screen image is zooming in and out?? 1

[simon707]

Hi , my screen is acting real funny. The screen picture jumps sundenly from being bigger then its normal wideness setting then goes back real quickly , before stabalizing. Like the picture is hiccuping. Other times it loks like its fluttering from brighter to darker at the same time it gets bigger then smaller. It does this alot during and after boot up then stops for a while. If things get busy it starts again. But that might be because of the video player. Not sure,It's very wierd.

Is this a screen problem or could my motherboard or hard-drive be to blame? I had some hard drive probs late last year: disk write errors, blue screen's on bootup, but those went away. I have been doing alot of dowloading recently which makes me wonder.

Robert

 

[garebo]

Well, it could be a poor power supply, so that should be tested. Unless you happen to have a very good one that you recently installed. If not, you need a digital multimeter and you can google a tutorial to test your power supply. The power supplies that come with a cheap case are the pits, even new. The power supplies you get with, say, a Dell, or HP, or Compaq, they are the pits as well.
So dont consider those type to be good power supplies, they arent!
Also, it could be that you could have a cheap cable from monitor to computer, that cable. If its not part of the monitor, replace it and i bet your problems go away.
Or, if you have an extension, that is, if your monitor cable wasnt long enuf and you bought an extra extension, then you need to either get a better one or apply chokes on it.
Or, your speakers or something else is causing electrical interference, move them away as far as you can. Or anything else that is electrical that is near your computer, like a tv monitor or tv, or fan, or air conditioner (dont know where you live,lol)
Theres a good start as to the problem, bet its one of more of those.

Or, your monitor could be dying.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[simon707]

well the set-up in my computer room has not changed in 5 years.

Could my screen be dying after only 5 years?? Shouldnt they last way longer than that??

Also, was also wondering if anyone knew if a hadr-drive problem could be causing this sort of behaviour or is that a long shot?

 

[garebo]

Yes, your monitor could be dying after only 5 yrs. I had one go after 4 yrs, a Samsung. But i also have one that has likely had steady use for 12 years, so you never know!
I really doubt your hard drive would have anything to do with it, i guess its possible, just not too probable.
Its likely one of the items i mentioned above or your monitor is dying.

In my mind, place your suspicions on poor power instead of the hard drive. Poor power can come from poor power at the wall or poor power from the power supply, maybe even both.
The power in most homes and small commercial buildings was not meant to run computers as computers actually need cleaner power than is offered at the wall plug. That is why they sell UPS's at computer stores. I would never run a computer direct from a wall plug, i always use a UPS. that alone could solve your problem, but i would still consider the items i mentioned first. You didnt reply as to wether you have an extension on your monitor or not, that could be the problem. Sometimes things are fine but when hardware gets older it starts running a bit out of tolerance levels and the setup that was ok 5 yrs ago isnt ok today. That is where the power supply becomes a prime suspect as most power supplies were cheap the day you plugged the computer in and then they wore out over 5 yrs. Some dont last more than a year or two. Between the $30 computer case with power supply, which power supply would have a value of $5, and the cheap power supplies that many main computer mfgrs install in their units, there is the source of 20% of all computer problems!



Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[bcastner]

It sounds like a power issue in the monitor itself.

Breathing is defined as a periodic change in the size of the raster which may be independent of what is displayed or its severity or frequency may be related to the brightness or darkness of the image. This is a type of regulation problem and may be caused by bad electrolytic capacitors or other components in the low voltage power supplies.

If the monitor uses a switchmode power supply or low voltage regulator separate from the horizontal deflection, first check its output(s) for a variation in voltage at the breathing rate. Test with a light bulb or resistor load to confirm that the problem is here and not the deflection or remainder of the monitor.

My favorite site for monitor questions:

http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/monfaq.htm

Best,
Bill Castner

 

[felixc]

Have a friend or a colleague to swap his monitor with yours, just to see if the problem follows the monitor. It probably will.

 

[simon707]

ok sorry for not responding sooner:

To answer Garebo:No i do not have an extension,i am plugging the screen directly into the wall plug. I've also tried putting it in a different outlet and am getting the same response. Also my montior is a View Sonic E790 so i'm surprised it might be dying so early.

1: About my cable: You said i should replace the cable going from my screen to pc but that cable is permanently attached to my screen. BUT the cable running from the screen to the outlet is dettachable. Maybe you meant i should try and replace that one?

2: What exactly do you mean by cheap power suply??
Do mean a hardware component inside my computer that i
could easily replace? 'cause when you say 'power supply' i think 'wall plug'.

3:What's a UPS? I take it by UPS it by you mean one of those 'surge protector' type multi-plugs designed just for pc's?? Or is that something completely different?

So if replacing the cable dosen't work what should i try first: replace the 'power suply'or get a UPS? and wich one would cost more?

Thanks!!
********************
To answer Bcastner:
I didnt understand how to do anything in bcastner's post.If he's reading this:

How would i check the power supply inside my monitor to see if it's "a switchmode power supply or low voltage regulator separate from the horizontal deflection?" How would i "check its output(s) for a variation in voltage at the breathing rate".?

