[lsteere]

My 1031q came yesterday, so I hooked it up and did a quick focus and convergence. The picture looks very good...except for a very nasty ghosting problem, and also what looks like a horizontal moire pattern that spans the width of the screen and randomly shoots up and down the screen - like the sync isn't very stable or something?? BTW: it even exhibits this behavior on still images, so it's not really moire - but it looks very similar


I had it hooked up to a HTPC running at 864x486 60hz negative sync, using a custom built 25 foot VGA cable made out of Shielded Cat5 - as many here have done. After seeing the nasty ghosting (4 or 5 deep) and also moire (maybe not the right term, but that's sorta what it looks like) I figured that was a no-go. So I shortened that cable to about 10 inches and hooked that to a high quality (only 2 feet long) VGA extender cable. To my surprise, it didn't make a lick of difference!! Now I'm totally puzzled as to what the problem is. My solder job on the 10 inch adapter cable isn't the best, but I can't imagine it being THAT bad.


The pinout I'm using with the shielded Cat5 adapter is:


HD15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DB25

---------------------------------------------------------------

1 Orange solid. . . . . . . . 6 Orange solid // Red

2 Green solid . . . . . . . . 5 Green solid // Green

3 Blue solid . . . . . . . . . . 4 Blue solid // Blue

6 Orange stripe . . . . . . 15 Orange solid

7 Green stripe . . . . . . . 16 Green solid

8 Blue stripe . . . . . . . . . 17 Blue solid

13 brown solid . . . . . . . . 3 Brown solid // Horizontal sync ?

14 brown stripe . . . . . . . 3 Brown stripe // Vertical sync ?


I haven't tried composite yet - I need to get a Coax to BNC adapter from rat shack.


Even with all the image problems, DVD's look better than I expected, especially since I've never converged a projector before. I can't imagine how good it will look once I get the ghosting and moire problems fixed and I get better at focusing and converging.


Any help would be appreciated!


BTW: The convergence on this unit was fairly easy. and every line on the grid came out straight as an arrow. Even the image on my 21 monitor isn't as perfectly straight as the lines on my 1031q But for some reason the green didn't focus as well as blue and red

 

[lsteere]

One question. Should I hook pins 15,16,17 (the ground pins) on the DB25 side together and connected them all to the shield wire? Just wondering if they need a common ground or not. As it stands I have the shield wire attached only to the shield and the ground pins are as shown in the previous post.


Larry

 

[WJSD]

You are in the right direction-It is your cable!!! From my experience with the 1031q's any type of computer cable is bad,bad,bad. I think the only way to hook these up is with a proper 75 ohm video cable.

good luck

cheers

Wayne

 

[DaGamePimp]

Larry ,

-- While I have to say that a True 75 Ohm cable is always best the CAT 5e cable solution does work very well and should not be causing the problems you mention unless there is a fault in the connections someplace [ I have built many that work perfect with no ghosting ] . If a computer type connection was not suitable for the RGB input then Sony would have used BNC's instead of the db-25 connection IMO .

-- Maybe you have a bad connection at a solder point , or maybe one wire is touching another [ did you apply heat shrink tubing around the connections to prevent contact ? ] .

-- You can try connecting the grounds to Pin 10 at the db-15 VGA connector and see if that helps your problem . Either that or try building a CAT 5e [ solid core ] cable .

-- Your problem is probably the cable but it could be something else as well .

---- Best Wishes ,

---- Jason Berg

 

[lsteere]

Well I went to radio shack and purchased a RCA to BNC adapter and hooked a DVD player to the projector via a 5 foot video cable. Same deal! Lots of ghosting/ringing (4 - 5 deep) and frequent ripples/moire traveling up and down (somewhat diaganal) the screen.


Is it possible that the PJ is picking up interference from something - except isn't ghosting/ringing caused by cross-talk on the circuit? Interference would produce random noise, wouldn't it? The Cat 5 cable I was using was solid core shielded so it should have been protected from any wayward external signals.


Ideas??


