What's wrong with my Trinitron monitor?

April 24, 2004 11:41 PM

Woke up this morning and my Sony Trinitron monitor looked weird. The colors are washed out, almost like a layer of white was put on top of it and the opacity was dropped way down. I degaussed it, turned it off, pulled the plug... nothing helps. Any ideas or is my wondermonitor dead?
posted by dobbs to Technology (5 answers total)

Well, I have a Trinitron too, and it had been getting darker and darker for the last couple of years. A month ago I finally got tired of it and popped it open to see if there was anything I could tweak. Sure enough, I found a little knob inside, that with a little tuning, restored it to its original brightness. Yay, me!

I don't know if your particular problem is solvable by a similar process, but if it's out of warranty, what do you have to lose? (Be careful, there's some stuff in there that could seriously zap you.)

Um, just as a reminder, you checked your video settings in your OS and reinstalled drivers? Did you try the computer with another monitor, to verify that it's the monitor that is the problem?
posted by alex_reno at 12:07 AM on April 25, 2004

Monitor Repair FAQ
posted by Keyser Soze at 1:34 AM on April 25, 2004

Also, make sure the cable to your video card is nice and TIGHT and not crossing any power lines.
posted by jaded at 5:50 AM on April 25, 2004

I have to point out that if you open the casing the monitor could do much worse than "seriously zap you." CRTs carry enough voltage, even after they have been disconnected, to instantaneously kill you. I've had my share of serious shocks, but the one time I had to take apart a CRT is was very careful and very afraid.

That being said, if it's still under warranty, send it to Sony. If not see if you can find a shop to fix it. And, finally, if you decide to work on it yourself, follow all of the directions in the safety section of that FAQ.
posted by mmcg at 8:06 AM on April 25, 2004

Response by poster: Thanks folks. It was the powerline crossing the monitor cable... though I don't know why becuase they've been crossing since day one without a problem.

Now I feel like an idiot but at least the thing's fixed. Thanks!
posted by dobbs at 8:39 AM on April 25, 2004