AppleColor High Resolution Monitor Weird Distortion

jmacz · Jan 27, 2023

Finally found a DB15 cable (with all the pins) to test an M1297 AppleColor High Resolution Monitor with my Quadra 700. Everything looks good and the monitor seems to work.. but I've got this really strange distortion in the left corner.. it's like the top 3-5 rows of pixels are shifted to the left. It's not across the entire screen but maybe 40% of the width? But it's only the top 3-5 rows of pixels. I thought it might be the geometry (pin cushion distortion) but the rest of the left side of the screen is perfectly vertical and no issues in the bottom left corner either from what I can tell. Anyone have any idea what the issue might be?

Here's a picture:

You can see it on the File menu where it's black. The upper left corner has a tail because of it. Same when you click on the other menus including the Apple menu. But the menus on the right side of the screen are normal and not shifted.

Any ideas?

Byrd · Jan 27, 2023

It's definitely a geometry issue and requires some calibration; see if you can adjust (it will only be slight, and clean all the adjustment pots with electronic cleaning spray), however longer term to repair the shift is likely from failing caps much less CRT overuse.

jmacz · Jan 27, 2023

Thanks for the response. I guess I'll have to open it up as I believe the geometry pots on this monitor are inside (as opposed to the alignment adjustments which seem to be behind the little cover in the back of the monitor).

Byrd · Jan 27, 2023

Yes, on the inside once the cover is off. Hopefully an easy adjustment

jmacz · Feb 5, 2023

Ok, played with the internal geometry knobs and they don't help. Something else is going on, I assume caps. Oh well, I guess it'll be a project for sometime in the future.

jmacz · May 1, 2023

Got some time this evening to finally open the monitor up and play with all the possible adjustment pots. None of them impact this weird distortion on the top row.

I have put red circles to show it. The sides are perfectly straight and the geometry pots for V.PIN, V.BOW, will impact the sides without touching those corners.

The rest of the monitor looks great, it's very sharp and convergence is good. At this point the only thing left to try is a recap. I'm going to take the whole thing apart and start auditing the caps in the coming weeks.

jmacz · May 18, 2023

Finally got around to recapping the monitor. Lots of caps, but got it done and I'm happy to say the distortion is gone. Monitor works perfectly now.

Byrd · May 20, 2023

Nicely done! Enjoy that Trinitron and know it won't go pop for another 25 years.

croissantking · Aug 18, 2023

jmacz said:
Finally got around to recapping the monitor. Lots of caps, but got it done and I'm happy to say the distortion is gone. Monitor works perfectly now.

Would you be kind enough to share a cap list?

Did you see any improvement other than to the distortion?

jmacz · Aug 18, 2023

I didn't notice anything else outside of the corner distortion being fixed. But that's the only problem I had with the monitor. Everything else was fine.

I think the below is the list but note that I did the Apple 16" Monitor as well as this M1297 13" around the same time so I'm not positive. You should probably double check. I also don't remember if M0401 and M1297 were the separate revisions or whether even within the M1297 there were multiple revisions so another reason to double check with what you actually see on the boards. I'm copying these from my notepad so hopefully don't make a mistake in translation. Apologize for the lack of sorting on the cap numbers but I had jotted this down as I canvased the board so it's not in numerical order. The size is diameter first followed by height in millimeters.

Board B
- C015 - 10uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C013 - 2.2uF 160V 105C 8x12
- C036 - 10uF 250V 85C 13x20
- C025 - 10uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C007 - 47uF 50V 85C 6x11
- C023 - 2.2uF 160V 85C 8x12
- C033 - 2.2uF 160V 85C 8x12
- C035 - 10uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C038 - 47uF 100V 85C 10x16
- C008 - 47uF 50V 85C 6x11
- C950 - 100uF 25V 85C 6x11
Board D
- C547 - 1uF 160V 105C 8x14
- C529 - 100uF 35V 105C 7x12
- C524 - 470uF 35V 85C 10x20
- C570 - 100uF 25V 85C 6x11
- C592 - 100uF 16V 85C 6x12
- C591 - 100uF 25V 85C 6x11
- C572 - 100uF 16V 85C 6x12
- C569 - 100uF 25V 85C 6x11
- C568 - 470uF 35V 85C 10x20
- C581 - 22uF 250V 85C 13x25
- C575 - 33uF 160V 85C 16x25
- C586 - 47uF 16V 85C 5x12
- C587 - 47uF 16V 85C 5x12
- C516 - 10uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C526 - 4.7uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C530 - 10uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C519 - 22uF 25V 85C 5x11
- C520 - 1uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C523 - 1uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C501 - 1uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C531 - 470uF 16V 85C 10x12
- C597 - 0.47uF 50V 85C 5x11 BIPOLAR
- C511 - 3.3uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C510 - 4.7uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C505 - 1uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C506 - 1uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C512 - 4.7uF 50V 85C 6x11 BIPOLAR
- C513 - 33uF 16V 85C 5x11
- C517 - 2.2uF 50V 85C 5x10
- C588 - 4.7uF 50V 85C 5x10
- C595 - 2.2uF 50V 85C 5x10
- C594 - 2.2uF 50V 85C 5x10
- C599 - 4.7uF 50V 85C 5x10
- C546 - 100uF 16V 85C 6x11
Power Supply Board
- C107 - 470uF 400V 85C 35x41
- C108 - 4.7uF 350V 105C 16x26
- C109 - 4.7uF 350V 105C 16x26
- C113 - 22uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C216 - 4.7uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C215 - 22uF 50V 85C 5x11
- C209 - 47uF 25V 85C 5x11
- C210 - 47uF 25V 85C 5x11
- C205 - 33uF 160V 85C 13x20
- C203 - 100uF 160V 85C 16x26
- C206 - 22uF 100V 85C 8x11
- C204 - 470uF 100V 85C 16x31
- C218 - 100uF 25V 85C 6x11
- C219 - 100uF 25V 85C 6x11

