CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

atotaldoofus · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 66

Hi! I've searched but not been able to find answers to these last few lingering questions I've got regarding the final steps in setting up my 1272Q. Thanks for your help!

Can/should I disable the AKB on this projector? I found a thread on AVS where some people say that you can't even do it on this model, and then someone else said that they did, and then someone else said that you shouldn't even bother - so I just don't know.
The setup DVD I got shows what the AKB wire looks like on a 1292, not a 1272, so I don't know which of the two-wired plugs it is on mine, since I don't have the same board just over the red CRT. If I should disable the AKB on my projector, please tell me where to find it.

If I don't want to invest in a complete calibration setup right now, then what procedure should I follow for getting a basic approximation of a decent Gain setting? I know how to do Bias through the pluge interface, by making certain squares just barely visible - but since Gain just has one square in the middle, I don't know what I'm supposed to be looking for.
I do have the colors essentially balanced in Gain, so that the square does not show much of a tint - but how do I know how "high" to push it overall in terms of intensity?

Finally, is burn-in a cummulative process, or an instanced incident? Say for example that I watch one widescreen movie a week - over the course of a few months, will that do as much burn-in as if I had watched them all at once, one after another?

Okay, thanks again, bye! Smile

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 1:45 pm Post subject:

Burn in occurs when you constantly display an image for a long period of time OR a shorter period of time with the contrast cranked up.

It's cumulative.

It's a projector. Use it as much as you can! When I got my 1252 I think I put over 2000 hours on it. It was Friday and Saturday night movie -re-watching.

**ecrabb** · Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 4:09 pm Post subject:

I'll just add to what AR wrote...

Tube "wear" usually refers to the long-term aging/chemical change on the phosphor as a result of exposure to the electron beam. Use a CRT for a few thousand hours, and it will wear, meaning it darkens and reduces its visible light output given the same input current.

"Burn" or "burn-in" usually refers to a latent image like a game screen or DVD menu... You may have seen a video game that has the high scores visible even when the machine is off... That's what is usually referred-to as "burn", "burn-in", or "text burn", or "uneven wear", and can happen (if subtly) in a matter of days or even hours with a CRT projector because of the small tube size and high beam intensity (brightness) of the CRT.

Wear and burn-in are technically the same thing, but occur for somewhat different reasons. It's a subtle distinction, but I think it helps to understand the difference. Most people can (and do) continue to use a projector with some amount of wear, while a projector with much burn-in can be pretty obnoxious to some to watch, depending the image burn.

Here's Curt's tube condition page for more info on wear burn:
http://www.curtpalme.com/TubeCondition.shtm

Here's Curt's wear rating chart, which shows an example of nasty burn (uneven wear) at the bottom:
http://www.curtpalme.com/TubeCondition_RatingChart.shtm

And yes - Both are cumulative (4 hours 10 times is exactly the same as 40 hours once).

As for AKB, I've never messed with it on any of my 12xx machines, nor did I feel the need to.

SC

atotaldoofus · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 66

Hi! Thanks for your answers, they're a great help!

I'll leave AKB alone. Smile

I think the manual says that the "factory default" brightness and contrast settings are 50 and 70 respectively. Is 70 for contrast pushing it as hard as you warn against, or did you mean a setting more like 90 would be too much?

I do think I'll play a few games on the CRT once in a while, and they might have a couple of static elements. Would it help significantly if I turned the brightness and contrast down twenty or so points for that?

Okay, thanks, bye! Smile

atotaldoofus · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 66

Darnit - I'm running into a really weird problem now. Sad

I thought I had all my settings sorted out. The last time I used the projector, when I first started it up and got the HTPC on, red was off a bit and blue was off a ton - I thought that maybe that's just normal when you move from an internal setup to a setup that's synced to an input, so I fixed it, pressed memory save, and moved on, used it for a night and it was great.

But today I've started up the projector again and the exact same problem! It's an exact repetition; red and blue are off in exactly the same amounts and ways as before, despite my pressing save.

Really frustrating. Any ideas what's causing this? This next time that I set it, I'm going to hold down save and make it save to every block, despite the fact that it should just save for each sector...

Also, it seems like most of the time horizontal registration controls on the blue tube just don't work; there's no apparent result from changing any horizontal registration setting at all. I have to take the cable coming from the back of the blue CRT out of its connector in the projector, then plug it back in, for there to be even a chance of it working - and for the registration to even begin to look correct. Really weird stuff.

Do I lose all my settings if I press the off switch on the front, or if I unplug?

Extreme hassle. Please explain what's going on?

atotaldoofus · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 66

So when I first got the PJ, the blue was shaky and unfocused; I had to assume that it was because of a poor connection, and all signs pointed to that.

I bought a better plug from Curt and installed that, but it seems like I'm still getting a lot of the same problems; every time I start up the PJ, blue seems like it's in a more-or-less new place, and still often shakes around.

