I just bought a 20E1 and my monitor has the EXACT same noise issue on startup! I’m glad to know the cap kit I ordered will certainly fix that! Thank you so much!
Fantastic job dude - great video and a beautiful monitor. Well worth the effort you put in and BIG respect to you for documenting it for future players. Those little Peak Atlas ESR meters are an invaluable tool!
Great video, love the in detph explanation of the whole capacitor swapping procedure. I got my 20F1 a few weeks ago and it had been serviced before so it should be good for now. It has 22k hours on it and the sticker inside says it was manufactured in 1999. I already owned another BVM, the 2010P which is much older but gives a very similar picture. Amazing for older systems especially in the 8 and 16 bit area.
2 amazing monitors you’ve got there. The serviced 20F1 should have you sorted for many years. Those 2010 BVM’s are awesome and a stop-gap in Sony’s engineering with manual controls. Thanks for the kind comment :)
@@MarcoRetro316 I have a question, maybe you can help me out. Does your 20F1 have vertical convergence alignment options? Yesterday I turned the monitor on after some time to do adjustments. The Allignment menu has like 20 options for horizontal convergence for all parts of the screen. I could get the H. convergence as perfect as I could and I'm happy with the results. But as for vertical convergence there are only three options - Top, middle and bottom of the screen (and static). Not like top left, top middle top right etc. If I change to the value for the top of the screen to get one side right, the other one gets misaligned again. I can't find options to do both sides separately. Firmware version is 1.31. It's funny because on my BVM 2010P I got complete convergence control for all parts of the screen, both horizontal and vertical. But here It's all done with pots.
@@weegeesoul mine works the same way. Full horizontal convergence control but vertical is static (shifts the entire vertical convergence), or top and bottom only
Excellent video! 👏 It's probably the best one I've seen on BVM recapping and maintenance, lots of the right information packed in. I have one that is 35000 hours so it's reassuring to see yours still going strong at 70 odd. What contrast/brightness settings do you run at? Mine looks a little dim at the default 1000 values but overloads on the upper values so I run it at about 1300/1400. Maybe I'll recap. Hope to see more CRT vids in future 👍😀
Thanks for the kind words. I wish I could help you out with the brightness and contrast numbers but I’ve stored away the BVM until I rotate it back into my setup once again. I do tend to drive the contrast and brightness up a little at the expense of slightly washing out the blacks. Hopefully yours only overloads on white screens and not all the time otherwise something has gone out of spec.
Hey, Nice restoration, I have to update my firmware on my 20f1e, but I don't understand properly what did you do (sorry my english is limited). Can you please explain me step by step the process to update the firmware (with links of what I need to buy) ?
You can flash the old chip or buy a new one, you need a CAT28F020P15, there’s some on eBay. I didn’t flash it myself, I paid a company to program it with the new firmware
Awesome video! I need to do the same to my 20F1E. I bought a few of those cap kits from Pat, but have since read they are bad quality caps so I’m wondering if I need to purchase better caps and replace everything? did you test the caps in circuit?
Thanks! The kit I received had quality known branded caps. I only tested the SMD caps in circuit as I’d changed most of the radial caps by then. I suppose it depends if your monitor has any symptoms like mine so it’s hard to recommend to buy Pat’s kit vs sourcing your own. If your’re going to recap most boards I’d buy them all from mouser or digikey
Hey mate I'm planning to recap a spare KV-G21S2 sony tv and the parts list in the service manual is missing from any pdf I can find. Can just read all the info I need on the caps itself to order? I've only done a couple rgb mods and a flyback replacement and I feel like recapping has to be done eventually.
Have you tried looking up a manual for the BG-2S chassis? I did a quick search and found one and it lists the capacitors but you need to filter through to find all the electrolytic caps. elektrotanya.com/sony_bg-2s.pdf/download.html Otherwise you could make your own cap list and use a sharpie to check each cap off once you’ve written down their values. If you do recap then use a different colour to mark the replacement. Caps need to be equal capacitance to the original (uf value) so hopefully there’s no conflicting value from what’s currently on the board versus what’s in the manual otherwise you’ll have to do some digging to see if it’s a factory revision. Voltage can be equal or higher to the factory cap. And try to get similar dimensions to ensure it’ll fit between other components. Watch out for non-polarised/bipolar caps without the negative stripe marking
Thank you for your video. Do you happen to know the method to return the settings on this monitor please? I accidently reset mine to factory and the settings seems like a rubix cube
@@MarcoRetro316 thats why if you are able to make a video tutorial on how to calibrate it back that would be most useful. i cant find a single tutorial on youtube that describes it. will be helpful for those that just needs a bit calibrated too.
