Occasional Brief Flicker - CRT Monitor - Dell P990 Trinitron

[baumgrenze]

Recently I've started noticing a monitor 'flicker' that is a brief shrinkage of the screen display on my monitor, perhaps by ~5%. It is hard to define when it happens and exactly describe what happens. It always catches me unawares.

The Dell Ultrascan P990 came with a machine I purchased in 1999, so it has given me good service. My Sapphire Radeon HD 3870 PCIe 512 Mb graphics card came with a machine I had built for me in 2008 (see my specs)

I'm currently running Win7 Pro x64.

Could this flicker be a sign that the CRT or other monitor circuitry is failing?

My son gave me a hand-me-down Samsung S24A450BW LED monitor. I've not switched to it because photo forums I've checked suggest that the CRT monitor should give a superior image.

Can anyone offer any insights?

thanks

baumgrenze

 

[oscer1]

hi yes from your description it seems like the monitor is failing. can test that by hooking it up to another computer. you could always hook up the Samsung as a second monitor and see how good the image is on that compared to the crt monitor.

 

[Digerati]

The information I see on your graphics card show it supports dual-monitor mode. I would connect your second monitor and see if it flickers off too. If it does, you know the problem is on the computer side. If it does not flicker, you know your trusty ol' CRT is failing.

Sadly, you really should not toss CRT monitors in the trash as the CRT picture tube contains mercury. And electronics recycling centers don't always accept CRT monitors because it costs more to reclaim the mercury than they can recover recycling the rest of the monitor. This mean you may have to pay the recycling center a small fee to take it off your hands. Here in my area, that is $10 per CRT.

I've not switched to it because photo forums I've checked suggest that the CRT monitor should give a superior image.

That for sure used to be true. But this was actually because the phosphors used on the pixels actually produced a slightly blurred dot which was easier on our eyes compared to the squared off dots of LCDs. But today's LCDs support much higher resolutions so the while the pixels may still be squared off, they are so much smaller, thus so many more per square inch, they produce sharper images and more precise colors. So it took quite a few years for LCDs to surpass CRTs in actual image quality. But they have now. Plus, LCDs don't pump a bunch of BTUs into your room.

 

[baumgrenze]

Thank you both for your replies.

I am a bit space challenged to try the dual monitor approach, but I will see if I can envision a way around it.

"So it took quite a few years for LCDs to surpass CRTs in actual image quality. But they have now. "

The monitor I have as a substitute was reviewed in PC Magazine on 5/22/2012.

Samsung S24A450bw LCD Monitor Review: Moderate Price, Flexible Design | PCWorld

Is that recent enough to qualify under the lines quoted from Itaregid's reply?

thanks,

baumgrenze

 

[Digerati]

The review suggests it is. But really, only your eyes will tell if you will be satisfied. But it will be like getting new eyeglasses, in a sense. You will have to give your eyes (and the brain behind them) a few days to adjust and get used to the new monitor. Note your CRT is a 4:3 18" monitor and the Samsung is a 24" widescreen 16:10. That's a big difference.

Be sure to run ClearType on the LCD after you get it connected.

 

[Megahertz07]

I agree with Itaregid. Today LCDs are better than CRTs.
I once had a very good CRT but once I changed to my LCD, I've never look back and never regret.
And your Samsung S24A450BW is better than mine.
The biggest difference will be on the size. Even with a bigger screen, the LCD will take a lot less space on the desk.
Instead of trying dual monitor, I would replace the CRT by the LCD right away.
Use the DVI of the monitor and install the driver for it.

 

[Digerati]

Instead of trying dual monitor, I would replace the CRT by the LCD right away.

I suggested dual monitor just to see if the problem appeared on both monitors - which would suggest a computer problem, not monitor. That said, swapping monitors would give the same information - and let you retire that old, tiny, heavy, heat generating, power hungry CRT.