Red blur around images on my arcade monitor

[Ninja-chicken]

Hey,

I have a Killer Instinct Cabinet with it's original monitor inside. I hooked it up to my GeForce 8500GT Graphics card using the J-PAC. I used Soft-15kHz to output 15kHz which the J-PAC says is ok (green light on the signal).

It goes through and displays a pretty ok picture, only problem is, I get a red blur a few pixels to the right of all the graphics. It's almost as though the red element of the entire screen is a few pixels to the right.

I tried using the on board graphics too and the same problem happened. I also tried using "Advanced Cab" to output 15kHz instead of Soft-15kHz and the same thing happens. I assume because I've tried 2 pieces of hardware and 2 pieces of software that the problem lies with the monitor.

I've ordered an ArcadeVGA card in the hopes that clears things up. Though I think I'll still have this red blur problem.

Has anyone else had this problem?
If it is the monitor, what can I do?

I'll upload pics soon just to clarify the problem.

[grantspain]

either your red drive is too high or you have a convergence problem,did you have this problem before?

[Ninja-chicken]

either your red drive is too high or you have a convergence problem,did you have this problem before?

Well I just bought the cab off ebay. The guy said it worked 100% before he sent it. Could something have happened in transit?

Do you know what I could try to diagnose / fix it?

[grantspain]

you could try turning down the red drive and also bring up a test grid pattern,if the red grid is a fraction over all acroos the screen then you have a convergence problem which in turn is probably just a loose purity ring on the yoke

post some pics of the monitor chassis and screen shots for more info

[Ninja-chicken]

you could try turning down the red drive and also bring up a test grid pattern,if the red grid is a fraction over all acroos the screen then you have a convergence problem which in turn is probably just a loose purity ring on the yoke

post some pics of the monitor chassis and screen shots for more info

Ok since I only understood a handful of those words I will assume you're some kind of expert in this field?

Gosh the internet is amazing, I post and within an hour I have a genious on the case!

Couple of preliminary questions:
how do I turn down the red drive?
how do I get up a test grid? I've checked it on bombjack's test grid at the start and it shows a red blur over the whole screen, is this what you wanted to know?
In which case what is a purity ring and how do I un-loosen it.

Thanks for your help man!

[grantspain]

if you can post some photo's of the screen shot i can tell if it is a convergence problem or just the red colour overdriving
sometimes if a colour adjustment is too high it can bleed,this can look like the colour is slightly over
if the convergence of the red is out then you will have  distinctive lines on the test grid

[Ninja-chicken]

if you can post some photo's of the screen shot i can tell if it is a convergence problem or just the red colour overdriving
sometimes if a colour adjustment is too high it can bleed,this can look like the colour is slightly over
if the convergence of the red is out then you will have  distinctive lines on the test grid

Ok great.

This is what I'll do,
I'll go home at lunch and take some pictures of the screen during a game, a test grid, and I'll also take some pictures of the back of the monitor (the electronics). Hopefully from this you'll be able to point me in the right direction.

Thanks so so much, you're doing me a huge favour

[grantspain]

well i am off to work soon so i can't reply for another 10 hours or so,i am sure the other techs will point you in the correct direction if they reply earlier than me
be aware that you have to be careful around monitors as there are some high voltages,give yourself plenty of room and light to work and if you need to make some adjustments on the monitor board then set up a mirror so you can see the screen clearly without stretching

[Ninja-chicken]

well i am off to work soon so i can't reply for another 10 hours or so,i am sure the other techs will point you in the correct direction if they reply earlier than me
be aware that you have to be careful around monitors as there are some high voltages,give yourself plenty of room and light to work and if you need to make some adjustments on the monitor board then set up a mirror so you can see the screen clearly without stretching

Ok.
Before you leave (hopefully you havn't already gone ) could you tell me what I need to do if this convergence thing is the problem?

