Comments on: My computer monitor no longer displays the color red.

Question: My computer monitor no longer displays the color red.

poppo — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:04:10 -0800

My computer monitor no longer displays the color red. Is this the end?

Running Windows XP Service Pack 1, video card is an Nvidia GX 5200. Monitor is an 21" CRT by IBM, and it's at least ten years old.

Last night I left Lego Star Wars on overnight. When I woke up this morning, the color red no longer displays. Things which should be red are just black. Colors which have no red hue in them still display fine.

Given that it happened overnight and nothing changed, am I right to assume that leaving a graphics heavy game running for too long just overtaxed my really old monitor, and killed something inside it?

By: yeoz

yeoz — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:09:54 -0800

It's also possible that the graphics card itself may have failed...

By: jclovebrew

jclovebrew — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:11:47 -0800

Double check that the cable is snuggly plugged in.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:26:03 -0800

This is often caused by a broken solder joint or similar, and can be fixed Fonzie-style by smacking the side of the monitor. YMMV.

By: FauxScot

FauxScot — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:26:06 -0800

2nd checking the cables and connectors.

Find a second monitor and plug it in to isolate problem to either monitor or computer.

There's no particular reason red would preferentially fail or overnight operation would kill something.

90% + of computer problems in my experience are connector related.

By: WinnipegDragon

WinnipegDragon — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:29:57 -0800

CRTs have three guns, one for each R, G, and B.

It is possible for one to die, in which case, yeah it's the end.

By: WinnipegDragon

WinnipegDragon — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:34:40 -0800

I should have added that this effect can also be caused by one, or more, pins on the monitor cable not being fully connected to the video card, so I'll echo what was said before this. Check the cable first!

By: Danf

Danf — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 12:34:30 -0800

It happened to me once. There was 1 bent pin in the plug connection (can't remember if it was serial or parallel). But I straightened the pin and voila. . .red came back.

By: jeff-o-matic

jeff-o-matic — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 12:52:15 -0800

This happened to me years ago on an Apple CRT monitor. I had it replaced (under warranty) and the next one they sent did the same thing about a year later.

I never moved or adjusted/connected/disconnected the cables and it happened to me twice.

By: rubberkey

rubberkey — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 12:58:27 -0800

I agree with everyone saying connect the cables. My monitor has been turning various shades of pink when the cable's too loose.

By: rubberkey

rubberkey — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 13:00:40 -0800

*ber, I meant CHECK the cables. not connect. although that is the ultimate goal.

By: mnology

mnology — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 13:11:57 -0800

Nth'ng bent / improperly seated red pin. VGA pinouts.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 13:42:54 -0800

If you never unplugged the monitor, it's probably not a bent pin. One of the guns or its supporting circuitry has given out. A capacitor died or something. CRTs die. It happens.

You could probably get it fixed, but it would probably cost nearly as much as a new monitor.

By: ontic

ontic — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 14:37:55 -0800

This happened to my television, which I threw out. When I told my brother the story, he said that he had fixed such a problem before by running a high powered magnet over the screen to "reset" something. YMMV.

By: box

box — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 15:21:27 -0800

ontic refers to degaussing. Most CRT monitors (as opposed to most CRT televisions) have a degauss option hidden in the menus somewhere (look for a little magnet-with-a-line-through-it logo). From what little I know about monitors, it seems unlikely that that's the problem, but, before you buy a new monitor, give it a shot.

By: theora55

theora55 — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:20:03 -0800

Think of it as an opportunity to get a flat-panel display, which will use much less electricity, and will be more pleasant to use.

By: defcom1

defcom1 — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 17:27:53 -0800

Does the color red still display in the OSD (On screen display)? You can usually see all the colors in the color temperature settings or some such. If you only see two dots, greed and blue, and a black circle where the red should be, then the gun is probably dead. If all three colors are showing, then check the cable.

Good luck!

By: poppo

poppo — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 06:01:42 -0800

Thanks so far...Checked the connections...Definitely not that.

I will swap in a different monitor this wknd

I will check on whether I can degauss from the menu, and double-check whether red displays in the monitor menus (but I think I did both of these two things already).

By: poppo

poppo — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 15:11:23 -0800

For anyone still checking this: It was the cable!

As I started to swap in a new monitor I saw that I had a VGA extension cable (I had totally forgotten about this). Squeezed it back together and good as new!