Monitor Flicker

Hi bjbarnes,

>>Its not sitting near anything that would cause interference
Most likely it is... Check 115V/230V main connectors, move your speakers, remove any "power stabalizer" for the moment, or put one in if you never had one. See if you can get some items of the power group your computer is on. (for instance a TL light or a microwave is known for these kind of troubles) Make sure everything is grounded, but no wierd things are grounded the close to your troubling monitor.

About anything can cause this, so I just posted some main issues to give you an idea.

Greetings,

LucF

Yes its just a 17" CRT.  Turning off the lights didn't help.  I tried a different outlet and surge protector. Also I replaced the power cored coming from the back of the monitor. Still the same problem....

Try this monitor on another machine - the problem may be with the monitor.  This is not unusual with CRT's that are several years old or have been used continuously for a few years nonstop.

A failing signal cable...?
The signal cable runs past other high voltages...?

or dirty signal plug contacts...

The monitor is brand new, I just bought it about 3 weeks ago. I've tried two others on this PC and it still produces the same problem. I can't understand it, the monitor is no where near anything else. The only thing original is the hard drive on this machine and even that has been reformatted. I just can't seem to get rid of the issue. Everything seems to point towards interference of some kind but there just isn't anything. Thanks for the input guys.

Just maybe this gives you an extra idea...
I'm not talking about something close to the monitor, I'm talking about the powerline to the monitor, see if on the same fuse in your house another device is connected that might cause any instabilities.
If you have a UPS, try pulling the main power and running the monitor and computer from UPS power so you have the cleanest net signal.

LucF

If its new, perhaps its just got a broken cathode ray tube...

Ha!  That's just what I was suggesting at first, LucF!  Is that GMTA, or what?

Guys, i've tried a few different monitors its not that. I'll move this PC to another location in the office and see what happens tomorrow. Thanks so much for your time!

Try resitting the video card...
I dont quite know why it would cause the problem... but it could - easily...

Just take it out, blow the graphics slot out and resit it back in...

>> Is that GMTA, or what?<<
yes it is :) sorry I didn't interpretate your comment the right way... but I assume your reaction will be something like "don't worry about it" ;)
I really gotta do something about my english sometime... but probably not in this lifetime.

LucF

> "don't worry about it"

That would be what I would have said :-)

I guess that moving computer and monitor into another place would help. We at office have several places, where CRT monitors acts like that. The problem is with electromagnetic field from building power lines and some no longer used electric installation build in walls. And there is no shielding from this :(

This Definitely looks like there is some EMI Radiation on that spot. UPS, Stabilizers, Speakers Usage of Wireless Decvices etc are good contributors. So we will see if changing the location would do any good.

If that fails, you can go the the display properties of the Video Card and click on the Advanced settings. In the adapter Tab have the referesh rate increased to 75Hz. Then see.

If that fails, Removed  the Monitor from the system and have the Monitor turned on. Most monitor would display 3 Colors ( Red Green Blue ) See if the Monitor flickers on these colors. Still if the Screen flickers, we have to confirm that the Line Voltage has so much of Spikes / Noise or there is some EMI in that area causing the flicker.


Hope this Helps

Cheers
Sinu

Ok heres todays update: I switched PCs today for another one and the problem is still there. So this almost 100% confirms that its the location in the office.  Now I have no idea where the EMI could be coming from. I share this suite with another person and he has no problems what so ever. There is also a third PC in our suite that has no issues. The only other devices are 3Com PBX phones and wireless mice. I've tried different outlets here in the suite and it doesn't make a difference. Same problem lights on and off. I'm clueless!! Thanks again for your help everyone.

The interference could be from the power coming to your room, so all outlets could be affected.

If it's not the outlet, try experimenting with a foil shield, just to see if it's coming from one direction.  Take a big sheet of aluminum foil (at least 2ft x 2ft) and put it on the monitor at different spots.  That particular monitor may have poor shielding, making it more succeptable than other monitors to interference.

