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napos
Joined: 21 Oct 2006
Posts: 164
Location: Athens, Greece
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| Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 8:47 pm Post subject: Problem with new Marquee V2 card! |
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I just received my new Moome Marquee HDMI V2 card with the latest upgrades. I have the following problem:
The Gamma adjustment is not enough to get correct greyscale. It seems that the gamma button on the remote only gives one original gamma bump and VERY small incremental bumps, if any at all. I have turned the gamma skrew all the way counterclockwise, for more than 25 turns. Comparing this with my previous V2 HDMI card (the one without the latest upgrades) there is a huge difference in grayscale. I have to bump G2 levels way too high to get any decent grayscale, and I would like to avoid that.
I also have Mike's V2 mods for the neck boards and the VIM. I have always had a problem with G2 levels needing to be set higher, since I upgraded the neck boards, and could avoid that by using the gamma correction from the moome card as well as some small gamma adjustment from the Lumagen Vision HDP.
With the latest card, I have to raise G2 levels AND use a LOT of gamma correction from the Lumagen (raising 10 IRE luma to 18.5 and so on...). Please give me some advice on what I could do to fix this.
_________________
Marquee 9500LC Ultra with MP mods, Moome HDMI 1.3 card, Lumagen Radiance XS, Oppo 83 BluRay, Toshiba XE-1 HD-DVD, HTPC with Media Player Classic.
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mp20748
Joined: 12 Sep 2006
Posts: 5689
Location: Maryland
TV/Projector: 9500LC Ultra / Super 02 and 03 VIM
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| Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2010 9:23 pm Post subject: Re: Problem with new Marquee V2 card! |
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| napos wrote: | I just received my new Moome Marquee HDMI V2 card with the latest upgrades. I have the following problem:
The Gamma adjustment is not enough to get correct greyscale. It seems that the gamma button on the remote only gives one original gamma bump and VERY small incremental bumps, if any at all. I have turned the gamma skrew all the way counterclockwise, for more than 25 turns. Comparing this with my previous V2 HDMI card (the one without the latest upgrades) there is a huge difference in grayscale. I have to bump G2 levels way too high to get any decent grayscale, and I would like to avoid that.
I also have Mike's V2 mods for the neck boards and the VIM. I have always had a problem with G2 levels needing to be set higher, since I upgraded the neck boards, and could avoid that by using the gamma correction from the moome card as well as some small gamma adjustment from the Lumagen Vision HDP.
With the latest card, I have to raise G2 levels AND use a LOT of gamma correction from the Lumagen (raising 10 IRE luma to 18.5 and so on...). Please give me some advice on what I could do to fix this. |
The best thing to do would be to send the V2 mods and Moome card to me to check out. If there's a problem with the V2 mods, regardless of when you purchased them, I'd threat that problem as being there when you got them. So it'll be no cost to make things right with the mods.
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napos
Joined: 21 Oct 2006
Posts: 164
Location: Athens, Greece
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| Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 5:20 am Post subject: |
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Thank you Mike. The practical problem I have right now is that the projector is ceiling mounted. Is it possible to remove the neck boards like this? Please send me your mailing address.
Thanking you in advance,
Nicholas
_________________
Marquee 9500LC Ultra with MP mods, Moome HDMI 1.3 card, Lumagen Radiance XS, Oppo 83 BluRay, Toshiba XE-1 HD-DVD, HTPC with Media Player Classic.
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JustGreg
Joined: 07 Mar 2006
Posts: 3098
Location: Kenosha, WI
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| Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 8:45 am Post subject: |
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| napos wrote: | Thank you Mike. The practical problem I have right now is that the projector is ceiling mounted. Is it possible to remove the neck boards like this? Please send me your mailing address.
Thanking you in advance,
Nicholas |
It's a piece of cake to remove the neckboards. Tough on your neck looking up so long...but easy to do. Remove power from the projector and let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes.
Remove the two screws from the bottom of the metal cover for each tube. One screw is Phillips and you'll need a square driver to remove the other. I don't know what size it is offhand but you'll figure it out when you see it.
There will be a ground strap to the rear heatsink on each one, and a ground strap that goes through a hole in each cover and on into the tube neck area which you'll see when this cover is removed. That wire will be soldered to the neckboard(s) FYI.
