Monitor Problem

My monitor display has recently started to play up for no known reason. It keeps resizing itself ever so slightly (sometimes several times rapidly) but as you can imagine this can get very annoying. Also there is a faint line that keeps rolling up from the bottom of the display to around half way up. This only happens every so often.

Can anyone offer me any advice as to what may be causing this. Do you think it is something minor that can easily be fixed?

Thanks for any help,
Jason.

Tube's on the way out. it's a CRT, isn't it?

It's normally the power supply to the actual tube unit. Cheaper and easier to go buy a nice new screen.

Pererably at least 19". and TFT.

Yes it is a CRT. Thats what I thought too. Thanks for the advice. Now I just need to find a decent, not to expensive, TFT monitor. Any recomendations?

Jason.

Do you have any display control knobs on the back of the monitor? They may just be holes that you have to poke a screwdriver in to turn. Sometimes these controls can get affected my dust, causing the display to wobble.

Bit of a long shot though, as this wouldn't really explain the line you have going up the screen, I don't think. It's more likely the tube is on it's way out, as Cygnus said.

be carefull doing that... make sure you are insulated, and that the screwdriver doesn't touch anything but the lil recesses in the turn pots...

don't discharge a current directly to yourself... best to have the monitor open with a clear view of where you are going to need to place the screwdriver end...

--Mike

Viewsonic VA1912w

Lovely monitor, and not very expensive, most of all GREAT value. Comes with ALL cables, and that's not all that common. Buying all of those would add quite a bit to the cost if you had to.

Wide (1440x900) is rather good when you have an IDE on screen, more space to work. You more rarely see a horizontal slider bar as well, as most things just fit as standard. At 900 deep you don't lose enough to have a problem with it most of the time. Also the whole screen is actually less pixels than for 1280x1024, so graphics cards can work just a smidge faster depending on the application involved at the time. It is only by a smidge though, but often it's just enough to get a frame rate you would like.

Best done via DVI socket if your graphics card has one.

The pots usually have a plastic end on them that the screwdriver fits into. I wouldn't advise taking the cover off, not even when the monitor's switched off and unplugged! You stand a chance of getting a very big shock!

Red, Im not going to argue about this. But do you think its senceble to tell someone who you have had to tell to insulate themselfs, that they should take the cover off a CRT?

I would NEVER recomend to anyone to take the cover off. Either they already have, or they shouldnt.

Maybe you feel different, and Im sure that for you its second nature to take the cover off.
(This isnt a flame. So if you dissagree just say so, no come back)

That viewsonic is nice, however, the 900 y value is a tad low for me, and as an artist you will probrably want a little more.

Info on the VA1912W:



Here's my monitor. I wouldn't change it for the world, and it only cost me £160:



My monitor consumes 48watts however the viewsonic consumes 35W.

I do notice however that my screen has a refresh response of 16ms, whereas the viewsonic is 8ms, so the viewsonic is a nice monitor. I just don't like the 900 Y resolution!

Ok, so that's almost too much info, but I always look to save my electricity bill :-)

[edit]

It's not OK to open a CRT. if you do, just don't *TOUCH* the internals.

I got myself pasted to a wall once :)

Before chucking your monitor away and buying a new one just make sure the symtoms you describe are not being caused by interference from some electrical or magnetic source. I have lost count of the times at work and elsewhere when people claim they're monitor is behaving strangly and its been found to be due to some environmental issue.
Try the monitor in a different room/location - just to be sure.

Cygnus:

"That viewsonic is nice, however, the 900 y value is a tad low for me, and as an artist you will probrably want a little more."

Agreed, and that's why I have the iiyama prolite e483s 19" regular on the other machine. Although, I got the wide one as well as I realise that this is where the industry is heading eventually. Laptops are mostly there at 16:10, and now these desktop monitors are growing in number. iiyama have just done their first wide tft and it's also 16:10 1440x900 too. So that is some indicator of the future I'd guess. It'd be unlike them to get that bit wrong.

The requirements were a bit sketchy when I suggested the Viewsonic, but since they are now firmer, then I'd say take a look at their regular format monitors, or look over the iiyama range. However do be aware that iiyama only supply an analogue cable, not a DVI one. (sadly, and it added another 20 quid to the cost to get a good one)

Between the two, I had NO pixel issues at all; and I'm not normally prone to particularly good luck either! ;O)

And for the OP: Good luck searching out a good one, and forget all that tinkering with the old one; decidedly dangerous without the correct equipment, can all too commonly be fatal if you don't get it exactly right.

Yeahhhh... unless you know what you are doing, don't take the cover off a CRT and muck about inside one. Even the static discharge from the tube when it's unplugged is enough to knock you on your butt and could kill ya. Too many high voltage items in a CRT to play with one unless you know how. Best just to replace it.

Even PC repair technicians don't take covers off CRT's. My mate had a trip to hospital from one that had been sat with the power off for 3 weeks.

Get it repaired by a pro, or buy a TFT. These are the only 2 sensible and safe options. Anything else is lunacy.

If you want, I've got a 19" Iiyama VisionMaster 454Pro for sale or swap - but you'd have to fetch it from Shrewsbury!

I got a nice 20.1" 1600x1200 5ms ones and am really pleased with it. Took a while to get used to the pixel interpolation at odd resolutions but 800x600 and 1600x1200 are great and have me sorted for 3D apps and games.

I like my Dell 2405, perhaps a bit slow on the response time for games, but for coding, the 1920x1200 resolution is a must.

BTW, on each side of that monitor I have a 20.1 1600x1200 Dells 2001. Total desktop space: 5120x1200.

... and I still want more monitors... I'm a pixel whore.

Iiyama VisionMaster 454 Pro CRT monitor:

There are several models, the best being HM903DTB:



Which model do you have VinylPusher? :D

I guess it really depends on what you are doing, but I would never recommend a monitor that only has 900 vertical resolution.

I work in Visual Studio all day doing C#/asp.net work, and the ability to view entire methods, properties, etc. onscreen at once is invaluable. The more vertical resolution the better.

Mark.

you guys above are right...

on second thought, it was a mistake to tell someone to take off the cover of the monitor if they aren't qualified or experienced with electrical stuff...

don't take off the cover...

there is a high wattage/voltage capacitor that can discharge itself if you come into unshielded contact with it, and cause you some serious damage...

--Mike

Yep. However, even armed with this information, I have been stupid enough to remove the cover from TVs/monitors in the past. I am always very careful and my heartrate doubles. Still, it is a pretty dumb thing to do. Why are people so stupid, sometimes?! It can't just be me. :P

I have tasted 240v before so you'd think I'd know better. :/

Thing is if you knew what you were doing and get a shock, its still not as bad as when someone who doesnt know what they are doing get a shock. (If you know what I mean)

I know someone who figured that if they earthed themselfs they would be ok messing with the phone. (Lucky it was only 30V and neglegable Amps), but a little knowlage is a bad thing

when I was a kid, a friend wanted to see how his Lego electric motor worked if he poked the wires from the terminals into a mains socket. He was blown across the room, but was OK, just "shocked". If I'd seen what he was doing I'd have said "noooooo..."

I've got the Iiyama that does 1600x1200 at 85Hz (I think). At that top res it only manages 60Hz.

You wouldn't want to use it for viewing text at anything above 1280x1024 (unless that's just because my eyes are going wonky).