Worrying about temporary monitor flickering

joseph10444 · 20 Feb 2014

Hello,

I received a monitor from amazon (i2357fh) today and I set it up with a laptop via HDMI.

I started to play Civilization 5 on the monitor, however the text dialogs would flicker a lot. This is a known issue, but my problem is that after quitting an hour later, the stuttering/line flickering seemed to stay permanently on the screen.

Technically, I could see a faint outline of certain Civ 5 text dialogs on my screen, flickering (back in my Windows Desktop).

I narrowed it down to the monitor's problem, because when I turn off / on the monitor, the flickering is there when the monitor's brand logo is temporarily displayed. The flickering is also there when the monitor is searching for input sources.

However, eventually the flickering started to die down, and a couple hours later, I can't really see anything.

Ever since then, I switched Civilization to non-flicker mode (windowed mode), and I'll continue to play like that.

My question is, does anybody know if this happens generally / is expected behaviour in all monitors? (Having a game flicker for an hour, and after exiting the game, the flicker stays [temporarily] on the monitor panel). Or possibly, it's the fault of this specific monitor...

King Arthur · 21 Feb 2014

I would look in to have that monitor replaced, especially since you should be able to use the warranty on it. Display anomalies like what you mentioned are most definitely not normal for any monitor and should be considered a defect.

joseph10444 · 21 Feb 2014

Thanks, I will look into it.

Mellon Head · 21 Feb 2014

You turned the monitor off and on and it still flickered? That isn't the monitor, that's a graphics card artifact, or something coming from the laptop. Once you remove power from the monitor, it "forgets" what it had coming into it, and what it was displaying. There is no way for it to have that flicker after a power cycle unless it was coming from the PC.

What happens when you play Civ 5 in normal mode on the laptop screen? Does it flicker, too?

joseph10444 · 21 Feb 2014

You turned the monitor off and on and it still flickered? That isn't the monitor, that's a graphics card artifact, or something coming from the laptop. Once you remove power from the monitor, it "forgets" what it had coming into it, and what it was displaying. There is no way for it to have that flicker after a power cycle unless it was coming from the PC.

What happens when you play Civ 5 in normal mode on the laptop screen? Does it flicker, too?

Thanks for your reply.

It didn't flicker when it was off. I only turned it off so I that when I turn it back on, I can see the brand logo screen (which had flickering / stuttering lines on it) to make sure it wasn't something from my computer. I believe I also unplugged the HDMI cable and powered it off / on (although I forget if I actually did or not). Regardless, the lines started to fade away after about an hour or so.

I searched up graphic card artifact on google images. Mine didn't look as intensely messed up as the images. In my game, the game's text dialog borders were just stuttering constantly. And since this dialog is at a fixed location in-game, it was stuttering/flickering for over an hour.

On the laptop screen, it works well. No issues. (this is common behavior that I've found over on some gaming forums [dual monitor setup, with the monitor flickering, but the laptop display being normal])

Mellon Head · 22 Feb 2014

Try this test:

1. Play the game with the external monitor so that you get the flicker.
2. Close the game and see if the flicker continues.
3. Power off the monitor.
4. Unplug the HDMI cable from the laptop.
5. Power on the monitor. Does the flicker go away?

Let me know how you make out.

joseph10444 · 24 Feb 2014

I believe the effect will happen, regardless, as long as I play for an extended period of time.

Unfortunately, I wish to not reproduce these results again because I am actually keeping this monitor..

but I can answer your test based on what I saw the first time: No, it doesn't go away

Ranger4 · 24 Feb 2014

If you carried the suggestions #3,4 & 5 by Mellon Head & the flickering is still there, that is you switched the monitor off, disconnected the HDMI cable & then switched it back on & the monitor logo is still flickering, then it definitely indicates the monitor is faulty.

joseph10444 · 24 Feb 2014

Yep. However, after an hour or so, it disappeared. So far, the flickering effect hasn't happened again yet, and I am thinking that is because I haven't played the flickering civ 5.