Bought a used Sony monitor--now what?
 

I just bought a Sony PVM-14M2U on Ebay. Maybe a mistake, but the deed is done. There's a guy in California who charges $200 + $50 shipping to "set-up" new and used monitors. He told me he adjusts things like color temperature and black level (I think) that cannot be done by a "user" such as myself. As part of his service he makes sure the decoder for s-video etc. is in spec. I might not have relayed exactly what he does, but you get the idea.

Finally, to the questions.....

1. How can I determine if the monitor "needs" a professional setup.
2. Is there a way to determine the electronic wear and tear on it when I get it?
2. Is there a setup DVD that I can buy that will get me close enough? I shoot mini-DV only.
3. Should I just spend the $250 (bringing the cost of the used PVM-14M2U to $850 and let him bring it up to spec.
4. Should I just set bars, etc. myself and forget the above?

Thanks so much...

Where are you located, Rich? Hint: you can edit your profile to show your location, if you wish, using the "User CP" button above.

Seems to me that depending on where you are, you might be able to get this service performed locally at a lower price.

If the guy your talking about is David Riddle Company he does outstanding work. I have used his services several times and was very pleased with his service. As to if you need that type of work done on your monitor depends on several factors. What type of work will the monitor be used for? Do you know anything of the history of the monitor? Do you know how to set up a monitor with color bars?

Jeff

hi,
we have sold approx 100pcs M2 monitors over the years, usually if they have failed, they did so in first 3 months. CRTs usually last 6-7 years even if used very heavily. In usual conditions some regulating is needed only after repairment.
Even if you don't have video test generator, you can do some simple tests yourself.

Make with your NLE clip which is pure red over all the screen. Feed it to monitor and look if it is same color over the monitor screen. If there are some pinkish or lilac areas on the screen, it means that CRT has magnetic charge or (in worse case) CRT-s mask is bended. If last case, there's nothing to do.
If you want, you can repeat same test with blue and green color.

Make with NLE graphical clip with black background and some white vertical and horisontal lines over it. Feed it to monitor and look if the lines are straight (linearity) and white (don't know this term in English).
If that's OK, CRT should be basically in good shape.
Color temperature setting is in user menu and must be set accordingly to lighting on working place.

regards, Margus