# PC Monitor Problem

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-monitor-problem/541779>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 3, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-monitor-problem/541779 "2010-06-03T15:11:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-monitor-problem/541779/1 "2010-06-03T15:11:30Z")

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I would appreciate any advice Dopers could give regarding a problem I am having with my PC monitor.

The monitor in question is a standard LCD display, not sure of the make offhand.

The problem is as follows:

When starting the computer the monitor initially appears to start normally and then the screen goes black, by switching the monitor off and on the monitor returns to operation for a few seconds allowing an operation (such as rebooting) before going black again, this can continue indefinitely.

Sometimes the monitor works perfectly. I have checked all of the physical connections and have run a virus check on the PC. According to the control panel the device is working normally and the driver seems to be ok.

Is this a hardware or a software problem? I don’t want to go out and buy a new monitor if the problem is something else.

Any advice will be gratefully accepted.

Thanks,

Walker

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-monitor-problem/541779/2 "2010-06-03T15:15:07Z")

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Sounds like your inverter is going.  
When the monitor goes black, if you shine a bright light on the screen, can you see a faint image? If so, it’s an inverter or backlight problem, and is almost certainly not worth fixing.

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**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-monitor-problem/541779/3 "2010-06-03T15:16:56Z")

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by turning off and on is a temporary fix suggests a hardware problem in the monitor.

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-monitor-problem/541779/4 "2010-06-03T15:39:53Z")

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I had this [same question](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=541018)a few months back. You need a new monitor.

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**Author:** ![Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/46a35a/32.png) [@Walker\_in\_Eternity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walker_in_Eternity)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2010, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-monitor-problem/541779/5 "2010-06-04T08:14:08Z")

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Thanks for your replies.

Looks like I will be buying a new monitor this weekend. At least it’s not something more serious and the monitor is a few years old.