Monitor death

[Ch3tan]

Well 4 months after my 3 year warrenty has finished my monitor has decided to start dying.

Last few days it started flickering a lot, so I lowered all the refresh rates to 70hz. This seemed to work, but after using it for an hour today the monitor balcked out. I had to work blind to change the resolution down to 640 and it now kind of works.

I cant got above 1028*768 (on a 19" monitor) and the refresh rate is stuck on 70 or less. Lots of mode switching sounds while the monitor blacked out trying to display something, and very unhealthy sounding noises from inside, it seems to have heated up a lot more than usual as well.

I cant change the horizontal size of the display either, so I have a huge black spaces at either end of the display.

Tried another power socket, tried degaussing, unplugging video cable and reconnecting, going to try another pc. I am downloading the latest detonators now, see if its just a wierd driver issue.

Hopefully Dell might be sympathetic and at least offer to replace my monitor with a refurbished one. If not can anyone think of anything else I can try before I give up?

Please present me a miracle :/

/edit. This will probably also mean I have to now get two new monitors instead of one, one for the new system I am getting as well :/

 

[Will]

Sorry Ch3tan, it sounds dead to me.

 

[Ch3tan]

Okay its dead, I cant phone Dell for a while because I am working all hours.

Just ordered this, I was tempted by the entry level iiyama (cant afford the pro ones right now), when I saw a GNR one at ebuyer. After reading the many product reviews and the fact that they have the same warrenty as iiyama do, I decided to order.

Should see me through for a while

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=45778

On another note I have manged to get my parents to agree to give me a line of credit to buy a new pc with. Bring on the weekend specials please microdirect

 

[Mellow-]

You've bent the pins in the connectors. Hence the badness.

 

[Ch3tan]

Nah, the pins are fine.

Okay on my new monitor it lists the modes it supports.

I have 800*600, 1028 *768, 1280*1024 and 1600*1200.

Does this mean it is unsafe to use any resoultions within this range? I usually use 1280*960.

I know its a probably a stupid question but I dont want to lose another monitor

 

[Will]

From the specs...

Display mode: 1280 x 1024 @75 Hz (Primary mode), up to 1600 x 1200 @ 75Hz

Why use a silly shaped resolution when you can get 1600x1200 at the same Hz?

 

[Ch3tan]

So I dont get silly fps in games

 

[Will]

Run your desktop at 1600x1200 and your games at 1024x768 or 1280x1024. 1280x960 seems mis-shapen to me

 

[Ch3tan]

Im running my desktop at 1280*1024 now. Just got used to the flatscreen, the new res seems really small, I dont think I will go up to 1600

 

[Rubber Bullets]

<confused>

1600/1200=1.333333
1280/960 =1.33333

Or in other words 4:3 the same as the physical dimensions of the monitor

1280/1024 = 1.25

Or 5:4

How can 1600x1200 and 1280x1024 look right and 1280x960 look wrong?

The recomended resolution for my monitor is 1280:1024 but when I use it to do any Photoshopping the pictures are distorted. I use 1280x960 and this is the best compromise for me.

I am not saying that you are wrong Will, its just that I can't understand how a monitor can show 1280x1024 without using rectangular pixels and therefore distort pictures.

</confused>

RB

 

[vofflujarnid]

Personally, i'd go for a monitor with a 0.24mm dpi or lower for better image quality and a monitor with a little higher refresh rate. High refresh rate work much better in games imo

 

[Will]

Originally posted by Rubber Bullets
<confused>

1600/1200=1.333333
1280/960 =1.33333

Or in other words 4:3 the same as the physical dimensions of the monitor

1280/1024 = 1.25

Or 5:4

How can 1600x1200 and 1280x1024 look right and 1280x960 look wrong?

The recomended resolution for my monitor is 1280:1024 but when I use it to do any Photoshopping the pictures are distorted. I use 1280x960 and this is the best compromise for me.

I am not saying that you are wrong Will, its just that I can't understand how a monitor can show 1280x1024 without using rectangular pixels and therefore distort pictures.

</confused>

RB

You know RB, I've never done the maths on it. I jumped straight from 1024x768 to 1600x1200, missing out anything inbetween. I must check my sums in future.

 

[Tom]

Ch3tan it sounds like the power supply in the monitor may be dying. It's a common fault on most CRT devices, and normally accompanies a reduction in the size of the picture. Higher scan rates draw more current from the supply.

Monitors are simple things to fix, take it to your local TV repair shop, they should be able to order (or repair) the relevant circuit.

 

[Xavier]

Originally posted by Will
Run your desktop at 1600x1200 and your games at 1024x768 or 1280x1024. 1280x960 seems mis-shapen to me

800x600 4:3
1024x768 4:3
1280x960 4:3
1280x1024 5:4
1600x1200 4:3

1280x1024 is actually mis-proportioned of the standard resolutions we use, its just more common on 17" screens because it's easier for TFT manufacturers to fab and thus makes more sense to implement on CRTs too for gaming resolutions. There are a few games which offer both res's but the latter is the more common option for the majority

 

[Uncle Sick(tm)]

Hmmm - I didn't want to start a whole new thread but one of our screen is about to croak it soon and I was thinking about getting a 17" TFT... any recommendations?

Has to be good enough to play games like Planetside without giving me teh headaches.

 

[Xavier]

samsung make some lovely 17" screens, though the iiyama 4332 is the daddeh last time I reviewed a batch... i'll find a few links in a mo

 

[Embattle]

Originally posted by Uncle Sick(tm)
Hmmm - I didn't want to start a whole new thread but one of our screen is about to croak it soon and I was thinking about getting a 17" TFT... any recommendations?

Has to be good enough to play games like Planetside without giving me teh headaches.

Either a BenQ FP791 or a Hitachi CML174SXW both are 17" TFT models and both offer the best response time (16ms), which is very important when playing games.