Again, you should double check these as you're pulling the old ones off the board just in case. But hope this helps.

croissantking · 2026-03-28T12:31:17+0000

jmacz said:
I didn't notice anything else outside of the corner distortion being fixed. But that's the only problem I had with the monitor. Everything else was fine.

I think the below is the list but note that I did the Apple 16" Monitor as well as this M1297 13" around the same time so I'm not positive. You should probably double check. I also don't remember if M0401 and M1297 were the separate revisions or whether even within the M1297 there were multiple revisions so another reason to double check with what you actually see on the boards. I'm copying these from my notepad so hopefully don't make a mistake in translation. Apologize for the lack of sorting on the cap numbers but I had jotted this down as I canvased the board so it's not in numerical order. The size is diameter first followed by height in millimeters.

Board B

C015 - 10uF 50V 85C 5x11

C013 - 2.2uF 160V 105C 8x12

C036 - 10uF 250V 85C 13x20

C025 - 10uF 50V 85C 5x11

C007 - 47uF 50V 85C 6x11

C023 - 2.2uF 160V 85C 8x12

C033 - 2.2uF 160V 85C 8x12

C035 - 10uF 50V 85C 5x11

C038 - 47uF 100V 85C 10x16

C008 - 47uF 50V 85C 6x11

C950 - 100uF 25V 85C 6x11

Board D

C547 - 1uF 160V 105C 8x14

C529 - 100uF 35V 105C 7x12

C524 - 470uF 35V 85C 10x20

C570 - 100uF 25V 85C 6x11

C592 - 100uF 16V 85C 6x12

C591 - 100uF 25V 85C 6x11

C572 - 100uF 16V 85C 6x12

C569 - 100uF 25V 85C 6x11

C568 - 470uF 35V 85C 10x20

C581 - 22uF 250V 85C 13x25

C575 - 33uF 160V 85C 16x25

C586 - 47uF 16V 85C 5x12

C587 - 47uF 16V 85C 5x12

C516 - 10uF 50V 85C 5x11

C526 - 4.7uF 50V 85C 5x11

C530 - 10uF 50V 85C 5x11

C519 - 22uF 25V 85C 5x11

C520 - 1uF 50V 85C 5x11

C523 - 1uF 50V 85C 5x11

C501 - 1uF 50V 85C 5x11

C531 - 470uF 16V 85C 10x12

C597 - 0.47uF 50V 85C 5x11 BIPOLAR

C511 - 3.3uF 50V 85C 5x11

C510 - 4.7uF 50V 85C 5x11

C505 - 1uF 50V 85C 5x11

C506 - 1uF 50V 85C 5x11

C512 - 4.7uF 50V 85C 6x11 BIPOLAR

C513 - 33uF 16V 85C 5x11

C517 - 2.2uF 50V 85C 5x10

C588 - 4.7uF 50V 85C 5x10

C595 - 2.2uF 50V 85C 5x10

C594 - 2.2uF 50V 85C 5x10

C599 - 4.7uF 50V 85C 5x10

C546 - 100uF 16V 85C 6x11

Power Supply Board

C107 - 470uF 400V 85C 35x41

C108 - 4.7uF 350V 105C 16x26

C109 - 4.7uF 350V 105C 16x26

C113 - 22uF 50V 85C 5x11

C216 - 4.7uF 50V 85C 5x11

C215 - 22uF 50V 85C 5x11

C209 - 47uF 25V 85C 5x11

C210 - 47uF 25V 85C 5x11

C205 - 33uF 160V 85C 13x20

C203 - 100uF 160V 85C 16x26

C206 - 22uF 100V 85C 8x11

C204 - 470uF 100V 85C 16x31

C218 - 100uF 25V 85C 6x11

C219 - 100uF 25V 85C 6x11

Again, you should double check these as you're pulling the old ones off the board just in case. But hope this helps.

So I just started taking my M1297 apart to recap and the PSU board is completely different to yours. Boards B and D look the same just from a quick look at a few caps.

I wonder if you grabbed the PSU cap list from the wrong monitor or if the M1297 had different PSUs. Mine is a CRZ-700A manufactured by STK of Tokyo.

AppleColor High Resolution Monitor Weird Distortion

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