The other day I was sitting here and for about 10 or 15 minutes I was really freaking out because I couldn’t figure out why my ears were ringing. They weren’t just ringing a little bit either, it was a very loud and annoying “just got back from the front row of a rock concert” ringing.
Eventually I walked out of the room and they stopped, and when I came back they started again. Aha, my ears weren’t ringing, something in my room was making that noise. Immediately I turned my speakers off figuring they were the most likely source of the noise, but it kept going. For some reason or another, or maybe it was an accident, I turned my monitor off and the noise stopped. Back on and the noise came back.
I’ve noticed that if I leave my monitor off for a long time the noise won’t be there when I turn it back on, or if I switch to a lower resolution the noise will go away, but I want to leave my monitor on as usual and run at my normal resolution!
Is there any fix for this or is it just something that happens when monitors get old?
Technical info: The monitor is about 2 years old. It’s a “Trinitron”-style monitor but it isn’t a Sony, it’s made by KDS.
The flyback transformers in TVs and monitors operate at typically 15-20kHz. It’s probably the hum from this you’re hearing, perhaps due to loose windings, or disintegrating core glue.
There is not a lot you can do about this. I heard the same thing from my television. It got so loud I had to replace it because the noise bothered me so much. I think it is a capacitor going bad, but I’m not sure. I think your monitor will work for a long time with this problem. If you can deal with the noise you should be all right.
The S.E.Repair faq mentions the flyback as well as other problems. It does make some reduction suggestions that a novice can do. The suggestions involving taking the cover off are a definite no-no for do-it-yourselfers.
It may be that making certain scan rate/picture size adjustments may be the best bet. Do you have advanced utilities for playing with dot-clocks and such (as you can do under XFree86)? (If you don’t understand that last sentence, forget it.)
Changing your screen’s resolution and/or refresh rate may kill the squealing. Here’s how:
Right-click your desktop and select Properties. Click the Settings tab, then find and click Advanced.
Now for the hunt. You’re looking for a setting labeled Refresh Rate. Depending on what flavor of Windows you’ve got and your video drivers, the refresh rate will be in here…somewhere. On my PC, it’s located on the Adapter tab. I’ll wager you’ll find it set as “Adapter Default” - click the down-arrow and choose 75 or 85.
Let Windows do the 15-second “Is this OK?” test. If you choose something your monitor can’t display, and the picture is all screwy, just wait 15 seconds and Windows will revert to the original setting. If, after you choose 85 or 75, the picture is OK, hit the OK or Apply button and Apply/OK your way back to the desktop.
Just thought I’d mention I was having the same problem with my old computer, and I followed Gotpassword’s instructions.
The whining instantly stopped when I changed it from “optimal” to “default”.
Bless ya, Gotpasswords! Now if you could only get my cat to stop her howling I’ll be set!