Once you feed that white wire with the closed connector through the covers gently tilt each cover toward the rear of the projector while gently pulling down. There are two tabs that fit into two slots on the 'top' of each cover. If the pj were table mounted obviously the tabs would be on the bottom closest to the motherboard. The covers will come off easily so no muscle is needed. Gently take them down and out of the pj and set aside.
Now you have two grounds attached to the heatsinks (flat black wires). FYI these are routed up and over (under if table mounted) the tops of the tubes and go to a winding around the circumference of each tube bell. I think they're for degausing or keep emissions in line on the tube face but hopefully somebody who knows will chime in because I'd like to know too.
With one hand hold the neckboard like you're pressing it ONTO the tube socket GENTLY and slowly pull and rock each female connector to remove them from the male spades of the heat sink. Don't go nuts doing this....take your time. You want to keep the neckboard from ripping off the pins in the socket or it rotating and bending the pins.
Once those are off, move on to the coax mini RCA connectors. This one can be a PITA as the only way to get it off is to rotate it back and forth while exerting some tension to get it off. I'm sure you've used these before on your audio equipment. Same idea to get them off. Whatever you do don't use the cable to pull them off by. Grasp the RCA connector itself and try real hard not to rotate the neckboard.
Once those are off, move on to the G2 wire with the pink/redish sleeve. This wire will be on the topside of the white socket. It pulls straight off (toward the back of the pj). No muscle required here either. When reinstalling the neckboards you may want to plug this wire in before seating the board onto the tube pins. It's not easy to see the male spade soldered to the board when the neckboard is installed. (Unless you have the rear heatsink open...but that's another procedure  )
Then you want to remove the white wire that's in the center of the socket. If you can get your head in there make note that there are 2 pins in that area. You do NOT want to put that wire back on the wrong one. If there isn't a piece of sleeving on the 'bad' pin to prevent it from being accidentally used you can use electronic component insulator tubing or pull the wire out of a small length of wire and slide it onto it. Not sure what gauge wire but again, you'll figure that out.
Now look up to the very top of the neckboard and you'll see a pink female connector plugged onto a male spade of the back neck housing. This can be a PITA too as it's usually; and should be, very secure. Again, small side to side motion while pulling to the back of the pj until it's off.
The last one is a multiwire umbilical plug. The pins on this are easily bent if you don't remove it straight out toward the rear of the pj. You'll have to work this one out for yourself. As an alternative to battling with it you can go to the other end of the bundle and remove the cable from the motherboard. Then the umbilical will come out with the neckboard and IMO is much easier to reconnect than it is reaching way up in there to get it on the neckboard.
Without being in front of my currently dismantled 8500 down in the HT...I think that's it. Now grasp the neckboard on both sides of the PC board and gently wiggle SMALL amounts toward the rear of the pj. It should come off relatively easily. Slowly lower it down and out of the pj. Rinse and repeat for the other two tubes.
If you have to, make notes along the way or refer to the Advanced Procedures in the Marquee section here on this site. Better yet....take some pix along the way. Even if you can't get your head up in there to see which pin the filament wire plugs onto (it IS the filament heater feed right guys???), you can always just stick the camera up in there on it's macro setting and snap a pic.
When you get your neckboards back just reverse the procedure. Use caution when getting the socket on the neckboard aligned perfectly with the pins on the tube. They go back on VERY easily if aligned correctly. If you meet any resistance before you're sure it's all the way on....don't push harder! Take it back out of the pj and look at the pins to make sure you didn't accidentally bend one (or more).
One last thing...after you get a neckboard on they never feel like they're very secure. Dont' expect the things to feel rock solid once reinstalled. They will rock around an axis a little bit. That's normal. Conversely...don't be afraid to make sure they're seated well. You don't need one falling off when your subwoofer is thumping away because you didn't have it all the way on.
While you're waiting for your neckboards to come back use this time to clean the RCA connectors with dentatured alcohol on BOTH ends...at the neckboard end and at the VIM. Also make sure all the female connectors will securely grip the male lugs once reinstalled. Use a plier to gently close them up a little if you notice while removing your neckboards that they come right off too easily.
This would also be a good time to remove the HDM, the FCM, and the VIM and clean the pins with Deoxyt (sp?). Make sure you don't damage the width coils on the HDM! They break easily. Most everyone I know has a pj with at least one broken and repaired with hot glue.
