I am having problems with a monitor, and I need to know whether it's
worth getting it fixed or if it is about to die. The monitor worked
well for 7 years (although it has been dim from day 1, requiring a
high gamma setting on the computer), but recently it began to
occasionally and suddenly dim very much, then very slowly return to
normal. Occassionally the dim is so great the monitor goes to standby
mode (and sometimes it won't even last more than a second or two when
initially switched on before going to to standby). When this happens,
I 'cycle' the power to the monitor (by taking the computer in and out
of its power saving mode), and after up to an hour of this I get a
picture which quickly fades in and out. This fading continues for an
hour, until it suddenly stabilizes, and the monitor is ok. It will be
ok for sometimes a few days, sometimes a few weeks, but eventually
will suddenly fade out again, leaving me back where I started.
Strangely enough it's now very bright, so much so that setting the
brightness above 2/3rds full makes it seem unfocused/blurry

Also, the monitor began to occasionally emit a high pitched squeal
when at 1024x768x85Hz (its frequency limit), and one time emitted a
fish smell. Since then, the left & right edges at this resolution are
curved (they always were a bit, but now more than usual). I now run at
800x600x60Hz max only.

Having read through the group, I assumed the fishy smell was a
capacitor failing, and the dimming is a dry joint, but I wouldn't mind
knowing a: what's wrong with it exactly, b: is it about to die
completely (I imagine the power cycling I do isn't helping and c: is
it worth getting it repaired? (or can i do it myself)

Most likely there are a combination of problems from cold solder
connections to worn capacitors. I would not put any money in to this
type of monitor. But, this is my opinion from what I have seen and
experienced.

--

Jerry G.
======

"Stephen Shodimu" wrote in message
om...
I am having problems with a monitor, and I need to know whether it's
worth getting it fixed or if it is about to die. The monitor worked
well for 7 years (although it has been dim from day 1, requiring a
high gamma setting on the computer), but recently it began to
occasionally and suddenly dim very much, then very slowly return to
normal. Occassionally the dim is so great the monitor goes to standby
mode (and sometimes it won't even last more than a second or two when
initially switched on before going to to standby). When this happens,
I 'cycle' the power to the monitor (by taking the computer in and out
of its power saving mode), and after up to an hour of this I get a
picture which quickly fades in and out. This fading continues for an
hour, until it suddenly stabilizes, and the monitor is ok. It will be
ok for sometimes a few days, sometimes a few weeks, but eventually
will suddenly fade out again, leaving me back where I started.
Strangely enough it's now very bright, so much so that setting the
brightness above 2/3rds full makes it seem unfocused/blurry

Also, the monitor began to occasionally emit a high pitched squeal
when at 1024x768x85Hz (its frequency limit), and one time emitted a
fish smell. Since then, the left & right edges at this resolution are
curved (they always were a bit, but now more than usual). I now run at
800x600x60Hz max only.

Having read through the group, I assumed the fishy smell was a
capacitor failing, and the dimming is a dry joint, but I wouldn't mind
knowing a: what's wrong with it exactly, b: is it about to die
completely (I imagine the power cycling I do isn't helping and c: is
it worth getting it repaired? (or can i do it myself)