Hi there. I just plugged a new Sony E400 into my G4 and I noticed some minor but worrisome glitches in the screen quality which no screen adjustments can repair.

There is a slight blurriness in the upper right corner of the screen, roughly a centimeter square. There is in the upper left corner a distortion which causes the top of the Apple Menu and the corner of any window open there to appear bent inward.

The screen is otherwise excellent, and so I wonder if these errors are commonplace in all monitors of this size. If so, I could certainly live with these flaws, but if they are uncommon or indicate a larger problem with the monitor then I would try to return it or submit it for repair.

Also, I cannot display the monitor at the recommended resolutions. In fact, many of the factory settings are unavailable in my Monitors control panel. I have 16 MB of video memory. Is this amount insufficient to display the desktop at every setting? I cannot achieve the recommended 1280x1024 at 85 Hz (only at 75 Hz). Is this the "fault" of my computer and its video memory or of the monitor itself? Or of something else entirely?

Please help me clarify these questions. Honestly, I do not know whether to keep or return the Sony. What standard of quality should I expect and accept of a Sony E400?

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed.

[exa]

Sony's should be perfect, you might have a defective one. The resolution should go to the full 1600x1200@85hz if the monitor supports it, the graphics card does. Try demagnatizing the monitor first tho, through the menus going to "Degauss" and see if that helps.

Thank you for your response, exa, but I am not sure that I understand. Are you saying that the graphics card built in to the G4 400 can support a full resolution of 1600x1200@85Hz?

The factory settings of the Sony E400 indicate a maximum resolution of 1800x1440@60Hz. They also indicate 1600x1200 at a maximum of 75Hz (which I can achieve) and the recommended 1280x1024@85Hz (which I cannot achieve).

Can my built-in graphics card support these resolutions? If so, I have a flawed monitor. Also, besides the Monitors control panel and the monitor settings on the Control Strip, is there another way to alter the screen resolution? Have I missed something?

[exa]

16 megs is definetely enough for something like 2048x1440 so you need not worry about that... Try going to www.versiontracker.com and download an app called "Multi Resolutions" which allows you to set your monitor to any resolution... some times apple's own monitor control panel will not show certain settings that would be possible for the monitor. About degaussing, use the menus of the monitor and find the degauss somewhere in the options, it demagnitizes the monitor. If that doesnt work, check if playing the moiré would help in the screen area (I think that monitor has the same menu system as my sony).

[This message has been edited by exa (edited 10-13-2000).]

I tell you, friend, you have been most kind. Sadly, nothing seems to help. The screen is still bowed and blurry in one corner, and I am unable still to display it at the recommended resolution. Ah.

I suppose I now must slog through the swamp of Sony service, kneeling up to my neck and fading into black.

Thanks again for your insights. I am grateful for your advice.

You might want to try holding down the control key while clicking on the monitor resolution control in the control strip. This will often reveal possible settings that aren't being shown. Let us know how you make out.

[reader50]

Lisa,

It does sound like a bad Sony monitor. Sony charges more for their products, and I would expect a perfect picture for it. The visual distortion you describe would not be acceptable even in a no-name monitor.

For monitor resolutions, the video card you have goes up to at least 1920 x 1440. Try downloading Super Res, this is a free utility that will allow all your resolutions to be selected.

Your G4 tries to offer only the resolutions that your monitor supports, but the monitor has to tell your G4 what resolutions those are. And some monitors just do not seem to do that correctly. My 19" NEC misses a couple refresh rates for example. The linked utility allowed the "missing" resolutions to be selected.

Alas. I did hold down the control key, jmb, and it did increase the number of possible resolution settings -- in fact, it revealed just about all of the Sony factory settings except the recommended one (1280x1024@85Hz). I am glad to learn about that step -- I am trying to learn as much as I can -- but for whatever reason my monitor simply will not display the resolution that Sony both claims and recommends. And reader50, I installed SuperRes and selected the proper resolution, and a message appeared telling me that this monitor did not support that resolution. I chose to revert to the prior setting because I did not know if I would damage the monitor further.

So now I need some advice. Should I turn in this 60pound block for repair? The screen is flawed but adequate. Text and graphics are sharp over probably 90 - 95% of the screen. But the fact that I cannot display at the resolution I want -- a significant reason for the purchase -- is irksome.

I have heard, however, of Sony service horrors. People forced to pay for shipping costs, units returned in worse condition and with other more serious flaws, two week turnover times, et cetera. Just how faulty is this monitor? Is this resolution problem simply unacceptable? I am worried that I will spend 50 dollars for shipping, only to receive a less stable or more flawed machine. What should I do?

[reader50]

Lisa,

That message that your monitor does not support that resolution just tells you what you already know. That resolution is not one that your Sony told your Mac it could do. Choosing a slightly higher resolution/refresh setting will not hurt your monitor, worst case it will give a wavery/rolling screen.

