tejtemw@isis.educ.lon.ac.uk (EARL WILLIAMS) (06/09/90)
Are visible horizontal hairlines in large-screen monitors just a fact of life that we have to live with? Every monitor I've installed or seen seems to have 1-3 of these super-thin but sometimes distracting lines. The vertical location varies, but there is most often one about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. Does anyone know 1) if this is common, 2) if anything can be done about it, 3) whether the fault is in the video card or the TV tube electronics? I'm not making any comments about manufacturers, but most of the monitors I'm talking about have been SuperMac color monitors (25"?). -- Earl M. Williams ?8^) "No matter where you go, there you are." Inst. of Education, U. of London -Buckaroo Banzai INTERNET/JANET: tejtemw@isis.educ.lon.ac.uk "When in doubt, lay it out." BITNET: tejtemw%<same>@ukacrl.bitnet -Captain Ultimate [Frisbee]
philip@Kermit.Stanford.EDU (Philip Machanick) (06/09/90)
In article <1990Jun8.192304.4492@isis.educ.lon.ac.uk>, tejtemw@isis.educ.lon.ac.uk (EARL WILLIAMS) writes: > Are visible horizontal hairlines in large-screen monitors just a fact of > life that we have to live with? Every monitor I've installed or seen seems > to have 1-3 of these super-thin but sometimes distracting lines. The > vertical location varies, but there is most often one about 1/3 of the way > up from the bottom. > > Does anyone know 1) if this is common, 2) if anything can be done about it, > 3) whether the fault is in the video card or the TV tube electronics? > > I'm not making any comments about manufacturers, but most of the monitors > I'm talking about have been SuperMac color monitors (25"?). If this makes you feel any better, I've also seen the lines on a RasterOps 19" and and Apple 13" color monitor. I don't think it's a fault, but I've forgotten the explanation. Philip Machanick philip@pescadero.stanford.edu
anders@penguin (Anders Wallgren) (06/09/90)
Nope, this is no fault - it's a feature of Sony Trinitron (sp?) monitors, which is what Apple's 13-inch color monitors, as well as many third-party large-screen monitors, really are. These monitors don't use a shadow mask (a metal mask behind the glass with triplets of holes to give the three electron guns a clear shot at its particular color phosphorus), they use a screen of vertically arranged wires (to give each electron gun a clear shot at it's particular color phosphorus, although the dots in this case aren't triplets of RGB, they're little rectangles - look closely, and you'll see what I mean). The horizontal wires in question are stabilizers for the previously mentioned vertical wires, and (as far as I know) a sure sign that your monitor was made by Sony. (Real programmers check by whapping their monitor on the side and watching for the picture to look funny because all the wires came out of alignment for a split-second (or forever if you hit it too hard), or listening for the "bunch of wires moving together and apart" sound.) anders
dresnick@athena.mit.edu (David I Resnick) (06/09/90)
In article <1990Jun8.192304.4492@isis.educ.lon.ac.uk> tejtemw@isis.educ.lon.ac.uk (EARL WILLIAMS) writes:
Are visible horizontal hairlines in large-screen monitors just a fact of
life that we have to live with? Every monitor I've installed or seen seems
to have 1-3 of these super-thin but sometimes distracting lines. The
vertical location varies, but there is most often one about 1/3 of the way
up from the bottom.
Does anyone know 1) if this is common, 2) if anything can be done about it,
3) whether the fault is in the video card or the TV tube electronics?
I asked about this when I bought my Apple 13" moniter, and apparently
it is a fine wire which holds a ?mask? onto the screen. The guy at
the MIT computer center showed me the Apple Tech. note saying that
this should NOT be removed under any circumstances. It is a minor
annoyance - I wish there was some way for them to have avoided its use.
--
David Resnick dresnick@athena.mit.edu barry@network.ucsd.edu (Barry Brown) (06/09/90)
In article <1990Jun8.230821.23506@Neon.Stanford.EDU> philip@pescadero.stanford.edu writes: >In article <1990Jun8.192304.4492@isis.educ.lon.ac.uk>, tejtemw@isis.educ.lon.ac.uk (EARL WILLIAMS) writes: >> Are visible horizontal hairlines in large-screen monitors just a fact of >> life that we have to live with? Every monitor I've installed or seen seems >> to have 1-3 of these super-thin but sometimes distracting lines. The >> vertical location varies, but there is most often one about 1/3 of the way >> up from the bottom. >If this makes you feel any better, I've also seen the lines on a RasterOps >19" and and Apple 13" color monitor. I don't think it's a fault, but >I've forgotten the explanation. The mask inside a Trinitron tube is made of a vertical array of VERY thin wires. Since the tube heats up as it gets used, there is a tendency for the wire to warp a bit. Given the high resolution of the monitor, this would degrade the quality. So two horizontal wires were installed -- one 1/3 of the way from the top and one 1/3 of the way from the bottom -- to steady the mask. (The top one isn't as visible probably because of the way the scan lines work out.) There is nothing you can do about them and needless to say that removing them would be a bad idea. This, I presume, is one of the two prices you pay for the luxury of the Trinitron (the other being of a monetary sort). -- Barry E. Brown -- \ Cal-Animage Beta publicity officer bebrown@ucsd.{edu,uucp,bitnet} \ Anime Stuff FTP Server administrator UCSD #921276, La Jolla, CA 92037 \ (ftp network.ucsd.edu [128.54.16.3]) Silly quote: "Computer, access code 'Kei-Yuri'..." --Da-Mon Tog (ST:TNG)
purcell@sciences.tmc.edu (Guy B. Purcell) (06/09/90)
The lines are caused not by the card or electron gun, but by one or more wires. I forget what they're for, but if they could have been done without, I'm sure they would have since they're so annoying. Guy (purcell@zeus.sdsu.edu)
kaufman@Neon.Stanford.EDU (Marc T. Kaufman) (06/10/90)
In article <1990Jun9.040202.25048@athena.mit.edu> dresnick@athena.mit.edu (David I Resnick) writes: >In article <1990Jun8.192304.4492@isis.educ.lon.ac.uk> tejtemw@isis.educ.lon.ac.uk (EARL WILLIAMS) writes: - Are visible horizontal hairlines in large-screen monitors just a fact of - life that we have to live with? >I asked about this when I bought my Apple 13" moniter, and apparently >it is a fine wire which holds a ?mask? onto the screen. The guy at >the MIT computer center showed me the Apple Tech. note saying that >this should NOT be removed under any circumstances. I wonder just how one would go about TRYING to remove this wire, seeing as its INSIDE the tube? I expect that any attempt would render the tube broken. Marc Kaufman (kaufman@Neon.stanford.edu)
Marek Lugowski <marek@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> (06/13/90)
i liked the whapping part the most. i gues real programming is not called for in my case since the nameplate says SONY... anyway... could Sony not have used a less obtrusive, stealthier medium, like a thread of silk? silk is stronger than steel anyway. And what about holding the wires in place electrostatically...would that interfere with the electron beam? And what about epoxies? And what aobut stringing them like piano wires? Flame to your heart's content, but I am asking in earnest. -- Marek