CRT Setup for the Beginner?

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Well, yes and no. I want to put together a document for everyone, as much as is possible, not just myself. Explaining scheimpflug to me could be the last time it has to be re-hashed on the forums. I'm envisioning something along the lines of "if your projector has X feature, do it now and here's how, otherwise skip to section D." I'm not looking for the exact menu items and so forth, that much would be impossible to set out for every projector, just what settings to change, how to change them, and in what order; things that could apply to setting up any old CRT projector for the first time.

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My starting point is that I know what a CRT is that you have to converge them, focus them, and a few other things to get them working right. That's about it.


I'm sorry I never picked up on the posts, can you think of a couple keywords I could search the forums/archives for that would bring them up for me?

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The "Holy Focus" by Mr. Kuo is far too advanced for me at this stage. It also doesn't cover lots of simpler things that are necessary for proper projector calibration. I've been to all the FAQ links and didn't find anything for the beginner, which has surprised me.

here is a real quick list of things to do

First make sure you use your install manual to make sure your set up is to spec. Is the screen the right size? Are all of you angles true? Make sure everything is physically set up correctly before you adjust the electronic aspects.

Generally the first thing you will do after the install is get the PJ in focus. "Holy Focus" has to be the best focus description on the forum. Although it is in depth, it is import to follow for the best focus. Make sure you address both optical and electronic focus. Optical means adjusting the actual lens, electronic will be either Electrostatic or Electromagnet depending on your model. Also make sure that the image is centered on the tube face. The simple way to do this is to turn the contrast down (so you don't go blind) and run a test pattern while looking into the lens. You should be able to get a good idea of when it is centered. Then make sure it is centered on the screen. If your setup is physically correct, it should be close on the screen. But move the screen or realign the PJ if it is not. After you get your focus down then begin converging.

Your install manual should have a guide for converging. This is going to be a bit different for each projector. In general make sure you go through all the steps and take a lot of care. It is probably good to have a freind lend an extra set of eyes. Try not to rely on multi point convergance (assuming your PJ has it). Instead use size, skew, keystone, pincushion and so on. It can be tempting for the beginer just to try the multipoint without getting the other settings correct. But spend the time getting the other setting correct first and then FINE TUNING with multi point convergance.


In general don't be to scared of destroying your projector with an incorrect setting. Still there are a few things to keep in mind. Running the contrast to high will shorten tube life and increase the possibility of burn. Try not to run it much higher than default. And avoid running static images such as a windows desktop or a video game (that will always have things like health or score in the same place).

Make sure the image is centered on the tube face (as I mentioned.) If it is way off and running onto the side of the tube the heat can eventually crack the neck from what I hear.

Also try not to run the projector often for a short period of time. Most of the stress on the tube occurs during warm up (make sure you run the warm up cycle by the way). So its probably not worth turning on the projector just to watch a half hour of the simpsons.

I don't know if this helped or not. If you have more questions ask them specifically as HoustonHoyaFan said. Also if anyone sees something important that I left out or got wrong, feel free to post.

Matt

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Understood, but it still seems like this forum would greatly benefit from a beginners guide to setting up a CRT, as universal as it could possibly be.

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It was only a singular example.

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Now this is a good start! This is the beginning of a document. Start with focus, move to this, then do that, etc. Now I can research details for each step along the way and put it into something the total layman can use. As mking said, if anyone has any corrections, additions, opinions, lay them out for the benefit of everyone.

My process:


1. Point it at the wall move it physically to focus where it was set up last and see what it's set for and how it looks before you muck with it. ( Just as a starting point to know if you introduce a problem of if there's already something wrong.)


2. Move it to the distance you want for the screensize you want. (Most pj's youd want size of image on tubes close to max then set distance for screensize leaving a little adjustment range)

3. zero all convergence, full reset on most machines

4. eletronically focus looking into tubes

5. roughly focus lenes

6. physically align tubes for match in center of screen (toe in)

7. verify if your pj uses lens spacers or adjustment rings they are set right. (not applicaple for machines with scheimflug)

8. physically adjust widtch and height coils or pots or what you have that applies.

9. check that you have all physical and manual adjustments done, then start on convergence. You should have a crudely alighned image at this point. Maybe not watchable by any means but nothing should be so far off it'll tax the convergence too hard.


convergence basic order:

keystone, tilt, bow, skew, linearity, then zone.


Surely others will find I'm missing something or do things in another order.

I didn't spend a lot of time on this, fill in the blanks.


At this point if usually where the beginner has a pretty nice picture. After you have done all the above then you can get fancier and start getting critical about did you get the perfect lens focus, perfect electronic focus, then scheimflug, and touching things up here and there. When the basics are down and you have a grasp of all this, then when or if you want you can get into holy focus, astig and flare, color calibrating, etc. Don't expect perfection in the first day but as you get familiar and understand things it gets easier and better each time you play with it. Don't let it all overwhelm you take things one step at a time and by the time you've learned the pj you should be very impressed with your results.


Troy