Sony PVM-2030

[kripp]

Well, I ended up taking the back portion off of my PVM-2030 a week or so ago. I did not see any pots in there for making adjustments to the picture, just the three that are accessible from the back with the unit assembled.

What I did notice though, when testing out my Dreamcast RGB cable is that not all of my consoles suffer from the screen distortion. The SNES is the worst of the bunch, the picture is very rounded in the upper and lower left hand sides. The Dreamcast seems perfect, no picture distortion at all.

I ended up testing out video through a VCR on the unit too, flawless! So I wonder why certain sources produce this effect and others do not.

[Segasonicfan]

kripp- Hopefully you haven't put your PVM back together.  You *definitely* can make video adjustments of all sorts as I have done them myself.  You have to unscrew and swing open the giant PCB on the right side (looking from the back of the TV).  There are half a dozen+ pots on that PCB all used for different picture adjustments (all sync I think not saturation levels or anything like that).  Just unscrew the 6 main screws on the PCB and it will swing out (it's held in by some bendy plastic clips).  Use a mirror to adjust it from there...

-Segasonicfan

[kripp]

I have put it back together again, but it was quite easy to take apart. I will have to check for those pots and make adjustments the next time I feel the urge to open it up. It (the distortion) doesnt really bother me, I usually only use the monitor for playing Guitar Hero and I don't notice the distortion when doing so.

Kind of an out of sight, out of mind scenario! But thanks for the informaion on the pots.

[bioelectronicsam]

As for sync on green..why do you even need this?  The PVMs support both sync on green and regular C sync.  To answer your Q thought, this would not degrade the quality on any noticeable measure.

-Segasonicfan

My vid card wouldn't put out C sync so I thought Sync on Green would be the simplest solution, after i looked at that circuit I realized I could just leave the Green out of it and combine the H and V, and it works!! Finally, the power strip sw was still a little cranky, I had to use a predifined setting labeled "640 x 480 (arcade)"  This automatically set my H sync to 15.625 and my V sync to 29.762.  The display looks fine other than being a tad to long on the top and bottom, but I'm sure I can fix that later.

I tried to fire up my Total War game but had some problems.  I have 2 resolution settings on the game, the "strategy map" setting has a minimum setting of 800x600 which is obviously an issue.  The game appears to start up OK for the intro screens but then just goes blank. I guess if I want to do any gaming I'll use the s-video input.  I'm pretty much a nintendo guy so I'm not worried about this...yet.

[Stilton]

Hey Segasonicfan,

Did you use the circuit here: http://www.intersilsemi.com/data/an/an1269.pdf with your ISL59885 chip? From what I understand of the application note (admittedly very, very little), it seems that that pin is for telling the difference between HD and NTSC, and I just plan on using the chip for separating sync from composite video for my Genesis & SMS.

If not, how did you hook things up?

[Segasonicfan]

Yea, it works great for the application you are using.  Just ignore the HD pin altogether...that schematic is not good for your app.  

Just connect it like a LM1881 except put the cap on C set instead of the 680k resistor.  I just used 2 .1uf caps in series for it.  Of course you can draw H sync from pin 7 if you like too.  Other than that it's just like the LM1881

-Segasonicfan

[tsenzen]

i didnt realize much distortion, besides the signal strengths between the consoles and their modifications.. the screen is alway perfect, and i have yet to see it fail in any system i throw at it..
I broke out the stereo ofcourse from my ghetto housing that ive made for the pvm as you can see here:


the housing



and the break out of the stereo cable. I have it looped from standard rca, and headphone just incase.. make sure the conections are solid (this helped fix the feedback noise)


so far ive tested with all j21 rgb cables:

superfamicom (sound doesnt knock as good as the megadrive for some reason)
famicom (unbelievable, requires a lot of brightness/picture adjustments from the norm. Maybe due to the internal rgb chip?)
pcengine (duo.. words cant describe it)
neogeo (under 10000 model, perfect)
megadrive 1 (depending on the cable, i have both a stereo modded rgb cable, and standard.. the standard mono delivers an insanely strong signal, while the stereo modded cable works standard even with the neogeo)
megadrive 2 (the rgb signal and colors seem washed out, not a good choice)
cdx (colors again are insanely washed out. almost like a different console)
nomad (see cdx.)
jvc x'eye (second favorite rgb output next to the original megadrive/genesis 1)
master system (use the megadrives amazing rgb output... converter for both mark, and sms, or use a power base converter which works well)
saturn (perfect)
n64 (thanks to the japanese version for the brighter clearer picture, however still needs adjustments)
psx (perfect on both old dualshock model, and PSOne)
ps2 (runs amazing, even with the godofwar2 high res code)
xbox (eh.. stick to the component hd at this point)
dreamcast (does a great job, but...id rather be using the vga connector)

