My Monitor Has Rebelled

[Amaris]

This morning, my monitor started doing this:

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66UiA9h950M[/yt]

I tested it on my laptop and on my other (older) PC. It behaved the same way. I have no idea what it's doing, I let it sit and cool for a while just to see if it was heat related. It's still doing this. It is not under any warranty, as it had a 90 day warranty and that has long since expired.

Any ideas?

J.

 

[Lindley]

Well, if it's a flat screen I'm not sure.

I used to have an old CRT which went funny sometimes, and applying percussive maintenance usually got it back in shape.

 

[Amaris]

Well, if it's a flat screen I'm not sure.

I used to have an old CRT which went funny sometimes, and applying percussive maintenance usually got it back in shape.

Yeah, that doesn't work so well on LCDs.

J.

 

[farmkid]

Assuming it has both inputs, does it do the same whether you are using the DVI or VGA input?

I don't really have any ideas about how to fix it or what the problem might be. I'm just thinking the problem might be limited to the circuitry connected to one of the inputs, and you could get around the problem by using the other input.

Otherwise, percussive maintenance might be worth a try. You don't have anything to lose. Keep trying with progressively larger instruments until it's either fixed or in many pieces. Oh, and be sure to upload the video of that, too.

 

[bryce]

It's a witch!

Burn it!!!

 

[Amaris]

Assuming it has both inputs, does it do the same whether you are using the DVI or VGA input?

I don't really have any ideas about how to fix it or what the problem might be. I'm just thinking the problem might be limited to the circuitry connected to one of the inputs, and you could get around the problem by using the other input.

Otherwise, percussive maintenance might be worth a try. You don't have anything to lose. Keep trying with progressively larger instruments until it's either fixed or in many pieces. Oh, and be sure to upload the video of that, too.

I tried both inputs, it does the same.
It also does this when not connected and still powered on.

As for percussive maintenance, I do have a hammer...

It's a witch!

Burn it!!!

If I throw it in the lake and it floats, it must be a witch!

J.

 

[Jadzia]

It looks periodic, around 3 seconds on, 3 seconds off, which is not something one would expect from a bad connection. So don't try and beat sense into it.

I'm guessing that in the off state, we're just seeing monitor's backlight, rather than an actual white-blue picture?

It could be v-sync related, because of the white line that appears along the top. But it is more likely to be power supply related. Power supply faults are invariably down to bad electrolytic capacitors, which can be replaced for a few pence... Skill permitting.

 

[Amaris]

It looks periodic, around 3 seconds on, 3 seconds off, which is not something one would expect from a bad connection. So don't try and beat sense into it.

I'm guessing that in the off state, we're just seeing monitor's backlight, rather than an actual white-blue picture?

It could be v-sync related, because of the white line that appears along the top. But it is more likely to be power supply related. Power supply faults are invariably down to bad electrolytic capacitors, which can be replaced for a few pence... Skill permitting.

Hmm, I was hoping it wouldn't be something like that. I don't repair monitors, too many bad experiences with them. I can check around with a local PC repair shop, see what they can do, but if they can't I may be SOL.

J.

 

[bryce]

As for percussive maintenance, I do have a hammer...

"Percussive maintenance"...lol.

It's a witch!

Burn it!!!

If I throw it in the lake and it floats, it must be a witch!

J.

And if it sinks...well, you're just out one broken monitor.

 

[Amaris]

As for percussive maintenance, I do have a hammer...

"Percussive maintenance"...lol.

It's a witch!

Burn it!!!

If I throw it in the lake and it floats, it must be a witch!

J.

And if it sinks...well, you're just out one broken monitor.

You know, I gave my mom my 17" Sceptre monitor I bought 4 years ago (it's also an LCD), and it still works flawlessly. This more expensive HP monitor quits working after 4 months. As much as I like Sceptre, I expected the HP to work far longer.

J.

 

[farmkid]

And if it sinks...well, you're just out one broken monitor.

...and you're up one boat anchor.

 

[sojourner]

It looks periodic, around 3 seconds on, 3 seconds off, which is not something one would expect from a bad connection. So don't try and beat sense into it.

