VANITY- Question on flat screen computer moniters.

[codercpc]

Help!

About a year ago, we bought a flat screen computer moniter, and loved it. Two weeks ago, the moniter burned out. We went out and bought a new one, now this morning, I have a line down the middle of the screen. It is a line straight down of dashes.

I am not sure of the technical terms of this stuff, but I don't know what else to do. I obviously will return this moniter and get a new one, but is it something we are doing wrong? Or just a weird coincidence? We have it set to shut down to black after a 10 minute inactivity period.

I will appreciate any advise given. I will be checking in and out throughout the morning, so if I don't answer right away, I will soon.

[codercpc]

Any and all advice appreciated. Thanks.

[John Valentine]

I'd advise posting the identical message on a board specializing in your brand of monitor. The manufacturer probably sponsors one that is monitored by one of their experts.

[MJY1288]

If you have another working monitor, hook it up and see if you have the same line down the screen.

If not, take the monitor back.

If it's still there, replace the video card

[fooman]

spike protectors never hurt, if you do not have them ..

[gridlock]

A vertical line would almost never happen with a flat screen CRT monitor, but is very possible in a flat panel LCD type monitor. If you have a flat panel, I would strongly suspect the problem is in the monitor, not the signal from the computer. If you have a flat screen CRT monitor, I would suspect the problem must be in the signal from the video card.

[Citizen Tom Paine]

Make sure that you are running your equipment on regulated power. As excellent brand is APC.

Also make sure that you unplug your equipment when there is a thunderstorm in the area.

Good luck.

[codercpc]

I believe it is a LCD monitor. I think the difference is totally flat vs. just a flat screen, right? Ours is a totally flat. Name brand "Liquid Video". My problem was sending my husband out to buy, and he listened to the Circuit City guy that told him this is an excellent buy.

[Prospero]

Bought a Samsung 19" SyncMaster 912n late last month, and a horizontal line, one ince from the bottom, 80 percent from right to left, one pixel in depth appeared one morning, still under basic warranty.

I took it back and it was replaced with an indentical monitor. First, I made sure it was not an artifact of the signal by plugging in a CRT monitor and then running the monitor without a signal. It was a genuine hardware problem.

The advice about power schemes here is good, but the damage is probably done. Replace it.

[ProuDaughterofaScreamingEagle]

Do you have anything close by that might contain a magnet, such as headphones? This used to harm the older monitors. I am not sure about the new ones.

[ElmoMobito]

Try a good name brand like ViewSonic. Costs a little more but probably worth it.

[codercpc]

Nothing magnetic that I know of, only our printer. It is within a few feet of our refrigerator, that wouldn't cause a problem would it? (Please tell me no, I just did a $20,000 kitchen remodeling project, with a built in computer desk)

BTW, when I came back to the computer just now, the lines have changed from black to multi-color (green and red predominately)

[gridlock]

Yeah. Never listen to the Circuit City guy. A flat panel monitor is a sophisticated piece of equipment, and quality matters. If it were a name brand like Dell or Viewsonic, you would have had a replacement already. Time to haul it back to Circuit City and demand a replacement, or better yet a refund, so you can get a name brand.

Gotta watch out for Circuit City, because they will try to nail you with a 20% "restocking fee". Been there, done that. They got $30.00 out of me on an unopened vacuum cleaner return, and lost a customer for life.

[gridlock]

You should probably not have any computer equipment on the same circuit as your refrigerator. This is probably not the cause of your current problem, but is good practice, nonetheless. Refrigerators really need a dedicated circuit. Since you have a recent remodel, this was probably done at that time.

[codercpc]

Yes, it is on its own circuit. You don't think the proximity is a problem do you?

[Salvation]

Moniters?????

[goldstategop]

My computer's on-board video card started showing alternating lines of white and gray on the screen, resulting in a washed-out display. There was no way to fix, so I bought a new AGP card to put in the upgrade slot on the computer and everything's back to normal. After a couple of years, a video card will fail. If its not an on-board one, it can usually be replaced. If its an on-board card, it can be by-passed. Hope this helps.

[gridlock]

If it were interference from the refrigerator, it would appear whenever the compressor is running, and disappear when it goes off. Since your problem seems to be more or less constant, I would not suspect the reefer.

Sounds like a bad monitor. The LCD's have a grid where the vertical and horizontal lines are controlled by elements along the screen edges. One bad element on the top or bottom will produce a vertical line.

[codercpc]

Come on, I thought I got away with it. Where is the spell check for headlines? HA HA

Every thread has its own spelling police.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

CRTs use a magnetic field to sweep the electron beam.

LC D's use digital switching. No magnets.

[goldstategop]

CRT and flat screen. Some of the latter use different inputs so you may have to upgrade the video card to accomodate some flat panel displays or buy a flat screen that can use an adapter to connect to your current video card input.