Found a free Sony Pro Video Monitor, seeking feedback

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wowbobwow
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Found a free Sony Pro Video Monitor, seeking feedback

Post by wowbobwow »

On Sunday I bundled my wife and toddler son into the car for a 40 mile drive to pick up a 20" Sony Professional Video Monitor I spotted on Craigslist for $25. Incredibly, half-way through the drive the seller called back to say, "Sorry dude, looks like my son already sold it and didn't tell me. Better luck next time!" I was spitting mad, and ready to give up on Craigslist altogether.

Happily, my IFTTT service (http://ifttt.com) was merrily scouring Craigslist, and yesterday morning alerted me that another posting in my area with the words "Sony" and "PVM" in the title had popped up. Even better, this one was listed in the "Free Stuff" section! I made a detour after work yesterday, and arrived home with this 19" Sony PVM-1943MD, which was being decommissioned from its former life with a small indie video studio.

After a careful cleaning, I set it up on the kitchen counter with my (recently-modded) SNES Jr. running into it via S-Video. After some fiddling with the various controls, BOOM - the most beautiful, warm, *sharp* Super Mario World I've ever seen popped onto the screen. SUCCESS AT LAST

http://imgur.com/a/yqIHc

I've never used a monitor like this before, so I've got a lot to learn about how to get all my various vintage systems running into this thing. Most of the consoles I'm excited to hook up (SNES, N64, Saturn, Genesis, TG-16 PS1 / PS2, etc.) either already have or can be modded for S-Video support (here's looking at you, ApolloBoy!). However, with all those lovely RGB BNC connectors on there, I'm very curious to see what I might be able to hook up to those. Has anyone here done such a thing? If so, with which system(s) and with what results?

TL;DR: Found a free old Sony Pro Monitor, Super Mario World blew my mind with how good it looked. Now want to hook up all my vintage systems to this thing, and curious if anyone has suggestions for best approach to doing so.
Opa Opa

Re: Found a free Sony Pro Video Monitor, seeking feedback

Post by Opa Opa »

That thing looks sweet! 8)
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Re: Found a free Sony Pro Video Monitor, seeking feedback

Post by CRTGAMER »

wowbobwow wrote:However, with all those lovely RGB BNC connectors on there, I'm very curious to see what I might be able to hook up to those. Has anyone here done such a thing? If so, with which system(s) and with what results?

Now want to hook up all my vintage systems to this thing, and curious if anyone has suggestions for best approach to doing so.
Here is a direct pic, for an instant view. Very nice monitor! You can hookup a Cable Box and DVD player too. There are BNC to RCA adapters, bit I don't think the RGB will work with Component though. However, the PS2 has an RGB setting in the System Menu. As for the SVideo connection, just run a switchbox for the different consoles.

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wowbobwow
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Re: Found a free Sony Pro Video Monitor, seeking feedback

Post by wowbobwow »

Opa Opa wrote:That thing looks sweet! 8)
Thanks - I'm really psyched! Too many years of trying to play classic console games on a 52" DLP HDTV (and not a very good one to begin with) had left me totally unprepared for how gorgeous a well-calibrated CRT can be.
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Re: Found a free Sony Pro Video Monitor, seeking feedback

Post by wowbobwow »

CRTGAMER wrote:
wowbobwow wrote:However, with all those lovely RGB BNC connectors on there, I'm very curious to see what I might be able to hook up to those. Has anyone here done such a thing? If so, with which system(s) and with what results?

Now want to hook up all my vintage systems to this thing, and curious if anyone has suggestions for best approach to doing so.
Here is a direct pic, for an instant view. Very nice monitor! You can hookup a Cable Box and DVD player too. There are BNC to RCA adapters, bit I don't think the RGB will work with Component though. However, the PS2 has an RGB setting in the System Menu. As for the SVideo connection, just run a switchbox for the different consoles.

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Thanks for the feedback (and for embedding the pic - too much time on Reddit and I forget I can do that here!). Your comment about the PS2 intrigues me. I have a PS2 and a set of Component cables for it. Does this mean that I could run the PS2 into the PVM using the Component cables as long as I have the RCA-to-BNC adapters and the PS2 set to RGB mode in the system settings?
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Re: Found a free Sony Pro Video Monitor, seeking feedback

Post by CRTGAMER »

wowbobwow wrote:Thanks for the feedback (and for embedding the pic - too much time on Reddit and I forget I can do that here!). Your comment about the PS2 intrigues me. I have a PS2 and a set of Component cables for it. Does this mean that I could run the PS2 into the PVM using the Component cables as long as I have the RCA-to-BNC adapters and the PS2 set to RGB mode in the system settings?
Yes. :D

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Re: Found a free Sony Pro Video Monitor, seeking feedback

Post by D.D.D. »

Nice! :D
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wowbobwow
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Re: Found a free Sony Pro Video Monitor, seeking feedback

Post by wowbobwow »

CRTGAMER wrote:
wowbobwow wrote:Thanks for the feedback (and for embedding the pic - too much time on Reddit and I forget I can do that here!). Your comment about the PS2 intrigues me. I have a PS2 and a set of Component cables for it. Does this mean that I could run the PS2 into the PVM using the Component cables as long as I have the RCA-to-BNC adapters and the PS2 set to RGB mode in the system settings?
Yes. :D

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Oh snap! Off to Amazon / Monoprice in search of RCA-to-BNC adapters - be right back! :lol:
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Re: Found a free Sony Pro Video Monitor, seeking feedback

Post by fastbilly1 »

http://www.monoprice.com/products/produ ... 1&format=2

Since you need atleast 4 - itll be about $5 with shipping
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Re: Found a free Sony Pro Video Monitor, seeking feedback

Post by CRTGAMER »

fastbilly1 wrote: http://www.monoprice.com/products/produ ... 1&format=2

Since you need at least 4 - itll be about $5 with shipping
I think its only three that is needed, the audio is already RCA.
An RCA Y Cable will be needed for the mono audio input.

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