In your case the monitor does support that refresh rate, and in fact you got that refresh rate while the dialog was up. Pressing "m" would just dismiss the dialog and leave the higher refresh rate. You might as well use it at 85Hz for the moment.

As for the monitor in general, it sounds like a defective picture to me. You may not have to go to Sony, the retailer who sold it to you may exchange it. After paying for a Sony, I would expect nothing less than a perfect picture and perfect service. Yell, scream, and holler if they do not deliver on both.

I am sold on your advice.
I purchased the monitor at the Outpost, and they want a Sony return like they want a crate of feces. They will not support my purchase in any way. Perhaps I shall urge them again with a bit more vigor.

As for Sony, I have spoken only with technical support, which was a fiasco. The "technicians" are more ignorant than I am, and you and I both know how ignorant I am. This week I shall contact Sony for a replacement.

I'll scream and hollar and gnash my teeth. In a few days I'll also post an update, for you and for any potential Sony customers. Thanks, reader50.

Well I'll be durn. I shouted and cursed Outpost for a week and I finally got a replacement monitor. I am looking at its screen this very moment and I'll be shot if it is not IDENTICALLY flawed. This monitor will not display 1280x1024@85Hz either -- not, that is, without the aid of SuperRes. Also, the minor screen faults -- the exact bends and the bowing, the blurriness in the corners -- are alike to symmetry.

I am rather stunned into incomprehension. I shall turn in this monitor for repair, of course, and at this point I must live with its condition, but I must confess that I am extremely perplexed. Why would two separate monitors both fail to display the Sony recommended resolution? Why would they share the same image flaws? I am dumbfounded.

(One final note: I encourage the prospective owners of any current Sony monitor to apply the utmost caution before purchase. Find a retailer who will offer a full reimbursement or a like model for exchange. The stories strewn about the internet of Sony's infidelity to quality control are legion. And quite correct. As a safeguard I would visit a local store and insist upon checking the monitor in advance. The relatively high likelihood of a faulty monitor and the impossibility of a refund or a return for a brand new machine make the Sony a very risky proposition.

Sony customer service is an altogether hideous and hierarchical regime. At best they will offer to pay for repair -- a second-rate and unsatisfactory solution.

I would not transact with Sony again. They have the merit of being at once hostile and dishonest. My contention with such a relentlessly cruel and mercantile logic has left me with a corrupt and filthy taste. Brass on my tongue).

The fault is not Sony's and there is no need for repair. I've seen this happen, but only on the first few times a Sony monitor is connected to the computer. It only seems to happen when the computer thinks the display is a generic "VGA display". After a few times, it will have the real model name in the control panel.

Start up the computer FIRST, and then turn on the monitor. Also, try setting it to 640x480 and THEN choosing your desired resolution, or just switch to different resolutions a few times. The "defect" will disappear.

I'm typing this from a perfectly clear Sony monitor, which displayed your "defect" the first time I connected it to my G4.

[deckard97]

Lisa,

you say the troublesome Sony monitors show the same deffects, what if it is the envirronment they are in, your home, which have issues?
Are there any speakers next to the monitor? or magnets, or any magnetical field, or a TV, Stereo, another monitor or anything like that...?
To help you troubleshoot, try plugging your Faulty-Monitor into another computer, either Mac or PC, and try that in a different room of your house maybe, as it _could_ be because of the electrical current in certain sockets, which might suffer from fluctuation.
This is a long shot, but i hope it helps.

[Milio]

Some other suggestions:

Try rotating your monitor 90degrees to the left or right. Is there any change? I had a slew of ViewSonic 21" monitors that when pointed a certain way would show distortion. All monitors are sensitive to any magnetic field, even the earth's. When they are calibrated at the factory, and moved to a new location, there may be enough variation to cause problems. This was my situation, it may or may not be contributing to yours. I replaced it 3 times until I got one that minimized it enough that I could live with it.

Definitely try hooking it up to a computer with a different video card.
If the problem goes away, then it's likely the video card.

Try different resolutions or refresh rates.
While your card may be able to run a monitor at a certain resolution and frequency, that doesn't ensure that it will do it well. Right now I have a 21" Diamondtron on a G4 and if I set the resolution to 1024x768 at 90Hz it looks terrible. If I set it to 1024x768 at 85Hz, it's razor sharp. The card obviously has some settings that work better than others.

I don't know if it can even get as tricky as a combination of a certain monitor and a certain card at a certain setting, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Don't rule out environmental factors. I had a display that vibrated subtly but constantly. I had electricians come check my power, but that was fine. When I finally moved into a new building, the flicker went away. I suspect it had to do with some scientific equipment in a nearby building.

Good luck.

You are all kind to reply. I must confess that the control panel always has shown the name of the monitor. Also, there is nothing around the monitor but two windows, a desk and chair, and empty space.

