XBR3D815@DDATHD21.BITNET (07/27/88)
Hi Atarians!
Is someone out there in netland who knows a difference between older and the
newest SM124 B&W-monitors which could explain the following behavier:
Mega ST4 and old (Oct. 87) Monitor:
In reverse mode (light text on black background) is brightness dependent
on information on screen ! If you have >20 charcters displayed, text is
light, but if characters are deleted the text begins to fade so that you
have to adjust the brightness control! But if now more caracters are typed
text becomes brighter again so the brightness control has to be adjusted
the second time and so on.
Mega ST4 and new (Mar. 88) Monitor:
The symptom does not occur !
This is not dependent on the ST! We tried several ST4 and one ST2 with the
same results.
Is there a possible fix for this behavier ? Perhaps can someone at Atari give
some hints? We know solder irons and will change the monitor circuitry
if necessary, so please HELP!!!!
Werner W. Braun xbr3d815 @ ddathd21.bitnetwheels@mks.UUCP (Gerry Wheeler) (07/28/88)
In article <8807270941.AA03440@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>, XBR3D815@DDATHD21.BITNET writes: > Is someone out there in netland who knows a difference between older and the > newest SM124 B&W-monitors which could explain the following behavier: > Mega ST4 and old (Oct. 87) Monitor: > In reverse mode (light text on black background) is brightness dependent > on information on screen ! > Mega ST4 and new (Mar. 88) Monitor: > The symptom does not occur ! I haven't seen this problem on the Atari, but I have seen it on other systems. (Usually the ones with a cheap monitor.) And, I recall from somewhere in the dark past that monitors used to come with a switch labelled "DC offset" or some such. This allowed you to set the monitor for automatic brightness when you used it for television work, and to disable that feature for computer work. Maybe your monitor is set up the wrong way? Maybe it needs repair? I use an old old monochrome monitor on a 520ST and it has no problem whatsoever. -- Gerry Wheeler Phone: (519)884-2251 Mortice Kern Systems Inc. UUCP: uunet!watmath!mks!wheels 35 King St. North BIX: join mks Waterloo, Ontario N2J 2W9 CompuServe: 73260,1043
VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1.BITNET (08/02/88)
In Info-Atari16 digest #333, motsj1!mcdchg!clyde!watmath!mks!wheels s (Gerry Wheeler) writes: >In article <8807270941.AA03440@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>, XBR3D815@DDATHD21.BITNET > writes: >> Is someone out there in netland who knows a difference between older and the >> newest SM124 B&W-monitors which could explain the following behavier: >> Mega ST4 and old (Oct. 87) Monitor: >> In reverse mode (light text on black background) is brightness dependent >> on information on screen ! >> Mega ST4 and new (Mar. 88) Monitor: >> The symptom does not occur ! >I haven't seen this problem on the Atari, but I have seen it on other >systems. (...) >the wrong way? Maybe it needs repair? I use an old old monochrome It sure does need repair. I had the same problem when I bought my Mega4 a few months ago. I had a program that reversed the screen colors (to white on black) cleared the screen, displayed the word "ONLINE" and waited for serial input. The screen picture would break down completely, the "ONLINE" would vanish. Only after something came in from the serial line, the picture would slowly reappear and life would revert to normal. I took the monitor to my dealer, and this is what he told me: The problem is known. Atari manufactured a whole bunch of these monitors, but refuses to deal with the problem, claiming that it is caused by 'unavoidable parts tolerances'. Any monitor shipped to Atari would be returned unrepaired. The problem, however, can be solved by internally 'tweaking' several adjustment controls (you can see that I'm no EE). Since my SM124 was still under warranty, he took it in, and ONE DAY later, it was fixed. So: if your monitor is under warranty, see if your dealer can help you. If not, get someone with a 'scope and the necessary knowledge to fix it. I hope this helps. PS: I am not commenting the attitude of Atari towards this problem, but it sure does augment my prejudice against Atari marketing strategies. Bitnet: VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1 Volker A. Brandt UUCP: ...!unido!DBNUAMA1.bitnet!vbrandt Angewandte Mathematik ARPAnet: VBRANDT%DBNUAMA1.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (Bonn, West Germany)
poole@forty2.UUCP (Simon Poole) (08/06/88)
In article <8808021217.AA02247@ucbvax.berkeley.edu> VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1.BITNET writes: ....... > >I took the monitor to my dealer, and this is what he told me: >The problem is known. Atari manufactured a whole bunch of these monitors, but >refuses to deal with the problem, claiming that it is caused by 'unavoidable >parts tolerances'. Any monitor shipped to Atari would be returned unrepaired. Was this Atari Germany or Atari US? I would be suprised if somebody from Atari US had said something like that, but not at all (in fact it's what I expect) if it was Atari Germany. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- UUCP: ...mcvax!cernvax!forty2!poole Simon Poole BITNET: K538915@CZHRZU1A ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1.BITNET (08/10/88)
In Info-Atari16 Digest #343, mcvax!cernvax!ethz!forty2!poole@uunet.uu.net (Simon Poole) writes: >In article <8808021217.AA02247@ucbvax.berkeley.edu> VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1.BITNET > writes: (...) >>The problem is known. Atari manufactured a whole bunch of these monitors, but >>refuses to deal with the problem, claiming that it is caused by 'unavoidable >>parts tolerances'. Any monitor shipped to Atari would be returned unrepaired. >Was this Atari Germany or Atari US? I would be suprised if somebody >from Atari US had said something like that, but not at all (in fact >it's what I expect) if it was Atari Germany. This, of course, was Atari Germany. And, equally of course, it was precisely the kind of behaviour anyone expects who has *ever* had dealings with Atari Germany.(No smiley faces here.) Bitnet: VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1 Volker A. Brandt UUCP: ...!unido!DBNUAMA1.bitnet!vbrandt Angewandte Mathematik ARPAnet: VBRANDT%DBNUAMA1.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (Bonn, West Germany)