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From: fangchin@leland.Stanford.EDU (Chin Fang)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: SONY Trinitron tube characteristics (was Re: Sieko monitor annoyance)
Message-ID: <1991Apr14.063503.27254@leland.Stanford.EDU>
Date: 14 Apr 91 06:35:03 GMT
References: <1991Apr14.021735.8177@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Distribution: na
Organization: AIR, Stanford University
Lines: 57

In article <1991Apr14.021735.8177@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> skesterk@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Shane Kesterke) writes:
>Since Sieko and Sony monitors have been a hot item of discussion lately I've
>got question.
>I have a 386SX-20MHz system with a Prodesigner-II (512K) and a Sieko 
>CM1440 (I'm pretty sure that's the model, it's the interlaced Sieko monitor)
>It's got a very good picture but there's one thing that really annoys me.
>There's a very thin horizontal black line about 1/3 the way up from the
>bottom of the screen that NEVER goes away. It becomes more and more visible
>the lighter the background gets.
>I called Sieko tech support and they said it's normal and it's part of Sony's
>monitor technology (since Sony manufactures Sieko's picture tubes).
>I just wondered if the rest of you Sony and Sieko owners have to deal with
>the same odity that I have to deal with because sometimes that little line
>annoys me so much I just want to trade my monitor in for a not-so-high
>quality one.     
>Was the Sieko tech support right or do they just tell their customers that
>so they don't have to go through the hassles of replacing faulty monitors?

*******************************************************************************

This is a really interesting question.  I don't have a firm answer yet. 
But I will tell you as one with lots exposure to SONY Trinitron (R)
tubes used for PCs and Workstations (SUN SPARCstations 1, 1+, 2, IBM/RS6000s,
and DECstations 3100, all use color monitors OEMed by SONY).
 
As far as I can tell, SONY's 1304HG Multiscan DOES have the thin line you 
mentioned, so do many 14" monitors using the Trinitron tubes, eg, your own
and AcerView 35, which btw, is a probably the best buy 14" Trinitron, 
because it's wider horizontal sync range and much lower price $490 or so)

Of all brand new AcerView 35s that I have seen, all show the thin line you 
mentioned.  I have also seen many brand new SONY 1304HGs do the same.

Next, workstation OEMed monitors.  On DECstation 3100s, I tried to tell 
such thin line without any success, 13 of them.  Of all 13 IBM/RS6000s that
I take care of, I have never seen any thin line either.

BUT, on Sun Sparcstation 1s, (not 1+s or 2s),  I DO have noticed that some
of them show the thin line at 1/3 from top going from left to right.  The
rest Sparc 1s and all 1+s and 2s monitors don't have such problems.  I 
manage 54 of them,  but I only have seen such thin lines on a few so
far, and they are among the earlier models.

Honestly, I am puzzled too.  Maybe someone who really understands the 
Trinitron single gun design can provide some insight to this.  I will talk
to someone in SONY of America as soon as I get a chance.  If I can find out
any answer before anyone else reading this newsgroup, I will post.

>Any help or comments on my delema would be very appreciated! Thanks for
>your help!

Well... I didn't help any.  But you are welcome anyway.

Chin Fang
Mechanical Engineering Department
Stanford University
fangchin@leland.stanford.edu