Dude, if its still faulty on another computer, its likely to still be faulty on another computer (otherwise all the monitors would be flickering)

You said it was new, so i say to you: Its a faulty unit. Return it to your supplier as faulty.

Callandor I think you should get the points just for the most creative solution. I can't wait to try the tin foil thing. Anyhow I'm going to hook a UPS up to it today and see if that cleans the power coming into our suit up at all. Just to make a few things very clear...this problem happens on 3 different monitors and 2 different PCs all in this location. So its NOT the monitor.

I guess you've found the first person in the office to get a spanky new LCD flat panel!

...had to do this a couple of years back in a mail room where the labelling machines had badly shielded motors...

I'm afraid that Alu foil won't help. Low frequency electromagnetic field is very difficult to shield. You can try moving your table with computer - maybe field is lower nearby.

If all the above fails... turn off all the Power Consuming units and the power coming to this place.

Then run your PC and Monitor with the UPS alone. Check to see if the interference is visible. If the Flicker is still seen, the EMI maybe Emitted from  the Power Supply of your PC and monitor has weak protection to this EMI hence the flicker. Have the Monitor placed at the max distance from the System Box ( as long as the Video Cable permits ).

But If everything works well having the System connected to the UPS and all devices off and with no the Line power, then turn the mains on and check. If still everything is ok, plug the system to the line bypassing the ups and see ( we have still all the power consuming devices turned off ) ... then proceed by turning ON one by one of the units that were turned off. This should help finding the EMI Emission Culprit.

If all the above fails you are in AREA 51 :)
 http://www.ufomind.com/area51/

Good Luck

Sinu

Update:

Today I turned off every other piece of equipment in our suite, killed the lights and plugged my PC/Monitor into a UPS. Running just off batteries the monitor STILL had the same issues as I mentioned above. At this point I'm lost, if its not the monitor and its not some sort of interference then what is it? Any other suggestions on what I could do to trouble shoot?

Could it be the UPS?

They do have ****ing big transformers in them that will cause the interference problems that you're talking about...

Speakers do exactly the same if you've got some unshielded ones nearby...

The PC doesn't normally have a UPS I just used one to test it. It also doesn't have speakers.

Try moving PC to another place (whole system). If screen stops flickering - definitely you need to move from your old place :)

This issue still hasn't been resolved. All good suggestions but none of them have worked. I don't feel the need to award points because in my mind its still an open case. Feel free to close it and refund me.

Have you tried temporary swaping your whole system (computer and monitor) with system, which monitor does not flicker? If you computer's monitor does not flickes at new place, you have 2 choices:
1) move your system to another location, where electromagnetic field is lower
2) try replacing CRT with LCD monitor
3) no other choices, unless you will ignore previous 2 :)

A co-workers LCD works just fine. So thats the fix but I still can't understand why this is happening. I turn off the lights, all other PCs, cell phones, printers anything taking up power in my office and it still flickers. Also even if its running from a battery backup with all other devices off, the monitor will continue to flicker. I guess my only solution is move the desk or get an LCD. Unless someone has a suggestion on how to block the electromagnetic field.

You could try the aluminum foil if you have some handy - at worst, it won't work; at best, you may get some insight on the direction of interference.

bjbarnes: can you cut electricity to whole office? I am quite sure, that your problem is electric cables in walls/floor. I myself have seen similar situation... Possible resolutions were: a) move to another place b) get LCD c) move cables to another place.

Callandor, were you successful in shielding electromagnetic field this way? In my case foil was uneffective (10KW cable nearby).

Yes, I was.  Your 10KW cable probably was too powerful for anything simple to shield - the power output of the source is important (much like what radar can do).

bjbarnes, cutting electricity to the whole office was supposed to be joke... :) i doubt it is easy thing to do.

Callandor, i will try to remember your suggestion next time i encounter flickering monitor.