one thing i learned is that you should never base a quality of the image on its raw feed,. almost always ive noticed its usually the cables fault. make sure you check with 2 different types of rgb cables before making any unnecessary adjustments to tv settings and consoles. I have 2-3 different types of rgb cables for multiple systems, and noticed a quality change, even an rgb pattern change based on certain cables..

as for pc's all you need is a fixed frequency supported vid card, you can buy a few different types at this website:

http://www.si87.com/Products/Videocards/

hopefully this helps i'd like to see pictures of how you guys connected the cables? or made any other special cables for this tv.. the pvm is by far my favorite rgb monitor because of its strong signal.. im working on another project which will be on a 29" NetTV which has db15 connectors and is capable of running 15khz rgb.. wish me luck.

tsenzen

[andy251203]

Awesome info. I just picked up a pair of these monitors myself. One question though. Someone in this thread earlier mentioned that he used 160 ohm resistors for arcade boards. I have tried this myself, and I always get washed out colors. Does anyone know exactly how to wire these resistors up?

[RGB32E]

Awesome info. I just picked up a pair of these monitors myself. One question though. Someone in this thread earlier mentioned that he used 160 ohm resistors for arcade boards. I have tried this myself, and I always get washed out colors. Does anyone know exactly how to wire these resistors up?

I was the one that mentioned it    160 ohm resistors on my setup are wired in series... so, from the each video output on the jamma harness (R, G, & B only) -> 160 ohm resistor -> DB25F connector -> PVM monitor.  I actually use a 130 ohm resistor for red, 150 ohm resistor for green, and a 160 ohm resistor for blue.  Hence, since these monitors are set for 9300K (factory), and not easily adjustable to 6500K (color temp), I adjust the levels this way to get a nice colorful picture.  If I use all the same resistor values, the picture looks too blue (and green to a lesser extent)... giving the effect of a washed out image.  Also, setting the Picture/Contrast setting higher than the brightness setting will help.  If brightness is set too high (instead of upping the picture setting), the picture will look washed out.

Also, this applies to the Genesis 2 RGB output (different resistor values for RGB).  Others on this forum have stated that the Genesis 2's RGB output looks washed out...  On my Genesis 2 RGB cable, I use 62 ohm, 68 ohm, and 75 ohm resistors (for RGB respectively) in series instead of all 75 ohm.  The result is a very colorful picture on the PVM monitor.

Oh, and turn the nob on the back for "New Dynamic Color" to the OFF position...

[andy251203]

Hmm, well I see what I did wrong in the first place. What I did was actually connect my resistors in parallel, going from each RGB line to ground. Now I'm back to square one, though, with nothing but a white screen. I cut my RGB lines and stuck a 150ohm resistor inbetween each RGB line and soldered them in place so that it goes from board to wire to resistor to other end of the wire to the monitor. Still just a white screen. Do I need to put a resistor on the sync line as well? If so, what value?

[RGB32E]

Do not connect any resistors from R, G, B, or sync to ground!  I'm not sure what you mean by "still just a white screen"... unless there's something wrong with your monitor.  Here's a picture to help clarify (hopefully  ).

Also, what arcade board are you connecting?  Are you even using a jamma harness (could be answered by first question)?  Are you sure the board outputting a white image even works correctly?  Do you have other boards to test with?  Do both of your PVM-2030s display a white screen?  Are you yanking any chains here? 

[andy251203]

Well originally, with no resistors at all, I got a white screen on any jamma board, (the main one I'm testing here is a lethal enforcers PCB, which should be the same sync as other konami games like TMNT, etc) and yes I'm using a jamma harness. One particular board, a Magical Drop, I can actually make out the image, but it's washed out and white and barely visible. Also, I can't get v-hold steady on anything. The only thing I'm doing differently, is I didn't ground EVERY pin on the d-sub that needs to be grounded, but I don't think that would make a difference.

BTW, this occurs on both of my pvms.

