Strange monitor problem...

[VJ]

Hello,

I recently have a weird problem with my monitor (Philips Brilliance 107B, connected to my Matrox G200 Millenium).

I have flickering horizontal purple lines - like the ones that are visible when the monitor cable is not properly connected, and I have the impression that when there is no flickering, some lines tend to purple (esp. visible with the gray dialogbox-background of Windows). My cable is connected properly (I'm now trying to find another cable, just to verify that the one I have isn't broken inside).

However, I doubt the cable is the problem; but if the cable isn't the problem, what could then be the cause : monitor or videocard ? And how might this be solved ? (you might have quessed it, my monitor has come out of its 3 year warranty a couple of months ago )

Thanks for any help,


Jörg

[VJ]

Purely horizontal; the lines mostly don't even flicker, the're just there (although they are kinda hard to see).

The main area affected is a narrow strip, located at about 3/4 of the total screen height, lines are better visible towards the left of the screen than to the right (but I'll have to check to make sure). I always work in the recommended resolution of 1280x1024@85 Hz.

Does this help the diagnosis ?

I just managed to get hold of another cable, but it is a BNC-cable. Should the same problems occur with this cable as well ? (suprising how hard it is to find a mini 15 Dsub cable)...


Jörg

[VJ]

Is this "easy" to fix ? (I know it'll have to go back to Philips, but would you have any idea of the cost ?)

I think it is worth fixing, but what's your opinion ?
It is a Philips Brilliance 107B
17" (16" visible)
Max. Res : 1600x1200 @ 75 Hz
Recommend resolution : 1280x1024 @ 85 Hz
DSUB-connection + BNC connection
(just over 3 years old, original cost approx. 900 US$)

It gave great image-quality...


Jörg

[Fat Tone]

As a stop-gap, does that monitor have convergence controls you can adjust to reduce the problem?

[omegaRED]

I dont know, but capacitors arent usually very expensive (if it is a leaking cap), i figure you end up paying 30-50$ if its just a cap (for everything).

[VJ]

As a stop-gap, does that monitor have convergence controls you can adjust to reduce the problem?

If you mean the pincushion, rotation, vsize, hsize, RGB, ... then yes, the controls are present. But the osd button (a rotary button) doesn't work properly, so this makes the settings quite hard (currently they are all in their default setting). I haven't changed them....


Jörg

[Ant]

Can you first test a different monitor on the system to establish it is a monitor fault? I have had similar problems with "purple lines", in the first instance it was down to faulty hardware, a Millennium G400 and secondly was down to some sort of driver corruption, removing the drivers completely then reinstalling fresh fixed the problem.

[VJ]

Well, I've tested with another cable. Using this BNC-cable, I seem to have similar problems, but now some horizontal lines tend to cyan in stead of magenta (this was the case with the 15 pin Dsub). But the overall symptoms are the same.

The problem in both cases seem to be worse if there are lots of changes to the image, e.g. when playing an avi-file in a window (the lines do not correspond with the position of the window), when the start menu appears, or when moving the mouse around (esp. noticible with the BNC cable) a cyan-tinted horizontal strip - same height as the mousecursor - is following the vertical mouse-movement.

The problem is somewhat less when I switch to 1024x768 @85 Hz or even at 75 Hz, but is still very much present. Using a different monitor (unfortunutaly, this one can only go up to 1024x768 @75 Hz), the problem is does no longer occur.

So I'm quite sure the monitor is the culprit... (I'll connect it to another computer, that way I can be absolutely sure).
On the bright side : I can get that OSD-control fixed as well .


omegaRED

I dont know, but capacitors arent usually very expensive (if it is a leaking cap), i figure you end up paying 30-50$ if its just a cap (for everything).

Oh, I thought it likely to be much more expensive (I won't hold that estimate against you ). The system administrator at our office (who gave me the BNC cable) estimates the total cost somewhere around 150$... (Belgium is expensive when it comes to computer hardware )

Thanks for the feedback guys !


Jörg

PS: Just my luck, I need to make an A0 poster, and now I have to go back to a 14" monitor

[VJ]

Every combination has been tested : the Philips monitor on 2 different computers, 2 different monitors on the Matrox G200 and now I'm 100% sure the Philips monitor is the culprit...

Thanks again for the feedback guys !

The store where I bought it no longer exists , but I have contacted another store where I usually go; Friday I'll have them send the monitor back to Philips.

Jörg