Hello, I had a question for you. I have a Sony BVM 20f1e model monitor. The usage time of the monitor is 98,000. Is this bad for my monitor? My monitor looks fine though. There doesn't seem to be any problem. How many hours do BVMs normally have a lifespan? Can you answer these questions? I would be glad if you support. Thanks.
Hours really only factor in when buying/selling and to approximate the life of the caps IMO, but is no way an indication of hours remaining. The tube will be fine until it’s not, and there’s no predicting when that day will be, but an arbitrary indication is setting the brightness and contrast dials to the middle and seeing how bright the image is. If the dials need to be turned up all the way then the tube has seen better days but as long as the colours and focus is good then I wouldn’t worry about impending death of the tube. It may have had a tube swap or not which might be revealed by noting how neatly the yoke is seated. Generally, excessive epoxy may indicate a previous swap, or maybe you’ll get lucky and find a sticker with service history inside. Who knows, maybe some portion of those hours were attributed by power-on but no display, thus partially preserving the phosphor coating. The capacitors have a finite life which will end sooner with heavier use; so if none of the boards have been serviced at 100k hours I’d take a wild guess there’d be some radial caps that need replacing. I’m not one to recommend shotgun replacing caps (even though that’s exactly what I did here). I had several broad issues relating to different boards so rather than test all caps it was more beneficial for my time and longevity of the monitor to replace them all. If not, at the very least change the high ESR/10% out-of-spec caps with an ESR meter. Most of my SMD caps had leakage so if it were me I’d be changing the surface mount caps regardless to avoid traces and solder pads being corroded.
@@MarcoRetro316 First of all, thank you for answering my question, is it possible for you to share a photo so that I can understand exactly where the covers and so on are you mentioned? By the way, the image of my monitor seems to be fine. This event lasts for 4 seconds, but the image is very clear and vivid in bright colors. I have to ask you a question I'm sorry, I may be taking your time, but what you said is very valuable to me. The problem is that there is no sign of my monitor being opened. But I don't know if it has been maintained until 98,000 hours, where and how can I learn it I know there is a menu in it How can I get information from here Do you have an e-mail address or WhatsApp address you use for communication I would like to send you both the photos and the video of the monitor Your comments are mine Thank you very much indeed for
@@erzendiyar The screws holding the metal shell need to be removed to take the case off, they’re easily located. I don’t mind helping within the comments which might benefit others, images and video can be hosted online.
If referring to CRT’s, there’s flat consumer sets. The only flat Sony pro monitors were the widescreen BVM D24E1W and D32 AFAIK. JVC also made flat pro monitors.
@@MarcoRetro316 Thanks mate. JVC shadowmask PVM's? Hmmmm interesting. Could be amazing for N64. BTW do you notice a stark difference between the quality of light between CRT and OLED? Like, is CRT noticeably more pleasant and relaxing to look at, and more lifelike? It's been about 14 years since I've seen one lol.
Agreed, I’ve seen some pretty darn sharp high-end PC monitors. Only my preference, the main resolution I’ll be displaying and flexibility/versatility are the primary factors in mind when picking up a CRT. Therefore I’ve always forgone PC CRT’s in my use case but they’re great for PC gaming (obviously) or line multiplying/frame rate trickery for a BVM-like 240p look
@@MarcoRetro316 Yeah. We knew the disadvantage of CRT monitor-PC with VGA port is no less than 30 kHz of horizontal frequency (HF). But fortunately, CRT monitor-PC with RGB 9-pin port works 15kHz HF for CGA or EGA mode and for TV. :)
You’ve done a great job maintaining your BVM 20F1 Marco! This is some seriously impressive stuff!
Thank you! Recapping it and pressing the firmware was a worthy investment
I just bought a 20E1 and my monitor has the EXACT same noise issue on startup! I’m glad to know the cap kit I ordered will certainly fix that! Thank you so much!
Sounds like the BK board. Good luck with the recap
Amazing work my friend - thank you for keeping these beautiful CRT monitors alive
Fantastic job dude - great video and a beautiful monitor. Well worth the effort you put in and BIG respect to you for documenting it for future players. Those little Peak Atlas ESR meters are an invaluable tool!
Great video - thank you very much! I particularly appreciated the detail around updating to the latest version of the firmware
Great video, love the in detph explanation of the whole capacitor swapping procedure. I got my 20F1 a few weeks ago and it had been serviced before so it should be good for now. It has 22k hours on it and the sticker inside says it was manufactured in 1999. I already owned another BVM, the 2010P which is much older but gives a very similar picture. Amazing for older systems especially in the 8 and 16 bit area.
2 amazing monitors you’ve got there. The serviced 20F1 should have you sorted for many years. Those 2010 BVM’s are awesome and a stop-gap in Sony’s engineering with manual controls. Thanks for the kind comment :)
@@MarcoRetro316 I have a question, maybe you can help me out. Does your 20F1 have vertical convergence alignment options?
