Think I've a duff monitor..

[Psychobert]

Basically its flickering to a very blue colour once in a while.. Sometimes its ok for a good few hours at a time, sometimes the colours go and come back several times over the course of a few minutes. Oh, and once in a while it will boot up blue..

Cables all seem ok. Can't find any settings in the PC that I can use to correct it when it goes. Guessing monitor, (wondering if one of the CR tubes is playing up) but I suppose it could be the graphics card. Both are maybe 2 years old..

Usual diagnostics (i.e. Norton), hasn't shown anything.. Any ideas folks?

[plotloss]

Sounds like the Red gun is on its way out...

[GregE240]

Could also be video cable, particularly if you have an RGB on the back. Or a kink in the cable may give you this problem.

Try a new cable, if you can (chances are its straight out the back of the monitor)

Repair probably not an option as most repairers would put this B.E.R

[Psychobert]

Cable is sealed into the back of the monitor so no joy at that end. Into the PC it seems fine.

Thought it might be the red gun. Oh well, gives me the chance to buy a TFT..

Thanks chaps..

[boiler]

I had something similar, and thought if I am going to replace the monitor, I'll get a TFT. Which I did, and it didn't resolve the problem. Replaced the graphics card, and problem resolved.

Do you know someone that can lend you their monitor for an hour or two, just to be sure.?

At least I have a TFT, but slightly more expensive repair than I'd anticipated.

Andy.

[5ltr-chim]

Worth also cleaning the pins on the monitor cable (they cpuld be oxidized) - just give them a little scrape with a screwdriver or rub with fine wet&dry/sandpaper and the plugging in & out a few times from the graphics card.

Could also be a dry joint int the monitor. Have you tried this ? (you know the old tv fix)

Worth checking these IMHO

[Psychobert]

OK. good points.. I'll see if its broken before I replace it. Should have learnt this lesson a while ago; now have over 100Gb of storage on this machine due to replacing a HD that wasn't dead..

[andyf007]

As all the other replies seem to cover pretty much everything, I'll just add one small thing to watch for.

TRANSFORMERS - those little black bricks you get with speakers and the like. Do not let these anywhere near the back or sides of your monitor. They can cause a number of issues with monitors from colour changes to constant shaking of the picture.

I know it's silly, but I have been to a number of graphics and monitor faults where these have been the cause. Often the fault appears at varying times because people rarely switch their speakers or scanners etc on until they start using them. Make sure there are none near your monitor.

Andy

[Robertuk]

Check the pins to make sure none are broken or bent.

most new monitors have replaceable cables
(rather than the old style which comes directly out of the monitor).

Windows XP has anti-aliased text which makes text look a bit more crisper so pair that with your new monitor for a great looking display !

Also make sure you have a decent graphics card with a high refresh rate . Makes your desktop much easier to work with over long hours.

People pay £££ for a plasma TV which they watch for a couple of hours per day.

But then pay £200 for a monitor they sit and stare at for the whole working day ,5 days + a week !

Good Luck !

[miniman]

I assume you have already tried degaussing the monitor? This often clears up flickers and strange colours. It will be within one of the on-screen menus, or a button on the monitor with a magnet symbol.