I was using my computer today when suddenly all the colors went nuts on the monitor (an old Vivitron15, if that’s relevant). Looking at a color wheel, I see the blue is washed out, the yellow is orange, and the green is a really dark orange, almost black. Any idea what’s going on? My system is Win98, and I’m not sure if it’s a monitor problem or inside the computer.
Are you in a cold room? Last winter I had to have new carpet put in my house. I had to haul my belongings outside while the carpet installers did their work. When I brought my monitor back inside from the cold and set up my computer system the display on my monitor looked similar to what you described. Once the monitor warmed up the full color came back. My monitor does the same thing if, in the wintertime I turn the heat down while I am gone and then when I come home and first turn the monitor on, before the room has warmed up again.
You might also check your monitor cable and make sure it is tightly connected. I had this problem at work one time.
I’m 99% sure it’s a monitor problem. Your blue and green pooped out on you; what you’re seeing the red component of the display. This happened to a friend of mine, suddenly, a week ago–a few hours later the monitor quit completely. Unfortunately, short of bent pins on the monitor cable, I don’t know what causes it.
Check the monitor connection cable first, of course - wiggle it, and see if things get better.
Failing that, sounds as though the green gun might be on the way out - new monitors are cheap now though (unless you want a big flat panel one).
Try the same monitor on a different PC if you can before buying a new one - it could be the PC’s graphic card that’s shot.