Yesterday I turned the monitor on after some time to do adjustments. The Allignment menu has like 20 options for horizontal convergence for all parts of the screen. I could get the H. convergence as perfect as I could and I'm happy with the results. But as for vertical convergence there are only three options - Top, middle and bottom of the screen (and static). Not like top left, top middle top right etc. If I change to the value for the top of the screen to get one side right, the other one gets misaligned again. I can't find options to do both sides separately.
Firmware version is 1.31.
It's funny because on my BVM 2010P I got complete convergence control for all parts of the screen, both horizontal and vertical. But here It's all done with pots.
@@weegeesoul mine works the same way. Full horizontal convergence control but vertical is static (shifts the entire vertical convergence), or top and bottom only
@@MarcoRetro316 Hmm that's a bummer. Thanks for your answer.
Wow love the video absolutely amazing work
Thank you! The monitor is still running flawlessly
Amazing BVM. Im in Aus as well and recently accuired a pvm15n5a but the chassis has a crack through it so am on the lookout for a replacement :(
Good job!
Excellent work, very inspiring
Excellent video! 👏 It's probably the best one I've seen on BVM recapping and maintenance, lots of the right information packed in. I have one that is 35000 hours so it's reassuring to see yours still going strong at 70 odd. What contrast/brightness settings do you run at? Mine looks a little dim at the default 1000 values but overloads on the upper values so I run it at about 1300/1400. Maybe I'll recap. Hope to see more CRT vids in future 👍😀
Thanks for the kind words. I wish I could help you out with the brightness and contrast numbers but I’ve stored away the BVM until I rotate it back into my setup once again. I do tend to drive the contrast and brightness up a little at the expense of slightly washing out the blacks. Hopefully yours only overloads on white screens and not all the time otherwise something has gone out of spec.
Thank you for your work, mate!
Hey,
Nice restoration,
I have to update my firmware on my 20f1e, but I don't understand properly what did you do (sorry my english is limited).
Can you please explain me step by step the process to update the firmware (with links of what I need to buy) ?
You can flash the old chip or buy a new one, you need a CAT28F020P15, there’s some on eBay. I didn’t flash it myself, I paid a company to program it with the new firmware
@@MarcoRetro316 So you sent to the company the new chip and the firmware ?
@@Nekon0Kokoro yes
Awesome video! I need to do the same to my 20F1E. I bought a few of those cap kits from Pat, but have since read they are bad quality caps so I’m wondering if I need to purchase better caps and replace everything? did you test the caps in circuit?
Thanks! The kit I received had quality known branded caps. I only tested the SMD caps in circuit as I’d changed most of the radial caps by then. I suppose it depends if your monitor has any symptoms like mine so it’s hard to recommend to buy Pat’s kit vs sourcing your own. If your’re going to recap most boards I’d buy them all from mouser or digikey
Hey mate I'm planning to recap a spare KV-G21S2 sony tv and the parts list in the service manual is missing from any pdf I can find. Can just read all the info I need on the caps itself to order? I've only done a couple rgb mods and a flyback replacement and I feel like recapping has to be done eventually.
Have you tried looking up a manual for the BG-2S chassis? I did a quick search and found one and it lists the capacitors but you need to filter through to find all the electrolytic caps.
elektrotanya.com/sony_bg-2s.pdf/download.html
Otherwise you could make your own cap list and use a sharpie to check each cap off once you’ve written down their values. If you do recap then use a different colour to mark the replacement. Caps need to be equal capacitance to the original (uf value) so hopefully there’s no conflicting value from what’s currently on the board versus what’s in the manual otherwise you’ll have to do some digging to see if it’s a factory revision. Voltage can be equal or higher to the factory cap. And try to get similar dimensions to ensure it’ll fit between other components. Watch out for non-polarised/bipolar caps without the negative stripe marking
@@MarcoRetro316 I looked up the model specific manual not alternatives in the chassis. Thanks for the reply big steer for me in the right direction.
Thank you for your video. Do you happen to know the method to return the settings on this monitor please? I accidently reset mine to factory and the settings seems like a rubix cube
Your welcome :) unfortunately those older values won’t be recoverable after a factory reset
@@MarcoRetro316 thats why if you are able to make a video tutorial on how to calibrate it back that would be most useful. i cant find a single tutorial on youtube that describes it. will be helpful for those that just needs a bit calibrated too.
@@monstermug it’s definitely something in the backlog that I’d like to cover eventually if I can find a funky set to run through some troubleshooting
@@MarcoRetro316 You can always write down your settings and show some examples of what to do in certain situations?
