Is this a problem with my LCD monitor? Should I send it back?

Last week I bought a 22-inch Envision flat panel monitor. It’s absolutely gigantic, and was at a discount because it was the display model, so I bought it on impulse - it destroyed my old monitor in terms of size and color. Really it’s a good monitor overall, despite its reputation as a budget brand and a few negative reviews I’ve read.

But there’s this one thing: when I’m playing a game or watching a movie on it and the screen is completely black, there’s this sort of light strip down the middle of the screen and also spreading up across the top-most part of it. It’s not visible at all if the screen is filled with color, but when there’s black on the screen (either the whole screen, or just the middle and top parts) you can see this faint light area.

I’ve created a little image to try to describe what I mean: HERE.

Now, in that image, the light strip is all mottled and distorted - that’s NOT what it actually looks like, it’s just a result of my sloppy Photoshop work. In reality, it’s not quite as noticeable and glaring as that little picture makes it seem - it’s more subtle, but still something that you’ll notice if you look at the screen when it’s all black.

Is this something that’s a major problem? I didn’t notice at first, but lately it’s been annoying the heck out of me. Should I send this monitor back to Envision to be replaced? Has anyone else had this same or similar problem with any other monitor?

Pretty much any LCD monitor will have some sort of backlight bleedthrough, some brands/models more than others. It’s not an indication of malfunction, though better design can minimize the effect. Returning it for another of the same model probably will achieve nothing. Any way on your model to adjust the brightness?

Yeah I can adjust the brightness on the monitor, but it doesn’t really make the light areas diminish.