Q: About 5BNC vs. VGA

[cmx08]

I have a 7 years old Pro Monitor that has 5BNC, the workstation standard.

my question is, the saturation of it and the sharpness are going south.

Will a VGA (Video Card plug) to 5BNC (monitor) save it or the it already hit its lifespan?

[andrebsd]

I think its probibly lifespan, its 7 years old... I got monitors and stuff used for video production that start to look bad after 3-4 years (but we move them alot)... it also depends on the hours; my desktop lcd here runs 16 hours or so in a day (provides slideshow pictures or tv when idle) and im suprised it hasnt gone south yet after 3 years.

[crazzyeddie]

Its almost definitely life span... time to pony up for a new monitor.

[CanadaRAM]

Don't give up on the monitor until you have taken it to a competent TV repair shop that knows monitors as well. For $30 to $50 they can sharpen and focus the monitor to the limit of its tube condition, and estimate any repairs and lifespan remaining. Granted, a tube will fade irrevocably after a number of years but I have taken many un-viewable monitors for the tune-up with an 80% success rate. Much cheaper than replacing and if it keeps it out of the landfill, so much the better.

(Note: Don't take the hood off a monitor and start poking around inside unless you are conversant with high voltage safety precautions or have a paid up life insurance policy. Those puppies have enough juice to stun a horse in them even when unplugged.)

[BrianKonarsMac]

how much could a new crt cost him? $100? how much is an adapter? $20-40? get a new monitor man.

[x86isslow]

good crts aren't anywhere as cheap as you'd think. they generally start around 250-300.

[Poeben]

(Note: Don't take the hood off a monitor and start poking around inside unless you are conversant with high voltage safety precautions or have a paid up life insurance policy. Those puppies have enough juice to stun a horse in them even when unplugged.)

Very good, sound advice. That being said I have salvaged many a discarded monitor doing little more than a degauss and adjusting the flyback transformer(the dangerous part.) I have heard that there is enough "zap" inside to send a man clear across the room. :eek: