CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[atotaldoofus]

Hi!
I'm really new to CRT projectors! This is my first project!

I got a Sony VPH 1272Q locally for cheap, thinking I ought to familiarize myself with a simple, cheap model before buying into the more expensive ones, like 8", LC 9", etc.

I really don't know what to make of the set so far - the case in an absolutely trashed state, it just barely hangs on, it's obviously missing little chunks... It seems like the plastic has lost a lot of tension; it's like it's slumping down onto the projector internals rather than standing above them, and both the big "shell" and the cover that fits around the front lenses are very loose. Is it safe to even have these on there? I want to get the projector setup without having to first wait for replacement parts to come in from somewhere... I'll order another case sometime, but what should I do in the meantime to make the best of this situation, with the floppy case-pieces I'm stuck with?

I've read the Sony manual and I just don't understand which controls relate to the raster/tube adjustments. Nothing seems to explicitly state, "this increases the coverage of the raster on the tube face" in the manual, so I'm just not sure... Can you please tell me which it is?

Should I turn the "Dynamic Contrast" feature on, or leave it off? I can't find any information in the manual or on the internet about just what the heck this feature is supposed to do!...but it sounds good?

At the distance my projector is currently, the red and blue tubes seem to have perfectly symmetrical "tilts" which bring up their corners on each side of the screen. So, there's a white square in the middle, but also a red corner tipping up and out at the right, and likewise for a blue on the left. Since the these askew angles are symmetrical, does that mean that the problem is NOT astigmatism but simply that the washers are set for the wrong distance?

Okay, those are my dumb questions for now - but I'll have more as I keep working on this thing!

Thanks again for reading my post and for helping me out! Bye!

[atotaldoofus]

Hi, another question to throw into the mix here!

Okay --

I am trying to get the lenses off of the tubes in order to clean the lenses properly and check out the tubes, but all of the bottom screws for the lenses can only be accessed when the "power block" is removed completely. The problem is that there are elements on the power block connected by wires to other parts of the machine - and one of these wires cannot be disconnected at any point that I can find accessible! So what the heck can I do?

Also -

I can't tell from the manual whether to change the spacers I have to get a whole other spacer and switch it out, or whether I just switch the position of the lens apparatus from "M" to "S" if my throw distance is short. What's the deal here?

Okay, thanks, bye!

[dturco]

Welcome to the forum. The first thing you'll have to do is read the following. Then have alot of patience to keep at it.

http://www.curtpalme.com/CRTPrimer.shtm

http://www.curtpalme.com/CRTSetupGuide.shtm

http://www.curtpalme.com/TubeRasterSetup.shtm

[atotaldoofus]

Hi! Thanks for the links but I've read those already!
My questions all relate to those basic concepts, granted, but they are more specific whereas they arose in the course of my attempt to follow the directions in the links which you have provided.
So I posted my question in the hope that I could get specific answers to my specific questions. If there are guides that cover them also, then that's great, but I've read everything I can find that seems relevant and not come across the information that I need.
I know that nobody owes it to me but I was hoping that someone would read my post, see the individual questions, and then respond with the particular information that I'm requesting.

As you can see, the Primer pages, the setup pages, and the tube/raster pages don't really relate in any sufficiently direct way to my questions. They don't really touch on:

1) What to do about a case in poor condition when one does not want to immediately replace it
2) Which specific controls on the Sony 1272Q relate to the adjustment of the raster
3) The Dynamic Contrast feature unique to the Sony 1272 and its variants
4) The strange tilts that I see and what they might be due to
5) Removal of the lenses in order to clean them and to look at the tubes behind them on my particular model of projector
6) The nature of spacer adjustment on a Sony 1272Q projector

Those were my questions and none of them really come up in any of the links that you provide.

I agree that it's good policy to make sure anyone new to this forum has read those links, but I just wanted to make it clear that my questions AREN'T covered in those so that people might continue to reply to my thread here instead of assuming that I just didn't read the basic material and that if I only bothered to do so then I would know everything that I need to.

Thanks again, bye!

[jkruger]

What is your location? I have an extra sony with a good case here that you can have for free if you are close enough to make it practical.
You can run it without the covers on but keep you hands off the electrical stuff.
Have you downloaded and read the install manual? That will help a lot. Print it out and keep it for reference.
Can you post pictures to help show us what you are talking about?
We're here to help but you have to help us help you.

[macgyver655]

As jkruger said, most of your answers can be found in the install manual. If you read that and are still confused then post back and we will all be glad to help out...

http://www.curtpalme.com/Sony125x_Downloads.shtm

[atotaldoofus]

Yes, I've read the Install Manual and the USers Manual. I tried to read the Service Manual too but it looked like Egyptian tablets to me.

I've read the manuals and these questions persist despite my having read them. For example I mentioned that I can find information in the manual about how to turn on or off the "Dynamic Contrast" setting, but not what it actually does.

Likewise, the manual has instructions for removing the HV and Power blocks - but these instructions make NO MENTION of the various wires that I simply cannot find disconnectable portions of.

And also there's the part of my post where I say that though I'm reading through the manual, I can't find any section that refers specifically to any control being related to the raster. I can find stuff about RGB "Size" but I have no idea what that means - there seem to be multiple controls for multiple sizes of multiple things and since it never explicitly mentions one relating to the raster, I do not know which to manipulate.

And finally there's the fact that the manual is very vague when it talks about spacers. It seems to say at the same time that I need alternative spacers AND that I need to simply twist the spacers. It doesn't make any sense to me.

So yes, I've read the manuals, I have them printed out in front of me, I'm referencing them as I go along

I don't know what you're asking me to give you more information on. I don't have a camera or scanner or webcam or anything so I can't get you any pictures.

Thanks for your help, but just to be hopefully very very clear: I've read it all and if it's there then I'm not understanding it and that's exactly why I'm posting here now.

[kal]

Don't clean the lenses until you know what you're doing. Too many beginners take off the lenses and end up scratching them up.
See: http://www.curtpalme.com/Lens_Cleaning.shtm

Odds are you don't need to clean them. Leave them alone. You're more likely to do more damage than good.

Kal

[kal]

Don't clean the lenses until you know what you're doing. Too many beginners take off the lenses and end up scratching them up.
See: http://www.curtpalme.com/Lens_Cleaning.shtm

Odds are you don't need to clean them. Leave them alone. You're more likely to do more damage than good.

Kal

[jkruger]

What is your location?

[jkruger]

[atotaldoofus]

Hi,

I'm in Florida, thanks for the offer though.

I managed to get the lenses off without completely removing the power block by balancing it on another surface with it pulled it to the furthest extent I could manage without straining the wires. I'll look for that screw that you mention along the black wire but I think another one was giving me trouble too. I'll go check them all again now that the lenses are out of the way and I'll let you know if any others are problematic.

The lenses are filthy. Huge, visible specks on both the outer and inner surfaces - but, strangely, also INSIDE too, like on the lens right behind the most-outer lens. Weird, huh?

Anyway, I had already read the lens cleaning thread, so I hadn't done anything to them yet. I got a few new microfibre clothes and will use those with a distilled water and isopropyl blend like the guide says to; I don't have soap and I'd rather not use it if I can manage without it.

Are these big square biege plastic pieces the spacers? They have little slots on them that are labeled, "S," "M" and "L." Maybe these aren't the spacers? I can't tell from the way the manual writes about them. I was thinking that the point was that, if you use a screen under 85 inches, you should align these plastic pieces and the lenses so that everythign corresponds to "S" instead of "M", except on the Green tube which you leave at "M". Is that right?

Okay, thanks again, bye for now!

[jkruger]

Do not use alcohol on the outer lens. You will DESTROY the anti-reflective coating and possibly the plastic lens itself.
The man that I bought my first 1272 from did exactly that.

The plastic rings are the sheimpflug spacers used for focusing the corners of the image.

[atotaldoofus]

Ok, I won't use alcohol on them, despite the guide saying it's okay. The anti-glare coating is already destroyed from the previous owner though.

I'll see what I can find out about Sheimpflug in the manual.

[jkruger]

The tube spacers for setting the toe-in are aluminum and mount behind the crt's. Read the section about large and centered rasters, the "Spring Mod".

[atotaldoofus]

Okay, thanks for clearing that up. I think I'll just move the projector further back instead of mess with all that.

Now I just need to figure out the steps to get to the point where I'm adjusting the raster coverage while I look at these exposed tubes. I think what I need to do is get it turned out (of course) then go through the service menu and get it to display the grid pattern. That's pretty straight-forward and I see directions for it here in the manual.

I just don't know which buttons make the raster coverage bigger, smaller, or move it around.


Thanks again, bye!

[jkruger]

Does you remote have the cover over the lower buttons and have you gotten into serviceman mode?

[macgyver655]

[Bucketfoot]

[macgyver655]

[atotaldoofus]

What should my contrast and brightness settings be while I'm adjusting the raster on the tube face? That is to say, when I'm looking only at what the tube face is like and NOT at a projection.

Thanks!