Weird monitor behavior!!

[Xenus]

I am having a weird effect appear on my monitor. It is a an after image or faded duplication to the right of the letters. It seems to only sliightly dup. the last bit and it doesn't appear games.

I think it might be overheating as it is in my college dorm without airconditioning. Oh it is a 19 inch Scanport Crt Model: 1904.

 

[Monty]

ive had that before, mine was a bad connection - check that your cable hasnt come loose.

 

[Xenus]

Nope that didn't seem to fix it. The only other thing I can think of is the video card moves around a bit as I don't have a screw to screw it in.

 

[KimB]

Nope that didn't seem to fix it. The only other thing I can think of is the video card moves around a bit as I don't have a screw to screw it in.

Well, if that were a problem I would expect that your computer would either fail to boot or would hang randomly (refusing to boot after the hang until you push the card back in place). I'd definitely recommend finding a screw to put there, because if it does come loose during operation, there's always the possibility of an electrical surge or short, killing your card.

A problem like that must be an issue somewhere from the DAC on the GPU to the screen of the monitor. Quite unfortunately, that means that it's entirely possible that the problem isn't solvable without buying a new monitor.

It could, then, be due to something that has blown out on the video card (i.e. one of the capacitors or resistors in the low pass filter just before output). It could be something to do with the connection of the monitor cable to the video card. It could be the cable itself. It could be the connection of the monitor cable with the monitor. It could be some internal electronics in the monitor that have burned out.

So if I were you, I'd methodically test disconnecting/reconnecting the monitor, testing the monitor on a different video card, and testing your current video card on a different monitor. That should at least narrow down where the problem can possibly lie.

 

[Xenus]

The weird thing is if I leave the moinitor off for a while it goes away. Then comes back after a little while.

 

[KimB]

The weird thing is if I leave the moinitor off for a while it goes away. Then comes back after a little while.

Oh, that definitely sounds like something is overheating within the monitor. I would first isolate that it is in fact the monitor that is the issue, as I mentioned above, then try opening the monitor up and dusting out the inside (dust is the devil). When doing that, just be very careful not to touch any of the electronics, particularly the capacitors. Those capacitors can store hundreds of volts, and will take quite a while to discharge. Shorting one might not only destroy some electronics, but could give you quite an injury.

 

[Reznor007]

I'm guessing it's a slightly older monitor right?

If so, the aluminum electrlytic capacitors are drying out which causes various problems with CRT's. They can be replaced pretty easily if you are somewhat competant with a soldering iron.

The type I'm talking about are these: http://www.interq.or.jp/japan/se-inoue/picture/cond2.jpg

Just find all of those on the monitor, get their values that are printed on the side( ex. 47uf 25V) and get replacements from a electronic component store. Shouldn't cost too much, and it will fix the problem.

Look for "arcade cap kit" on Google for more information on the process, which involves discharging the CRT. Be careful when doing so, it could really hurt you if you don't do it safely.

 

[Xenus]

I'm guessing it's a slightly older monitor right?

If so, the aluminum electrlytic capacitors are drying out which causes various problems with CRT's. They can be replaced pretty easily if you are somewhat competant with a soldering iron.

The type I'm talking about are these: http://www.interq.or.jp/japan/se-inoue/picture/cond2.jpg

Just find all of those on the monitor, get their values that are printed on the side( ex. 47uf 25V) and get replacements from a electronic component store. Shouldn't cost too much, and it will fix the problem.

Look for "arcade cap kit" on Google for more information on the process, which involves discharging the CRT. Be careful when doing so, it could really hurt you if you don't do it safely.

No actually it is only about 6 months or so old.

 

[Reznor007]

Can still happen though, perhaps the caps used in it were older stock or possibly lower quality. Your problem sounds like a capacitor problem though, and I've fixed tons of arcade monitors with the same issue.

It could also be a signal issue though, but with the amount of shielding in a standard VGA cable it's not likely. Does the monitor have a self test/on screen settings display? And does the problem happen there?

 

[Xenus]

That was odd I unplugged it earlier and it didn't fix the problem but I had turned off the comp. Now when I unplugged it with it on it fixed itself. But as I typed this it began to appear again.

 

[Reznor007]

Definitely sounds like a capacitor problem then. As the monitor warms up it can put more stress on the weakened caps. Some symptoms of bad caps are ghosting/smearing, color problems, linearity problems, and even synchronization problems.

I had a PC monitor last year that got to where the ghosting was horrible and it had visible gaps in the picture. This was another cap problem.

You might try turning down the brightness and contrast, but that's only a temporary cure, as the capacitors will further degrade until it won't be usable.

 

[Xenus]

Its weird it may have just been that it wasn't getting enough power. I turned of the fan that was on the same surge protector and now its been fine for a hour and a half. It used to happen every fifteen minutes and would take four times as long with it off to fix.

 

[Reznor007]

That's very weird. If that permanently fixes it you might check for proper grounding on that outlet. Monitors have lots of voltage regulators and rectifiers, so it's unlikely a slightly lower voltage from the fan running would effect the picture.

 

[Xenus]

Yeah but our hall is old. There is only one three prong outlet and there is no air conditioning, so every room has about two fans, a t.v., a fridge and microwave, plus about two comps per room. So that could be drawing two much power. Or it could be that I'm overloading the surge protector as every socket is used.

 

[Xenus]

Oh and the Monitor draws 120w at peak load and I'm thinking of getting a small ups to fix the problem as of so far power appears to have been the problem.