Pc monitor twitches: any ideas?

[chevkoch]

Tech adepts help me out please, it started today:

I own a LG Flatron 795FT Plus monitor and run it at 144Hz, True Color (32bit) and 800x600.

The screen "twitches" periodically (like 2x a minute), meaning the picture get's a bit smaller for a brief moment, then jumps back (resizes to again fill the screen like before).

I have this monitor for about 4 years now. First time I'm experiencing troubles.

Anyone familiar with these symptoms? Could this lead to a more serious problem? Is there anything I can do about it without bringing it into some place? Thanks for your comments.

[eghamninja]

I'd recomend lowring the refresh rate a bit. The monitor may be able to display it, but you are really going to be pusing the electronics to their maximum, which seeing as you have been using it for a few years is probably lower than what it was.

I had a similar problem with a taxan monitor a while ago, lowering the refresh rate helped but the monitor died a few months later.

[chevkoch]

Thanks for the reply, eghamninja. I just lowered the refresh rate in steps down to 85Hz, and the twitches keep coming at every step. I'll set it to 100Hz permanently, me hopes my monitor will heal itself miraculously.

I never thought that choosing the highest refresh rate allowed would damage the device. This realisation will cost money me fears.

[Yod@]

If the problem persists, then it's probably either bad joints or a component breaking down - both common faults in monitors.

Incidentally, eghamninja is 100% correct about refresh rates - the higher the resolution/refresh rate, the harder you drive the tube and electronics.

[chevkoch]

Bad joints? What exactly would those be? Am wrong in the naive assumption I could possibly clean them or fix them in some way myself?

[Yod@]

Bad joints? What exactly would those be? Am wrong in the naive assumption I could possibly clean them or fix them in some way myself?

Sorry, forgot to answer that part of the question. Bad solder joints can often form in monitors after a year or so of use - particularly around areas with relatively heavy currents/high voltages. I wouldn't say it's a particularly hard problem to fix (removing the chassis to work on it can be a pain though, depending on the monitor), but I can't honestly recommend that anyone open up their monitor unless they know what they're doing. Monitors can and do kill, and it's not really worth taking that kind of risk.

You could try tapping all round the outside of the monitor and see if it has any effect on the "jumping" picture - if it does, then it's almost certainly bad joints. I wouldn't say you'd be charged more than about ?40/45 for that repair, possibly less than that if you find a place that isn't a rip-off (I'd normally charge ?15/20 - but I'm cheap ).

[Plow King]

My old monitor did exactly that and I had to get it replaced under guarantee. Time to replace it methinks

[chevkoch]

Ah ok, solder joints. *gets up and does the tapping-all-around-thing* - Nope, screen does not twitch (any more than described) as a result of being "tapped".

And yeah, you're right - I wouldn't want to fry myself doctoring on it. I'll see how it develops, perhaps it will go away again (now consciously entering naive mode).

[chevkoch]

My old monitor did exactly that and I had to get it replaced under guarantee. Time to replace it methinks

What did they say was wrong with your monitor and caused that problem?

[Plow King]

They didn't. It was taken away and repaired but when it came back it was fine for a while then started doing it again. They then offered to swap it out for a newer model, to which I agreed.

[chevkoch]

Thanks for your comments you all. I checked, and I might still have the guarantee option. If that won't work out, I may be considering getting a TFT LCD instead. Are there any decent ones on the market yet, their response times suited for gaming (particularly quick movements like in FPS)?

[Kirby]

I have the same monitor and the exact same problem. Mine also 'clicks' all the time. Sounds like a relay or something.

[Super Stu]

A mate of mine (a fellow anal pc gamer) just bought the NEC 1760NX and swears buy it. Haven't seen it myself, but sounds like it's worth checking out.

[chevkoch]

Kirby: well, clicking in addition sounds even worse of course. Can you remember if LG offer their exchange service for 3 or 4 years?

Super Stu: thanks for the tip. Looked at it on the net and it sports a response time of 16ms. Bit stiff price though.