Time for a new monitor?

Hey.

I turned my computer on this afternoon, left it because I had to take a shower, then I came back. I turned both my monitors on, my Dell, and my Acer; now the Dell did a fast white flash. The other one was perfectly normal.
Does the graphic card affect anything when monitors are being turned on? My guess would be no.
The monitor is eight (8) years old though. I have an ASUS on the roof, I can just go get it and change it out with the Dell. But I want to hear your thoughts on it first.

Graphic Card or Monitor? My graphic card is brand new and I had it for like three months.

traderpats said:

Switch the monitor cables on your card. If the old monitor works on another connection then it's the card. If the the other monitor works on both connections it's the old monitor. Could check the cables the same way too. Process of elimination ....

Wouldn't that be more like, troubleshooting the cables them self?

It's good advice. Switch the cables at the monitor end of things to test.

If the cable that runs the known working Acer does not run the Dell then you know the Dell is dead.

If the cable that runs to the Dell is connected to the Acer and the Acer works then you know your card is OK.

EDIT: needless to say, but be sure all equipment is OFF before switching cables.

FredeGail said:

I have an ASUS on the roof, I can just go get it and change it out with the Dell. But I want to hear your thoughts on it first.

My first thought is to ask why you have a monitor on the roof?


Seriously though, does it happen each time and affect operation? ie it still works.

Yep, the game would be still be 'displaying' even if the monitor is off.

Although if it's the primary screen, and you have a secondary screen attached - 'sometimes' turning the primary on and off can cause the display driver to attempt to switch to the secondary screen.

In layman's terms, the video card does all the work 'rendering' the picture and sends it down the cable. The video card does not care that the monitor is on or off, it just sends the signal down the line. For instance, I typed this line with my monitor off.

There is one pin in the video cable that is used to connect the EEPROM in the monitor to the Video card for the purpose of plug and play capability. But even if there is no identifying data coming from the monitor the video card will continue to spit out a signal down the line.

When you say "roof" do you mean "attic"?
That's what we call that dusty storage area under the roof rafters here in the states.