I'll get back with those photos in an hour so I guess I'll probably have to wait until tommorow to solve this

Thanks again

[grantspain]

if the convergence is out then it is very likely it happened during transit,on the monitor tube there is a part called the yoke.the yoke has movable rings that adjust the positoning of each colour-if one has moved out of it home position then that would cause your problem
all yokes have a paint line that should line up perfectly,if one is slightly off the line then that colour will be slightly off
before you touch any of that you need to know more info,i don't have time atm to explain in detail and if you do not do it correctly you can get a shock or break the tube neck.so don't touch anything until me or one of the others explain the proceedure correctly

[Ninja-chicken]

if the convergence is out then it is very likely it happened during transit,on the monitor tube there is a part called the yoke.the yoke has movable rings that adjust the positoning of each colour-if one has moved out of it home position then that would cause your problem
all yokes have a paint line that should line up perfectly,if one is slightly off the line then that colour will be slightly off
before you touch any of that you need to know more info,i don't have time atm to explain in detail and if you do not do it correctly you can get a shock or break the tube neck.so don't touch anything until me or one of the others explain the proceedure correctly

Excellent thankyou. I promise I won't touch anything until a professional tells me exactly what to do. I'll take pictures of that too, hopefully it will help diagnose the problem

Thanks once again

[Ninja-chicken]

I just went home and checked it out.

The photos weren't worth posting to be honest, the screen does that thing old monitors do where it flickers and half the photo comes out black. I don't know how to overcome this.

I did a test grid and found the red was definatly a few pixels to the right. On the back of the screen there is some plastic rings going around a coil. I moved one a little bit and now there is a green blur going downwards (woops). I assume this means I just need to rotate all of the rings until the picture is clear.

Is this right?
Do you have any tips?
Is there a way to easily do this or is it trial and error?

Thanks for your help

[SirPeale]

On the neckboard (on the back of the tube) you'll note several potentiometers.   The ones that control red should be marked.  Hopefully.  Turn the "Red Drive" down and see if that helps.

If it doesn't, yes, it may be *slightly* out of convergence.  I'd have to see it to see how much it is.  A lot of monitors have a slight misalignment, but with so many things going onscreen unless you're really anal about it it's not worth trying to get it just right, because you'll spend hours doing it.  In fact, it's probably *always* been that way.

[Ninja-chicken]

On the neckboard (on the back of the tube) you'll note several potentiometers.   The ones that control red should be marked.  Hopefully.  Turn the "Red Drive" down and see if that helps.

If it doesn't, yes, it may be *slightly* out of convergence.  I'd have to see it to see how much it is.  A lot of monitors have a slight misalignment, but with so many things going onscreen unless you're really anal about it it's not worth trying to get it just right, because you'll spend hours doing it.  In fact, it's probably *always* been that way.

Well the red is quite a bit out of alignment, an unbearable amount. The chap who sold me it said it was crystal clear before he shipped it. Like I said I messed with a ring and it added a similar green blur. I assume this means if I fiddle with them I should find the perfect picture.

I'll look tonight and try and find markings as described above. Do you have any tips for me, specifically safety tips.

Thankyou

[SirPeale]

Convergence rings don't generally slip.  Something may have bumped them.

As for safety, no sudden moves, know where your hands are at all times, and keep away from the anode.  That's the thick wire that goes from the flyback to the tube.

And before screwing around with anything else (except the green, you already changed that) try turning down your contrast a bit.

[Ninja-chicken]

Convergence rings don't generally slip.  Something may have bumped them.

As for safety, no sudden moves, know where your hands are at all times, and keep away from the anode.  That's the thick wire that goes from the flyback to the tube.

And before screwing around with anything else (except the green, you already changed that) try turning down your contrast a bit.

Thanks very much. I'll let you know how I get on.

[grantspain]

that bit i said about not touching anything until we saw the photo´s was quite important

[Ninja-chicken]

that bit i said about not touching anything until we saw the photo´s was quite important

He he that will be my impatient side. If you see a button, you have to push it

Anyway I am sure this is the problem, the heavy handed delivery men probably caused this so if I can just fiddle with the rings it should go back to how it was before it was sent.

Will there always be markers? The rings seems quite tight together and it's too dark to see anything really...