Standard menu
Ok, I’ll try to remember to snap a pic this weekend. I will say I followed the steps lined out in SockFellOff’s excellent blog post about the 310. Brightness at zero in standard menu and sub bright turned up in service menu
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Thank you!
Way late on this but here you go. Let me know if you want to know any of my service menu settings.
EDIT: not sure why it’s rotated, not that way in phone. Hopefully you can read it anyway!
I heard good things about this model. Hard to find tho.
Looks promising. The biggest (and really only) objection I have to those types of sets are the inclusion of such prominent speakers around the bezel. It adds so much heft to the display that rotating it or moving it around looks extra burdensome. 24" CRT is already borderline beast-sized.
Along with the JVC D-series and Panasonic Tau the Toshiba AF sets are pretty high on my own personal “Great Non-Trinitron CRTs” list. I unfortunately don’t own one anymore to compare but they are definitely some of the best consumer sets out there. I think the design looks great as well.
24" is a great size for these later model consumer CRTs as well. Bigger than the standard 20" but not quite as difficult to handle as a 27" (that’s the limit of easily moving a set around for me) or 32" (the biggest you can get before getting in and out of smaller doors is an issue).
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Has anyone here had experience recapping a large consumer set? I was thinking of attempting to recap my 32FV310 to see if I can get it looking better. Any insights for me?
I have a smaller 27FS120 here that I could do as a practice piece, as they are very common in my area for free, so I wouldn’t be too hurt if I damaged it.
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Be super careful. Learn how to discharge the anode cap, watch lots of videos on the subject before diving in. This is one area of the hobby I still need to get into. My BVM and PVM 2030 red a recap so I’ll be learning this soon myself.
Yeah I have watched that whole series I posted in the TV Repair thread about CRT/Monitor repair, so I’m certain that I could work with the thing without hurting myself.
I just don’t know if it will help, or it will be a waste of effort. Check out this post I found on reddit:
You probably don’t need to discharge. A modern set would do it automatically.
It’s not hard, you just take it apart, unplug, pull out the board, remove caps, put new ones in, put it back together, test, and there may also be caps on the neck board which just comes off. The biggest risk is if you’re trying to test while the case is open.
TBQH it’s not worth the trouble and you’re better off just getting another old TV. Any picture issues are far more likely to be the result of worn phosphors or depleted cathode on a 15-20 year old TV that may have been used a ton which isn’t fixable. And I think the picture advantages of the FV310 over other trinitrons is very overstated, the main thing you’re getting is image stability (geometry won’t change as much from screen contents) due to that voltage regulator everyone seems thinks is so amazing, so switching to a different model isn’t really a big deal.
Yeah, I agree. Having owned probably 10 flat screen trinitrons over the last couple years, the FV310 series isn’t anything crazy amazing, and it’s only marginally better than any other flat screen Sony.
Trouble is, this set is good. It’s a fine TV, and doesn’t have any real flaws that makes me want to replace it. There are minor geometry issues, and that’s about it.
I am interested in recapping and doing what I can to repair it because it’s a good set. I am thinking this is my permanent set for the forseeable future, and I want it to be as good as possible if I plan on using it for the next 20 years.
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Ah but you can test if the electrons are in plentiful supply by grounding the cathodes as per the Randy Fromm videos, that will instantly verify things. Capacitors normally cause screen display problems not generally colour problems.
My 310 isn’t perfect but, after some menu tweaks, it’s pretty damn good. I’ve got it where it’s in positioned pretty well for all the consoles hooked up to it. No need to mess with any settings per hardware. Scrolling warp can be pretty evident in some games but I just try not to focus on it. I have a 20 inch PVM that has rock solid geometry but … I just really love the luxe effect of a 32 inch tube in my setup.
I need to tweak the color settings in the service menu and try to make those pop more. But that’s a project that requires a lot of time to sit and fiddle, and it’s time I just don’t have have right now.
Yeah I spent a couple hours in the service menu when I first got mine, and got it from “meh” to “good”. I’m happy with it now day-to-day, but I’m curious if I can get it better.
It would be nice if one or more of the more prominent folks in the retro community would compile/create a thorough collection of instructional videos on servicing and calibrating CRTs. As many videos as I watch it always seems like such a risk because the material out there can be a bit inconsistent or incomplete. One day I’m going to buy some serious rubber gloves and up a damn TV.
Edit: like what these guys are wearing. XD
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Yeah the information that is out there is very fragmented and can also be rather conflicting.
I’ve been learning a lot just by doing but there is a lot more to it than just a simple recap as a lot of people would try to let you believe.
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Adjusting the convergence rings has always been something I have wanted to try. I have seen too many sets with color convergence and geometry issues that cant be corrected from the service menu.
This is something I have done on a Sony PVM20M4A that I am slowly trying to work all its issues out on.
Have to say though that the 240p test Suite is not ideal at all for doing convergence and purity adjustments with the current testing options it has.
Not sure rubber gloves are really needed for this, though I suppose better safe than sorry but I’ve not used any PPE at all working on any CRT thus far.
As long as you have steady hands even adjusting the convergence with your bare hands with the CRT on isn’t really that dangerous. The only risk is in touching the back of the actual tube or slipping your hand into the high power area.
My problem seems to be mainly trying to get information and finding replacement parts especially IC’s that have a tendency to start burning out after 20 odd years of use.
I have pinched nerves in my wrist and they tend to shake when trying to do fine work. So this personaly adds a level of apprehension. 
It also makes soldering a pain at times but I manage nevertheless.
If I am not mistaken there is special equipment that generates the signals/images needed to perform these tasks accurately.