CRT monitor film replacement help, anyone have experience or knowledge in this area?

I have a lightly used Sony Trinitron G520 monitor I got off craigslist for 10 bucks a year ago. Its the best picture quality Ive ever personally experienced in my life (and should be with an original price of 900 dollars). To get similar quality in todays non-CRT monitors it seems I would have to pay thousands of dollars for a plasma TV and use it as a monitor.

But the monitor anti-glare/neutral density filter is starting to get an oily, speckled appearance right in the middle of the screen. The film is thinning or something, which I concluded after trying to clean it with some alcohol hoping that it was something ON the film, but the alcohol just made the problem worse and more oily-esque spots appeared. Obviously using alcohol wasnt a well thought out idea, and it ended up chemically changing the film and/or dissolving it.

I would like some advice on what to do about this film. I have read that monitor films can relatively easily be stripped with acetone and a sharp plastic blade (to not scratch the glass), but also that some monitors can become unbearably bright once the film is stripped. I already keep my monitor at 25% brightness on the "professional" setting which makes it even darker, and I have no documentation and probably will never be able to find out before hand just how much light is being blocked by the film, and if it turns out once the film is stripped that the monitor is way to bright even on 0% brightness, the situation will just have become much worse.

I also am having trouble finding a manufacturer of a monitor sized neutral density filter + anti-glare film that I could put over the fresh glass. I found one company, Photodon, that makes custom films, but none reduce brightness.

So any advice? Id really love if someone out there has experience or even second-hand knowledge about this topic. Id also love if someone knew where I could get the monitor film that I would need to bring back the pristine image that can be produce.

Note: Please dont say "just buy a new monitor". Im not buying a new monitor (unless you are paying for it )

Would probably be cheaper to buy a new one..

rangerdanger
Would probably be cheaper to buy a new one..

It was difficult to find a monitor like this to begin with at the price and condition it was at this point in time.

But I said I wasnt going to buy a new one in the OP, unless youd be paying for it... did you not read that part?

Do you have anything helpful to add, like knowledge about monitor film replacement? You know, the thread topic?

CaticusMaximus
To get similar quality in todays non-CRT monitors it seems I would have to pay thousands of dollars for a plasma TV and use it as a monitor.

Actually, plasma is old tech just like CRT monitors, and are on their way out as well. Plasmas don't have anywhere near the clarity or brightness of an LCD monitor.

The current and future tech resides in LCD and OLED at this time, until something new is invented or developed. If you saw some of the monitors that are out that the graphic industry uses, or even had a decent LCD monitor, you would trash your old CRT in a minute.


I've had a look around Google, and there's no easy way to remove the old film other than very strong chemicals that will damage your skin and/or the plastic bezel around the tube screen. Some have said that they've took a blade and were able to peel the coating off.

If you take a blade in one of the corners, you might be able to get the coating up enough to peel it off. As far as replacing, Ebay has several anti-glare screen covers, but there is no real replacement to the coating that comes on the CRT monitor other than replacing the monitor.

And obviously if you're going to replace the monitor, you definitely would be happier with a decent LCD monitor.



Short answer: you can't replace the coating, and it's difficult to remove the old coating.

reply to post by _BoneZ_


Yeah Im getting that sense that this is going to be difficult after having looked around myself for about month on and off trying to figure out how this can be done.

Now Im not sure in what price range you would call a "decent" monitor, but Ive tried LCD twice. Once in 2007, which I returned, and then again in summer 2012, which was returned again. The monitor was 300 dollars this past summer, and it was a Sony or something. It looked OK under the fluorescent lighting of microcenter, but when I got it home and hooked up... it just couldnt compare to the old CRT (before this one, which was not as good as the current one by any stretch).

The static contrast ratio is what I really enjoy on CRTs, and LCDs just dont have it. I tested the LCD on some games; blacks were not black, they were clearly a dark grey. Color saturation and contrast was not up to par. There was a marked difference in picture quality between the two; a difference I found unacceptable.

So what exactly do you consider "decent"? And, will you buy it for me? Because I dont have hundreds or even thousands of dollars to spare on some high end LCD, which is one reason Im asking about replacing the film, and not asking if people think I should get a new monitor or not.

have a search around for old sun/sgi monitors as they were quite often re badged Sony trinitron stuff with a 13w3 connector or on some models enough connectors to make anyone happy and they go for next to nothing so you could probably find one thats the same model as you need for next to nothing

reply to post by CaticusMaximus


Before you give up, I would suggest getting a very sharp blade and start cutting and attempting to peel the film back from one of the corners. If you can remove the film. you're not losing anything except anti-glare. And there are anti-glare covers you can put on if glare is an issue.

reply to post by Maxatoria


I am going to keep that in mind, thank you.

reply to post by _BoneZ_


Are you sure its just an anti-glare coating and not a neutral density filter as well? Im concerned of what the brightness will be like. Like I said I already keep the monitor on a 25% brightness, and have read that some CRTs film reduces the brightness by a significant degree. My eyes are very sensitive to light, much more so than what is normal.

Again though, Im just worried about making the situation worse. Right now the speckles are just annoying... a monitor that looks like it has a 1000w MH bulb behind it would be on a whole 'nother level.

ETA- Haha, I just thought of something... Ive been looking for monitor specific films that can reduce brightness and glare, but can only find glare, and am worried about the monitor being too bright... but if it is too bright... what to stop me from using a deep car window tint? Both surfaces, monitor and window, are glass... and perhaps an anti glare film might be able to put over the top of the tint any way because as I understand it those films that reduce bright and glare are actually two different films put together.

Lol, car window tint in case its way too bright... it was so obvious

CaticusMaximus
Lol, car window tint in case its way too bright... it was so obvious

Just make sure you don't accidentally get colored tint, or it will dilute the colors on your screen. Smoke/black-colored tint would likely be your best bet.


Edit to add that they apparently make anti-glare window tint as well. So, you could kill two birds with one stone there.

Well after making a scintillating rainbow scratch in the dead center of the monitor partially by accident with a knife, it was time to just go for it and take the entire film off.

With a cooking pin (the ones you stick into chickens or something) I was able to get underneath the film in the corner, but then decided it would be easier to start in the middle, which it was.

3 hours later, after peeling off the film in annoying chucks that broke off each other, and scratching off the hardened glue and plastic left over, I am very satisfied. The image quality is somehow even better than it was before; its crisper, cleaner, sharper. More glarey... but not by too much. The image is beautiful.

Its slightly brighter, but no where to the point I was to believe. Adjusting the brightness down to 15% made it pretty much the same as with the film at 25%.

Tedious and time consuming, but worth it.

Best 10 dollar monitor, ever.