Did Sony ever make any prof. broadcast monitors with totally flat screens?

[Anthony1]

Right now I have a Commodore 1084S-D1 monitor, and it has been working well for me for a very long time. The thing is, that I've always wondered what it might be like if I could find a Sony PVM or similar type professional broadcast monitor with a completely flat screen. You know, like the Panasonic Tau line of monitors, or the Sony Wega's for the consumer line. I've tried various Sony PVM monitors, and while some have worked well, I'm not interested in the ones made during the 90's. I'm trying to find a Sony monitor made sometime in the last 10 years, in the 20 or 19 inch size range, 4:3 with a perfectly flat screen like a Panasonic Tau.

Honestly, I'd love to find a Sony monitor that is only a few years old, or maybe one that is actually brand new, never used. Reason being, I'm very concerned about the sharpness and detail in the picture. I've tried various Sony PVM's, and some have worked better than others, but when all is said and done, they just weren't sharp or detailed enough. The picture wasn't focused enough. Not compared to my Commodore 1084S-D1 anyways. I've chalked this up to the fact that the majority of Sony monitors I've had at one time or another were from the early to mid 90's. Most have had alot of hours on them, and they have seen their better days. I'm just wondering if it's possible that there is a 20 inch monitor out there, that would be absolutely crisp and precise with the picture being displayed. No blurriness whatsoever, no lack of focus. Crystal Clear and extremely sharp.

Even if the monitor that I'm looking for costs 8 grand or 6 grand or whatever, I'd still like to find out if such a beast exists, because at some point I would probably be able to track one down for pennies on the dollar. Right now, I'm considering a Sony BVM-A201FU as a possibility. They are 20 inches (19 viewable), and they were made during the last decade.  Although the picture below makes it seem like the screen is perfectly flat, in other pictures that I've seen, you can tell there is a slight curve to the screen. It's not as curved as some of the Sony PVM's from the early 90's, at least it doesn't appear to be as curved, but at the same time, it's not exactly flat.



I'm not 100 percent positive that this will work with 15.75 kHz, but the vast majority of Sony monitors made for the broadcast industry do. It does have a RGB/Component input on the back of it (BNC type connectors). There is always a slight chance that this monitor won't sync with 15.75 kHz, and that would be a tragic mistake if I bought one, not knowing that... but it's not like you can go to your local Best Buy and test these things out...

[cgm]

According to the product line PDF, the screen is flat and it accepts 15.75khz RGB from the BKM-68X terminal board.

http://visionaryforces.com/downloads/Sony-BVM-A24E1WU-HD-Monitor.pdf

[Jibbajaba]

I don't think that you should get so hung up on the manufacturing date of a monitor (within reason).  You need to just buy one locally so that you can take one of your systems over there and test it.  You could find a 20 year old monitor that was barely used, or you could find a 5-10 year old monitor that was used 24/7 in a hospital or something.  I think that you and I are the same in that we are both very picky about image quality, and for that reason I will never again buy an RGB monitor sight-unseen because I got burned badly on that PVM-2530.  Speaking of which, I will never buy a monitor that old again.  I'll buy one from the mid to late 90's, but not earlier than that.

Chris

[Anthony1]

Well, yeah, obviously, it would be most ideal to be able to try the monitor in person. One thing that is very cool about the BVM-A20F1U is that you can actually see how many hours are on the monitor. I think you can go into the monitor menu settings, and get the actual number of hours it's been used. I don't know if there is anyway to reset it, and make it look like it was used much less than what it really was, but I'm about 90 percent positive that you can go into the menu and check the usage.

Finding one of these locally will be damn-near impossible. Thats the risk. They do show up on Ebay every now and then, but usually the lowest they seem to go for is in the $400 range, and usually people are selling them for more like $900 or a grand or even more. It would definitely suck to buy one, and then turn around and find out that the RGB picture when used with game consoles isn't up to par. You would be in a situation in which you would have to try to sell it again, and hope to get somewhere close to the amount of $$ that you originally threw at it.

