Monitor distortions

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Sometimes, my monitor will do this flickering and changing colors thing. Any idea what's causing that? It drives me nuts; it's exactly like a fluorescent light malfunctioning.

I'd suspect that the soldering has become loose somewhere and breaks contact randomly. The colour change would be caused by the "colour guns" failing differently.

Is it a TFT? Either way, it looks like the cable's loose or something.

one other thing I can suggest apart from loose wires or cables is that to check to make absolutely sure there is no strong magnetic fields nearby (for example from speakers), and if there is move whatever is generating the magnetic fields away from the monitor

This is assuming it is a CRT, if it is a TFT then maybe loose cabling could well be to blame

I suspect that where the cable connects to the computer is ill fitting. One of the two screws that hold the plug secure is missing, and I've had to prop some books underneath it, so that the cable won't fall out. Since it's hardwired to the monitor, how can I fix that? Is it necessary to replace the entire cable?

LCD screens do use a flourescent light.

yes, but when the lamp fails it does not cause screen distortions, it just flickers, but they have a very long life

If one of the screws is missing, then it sounds like the cable might have been pulled on enough that the pins on the connector might be bent or damaged too (probably not, but it is a possibility). I move my cables and sometimes kick or bump them with my feet, or I have a habit of forgetting that they are connected and pull on them. As a result I just never use the screws and the connector normally stays in place. If you didn't mind it being permanent you could glue it to the computer. As far as replacing the connector yourself, I'm not sure what the wires from the computer to the connector are made of so I don't know if it's possible to splice on a better connector.

Depending on how much money the people around you have, or how wasteful they are, it might be easy to find a similar monitor that someone doesn't want. Many people are throwing out/giving away 15" and 17" CRTs because they bought a new LCD and the CRT takes up too much space. Some people might sell one for a few dollars, probably less than what it would take pay someone to fix it.


Other possibilities, if this really isn't the problem, and more information that I've noticed...some of this may be common sense, other parts might be useful:

There are three electron guns in a CRT monitor (and color TVs). They are red, green, and blue. If one of these colors are missing from your screen, then it is either the electron gun not firing at all because there is no power to it, or it the signal is not getting to it. This should affect the entire screen evenly. I've noticed on the few that I've seen mess up, that the red one stops working first. If it is a problem with the electron gun or power going to it then it may be easier/safer to just get a new monitor. There may also be a signal connection problem if the monitor cable is bent and smashed against a the wall where it goes into the monitor. Working inside a CRT may be dangerous because of high voltage capacitors.

If there are devices that produce an electromagnetic field nearby then they may distort (compress/shift/uneven change in color) the monitors screen. Also a monitor may automatically degauss(I think) if there is too much of a EM field nearby. A weaker magnetic field from speakers may just create a small change on the screen over time, or lighter and darker waves on the side of the screen.

It may also flicker/stop working after running a certain amount of time, or intermittently due to heat problems. This usually means that it is about to fail.

Thanks.