I would like to choose the recommended resolution, but in fact I simply cannot. The control panel and the control strip module will not offer 1280x1024@85Hz, even if I hold down the control key while selecting the control strip module. I was under the impression that the standard G4 400 video memory would support this resolution -- and indeed something must support it because SuperRes will allow its display.

Compared to my inability even to display the recommended resolution without the aid of SuperRes, the quality of the screen itself is only a minor irritation. I have already tried your thoughtful suggestions, however, including a test in a different home on a different computer, but I am afraid that the flaws still remain. Thank you for your help, though -- the last three suggestions contained more information than I received in several calls to Sony service.

[reader50]

More monitor glitches. Yuk.

Yes, a nearby magnetic source can mess up a screen. Doesn't sound like you have any nearby sources.

Nearby electronics like a TV set can mess it up also. Trying a different resolution/refresh rate usually fixes interference from another electronic device - it did when I was getting interference from my TV. But you already tried that also.

A glitched monitor that will fix itself if you just use it for awhile ... hmm. All my monitors had perfect pictures right out of the box, and all were cheaper than a Sony. It sounds good, and I hope it does work.

There was a small booklet with my G4 titled "About Your Accelerated Graphics Port Card". It supposedly listed all the resolutions supported by my graphics card. Actually, my card has a couple higher resolutions that the booklet missed. Your card definitely supports 1280 x 1024 @ 85, Sony just did not design their monitor quite right to tell your G4 that resolution is available and recommended. Use SuperRes and do not worry about that.

Wish you had better monitor luck and I hope it does clear up (or that Sony fixes it).

See you around, and welcome to the Forums.

i'm not sure about the resolution problem, but there might be a way to fix the distortion. we just got a viewsonic 21" at work last week, and it had some AWFUL distortion at the corners. i ran the grid test patterns in techtool pro, and played w/ the monitor's on-board geometry settings untill all the squares were really square, and the same size across the screen. when i exited the test pattern, everything looked PERFECT.
come to think of it, i have an idea about the resolution problem too. we had an old 17" that we hot-swapped to replace an old 14" on one of our servers. both were going through a DB-15 -> VGA adapter, and the 17" wouldn't display 1024x768 (which is it's optimal resolution). we rebooted the server (left the monitor on) and it recognized all the right resolutions at startup. maybe that will work for you.
hope that helps,
-ster

[Milio]

Sorry you aren't having any luck.

The fact that the refresh rate isn't showing up is indeed a monitor/video card hardware issue. My G4 shows me out of spec refresh rates in the control strip, but gets it right in the control panel. Annoying, but at least I can get to them.

For what it's worth, at home I bought an inexpensive Samsung 19" shadow-mask monitor and couldn't be happier. It has less distortion and color issues than the expensive, "professional" Sony, Diamondtron, and ViewSonic models I've used at work. The glass isn't as flat, but the image is great.

(Very few people know this, but shadow-mask is actually better for reading text on than the Trinitron/Diamondtron technology. If you are a graphics person, then the others might be better.)

Lisa,

I am not surprised. My uncle purchased a Sony G400 monitor from Outpost which had an uneven screen (there was a vertical area in the middle of the screen which was lighter than the rest of the screen - degaussing didn't help). Outpost agreed to take back the monitor (it was before Sony's "no returns" policy) but upon receiving a replacement (which was even worse - one of the corners was pink-ish), he decided to keep the first instead

Judging from that experience, I'd say that Sony quality control has gone to the dogs. Luckily, not all of their monitors are as bad as my uncle's. My father got a Sony Trinitron 17" with a Dell package (branded as Dell) which is absolutely perfect.

I would raise hell with Sony over this (if you can bear waiting on hold when calling customer support).

Good luck -

Hello, I just got a SONY Multimedia 19" w/4 usb ports from bestbuy...I am getting a new MAC soon. But for now I bought the monitor. The computer that it is hooked up to is a ancient 166mmx pc. I have been having some troble with my geometry tring to get it right. I even have the corner that bends inward at top right of monitor also. Weird! I suppose its the pc thats doing that. If not is it the monitor? I can't seem to find a site that helps you with the geometry eight...grrr Other than that stuff the picture is way coo.

Originally posted by WH:
The fault is not Sony's and there is no need for repair. I've seen this happen, but only on the first few times a Sony monitor is connected to the computer. It only seems to happen when the computer thinks the display is a generic "VGA display". After a few times, it will have the real model name in the control panel.

Start up the computer FIRST, and then turn on the monitor. Also, try setting it to 640x480 and THEN choosing your desired resolution, or just switch to different resolutions a few times. The "defect" will disappear.

I'm typing this from a perfectly clear Sony monitor, which displayed your "defect" the first time I connected it to my G4.