[Anthony1]

According to the product line PDF, the screen is flat and it accepts 15.75khz RGB from the BKM-68X terminal board.

http://visionaryforces.com/downloads/Sony-BVM-A24E1WU-HD-Monitor.pdf

In the PDF, when it's talking about the "Flat Surface Trinitrons". It says that they used that type of screen for the 16:9 monitors that are in that line. But I haven't seen them mention that for the two 4:3 monitors, the 20 inch one, and the 14 inch one. I haven't read thru the whole think yet.

[RGB32E]

According to the product line PDF, the screen is flat and it accepts 15.75khz RGB from the BKM-68X terminal board.

http://visionaryforces.com/downloads/Sony-BVM-A24E1WU-HD-Monitor.pdf

In the PDF, when it's talking about the "Flat Surface Trinitrons". It says that they used that type of screen for the 16:9 monitors that are in that line. But I haven't seen them mention that for the two 4:3 monitors, the 20 inch one, and the 14 inch one. I haven't read thru the whole think yet.

The Super Trinitron tube in the PVM-2950Q is "flatter" than standard trinitron tubes (used in both commercial and consumer models).  The PGM-200R1U and PGM-2950 also have almost flat tubes.

[matth]

Well, yeah, obviously, it would be most ideal to be able to try the monitor in person. One thing that is very cool about the BVM-A20F1U is that you can actually see how many hours are on the monitor. I think you can go into the monitor menu settings, and get the actual number of hours it's been used. I don't know if there is anyway to reset it, and make it look like it was used much less than what it really was, but I'm about 90 percent positive that you can go into the menu and check the usage.

Finding one of these locally will be damn-near impossible. Thats the risk. They do show up on Ebay every now and then, but usually the lowest they seem to go for is in the $400 range, and usually people are selling them for more like $900 or a grand or even more. It would definitely suck to buy one, and then turn around and find out that the RGB picture when used with game consoles isn't up to par. You would be in a situation in which you would have to try to sell it again, and hope to get somewhere close to the amount of $$ that you originally threw at it.

I recently just purchased two Sony BVM-20F1U off of Ebay for $250 a piece (included shipping).  I also recently purchased a NEC XM2960 monitor off of Ebay also for $71.  Both of these monitor are great with the Sony's having about 19000 and 26000 hours on them.  I also own a Well-Gardner D9800 (purchased new 2 years ago) and  a Sony GVM-2020 (purchased new 3 years ago) for comparison sake.  In my opinion, the Sony BVMs have the most incredible color and detail that I have ever seen. For interlaced video, I have never seen anything quite as beautiful and you can control every aspect of the picture with the control unit (sold separately).  These monitors brand new cost over $7000, not including the remote unit and the extra daughter boards can run $500 on up.  If you can find one of these, pick one up.

[Anthony1]

I recently just purchased two Sony BVM-20F1U off of Ebay for $250 a piece (included shipping).  I also recently purchased a NEC XM2960 monitor off of Ebay also for $71.  Both of these monitor are great with the Sony's having about 19000 and 26000 hours on them.  I also own a Well-Gardner D9800 (purchased new 2 years ago) and  a Sony GVM-2020 (purchased new 3 years ago) for comparison sake.  In my opinion, the Sony BVMs have the most incredible color and detail that I have ever seen. For interlaced video, I have never seen anything quite as beautiful and you can control every aspect of the picture with the control unit (sold separately).  These monitors brand new cost over $7000, not including the remote unit and the extra daughter boards can run $500 on up.  If you can find one of these, pick one up.

Could you please post some pics of the 20F1U's in action with something in RGB on it. As many pics as possible. I'd love to see what it looks like, even though a pic isn't going to give anywhere near the impression that seeing it in person would.

[matth]

I don't have time right now for taking the pictures but I will later on for you.

[Anthony1]

I don't have time right now for taking the pictures but I will later on for you.

I understand... but whenever you get some time, please take some pics of it in action.