Discoloration on CGA monitor....HELP

Mesz

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I purchased a new monitor for my Ms. Pac Man cocktail machine but am having issues with the color on it. I know there are rings you adjust on the yoke but I have no experience with monitors (pinball guy). I adjust them and not matter what the issue is not resolved. I initially thought this was an issue that needed a degaussing coil and I went that route to no avail. The monitor I have is exactly like the one here: http://tinyurl.com/cbpkagv

Any assistance is greatly appreciated as my kids are on me about getting this fixed. Even if you know of anyone in the Pittsburgh, PA area that works on these I am not apposed to taking the machine to be fixed.

THANKS!!!
 
Pics would be helpful. Both the chassis and the game.

You ARE closing the lid on your cocktail cabinet before you power on the game, right?
 
Pictures of monitor

Thanks for the response. I am turning the machine on after the unit is closed up. I have attached pictures as well.
 

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You need to degauss the monitor.

A few things to try:


  • proper degaussing wand (preferred method) with proper technique
  • Leave game off for more than 30 minutes, turn back on. This engages the internal degauss circuit (not as powerful, probably will need to be repeated many times for desired result)
  • Turn the game 90 degrees while off, turn back on.
  • Move the game to another spot, turn back on.
 
I borrowed a degaussing wand from a local appliance place and it made the monitor go wack out and all but did not fix the issue. However the wand was one that appeared to be home made. Is there a difference in wands and would any be recommended over others?
Again, appreciate the assistance. I love working on older arcade games but am VERY green when it comes to the video monitors.
 
I borrowed a degaussing wand from a local appliance place and it made the monitor go wack out and all but did not fix the issue. However the wand was one that appeared to be home made. Is there a difference in wands and would any be recommended over others?
Again, appreciate the assistance. I love working on older arcade games but am VERY green when it comes to the video monitors.

You need to degauss the monitor.



  • proper degaussing wand (preferred method) with proper technique

Did you use the wand correctly? There's a specific technique to using a degaussing wand.
 
just also would like to point out, your convergence is off. you'll see Ms. Pac has a streak of green, the dots on the bottom have red coming off them/dots on top have green coming off them, etc.

that's what the rings are for. the upright anniversary editions are also a pain in the ass, since the monitor is very close to mounting flat. I was never able to degauss the Ms. Pac/Galaga at work, instead, I took to the turning 90 degrees, then power on method.

also worth noting there's a part on the monitor that when it's cool, it will activate the built-in degauss circuit. so when you turn it 90 degrees, you have to let the game stay off for about 20-30 mins before turning on again. theoretically you should be able to get it to clear on its own this way. as for the convergence, I encourage you find someone nearby that knows how to do that before you even contemplate touching the rings yourself.

good luck.
 
I made a thread asking for feedback for these awhile back. Apparently the seller is not trustworthy and those monitors are very poor quality. Thats just what I heard, not from personal experience.
 
So this was ordered from funlcd? How long did it take for them to ship it to you? I was looking at those as well, so I sent a message to them asking for some additional infomation. Got a reply that didn't provide any additional info but did say that Disney orders them on a regular basis?!? Decided not to order one at that point, keep us posted on whether you get it working...
 
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So this was ordered from funlcd? How long did it take for them to ship it to you? I was looking at those as well, so I sent a message to them asking for some additional infomation. Got a reply that didn't provide any additional info but did say that Disney orders them on a regular basis?!? Decided not to order one at that point, keep us posted on whether you get it working...

FunLCD was great to deal with when purchasing the monitor. They are out of CA but also have a deal with a guy in State College, PA to distribute the monitors on the East Coast so I was able to pick the monitor up. This is when all support ended. I found out that this was not a simple plug and play monitor as they advised me. You do need to rewire it a bit and their lack of instructions/support doesn't help. You also need to use the old hardware from the original monitor as the new hardware/bracket wont work in a cocktail table.
 
You also need to use the old hardware from the original monitor as the new hardware/bracket wont work in a cocktail table.

That's pretty much true of any replacement monitor, unless it's the exact model number. Also true that you'll likely have to re-pin or re-wire the video inupt connectors on the aftermarket monitors too.

I'm not protecting FunLCD by any means, these monitors are cheap and generally not reliable. But you do assume a certain amount of your own work when you replace the monitor in your game.
 
That's pretty much true of any replacement monitor, unless it's the exact model number. Also true that you'll likely have to re-pin or re-wire the video inupt connectors on the aftermarket monitors too.

I'm not protecting FunLCD by any means, these monitors are cheap and generally not reliable. But you do assume a certain amount of your own work when you replace the monitor in your game.

Agree with your statement BUT one of the reasons I went with this monitor was due to them advising that "it is setup so you can just swap the old one out with the new one" and when I went back to them advising it wasn't the owner advised he would have his technician walk me through it. After several emails back and forth and me providing pictures of everything the tech said he would look into it and get back to me. Never heard from him again.

I am not trying to speak poorly of the company, just provide my experience with them as requested by another poster here. I am certain someone with experience, swapping these out and adjusting them is a no brainer. I just am not that person so I assume responsibility for that.

Lastly, I appreciate everyone's input and giving me something to work off of. I will try to work on the game this weekend and report back.
 
Best lcd???

Haven't had time as of yet to dig deeper into this BUT was contemplating switching to an LCD. Looking for input as to the pros and cons of replacing with an LCD in a cocktail table machine and also looking to see where the best place to buy one would be??? Are there kits for the LCDs that make swapping out the old monitors to LCD easier? THANKS!
 
$350 for an LCD replacement minimum.

You can put a regular VGA 19" LCD monitor in there, but it's a real pain in the ass. And it looks like shit.
 
CGA Monitor by FUNLCD

All, I wanted to post a follow-up to this topic as I had taken my monitor to someone to fix and here is what I found. The discoloration issue was a result of "the setting on the yoke being out of adjustment". The repairman also advised that he "found some wedges to be dirty, which is weird since the monitor is "new"". Lastly, after adjusting and putting the monitor on a test set he could not tune in green color completely which leaves a little bit of a shadow effect on the dots. He advised he did everything he could do to resolve this to no avail.

Just a side note. I have no affiliation with FUNLCD nor am I trying to bash their product. Its great that someone is still manufacturing these but if you're looking for a good quality product you may want to look elsewhere. If you're looking for something that just works this is might be your cheaper alternative. This is just my opinion and again I am not trying to bash the company.
 
I didn't see this thread until now, but as I was reading I was thinking it was probably misalignment of the yoke. If the yoke is too far forward or backward you can get that.

The inability to converge the green might indicate a poor match between the tube and the yoke.
 
Shan Man, your statement "The inability to converge the green might indicate a poor match between the tube and the yoke" is almost exactly as to what I was advised.
 
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