[RGB32E]

Well originally, with no resistors at all, I got a white screen on any jamma board, (the main one I'm testing here is a lethal enforcers PCB, which should be the same sync as other konami games like TMNT, etc) and yes I'm using a jamma harness. One particular board, a Magical Drop, I can actually make out the image, but it's washed out and white and barely visible. Also, I can't get v-hold steady on anything. The only thing I'm doing differently, is I didn't ground EVERY pin on the d-sub that needs to be grounded, but I don't think that would make a difference.

BTW, this occurs on both of my pvms.

Without resistors in series, the expected result is that a stable image is displayed, but with a signal that is way too strong (very bright, but not all white).  Only one connection to one of the ground pins is needed (pins 15-24).  Are you connecting jamma pin 14 (video ground) to one of the PVMs ground pins?  If so, can you verify that there is continuity between the video ground pin and the DB25F you are using to connect the RGBS to the PVM?   (http://www.jammaboards.com/jcenter_jamma_pinout.html)  Also, the V-Hold nob on the back of the PVM should be somewhere in the middle (not turned all one way or the other).

[Private Mirosov]

Hey guys, im new to this forum, I have a KX-27PS1 that I just got recently. I am trying to hook my Xbox 360 up to it, but I'm having trouble. As far as I'm aware, I need something like a VCR to plug the Xbox into as the KX-27PS1 is a monitor, and doesn't have any TV tuning ability. HOWEVER, the VCR I have, has 1 scart connection and then an RF connection.

If I were to plug my xbox into the scart, would the RF connection out of the tv work? If not, could someone recommend something that would work? I would appreciate ANY help or advice, I just bought my xbox and I'm DYING to play it! thank you!

[Private Mirosov]

Hi, just thought I'd post an update - I think if I hook up my xbox connection with a phono-to-phono and then a phono-to-BNC I should have video. Then I should be able to hook audio into the audio input on the monitor but first I need to visit the electrical shop. I think if I go straight through the BNC it will eliminate the need to go through a DVD or VCR player as I think that the monitor is set to display whatever BNC has got into it.

I'll let you know what happens, maybe if somebody else comes across a similiar problem it will help.

[Sabishii Hito]

Does anyone know how well an X-Select D4 would work with one of these for displaying old systems in RGB?  Assuming of course I had a 15-pin to 25-pin RGB cable.  A seller on ebay has one of these cheap and I could pick it up locally.  The plan would be to feed old systems into the X-Select via the 21-pin RGB input.  I've been using the X-select like this on an old Sony Wega TV via a D-Terminal to Component cable which looks decent, but I'm sure the PVM would give a much better picture.

[RGB32E]

Does anyone know how well an X-Select D4 would work with one of these for displaying old systems in RGB?  Assuming of course I had a 15-pin to 25-pin RGB cable.  A seller on ebay has one of these cheap and I could pick it up locally.  The plan would be to feed old systems into the X-Select via the 21-pin RGB input.  I've been using the X-select like this on an old Sony Wega TV via a D-Terminal to Component cable which looks decent, but I'm sure the PVM would give a much better picture.

From the scenario you've described, there isn't much of a point in using the X-Select D4 with the PVM-2030 if all you are connecting to the X-Select is RGB via it's one RGB input.

The PVM-2030 accepts RGB, but not component.  So, if you wanted to also connect component output from consoles (without building RGB cables), the X-Select might be more useful!

Hence, if you just want to connect RGB sources to the PVM-2030 via 21-pin JP RGB cables, just build an adapter like the one tsenzen shows pictures of above!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Scart-Coupler-Joiner-21-Pin-Female-To-Female_W0QQitemZ220496250135

plus
http://cgi.ebay.com/DB25-Female-Solder-Cup-DSUB-25-Pin-Qty-20-100261_W0QQitemZ400083161030

[Sabishii Hito]

How about another scenario then: instead of one of the Sony monitors with the 25-pin connector, what about one with BNC?  It'd be pretty easy to find a 15-pin D-sub to BNC cable, as the XSelect outputs analog RGB in addition to D-terminal/component.  I guess the only thing I'm not sure about is synch, but seeing as how it can take RGBCS, RGBSG or RGBHV input, theoretically it should just spit out whatever signal it receives.