I'm guessing that in the off state, we're just seeing monitor's backlight, rather than an actual white-blue picture?

It could be v-sync related, because of the white line that appears along the top. But it is more likely to be power supply related. Power supply faults are invariably down to bad electrolytic capacitors, which can be replaced for a few pence... Skill permitting.

I would argue against it being the PS, we never actually see the backlight loose power nor the power LEDs. More likely the connection between the actual lcd component and the internal circuit board.

It looks alot like what happens to laptop screens when the ribbon connection starts to go. In fact, I have a 17" laptop were the ribbon cable is shot, nothing but multi-colored lines on the display now, though it started out being an issue only when the lcd was at certain angles.

 

[Amaris]

Well, I contacted HP to see what my options are, since it's 4 months old. I bought it as part of a complete set, so I don't know what they'll do. Hopefully, they'll replace it.

J.

 

[Deks]

I have a similar issue on my laptop's screen (Acer 5930G with 9600m GT GDDR3), except in my particular case, when the image goes bonkers, it stays like that until I open/close the lid a few times.
Sometimes it will merely go white or grey in total.

I am suspicious of the video cable itself.
Few other owners of this laptop reported similar problems ... and are targeting the video cable as the most likely culprit (because of the frequent opening/closing of the lid, the video cable connections become loose at some point and then the image goes bonkers).

In the case of your LCD monitor itself, it's odd to say the least.
My problem stays like it is until I open/close the lid, yours has a clear interval like Jadzia described.
It's still possible the video cable connections are to be blamed.

Of course, in my laptop's case, I'm not necessarily ruling out the gpu, inverter or the video cable ... though the gpu is stable, temps are relatively low (even when gaming they don't really go over 62 degrees ... that's because I undervolted both the CPU and gpu that share the same heatsink ).

the video cable connections inside the monitor itself could be causing the issue.
What you could try is search the Internet for the service guide to the monitor, take it apart and check the video cable connections.
But if you don't want to mess with that, then taking it to a repair shop would be a good idea.

 

[Amaris]

I have a similar issue on my laptop's screen (Acer 5930G with 9600m GT GDDR3), except in my particular case, when the image goes bonkers, it stays like that until I open/close the lid a few times.
Sometimes it will merely go white or grey in total.

I am suspicious of the video cable itself.
Few other owners of this laptop reported similar problems ... and are targeting the video cable as the most likely culprit (because of the frequent opening/closing of the lid, the video cable connections become loose at some point and then the image goes bonkers).

In the case of your LCD monitor itself, it's odd to say the least.
My problem stays like it is until I open/close the lid, yours has a clear interval like Jadzia described.
It's still possible the video cable connections are to be blamed.

Of course, in my laptop's case, I'm not necessarily ruling out the gpu, inverter or the video cable ... though the gpu is stable, temps are relatively low (even when gaming they don't really go over 62 degrees ... that's because I undervolted both the CPU and gpu that share the same heatsink ).

the video cable connections inside the monitor itself could be causing the issue.
What you could try is search the Internet for the service guide to the monitor, take it apart and check the video cable connections.
But if you don't want to mess with that, then taking it to a repair shop would be a good idea.

I'll probably try to service it if HP says they aren't going to do anything.

J.

 

[Amaris]

Well, HP says they'll send me a replacement monitor and I'll send back this one. The only odd thing is they said once they receive my monitor, they will call me for my CC# and then they would hold my CC# for collateral, and I don't know what that means (I know what collateral means, just not why they want my CC#).

J.

 

[farmkid]

They want your credit card number AFTER they get your monitor back? That seems odd. I could see them asking for it before they send the replacement in case you don't send the bad one back, but this seems odd. You might want to call them back and clarify that they aren't charging you anything, or just what they might charge you for.

 

[Amaris]

That may be what they meant. He said they would call me within 24 hours. He didn't seem to have a solid grasp of English to be honest.

J.

 

[Jadzia]

If they find any fault with the returned monitor that can be attributed to misuse (such as spilling your tea in it), they might not be comfortable replacing it, and might want to charge you for the replacement.

On the other hand, the person you spoke to may not have been asking for your cc# legitimately.

 

[Deckerd]

It's a trap!