I put on the new plug - what more can I do to fix this?

atotaldoofus · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 66

Hi -

Another weird thing I noticed is that, whenever I first turn on my projector and get the all-white "Warm up" screen, it projects WAY bigger in size than the projector usually does. Can anyone figure out why that is? Does it just flood the entire tube face with white regardless of zone/size settings?

If anybody can tell me whether this projector is a lost cause I'd appreciate it. I just don't know what to do anymore to overcome these weird problems. If anybody is near enough and thinks they could set it all right I'd pay them for their time.

atotaldoofus · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 66

I checked the g2 voltage settings. Red was 6, and blue and green are both over 10. I turned red down to 1.5, but i simply cannot get green or blue settings to change at all. i turn and turn their knobs and they just don't change. i am absolutely certain that i am connecting the voltmeter's red plug to the right points in the projector.

atotaldoofus · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 66

I've sorted out the G2 voltage settings. Now the biggest remaining problem is that I cannot get the Blue CRT to be stable. When I bought it, it terminated in the wrong kind of plug - it was barely making a connection at all.

So I bought the right kind of plug from Curt. That seemed to have fixed it - but now I'm getting the same trouble all over again.

I have no idea what to do to fix it at this point and without input from somebody here it just won't get fixed.

the blue CRT shakes and flickers and wiggles and will drift completely out of its preset orientation. This problem is temporarily alleviated if I completely unplug it then replug it, but only for a very short time.

What can I do to stabilize permanently the connection being made between the cable and its plug, if that's what the problem is? I have no idea of what to try next. I've plugged it in as securely as the standard components permit me to. Something additional is going to be necessary.

I either need your help or I need you to buy this thing's parts from me - without a solution it's useless.

jkruger · Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Posts: 2434 Location: Carlsbad, CA

Hang in there Doofus. Don't give up, you haven't let the magic smoke out yet. Thumbs Up

atotaldoofus · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 66

assuming that you were trying to insult me: your response is as helpful as it is witty

i will let the magic smoke out with baseball bat

I understand - I admit - that I'm totally clueless about CRT projectors. You really can't tease me on that point. I've offered to pay anyone who'll help, though I haven't the money to send the thing to Curt. That's the best I can do.

There's no portion of the manual that deals with the issue I'm having now. What more can I do but come here and to AVS and ask you people and hope that you'll take time out from screenshot wars to try to help me through this? Am I making such an unpardonable error in hoping that somebody here will have the knowledge and generosity to offer a few suggestions?

I know I came to the forum with an impatient attitude, and I apologized for that a long time ago. Now I think that my attitude would be more fairly described as "desperate." I'm just one person, of course, and probably won't have much to do with the established CRT "community" ever - but does it advance the hobby for people to taunt and ignore me, more than it would for someone to even venture a guess as to the cause of my troubles?

The particular unit that I'm using now is only two owners removed from Curt Palme - it can't be in an utterly hopeless condition altogether, I'd think. I didn't pull it out of a dumpster or buy it from somebody's garage sale.

jkruger · Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Posts: 2434 Location: Carlsbad, CA

Levity my friend, levity.

atotaldoofus · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 66

Thank you for not having intended your post as an insult. Sorry to have snapped at you; I shouldn't've been suspicious.

dturco · Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:44 pm Post subject:

atotaldoofus · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 66

Thanks for your constructive response. I agree - I do need to chill out.

This CRT project has a definite deadline, though, since it's going to remain at my current residence as a gift once I move out - but, yeah, I have been too stressed over getting it done quickly. Maybe you guys know how that can be and can sympathize.

Thanks again, bye.

**AnalogRocks** · Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:47 pm Post subject:

dturco · Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2009 10:23 pm Post subject:

atotaldoofus · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 66

Hi again -

Since it seems like the problem is most likely a poor connection between the blue CRT's wire and the block it plugs into,

Could anyone suggest a mildly adhesive conductor? Like a solder pen for example? Then I could put a little of that on the blue CRT's blunt wire-tip, plug it in - and hopefully a stronger, more stable connection would be made.

Does that sound reasonable? if so, what could I use? Can anyone think of anything better than a solder pen?

Okay, thanks, bye

jkruger · Joined: 24 Oct 2007 Posts: 2434 Location: Carlsbad, CA

Did the connector come off the end of the wire? You might need another wire if it did. Those connections need to be perfect.

atotaldoofus · Joined: 22 Jun 2009 Posts: 66

I had the wrong kind of ring-plug on the blue CRT wire when I got it. By ring-plug, I mean the thing that fixes to the block, and so keeps the wire itself down inside.

Mine was hard plastic, with grooves for twisting/screwing it into something - but my projector, the sony 1271, uses little rubber stretches instead.

So all I did was replace the hard plastic thing with the right kind: the stretchy rubber kind.

As for the wire itself, I haven't pulled out others to compare, but since the blue CRT has the same model number as the other CRT's I think it's a safe bet that they're compatible.

The blue CRT wire-tip is broad and flat like a bottlecap.