Troubleshooting - 60-in-1 to CGA/VGA SuzoHapp VisionPro monitor loses picture

[mtdukes]

Hi all, I'm new to this and trying to learn, but I recently acquired and am trying to fix a Midway-style multicade arcade cabinet with a 60-in-1 CGA/VGA Jamma board connected to a 19" SuzoHapp VisionPro monitor (Model No. K190NAD). I'm told it worked at some point over the past year, but stopped working after it was moved to a new location. When the cabinet is turned on with the DIP switch engaged in both normal mode and either CGA or VGA mode, I see a brief image of the boot text on the monitor before it blinks out and I lose picture.

I think I've narrowed down the problem to the monitor, but I'm not sure where to go from there. Here's what I've figured out so far:

• I can get normal picture from the arcade board when I connect it via VGA to another external monitor.
• Once the boot sequence is complete, and the LED on the arcade board starts blinking green, I can hear audio from games selected and launched from the title screen from the external speaker, but get no picture.
• I've successfully tested the existing VGA cable with other devices.
• Both the monitor and the board appear to be receiving appropriate voltage from the SuzoHapp Power Pro Switching Power Supply, and I'm seeing green on the LED of the monitor's power cord brick.

I'm continuing to troubleshoot, but I figured I'd check in to see if there were any known issues with this particular monitor I should be focusing on.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!

[lilshawn]

problem is, the 60-in-1 don't use a standard VGA signal. i don't know why and I don't know what is different, but i have a hard time sometimes finding computer monitors that will properly sync up without the picture being half off the screen and having to adjust a pile of settings manually to get it centered on the screen properly. (even doing an auto adjust makes the screen half off.) it's entirely possible that the monitor just will not sync properly.

try booting the 60-in-1 with dip switch 4 turned on, this will boot it into the test mode whereby the first screen is a test pattern you can use to align and/or try and get the monitor to sync to.

[grantspain]

if you disconnect vga cable does your monitor remain on, normally would have a no signal message

[mtdukes]

try booting the 60-in-1 with dip switch 4 turned on, this will boot it into the test mode whereby the first screen is a test pattern you can use to align and/or try and get the monitor to sync to.

Thanks for this suggestion. I've tried to walk through the test/service mode on the VisionPro monitor installed in the cabinet, but haven't been able to even generate the test pattern on that screen. I successfully navigated through the test/service mode when I hooked the board to an external Samsung monitor using the VGA cable - that all worked fine. It's weird, because the monitor installed in the cabinet did work at some point, and I'm wondering if something got jostled/broken during a prior move to a new location...

On normal boot with the VisionPro monitor, all I see is a flash of this initialization message on the screen for a fraction of a second before it goes dead.

if you disconnect vga cable does your monitor remain on, normally would have a no signal message

Good question. I am NOT seeing a "no signal" message when I disconnect VGA or CGA, but I'm not sure if this model of VisionPro monitor generates that message (there's nothing about it I could find in the manual or spec sheet). Does anybody know?

FWIW, I'm also not able to get any sort of picture out of the monitor if I hook it up to a laptop via a normal VGA connection. The laptop recognizes the display, but the monitor screen remains black.

Any other ideas would be welcome!

[lilshawn]

hmm... it's possible that there is something wrong with the backlight circuit/board. it's a common place for capacitors to go bad and the monitor to kind of work, but cause it to go blank after some time (from seconds to minutes.)

[mtdukes]

hmm... it's possible that there is something wrong with the backlight circuit/board. it's a common place for capacitors to go bad and the monitor to kind of work, but cause it to go blank after some time (from seconds to minutes.)

Is there any way to test for the bad capacitor? I'm not sure if it's worth trying to swap out the part or the whole monitor.

[lilshawn]

open monitor...inspect capacitors. not much to it. if they are flat and clean... probably still good. if they are bloated and or crusty...they bad.

i would just go ahead and change the ones on the invertor anyway just as a due course.

[pbj]

If you’re using a 14 pin cable, try a 15 pin.

[lilshawn]

On normal boot with the VisionPro monitor, all I see is a flash of this initialization message on the screen for a fraction of a second before it goes dead.

makes me think an issue with the backlight inverter. typically the backlight invertors will sense a current problem (either due to bad voltages or a problem with the backlights themselves) and shut off after a short time of being active. typically this is blown out electrolytic caps on the board causing all kinds of noise and ripple in the power tripping the protection to kick in.

in fact, you can test if this is the problem if you use a powerful enough flashlight to shine light into the front face of the monitor, you'll find it is in fact displaying an image on the panel itself..... it's just got no lights on to shine through the panel to show it... it's the backlight invertor. if you see nothing at all or the diplay is flashing or acting erratic... it's likely the power supply for the LVDS decoder board. (but that's neither here nor there.)

https://na.suzohapp.com/products/monitors/10-411300010

not sure if this is the actual one you have....but this is a backlight inverter used in their vision pro 17 and 19" monitors, so it's probably the same or similar... it has 2 electrolytic caps on it that go bad.

swap 'em out

[mtdukes]

in fact, you can test if this is the problem if you use a powerful enough flashlight to shine light into the front face of the monitor, you'll find it is in fact displaying an image on the panel itself..... it's just got no lights on to shine through the panel to show it... it's the backlight invertor. if you see nothing at all or the diplay is flashing or acting erratic... it's likely the power supply for the LVDS decoder board. (but that's neither here nor there.)

lilshawn, you are exactly right! I shined a light into the monitor and I see a solid image.

I checked a manual for the closest version of my monitor I could find, and it looks like it has a convertor board, and the part number on mine matches both the manual and the one available on the SuzoHapp site here.

Is that the same thing as the backlight inverter board?

Thanks for your help with this! Definitely feels like I'm getting closer to a fix.

[lilshawn]

yes the high voltage inverter board powers small compact florescent tubes in the panel of the monitor. (https://na.suzohapp.com/products/monitors/10-411300010)

the one you linked is a constant current convertor board (typically called a "buck" convertor) that powers LED strips in the panel of the monitor.

you are going to have to disassemble the back off the monitor to find out which one you have.

i wouldn't think the monitor you have (unless its fairly new) is going to have LED... and if it IS that new, you shouldn't be having issues with it yet.

[mtdukes]

you are going to have to disassemble the back off the monitor to find out which one you have.

After opening the back, it's definitely the GH374A board. I think the cabinet isn't terribly old (maybe 10ish years), although I'm not exactly sure.

i wouldn't think the monitor you have (unless its fairly new) is going to have LED... and if it IS that new, you shouldn't be having issues with it yet.

I had this thought as well. My concern with spending $80 on the board is that whatever forced it to fail might happen again, but it might still be worth a shot.