General Forum

Re: Mermaid Monitor Woes

stefan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:28:46 GMT

I`m glad everything is fine now.

Mermaid is a wellknown company in Denmark. They have PC monitors called Ventura. The best sold is the 15" 4:3 monitor, that Graham bought.

You can find Mermaid monitors in Denmark at public places as supermarkeds, shops, banks (imagine 20-25 customised Mermaids in a single large room in a bank...).

They also have the "Visionary" line, an LCD TV in two sizes: 32" and 40". As far as I know you can order a Beo4 model. I never saw one in flesh....

Stefan

Re: Mermaid Monitor Woes

Graham1982 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:09:28 GMT

Hi:

Possibly, I hadn't been on thier site for a while, the TVs are probably a new(ish) thing. My dealings with Mermaid only extend to me seeing a monitor at a friend's, him saying its a Mermaid, me going on the site a couple of times to see them and then scoring eBay for a couple of years till I found one.

There are now quite a few monitors on eBay at low prices if you wanted one - they are nice.

Graham

Re: Mermaid Monitor Woes

Kokomo — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:29:03 GMT

Graham1982:

Hi:

Because as far as I am aware, they only make/made PC monitors and are quite an obscure product.

With respect Graham you seem to be as (almost!) in the dark about their products as I was!

Their website describes two LCD /TVs 32" & 40" and they look fantastic.

This from their website:-

"A classy and stylish 40" HD LCD TV. The quality reaches far beyond the design and is reflected in stylish materials such as steel, glass and aluminium.

We have chosen the best components in the market which ensures an unique picture. The mermaid LCD panel has a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and is therefore fully HD-compatible. The glass front is a contrast screen with anti-reflection which is very easy to clean.

The loudspeaker system consists of 4 bass units, 2 treble units and 2 bass ports. It is also possible to use the Visionary loudspeakers as centre speakers in a surround setup."

The brochure download shows one in a domestic setting and it looks wonderful.

As these have, as far as I'm aware, never been discussed as a TV option on this site, I can only conclude that they are so obscure few if any know anything about them!

Re: Mermaid Monitor Woes

Graham1982 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:35:50 GMT

Hi everyone:

It was a false alarm apparently (prob a Windows thing) the computer wasn't recognising the monitor when I unplugged my old one and swapped it for th new one when Windows was running. However, when I turned the machine off and booted again it came on as if by magic.

The annoying thing is that the Mermaid doesn't have a "No signal" or other type of screen to show you that it is on, neither does the PSU or the monitor itself have a power indicator.

This is however, a minor gripe and the monitor itself looks fantastic.

Graham

Re: Mermaid Monitor Woes

Stonk — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:07:35 GMT

Ideally you could put a multimeter to the output plug on the adapter & see if there's any voltage coming through. Be very careful about just plugging any old laptop adapter into the Mermaid - you could do more damage than just an adapter.

Did you get this via eBay? If so and in fact wherever you bought it you should report it to the seller before seeking a repair.

Steve

Re: Mermaid Monitor Woes

Graham1982 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:23:22 GMT

Hi:

Because as far as I am aware, they only make/made PC monitors and are quite an obscure product.

Re: Mermaid Monitor Woes

Kokomo — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:24:48 GMT

Hi:

A Mermaid is a monitor made by a different company to B&O but with a simillar style - think Beovision1 on a smaller scale and without the triangulated speaker.

Thanks Graham and I have now seen these on their website. But what I can't understand is why I have never read any mention of them on this site as an alternative TV to those from B&O. Others seem to have been discussed often eg; Panasonic & Leowe.

It could be that I've just not noticed mention of Mermaid, but I find that difficult do believe (but of course not impossible!).

Re: Mermaid Monitor Woes

Graham1982 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:29:49 GMT

Hi:

A Mermaid is a monitor made by a different company to B&O but with a simillar style - think Beovision1 on a smaller scale and without the triangulated speaker.

___

The power supply does not seem to have an LED yet it does say Mermaid Ventura on it so clearly shipped with this or another Mermaid product. I think it may be dead even though it buzzes because normally if you scrape the connector on a metalic surface it sparks but this does not seem to happen. I think I will try another power supply.

Also I hot swapped my current monitor for the new one when Windows was already on so the resolution thing is something else that might be at fault.

Guess I could try a laptop power supply or a different adaptor on it.

Thanks

Graham

Re: Mermaid Monitor Woes

Kokomo — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:48:46 GMT

To my shame, although I thought I knew quite a lot about media & media products and despite the fact that I have been an owner of B&O products for some 20+ years, I have to confess I had never before heard of Mermaid! You're probably thinking "where have you been?".

But please for my benefit could someone tell me how their LCD tvs compare in the market place and in particular with B&O?

I clearly must get out more!

Re: Mermaid Monitor Woes

stefan — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:25:10 GMT

Did you check the power supply or try another one? The original power supplies have a green LED, does it work?

Stefan

Re: Mermaid Monitor Woes

Graham1982 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:07:28 GMT

No, nothing happens it is dead

Someone told me the PSUs can be poor so perhaps (hopefuly) this is where the problem lies otherwise I have an expensive yet heavy paper weight

Re: Mermaid Monitor Woes

stefan — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:20:03 GMT

Seems you have done everything correcty. What about the resolution? The computer should detect the monitor automatically, but - who knows.... Try 1024 x 768....The four buttons are (from left): Menu/select - Down/left - Up/right - Source/Exit. Does the mermaid display an OSD when you press Menu? When you disconnect or power down the computer, the mermaid should display "no signal"... or something like that - sorry I`m not at home right now. We have 4 Mermaid venturas and all are working great - with PCs and Macs...

If you haven`t got a manual, you will find one here: http://www.mermaid.dk/files/pdf/ventura15vga_us.pdf

Hope this helps

Stefan

Mermaid Monitor Woes

Graham1982 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:00:19 GMT

Hi all:

I have finally got hold of my Mermaid Monitor (imported from Germany). It was packed very well and there are no signs of physical damage. That said, when connected to the compter and powered up it appears dead.

The power supply hums if I put my head next to it and listen, however, no image is output to the screen. I am wondering if I am doing something really simple wrong - there is a rocker power switch on the bottom endge of the monitor and four control buttons - is there one that I have to press other than the power button to turn it on??

Is there anythnig else that anyone can think of?

Thanks

Graham