If you feel up to the task I'd also remove all the socketed chips and clean the sockets and the IC pins and reinstall. Also remove the daughter boards from boards that have them and clean the pins and sockets there too.
If you don't feel up to it you can at least press them (the socketed IC's) back down into their sockets. Socketed chips are subject to 'chip creap' and work they're wait out with repeated heating and cooling. Support the board you're working on from the back right under the socket and press the chip in hard with your thumb of the other hand. You'll hear a satisfying CRUNCH when it goes in. Press on both ends of each IC not just the middle to make sure the entire chip is reseated well. It will stop crunching when it's all the way in.
If it were me I'd go for broke and remove the chips and clean them. Just make sure you put them back in the same direction - make note of the notches on the chips before removing. Some of the chips will obviously go back in only one way. You should buy the chip pullers you'll need and keep these in your Marquee 'Toolbox' for later use. You'll need two types of pullers.
And lastly....make sure you aren't all charged up with static while doing all this. Wear a ground wrist strap or ground yourself every now and then (don't do it all while wearing cotton stockings on a carpeted floor either.  )
Hope this helps some. It ended up being longer than I would have thought before starting but I wanted to be as thorough as possible. Hopefully I didn't forget anything. 
_________________
Greg
"Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, I don't know and I don't care!" --Jimmy Buffett
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napos
Joined: 21 Oct 2006
Posts: 164
Location: Athens, Greece
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| Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:06 pm Post subject: |
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Greg, I don' t know what to say except that I am trully grateful for your help. I have my original boards and will be reinstalling them while waiting for the modded boards. It's great to know that I can always find support in this forum. I will keep you posted on the process.
Nicholas
_________________
Marquee 9500LC Ultra with MP mods, Moome HDMI 1.3 card, Lumagen Radiance XS, Oppo 83 BluRay, Toshiba XE-1 HD-DVD, HTPC with Media Player Classic.
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napos
Joined: 21 Oct 2006
Posts: 164
Location: Athens, Greece
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| Posted: Thu Apr 15, 2010 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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Great news!!! I found a fix!
AVS Member Marcus Gan suggested that I try the "C" button on the remote. Sure enough that did it. I am now at almost the same input levels as with the previous HDMI card, and I only needed to do a very slight adjustment via the Lumagen. It seems that the "C" button turns off the Super White feature and that also restored the low end grayscale! I would have never figured that out on my own, because there is nothing about the "C" button on the card manual.
I can't tell you how grateful I am!!!
The card is definitely worth the upgrade. I have had all 4 Moome cards, and this is by far the best. The improvement in sharpness and image clarity is noticeable in both HD and DVD. Highly recommended, even if you already have the original V2 card (the first card with 2 HDMI inputs).
Thank you all once again,
Nicholas.
_________________
Marquee 9500LC Ultra with MP mods, Moome HDMI 1.3 card, Lumagen Radiance XS, Oppo 83 BluRay, Toshiba XE-1 HD-DVD, HTPC with Media Player Classic.
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JustGreg
Joined: 07 Mar 2006
Posts: 3098
Location: Kenosha, WI
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| Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 10:26 am Post subject: |
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Oh sure you could just press the C button but where's the fun in that?
Glad it all worked out without having to dig into anything you're not comfortable with. All my typing won't be a total loss...somebody else might be able to use the procedure and you'll still need to occassionally clean everything I mentioned in my long winded novella. 
I've still got to break down and get the latest moome card (I, ummm, have ver1.0  ), but dangit!...he keeps making them better and better so I'm hesitant to pull the trigger and get one.
_________________
Greg
"Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, I don't know and I don't care!" --Jimmy Buffett
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napos
Joined: 21 Oct 2006
Posts: 164
Location: Athens, Greece
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| Posted: Fri Apr 16, 2010 11:53 am Post subject: |
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Greg all your work is definitely appreciated and it is very useful. As far as the new moome card it is definitely worth it. I immediately noticed a difference in sharpness and clarity, even against the already very good original V2 HDMI card. And the original 2 input HDMI card gave a sharper image over the HDMI and component imput card.
Since I have owned all of the cards so far, I can honestly tell you that there is a noticeable improvement over all the other cards.
Nicholas
_________________
Marquee 9500LC Ultra with MP mods, Moome HDMI 1.3 card, Lumagen Radiance XS, Oppo 83 BluRay, Toshiba XE-1 HD-DVD, HTPC with Media Player Classic.
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