Thanks,


Larry

 

[MYoung]

Is your RGB2 Horiz. shift turned all the way to the left or right? On my 1031Qs if the RGB2 H shift is turned too far to the right I get a nasty image (raster beamed off the the side of the tube phosphors). I guess that would only make sence if you were using the RGB input as RGB shift on the control panel doesn't affect the composite input. Make sure that your raster is being beamed on the phosphor area and not too close to the edges.

 

[WJSD]

It must be a ground loop problem, try plugging the projector into a different outlet and see what happens, idealy one that is on a different breaker than the current one.

If that doesn't work then break the ground pin off-you can always go buy another power cord if that doesn't work.

Wayne

 

[lsteere]

I remade the Cat 5 adapter cable - now it's only about 5 inches long. I hooked it up to a 6 foot VGA extender that I dug out of my box of old PC parts. I also used high quality solder when I made the cable this time. The ghosting/ringing issue has improved immensly - went from 5 deep to only 1. I've got a really high quality VGA extender on order, hopefully that will clear up the ghosting completely.


I still have the moire issue though. If I was to hazard a guess, I would say that it looks like intermittent slop in the horizontal scan pattern that is producing this affect. It looks like scan lines are being missed or maybe they overlap at random. It happens about 50% of the time - it comes and goes every few seconds. Like I said earlier, it happens even on static images. I've seen a few other posts from people with Sony 12xx PJ's who complain about "waves" in the image, and I'm wondering if they're having the same problem I am?? It is extremely annoying...worse than pixels on LCDs because it's not static but is instead random motion in the picture - very distracting.


Other than the moire issue, this PJ throws a beautiful picture. If I can get the image to be rock solid I will be thrilled with this PJ and can't imagine why I would want to upgrade to a higher end PJ anytime soon. during those intermittent few seconds when I'm not seeing waves on the screen, the image is silky smooth and just downright gorgeous!


If anybody has any idea what's causing what appears to be an unstable scan pattern, I'd appreciate your help.


I'd also like to thank everyone for all the help I've been given so far. It's much appreciated!


Larry

 

[lsteere]

MYoung


When looking through the lens the image appears to be centered on the CRT and doesn't appear to be extending out-of-bounds. Is it safe to run the PJ with the lens housing removed so I can get a better look at the tubes in action?



WJSD


The wiring in our house does leave something to be desired. Most of the outlets are not grounded, and I am using a 3-prong adapter on the power cord. Maybe I'll try running a really long extension from a grounded outlet to see if that helps with the moire issue.


Larry

 

[Vic C]

AHHHHHHHHH....... That may also be the problem. If your hooked up to a non grounded outlet!


Try getting a power conditioner. I cant say for sure it will completly solve the problem but you should have one for the AV gear anyway. I would run as clean power as possible to the unit as I could.


Yes these projectors ROCK as far as picture quality is concerned. They are very compairable to much high $$ projectors when set up 100%.


I love my 1031Q so much I just bought another one Now the real fun begins.


Also, Have you tried, problably not, electronic focus or better yet the G2's for each gun. I wounder if the tubes are too bright and are causing this problem. If you can project a complety BLACK sene from a movie or test disk of some kind see if the CRT's are emmiting any light. They should not be illumanating at all during complete darkness.


If they are well tel you where to go to make adjustments..........


To be continued

 

[lsteere]

Ok, I'm fairly convinced it is a power issue at this point. I ran a heavy duty extension to one of the grounded outlets that we had installed a couple of years ago by the same electrician who installed our 200 amp entrance. It didn't eliminate the moire but did change its characteristics. Now instead of intermittent horizontal lines I now have a steady stream of evenly spaced thin lines that are slightly diagonal.


So, I guess a line conditioner is maybe needed, or is there another way to solve this problem? Can anybody recommend a good but economical conditioner and a place to purchase - remember my PJ only cost $500 so I don't want to break the bank on a line conditioner


Thanks,


Larry

 

[WJSD]

Check ebay for "monster conditioner" they make very good units at a reasonable price. You don't happen to have a fridge in that same room do you- that can be the big culprate.

cheers

Wayne

 

[Vic C]

WJSD,


I sent you a PM by mistake. I got the recepiants mixed up.


Sorry for the inconvientance