 

[garebo]

Ok, thanks for the reply.
First things first, the cables. If the cable from the monitor to the pc cant come off as its part of the monitor, fine, they are usually good ones anyway. The other cable, from monitor to the wall, if you have a spare around it wont hurt to change that, but i doubt thats the problem to be honest about it.
At this point the best thing to do is borrow a monitor from someone and see if the same thing happens to that monitor. If the same thing happens with the borrowed monitor then we pretty well know you have a power supply problem. If all is well then we know your monitor needs repair or replacement.
If you cant get hold of another monitor via a friend, you could try buying a cheap 14 or 15 in used one as a backup and try that. Again, if another monitor works fine then you
know the power supply is the likely culprit. Or, as I have suggested above, you can get a multimeter and test your power supply.
This is all a lot of work and effort on your part but you dont have a lot of choices. There is one other, you can call a shop that repairs monitors and tell them the problem, they might be able to tell you right away if its the monitor or not, worth a phone call anyway.
Yes, inside each pc is a motherboard with things attached like fans, cpu, hard drives, etc. Also attached to the motherboard, often at or near the top, is the power supply.
The power supply has at least one connector to the motherboard, a white end thats thin and long, 20 wires on it, its the only item that has 20 wires, so you cant miss it, follow the wires to the power supply! If you have a P4 cpu then you will have an additional 4 pin connector from the motherboard to the power supply, 2 yellow and 2 black wires, 4 in total. If you have a P3 or amd cpu then you wont have that 4 pin connector. Some mobos even have another 4 pin connector that is a standard 12 volt, the same as you plug into a hard drive, yours may or may not be like that but all motherboards have the 20 pin for sure!

A UPS is an uninterruptible power source or power supply, different from the one inside your computer. What happens is this. The power from the house or office is in the wall and you connect to it at a plug. A UPS plugs in there and then you plug your computer into the UPS. A UPS cleans up the power at the wall and makes it much more compatible to the needs of modern computers. The power in our walls was not built to handle computers as you can well imagine. Now a surge suppressor is a different thing. You can think of it as a cheap, mickey-mouse imitation of a UPS. A UPS not only gives you clean power at the wall, but it also has a good quality surge suppressor built into it, and it has a battery so that if the power goes out for a part or a second, which can ruin a computer, your computer still has power as its stored in the battery and can re-act in a very small part of a second!! And a UPS protects against power losses and power surges, both of which are death to computers and even monitors and printers too. If you have a UPS you dont need a surge suppressor, but if you only have a surge suppressor, you have only a bit better than nothing. And some surge protectors are much better than others, some are totally useless anyway. Even the best surge suppressor can only partly protect a computer and its parts while a UPS does the whole job. UPS are worth their cost and then some and i would never be without one and there are plenty here who would agree.
The point is that whatever is the problem with your monitor you should still have a UPS hooked up to your computer and monitor anyway, but it wont fix a broken monitor of course.
So first things first, i guess. Lets find out if the monitor is broken or not, right?
Getting back to the power supply. Since you have basically stated you dont know what the power supply looks like, its likely you are dealing with a now 5 yr old cheap power supply and it could very well be failing, but personally i think your monitor is failing. I am only saying it could be the monitor or the power supply, but i do think its the monitor, even if its only 5 yrs old, i have one go after 4 yrs! But you need to find out.



Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[garebo]

I forgot, you asked about costs:
cheap used monitor to test with: $25?
new 19 in monitor: $175
new lcd monitor : $150 to $400
new cheap power supply - not reccommended: $15
new, decent to good power supply via the net: $50 incl shipping.
digital multimeter to test existing power supply: about $20
analog multimeter - no good, must get digital multimeter
My advice: anywhere from great to so-so, in this case i believe its at least good, its one of the two things, a bad monitor or a bad power supply, although it could be the video card or the onboard video, but we have to test the other items first.
Tek-tips: priceless


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[bcastner]

simon707,

Switch with a different monitor known to be good. If the problem goes away, you need to replace or repair the monitor.

 

[simon707]

Ok i have a new symptom to report: When i go under "customize my desktop" and under "screen saver" there's setting for the "system standby" wich i set to turn off the monitor after a few minutes.

After the screen turn's off i try to turn it back on, the screen does turn back on, it is difinetly lit but there's only a screen-wide dark grey square. It would be easy to mistake the monitor for actually being off but i can see the screen is a lighter shade of black within the screens usual frame, there's also a very thin almost-white line along the top ,indicateing the screen is projecting "black" without actually being unpowered.

Does this give any indacation if it's a screen or pc power suplly problem? Becaue the "screen saver" menu refers to the setting as the "power settings of the MONITOR."

ABOUT TESTING WITH A DIFFERENT MONITOR:

It might take me a week or so to get my hands on a used 15" to test with. But I have a very old monitor that i had with my old pc i had in high school sitting in my basement. It's a SAMSUNG CJ4685: ac 120v 60Hz 1.4 A It was built in 1990!!. My pc was built in 2001, runs on windows 98 SE and i have a geforce mx V7100 card.

would it be safe to use this monitor with my p.c to test the screen?? Or is that a HUGE mistake?

And if i cant use that screen it will be about a week before i can get a new screen to test, so i wont respond for a while but that doesnt mean i've let go of the thread. To whom it may concern.

 

[garebo]

If it has three rows of pins, even with some pins missing, its ok. If it is the older one with 2 rows it likely wont work anyway, but i dont think you can cause any harm trying.
As for the black issue, try going with a different screen saver, or even no screen saver, see what happens next as a test.


Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[micker377]

Make sure your resolution is 640x480. Look at the end of the data cable, if it has 3 rows of pins, you will be OK. It may come up with a black border (standard VGA - Super VGA is full screen) around the picture, but we are troubleshooting - not looking for quality!