Monitor, fixable?

deicist

I have a 21" monitor (a Hansol 900P) that has developed a weird problem... when switching to lower resolutions than the usual 1280*960 the display starts jumping in and out.... that's a really bad description, but it's the best I can manage. It's like the monitor is resizing the display really quickly, occasionally it will settle down after a few seconds but most of the time the problem stays until I switch to a different resolution (usually a really high one). Obviously this makes playing with the BIOS, viewing menus in Battlefield Vietnam and anything else that requires quite a low resolution a real pain. Just wondering if anyone has seen this before, is it fixable or should I be looking at a new monitor? I'm (hopefully) buying a TFT in the next couple of months anyway, but I'd still like to sort this out if possible.

Weedo

It may be fixable. ChecK their website and see if there is a repair place for Hansols in your area. Or maybe a TV repair shop can do it. I'm sure about that though. It may not make sense to fix it depending on how much it cost. Maybe better to just get a new one.

Tex

If its not like the tube I have monitor repair places that doa set price repair based on screen size. That would run like $150. So if its a decent 21 inch then I would say jump on it.

Have you tried it on another computer/video card before attempting a repair?

Tex

deicist

Yup, it's definately the monitor, tried it in three different PCs with the same result. I don't think it'll be the cable, as it only happens in low res (if it was a dodgy cable I'd expect it at all resolutions). I'm guessing it's probably the tube or the focusing coils, but cheers for the help anyway guys.

Straight_Man

I'd get an estimate on repair of the monitor. Odd for it to be only LOW res, usually problems show up at opposite end of scale first. That makes me wonder if your monitor has a table like my KDS did-- the default table provided by mfr was off as to res adn resfresh for two modes, and since the monitor and Windows could not agree as to mode correctness, I had to get a new table from mfr (basically a monitor mode .inf file). If the mfr supplied .inf file is off or corrupt, and Microsoft uses it not knowing this, then you get a fubarred monitor apparently with no hardware fault at all. Some mfrs put those .inf files up in store on the product info page, some in support. The file might be an archive with an installer, but what ends up happening is Windows works right with right file with acceptable mode info in it, wrong with a fubarred file sent out by mfr. AND, when widnows cannot find a model-specific file, it tries to near-match to nearest monitor inf file it has to the hardware in teh monitor-- so the inf file used could be wrong for YOUR monitor also.

Folks with single mode or small range of mode issues (ESPECIALLY if mode or range is omposed of lower res and refresh rate only modes) might want to check into this kind of issue also, before trashing monitor or spending money on monitor only to have a bill and a repair place that can find nothing wrong in hardware and insists problem is software. Exept that this scenario has happened to me 20-30 times, with same fix solving issue, I would not mention it. It is a low probability exact match fix overall, but have indeed fixed things such as this exact scenario as it played out so far here in this thread with monitor acceptable mode info files from mfr support.

deicist

Interesting, but the problem occurs during boot and in BIOS (ie: before windows loads) so I've basically ruled out a windows problem.

Straight_Man

Ok, with a pre-boot, see if the card is defaulted to AGP if AGP, or PCI if PCI, in BIOS. If changing that does not change it, you do have a hardware problem definitely. You said you tried on three different PCs, so I am assuming one monitor, three different boxes with presumably more than one video card in the whole test set(and I would test monitor on an old but known good PCI video card output, for example)??? If video card and monitor were moved together then it could still be either.

You do realize that during this after_POST and before Windows load system bringup time the monitor will be getting VESA signalling, right (VESA modes are used for BIOS screens and by BIOS, it does not know DVI)??? So, a monitor in DVI mode that will bot autosync might not fall back to VESA, either (then it will give things thta indicate res and refresh mode conflicts for low mode, if monitor is in DVI and system is pumping VESEA). IF you have a multimodal autosync monitor, see if it can be set to autosync and not set to be dedicated VGA or DVI always. If this is not a DVI capable, sounds like the multisync is off or fubarred most likely. Computers still come up initially using VESA, then switch to other modes as Windows comes up and video device drivers are loaded and sync with each other and hardware. BIOS does not know how to tell a DVI how to drop back, the monitor has to detect and sync from its end for the first part of a bootup.

Possible dying power supply circuitry in monitor if you leave monitor on and computer waiting for input to continue post for 15-20 min and suddenly monitor stabilzes. How to trigger??? Shut computer down, disconnect mouse and keyboard, boot up (this force creates a resumable error state in BIOS, typically F1 continues the bootup). Then let the whle thing sit for 15 minutes. If monitor suddenly syncs after a long time, Power Supply circuit in monitor is not loading rest of hardware components enough that monitor syncs until it "warms up". Power supply circuitry is cheapest thing to fix and diagnose, many times CAPS age or corrode or contact leads corrode-- or both. AND, most TV places can fix power supply circuits in a monitor (but not guns or VGA modal fixes of high-res kinds as well, unless they buy expensive parts). EVER seen a computer that only boots if you let it sit for 15 minutes on first, then warm boot it, this is similar, but it is PSU-like power control circuitry in moniotor in this case....