and seeing like a zillion complaints of the SAME problem I was having I figured this "dog" could go. I'm going to try a Toshiba Cinema Series. Wish me luck!! If any of you are thinking of buying a new set, I'd do some serious research before choosing a Sony. I think they are putting out alot of crap now and think they can get away with it because of past reputation and performance. A Sony you get now is NOT the same you could have purchased a few years ago. I think all the complaints on the repair posts will back me up on this. Thanks for letting me vent. I will be calling Sony tomorrow and give them an earfull as well.

I'm really surprised by this problem on a Sony. Correct black level is hardly rocket science! Every working TV I've seen that has DC restoration lets you adjust the black level from way too dark to way to bright. I normally adjust it so that the black letter box bars are about one step above completely black.

one would think so Andy, but I had the brightness "maxed" and it was still to dark. I may have had a "lemon" but I have gotten on some sights and noticed that ALOT of people had the same complaints about the Sony Wega. (too dark of a picture and crappy sound) What's bad is, is that you pay more for the Wega so you can get premium sound without having to use your stereo. I also wanted all to know they delivered the Toshiba, which is a 24" model that is comparible to the Sony Wega. The picture is MUCH better. I will have to say it's not as "sharp" as the Sony, but will take that over an unwatchable picture. It's brigtness level is great! I'm very upset with Sony. I had wanted to have a new Sony for years, and when I finally get one it is CRAP. In my opinion, they are as shoddy as RCA and Zenith is now. My parents had a 26" Sony console that had a great picture until it blew up 26 years later (high voltage problem). I know we are all "into" vintage sets, but if any of you are looking to get one new, you'd better do your research first (unlike me) before choosing a Sony. Also the Toshiba was $75.00 cheaper.

My RCA XL-100 19" set, which I purchased new over four years ago, can go from no picture to one so bright it could damage the CRT (if not buckle or otherwise distort the shadow mask), or blow a fuse, if not ruin the power supply. The set has the CTC-185 chassis. Have had no problems whatsoever with the circuitry. Picture is absolutely beautiful on cable, and the sound isn't bad either. Someone said in this forum, or perhaps it was in a post to one of the Google repair forums, that the CTC185 may have been the last chassis RCA manufactured in this country, when RCA's main plant was in Indianapolis, Indiana. If this is true (and even if it isn't), I will keep my set indefinitely, as long as it works as well as it does now.

I am very sorry to read of all the problems some of you have been having with Sony Wega sets. To read the advertising pitches being made for these sets, one would think Wega was one of the best CRT-based TV sets on the market. After reading some of the complaints being lodged against Wegas here, however, I am inclined to disagree. If I should get another TV (after the extended warranty on my RCA expires), believe me, it won't be a Sony Wega, at least not until the problems with these sets are identified and resolved. I don't want a TV with a picture I cannot watch and with poor sound (as at least one of you said you had).

I was all but amazed to read in one of the posts to this thread that some recent Sony TVs have Gold Star CRTs. I thought "Zenith" was the only company (?) whose TVs, which are made by GS these days, had GS CRTs in them! What next? Which of the remaining Japanese TV makers will be the next one to put off-brand CRTs in their sets?

One poster here said he had a Sony XBR, the CRT in which was "slowly dying" after 14 years. I'd say that was a very long life for a modern CRT. Many of today's sets go only a few years before the tube goes West (Gold Star-built "Zeniths" are notorious for this; the CRTs in these sets will short or otherwise become defective after only a year or two). Moreover, I recently heard of one RCA 27" set, purchased new in the late '90s, that blew a CRT after only two years. Given these examples, I'd say, again, that any CRT made in the last 15 years that is just now starting to go bad has had a very long life. The tube in that XBR must be really well-made, like the CRTs in older B&W and color sets. Time was when it wasn't at all uncommon to hear of a CRT (b&w or color) going strong after 20 years. Unfortunately, however, we may never see those days again. :(