Hello, I had a question for you. I have a Sony BVM 20f1e model monitor. The usage time of the monitor is 98,000. Is this bad for my monitor? My monitor looks fine though. There doesn't seem to be any problem. How many hours do BVMs normally have a lifespan? Can you answer these questions? I would be glad if you support. Thanks.
Hours really only factor in when buying/selling and to approximate the life of the caps IMO, but is no way an indication of hours remaining. The tube will be fine until it’s not, and there’s no predicting when that day will be, but an arbitrary indication is setting the brightness and contrast dials to the middle and seeing how bright the image is. If the dials need to be turned up all the way then the tube has seen better days but as long as the colours and focus is good then I wouldn’t worry about impending death of the tube. It may have had a tube swap or not which might be revealed by noting how neatly the yoke is seated. Generally, excessive epoxy may indicate a previous swap, or maybe you’ll get lucky and find a sticker with service history inside. Who knows, maybe some portion of those hours were attributed by power-on but no display, thus partially preserving the phosphor coating.
The capacitors have a finite life which will end sooner with heavier use; so if none of the boards have been serviced at 100k hours I’d take a wild guess there’d be some radial caps that need replacing. I’m not one to recommend shotgun replacing caps (even though that’s exactly what I did here). I had several broad issues relating to different boards so rather than test all caps it was more beneficial for my time and longevity of the monitor to replace them all. If not, at the very least change the high ESR/10% out-of-spec caps with an ESR meter. Most of my SMD caps had leakage so if it were me I’d be changing the surface mount caps regardless to avoid traces and solder pads being corroded.
@@MarcoRetro316 First of all, thank you for answering my question, is it possible for you to share a photo so that I can understand exactly where the covers and so on are you mentioned? By the way, the image of my monitor seems to be fine. This event lasts for 4 seconds, but the image is very clear and vivid in bright colors. I have to ask you a question I'm sorry, I may be taking your time, but what you said is very valuable to me. The problem is that there is no sign of my monitor being opened. But I don't know if it has been maintained until 98,000 hours, where and how can I learn it I know there is a menu in it How can I get information from here Do you have an e-mail address or WhatsApp address you use for communication I would like to send you both the photos and the video of the monitor Your comments are mine Thank you very much indeed for
@@erzendiyar The screws holding the metal shell need to be removed to take the case off, they’re easily located. I don’t mind helping within the comments which might benefit others, images and video can be hosted online.
@@MarcoRetro316 okey.. thank you
funfact - i made that google capacitor sheet :D
I can’t even tell you how much time the cap list saved me. Thanks so much!
Subscribed!!!!!!!! ;)
You sir, are a freakin' natural at this!
Are there any flat screen alternatives to this?
If referring to CRT’s, there’s flat consumer sets. The only flat Sony pro monitors were the widescreen BVM D24E1W and D32 AFAIK. JVC also made flat pro monitors.
@@MarcoRetro316 Thanks mate. JVC shadowmask PVM's? Hmmmm interesting. Could be amazing for N64. BTW do you notice a stark difference between the quality of light between CRT and OLED? Like, is CRT noticeably more pleasant and relaxing to look at, and more lifelike? It's been about 14 years since I've seen one lol.
@@kekethetoad I honestly haven’t had the chance to try an oled tv apart from seeing them on display when they tend to look overly vivid
@@kekethetoad JVC DT-V1710CG and 1910CG are flat screen and Aperture Grille as well, the 19in variant is hard to come by these days
do you still have this cap list i really want to recap my f1 thank you
@@dahjord I’ve just added a link in the description. Stephen, the creator of the cap list updated the list in May 2024 to add some missing caps
@@MarcoRetro316 ok thank you i just had to request to have access to it also please accept cheers
@dahjord I’ve granted access, I’ve stuffed something up when sharing, I’ll fix it tonight
@@MarcoRetro316 thank you Marco!
BVM = high focus while PVM = normal focus. :) But BVM is less focus than modern (few vintage) CRT monitor-PC. ;)
Agreed, I’ve seen some pretty darn sharp high-end PC monitors. Only my preference, the main resolution I’ll be displaying and flexibility/versatility are the primary factors in mind when picking up a CRT. Therefore I’ve always forgone PC CRT’s in my use case but they’re great for PC gaming (obviously) or line multiplying/frame rate trickery for a BVM-like 240p look
@@MarcoRetro316 Yeah. We knew the disadvantage of CRT monitor-PC with VGA port is no less than 30 kHz of horizontal frequency (HF). But fortunately, CRT monitor-PC with RGB 9-pin port works 15kHz HF for CGA or EGA mode and for TV. :)
Could I send you my boards to recap for me?
@ 12:28 You meant to say "objectively", not "subjectively".