What's wrong with my monitor?

August 24, 2005 4:56 AM

There's something wrong with my (4 year old) CRT monitor. The display is much, much darker, probably gamma-funkiness. How can I fix this?

I wouldn't care but it's a nice 19" and I'm too cheap to get a flat panel. Also, when an image with a lot of black is displayed, the width of the picture decreases by about half an inch on both sides. I'm pretty sure this isn't a driver problem, it does the same thing on a friend's computer. What do I dooooo?

posted by pantsrobot to Computers & Internet (11 answers total)

The power supply in it's fucked. Buy a new one.
posted by cillit bang at 5:21 AM on August 24, 2005

And just a nervous-nellie caveat -- don't go mucking around inside it trying to fix it, pantsrobot, unless you know exactly what you are doing. A CRT can hold enough of a charge -- even unplugged -- to kill you. In NYC, btw, you can find perfectly nice 19" CRTs on the sidewalk on most trash days.
posted by realcountrymusic at 5:43 AM on August 24, 2005

This exact thing happened to my old G3 iMac. The screen got darker and darker, over a period of a few days, until it went completely black. It being an iMac, with the built-in CRT, I thought that it was basically lost, which made me sad. Having opened it up a few times previously, to upgrade the disk, I decided to do so again to see if there was anything obviously wrong, like a loose wire. I couldn't find anything. Then just as I'd given up hope, and was about to salvage the disk, I noticed a pair of little knobs tucked away on the side, normally hidden inside the case. I gave one a quick tweak, and the display was instantly bright and lively. Turns out that those knobs were for contrast and brightness, over the years some dust had penetrated one of them, causing the problem.

So, I know it sounds stupid, and you've probably tweaked all available knobs (phnoaw-phnoaw!) at this point, but maybe there's a hidden doohicky somewhere that you've overlooked, like I did. If you're going to fiddle inside the case of your monitor, be extra careful, lest you be killed.

On preview: realcountrymusic's right. Best not to fiddle around inside the monitor. Be a live big-spender, rather than a dead cheapskate. Chicks dig that.
posted by veedubya at 6:34 AM on August 24, 2005

So I bought a flat panel a few weeks ago because I thought my crt was dead. I'm still having problems with ghosting. Do I need a new video card?
posted by poodlemouthe at 7:23 AM on August 24, 2005

The fact that you're having both gamma- and black-related display options means your monitor is on its way out. Sounds like power-suppy (as another said) combined with a bad gun. Possibly the gun has been damaged by a bad power supply.

I'd say that it'll cost more to fix than it would to replace it with another CRT, or you could suck it up and get a nice LCD (which is what I did, paying more than I really wanted to, but I haven't regretted it since). I went from a 19" CRT to a 17" LCD and the slight difference in size wasn't an issue at all.

Oh, and I'll third the whole "Don't put your hands in there" recommendation. There're caps in there that could blow you across the room if you bridge the terminals. You might be able to find focus knobs inside but it sounds like there's more wrong than just a precision problem.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 7:57 AM on August 24, 2005

I just replaced my old 19" CRT monitors with LCDs about a week ago because they crapped out on me similar to what's happening to you. I have no money either, but I spend so much time staring at these things, and they're so much better than the old CRT monitors, that it's a purchase I don't, and won't, regret.
posted by scallion at 9:08 AM on August 24, 2005

poodlemouthe, ghosting on LCDs is typically caused by a high response time (usually 25ms or more) inherent to the monitor, rather than being related to the video card. There are many monitors available now that sport lower response times of 12-16ms that should eliminate your issue, although they're usually a bit more expensive. If you just bought the monitor, you could try to exchange it for one with a lower response time and that may solve your problem.
posted by Oops at 9:34 AM on August 24, 2005

If you go the LCD route, the Dell 1905FP is a nice monitor, and TechBargains shows a 25% coupon code for it (ending today) bringing the price to $287. But Dell perenially has specials and coupons; if you miss this one, another will be coming. You might need to replace your video card to support DVI. Like others above, I finally did this a few months ago and have been thrilled with the results.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 9:45 AM on August 24, 2005

Thanks Oops. The monitor has a 16ms response time but pages look the same as it did on my crt. Maybe I'm using the wrong term. The same pattern shows up on all sites, like it's underneath the page. It's not like a quick scroll ghost. Any ideas?
posted by poodlemouthe at 11:05 AM on August 24, 2005

poodlemouthe, does your vga cable have a ferrite device on it like this? I've had luck filtering out ghosts on both LCD screens and projectors by using high quality cables with these devices on them.
posted by Roger Dodger at 2:00 PM on August 24, 2005

Yeah the cables are good quality & have the ferrite device. I should probably return but after restocking/postage I'm out over $60. Oh well.
posted by poodlemouthe at 4:18 PM on August 24, 2005