[RGB32E]

How about another scenario then: instead of one of the Sony monitors with the 25-pin connector, what about one with BNC?  It'd be pretty easy to find a 15-pin D-sub to BNC cable, as the XSelect outputs analog RGB in addition to D-terminal/component.  I guess the only thing I'm not sure about is synch, but seeing as how it can take RGBCS, RGBSG or RGBHV input, theoretically it should just spit out whatever signal it receives.

Uggg... sounds like you don't own a PVM monitor and do not want to build any custom adapters or cables, right?  The best Sony PVM was the PVM-2950Q, and it uses BNC connectors for the RGB/Component input.  A VGA to 5 BNC breakout would work fine with this PVM, as it will accept composite sync, or separate sync.

[Sabishii Hito]

This is a shot of Street Fighter Zero on my Sega Saturn, using 21-pin RGB > XSelect-D4 > Sony 27" Wega TV.  Would a PVM give a major boost in picture quality?



It may be a moot point, as I won an XRGB-2+ on eBay today.

[RGB32E]

This is a shot of Street Fighter Zero on my Sega Saturn, using 21-pin RGB > XSelect-D4 > Sony 27" Wega TV.  Would a PVM give a major boost in picture quality?



It may be a moot point, as I won an XRGB-2+ on eBay today.

It looks like your color setting is a little on the high side...   I'm sure that RGB might look a little bit better than component, but you'd be hard pressed to find a PVM that isn't worn out.  Besides, Sony didn't make any PVMs with flat faced tubes (like in your Wega).

Congrats on the ebay'ed XRGB-2+... $210.16... that's how much they used to sell for new!

[Sabishii Hito]

It looks like your color setting is a little on the high side...   I'm sure that RGB might look a little bit better than component, but you'd be hard pressed to find a PVM that isn't worn out.  Besides, Sony didn't make any PVMs with flat faced tubes (like in your Wega).

Congrats on the ebay'ed XRGB-2+... $210.16... that's how much they used to sell for new!

Hey...how'd you know that's how much I paid 

[RGB32E]

Hey...how'd you know that's how much I paid 

lol... a little thing called Completed Auction search.  On top of that, I was watching the auction as well!   Not that I needed the unit, as my new XRGB-3 will be here in a few days. 

[Sabishii Hito]

Hey...how'd you know that's how much I paid 

lol... a little thing called Completed Auction search.  On top of that, I was watching the auction as well!   Not that I needed the unit, as my new XRGB-3 will be here in a few days. 

I thought long and hard about an XRGB-3, but the price was way too high ($479 for the only seller on eBay US that has any).  I could beat myself for letting one slip by a couple of months back than went for <$250.

[RGB32E]

Hey...how'd you know that's how much I paid 

lol... a little thing called Completed Auction search.  On top of that, I was watching the auction as well!   Not that I needed the unit, as my new XRGB-3 will be here in a few days. 

I thought long and hard about an XRGB-3, but the price was way too high ($479 for the only seller on eBay US that has any).  I could beat myself for letting one slip by a couple of months back than went for <$250.

Yeah, $500 is an unreasonable amount to pay for the XRGB-3.  Would you pay $330 for a new XRGB-3?

[mugenmidget]

I just wanted to mention that I have the same "left shift" problem mentioned by kripp with the Sega Saturn and Genesis on this monitor when in RGB mode.  If I play in S-Video or Composite then it's absolutely fine.  If I made adjustments to it, would there be a way to only change the CMPTR mode or would it shift every display mode?  I use S-Video a lot, still, so I'm not sure I'd want to adjust it if it would just end up shifting S-Video.

[RGB32E]

I just wanted to mention that I have the same "left shift" problem mentioned by kripp with the Sega Saturn and Genesis on this monitor when in RGB mode.  If I play in S-Video or Composite then it's absolutely fine.  If I made adjustments to it, would there be a way to only change the CMPTR mode or would it shift every display mode?  I use S-Video a lot, still, so I'm not sure I'd want to adjust it if it would just end up shifting S-Video.

While I haven't made any of the internal geometry adjustments on my PVM-2030, I'd imagine that it would affect all sources.  Others on this forum have adjusted those settings...   Since the 2030 doesn't have external geometry settings, you might be better off picking up a sync shifter off of eBay for cheap.  That way you'd have an easy solution.  You might need to change your cabling around though... 

[mugenmidget]

That sounds like a good solution, do you know what the name of any decent sync shifters are?  I can't seem to find any on eBay.  I'm also thinking of hooking up all my different DB25 cables to a switcher box, could I put the sync shifter in between the plug for the main output cable and the output cable itself?  That way I wouldn't have to change all the cables, I would think.

[RGB32E]

That sounds like a good solution, do you know what the name of any decent sync shifters are?  I can't seem to find any on eBay.  I'm also thinking of hooking up all my different DB25 cables to a switcher box, could I put the sync shifter in between the plug for the main output cable and the output cable itself?  That way I wouldn't have to change all the cables, I would think.

Many Extron RGB devices have shifting built in, and the devices are relatively inexpensive for decomissioned models:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=extron+rgb+190

I have one of these myself!  Works good for troubleshooting.

[mugenmidget]

That sounds like a good solution, do you know what the name of any decent sync shifters are?  I can't seem to find any on eBay.  I'm also thinking of hooking up all my different DB25 cables to a switcher box, could I put the sync shifter in between the plug for the main output cable and the output cable itself?  That way I wouldn't have to change all the cables, I would think.

Many Extron RGB devices have shifting built in, and the devices are relatively inexpensive for decomissioned models:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=extron+rgb+190

I have one of these myself!  Works good for troubleshooting.

Awesome, thank you so much!

[zillion]

kripp- Hopefully you haven't put your PVM back together.  You *definitely* can make video adjustments of all sorts as I have done them myself.  You have to unscrew and swing open the giant PCB on the right side (looking from the back of the TV).  There are half a dozen+ pots on that PCB all used for different picture adjustments (all sync I think not saturation levels or anything like that).  Just unscrew the 6 main screws on the PCB and it will swing out (it's held in by some bendy plastic clips).  Use a mirror to adjust it from there...

Just in case someone finds this in a search (like I did), here is a super-useful tip!

Instead of unscrewing and swinging the PCB out (which is a huge pain and could stress the PCB (the corner of mine broke off and I had to solder a wire to reconnect two sections!)), if you look at the PCB, you'll see areas that have a silk screen printed label like "[H-FREQ]" and "[PIN-AMP]".  Those are where the pots are on the inside of the PCB.  If you look closely, you'll see there are holes in the PCB where you can put a very small screwdriver (some of mine were phillips and some were flathead) and adjust the pots without removing the PCB!

I kept thinking, "These are professional monitors designed to be maintained and serviced by professionals!  Sony would've have made it THIS hard just to adjust horizontal and vertical centering!"

Segasonicfan's tip of using a mirror is also super effective!

[c0dehunter]

To be honest, I am not 100% satisfied with the image quality of my SONY PVM-2030.

1) Compared to my 13" Commodore 1084S-D1, the scan-lines (which I love to have, don't get me wrong) are STRONGLY pronounced, and the actual R, G, B pixels standout prominently: Maybe this phenomenon is a feature of the Trinotron tube, but the image quality of my 1084S-D1 is much sharper/smoother. (Maybe it is the size of the 1084S-D1, but everything seems sharper.)

2) I managed to open my PVM-2030 and adjusted many settings, but I still could not get to produce the image that I came to love and adore with my 1084S-D1.

3) Using my SONY PVM-2030, when I launch different emulators, the image is completely off, so I have to spend time and manually adjust for each individual emulator. On my 1084S-D1, amazingly they stay pretty much centered and the way I like, (not to mention that 1084S-D1 features the adjusting knobs in the back for easy access, unlike the PVM-2030, which force me to leave it opened all the times for constant fine tuning.) 

Obviously, this is a very subjective matter, but in my opinion, my 1084S-D1 is capable of producing a more sharper image. I will post some images to prove my observations.

After all the time and money spent, I guess I am back to my trusty Commodore 1084S-D1 for retro gaming emulation, but I think it was worth the try.

[turbo87]

sorry to bump an old thread.

but i just picked up a sony pvm-2030 monitor.

looking for US sources to help me build the RGB adopter cable for retro consoles. i want to hook up SNES, GENESIS, PS1/PS2, Saturn and Vega Jr Supergun.

Thanks for any leads!!

[cksubs]

I also just picked up a Sony PVM-2030

What's the official word on this 25-pin "Computer" port? How does one go about hooking up consoles in RGB to it?

Anyone sell an adaptor? Or have a guide to making your own?

[Hamburglar]

I have the parts to make adapters, I have a couple PVMs myself so I can test the cables...