Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Moving vertical lines/currents across screen. Please help/advise

Jimellow · 02-05-2006, 09:37 AM

A few months ago I noticed horizontal vertical bars/lines starting to move vertically across my screen. It is almost as if I am seeing horizontal bars of energy moving vertically back and forth across my screen. At the time, my monitor was also extremely bright and the text nearly unreadable.

The solution, I had hoped, would be buying a new monitor. I did this today, a Sony 19 inch flat screen (SDMHS95B), and while the monitor is sharp and looks beautiful, the moving lines/bars/currents still remain.

I am on a Dell Dimension (866 MHz), with a nVidia GeForce2 Ultra 64 MB. At this point, I am almost 100% certain it isn't the monitor, and am wondering what else it could be. I am running Windows ME, and have been since the computer was purchased. There have been no major hardware changes throughout the PC's life, and the only additions have been external (router, modem, etc.).

I have a logical hunch that I am reluctant to embrace; that this has to do with my video card, and not necessarily the monitor. It is odd however that my previous monitor was to the point of being un-readable, and after replacing it, the issue still exists. Perhaps two pieces of hardware went on the fritz at once, or one's malfunction led to another.

When I minimize to an all black desktop, it is almost as if there are burn in marks of icons that have motion trails. Furthermore, when I move the mouse, the moving cursor "contrasts" with the wavy bars, causing a discrepency. Also, occasionally when I have windows/dialogue boxes open, there will be a brightness difference from the foreground to the background.

The brightness issue also existed on my previous monitor, which led to me replacing it, but it is also the case here.

The current monitor that I just hooked up is wonderful. Text is sharp, everything is very readable, and I am certain that my previous monitor was on the fritz. However, the issue of waves/bar of energy still remains, and I now am curious as to what the next issue I should investigate is to resolve this.

I took out the video card and it was quite dusty. I removed the dust, re-inserted the card, and booted up the machine, only to notice no improvement whatsoever.

If we rule out the monitor (which I am prepared to do, given that the monitor looks sharp and "perfect" when the PC is off and the "Monitor Safe Mode" message is on the screen), then what are other issues that could cause this issue?

I reverted my GeForce device drivers back to the version that shipped with my PC, but there was no difference there. I have a feeling this is more of a hardware issue that is causing the transmission of data from the PC to the monitor to be skewed, but I don't know enough about computers and the way they work to isolate the problem. I was hoping to find help here in that regard.

I was hoping a new monitor would be all I needed, and while my other monitor was on its last legs, it's a little discouraging to spend $500 on a monitor, only to find the problem still partially exists after everything is hooked up and running.

This PC is older (as I said, 866 MHz, 256 MB RAM), I ordered it in 2001 I believe, but I only use it for non-gaming activities and it does well, aside from this monitor/display issue. I have not tweaked the display settings, but after briefly tooling around in the display tab, I noticed my "refresh rate" is set to optimal. Hardware acceleration is set to "full" and I have not tweaked with any advanced settings or overclocking.

Any help, suggestions, advice, or feedback of any kind would be greatly appreciated. I have an extended warranty on the monitor, but again, I highly doubt the monitor is the cause of the problem here, as the exact same issue I experienced (but worse) on my previous monitor also exists to a lesser extent here.

02-05-2006, 09:37 AM	#1 (permalink)
Jimellow Junkie	Moving vertical lines/currents across screen. Please help/advise A few months ago I noticed horizontal vertical bars/lines starting to move vertically across my screen. It is almost as if I am seeing horizontal bars of energy moving vertically back and forth across my screen. At the time, my monitor was also extremely bright and the text nearly unreadable. The solution, I had hoped, would be buying a new monitor. I did this today, a Sony 19 inch flat screen (SDMHS95B), and while the monitor is sharp and looks beautiful, the moving lines/bars/currents still remain. I am on a Dell Dimension (866 MHz), with a nVidia GeForce2 Ultra 64 MB. At this point, I am almost 100% certain it isn't the monitor, and am wondering what else it could be. I am running Windows ME, and have been since the computer was purchased. There have been no major hardware changes throughout the PC's life, and the only additions have been external (router, modem, etc.). I have a logical hunch that I am reluctant to embrace; that this has to do with my video card, and not necessarily the monitor. It is odd however that my previous monitor was to the point of being un-readable, and after replacing it, the issue still exists. Perhaps two pieces of hardware went on the fritz at once, or one's malfunction led to another. When I minimize to an all black desktop, it is almost as if there are burn in marks of icons that have motion trails. Furthermore, when I move the mouse, the moving cursor "contrasts" with the wavy bars, causing a discrepency. Also, occasionally when I have windows/dialogue boxes open, there will be a brightness difference from the foreground to the background. The brightness issue also existed on my previous monitor, which led to me replacing it, but it is also the case here. The current monitor that I just hooked up is wonderful. Text is sharp, everything is very readable, and I am certain that my previous monitor was on the fritz. However, the issue of waves/bar of energy still remains, and I now am curious as to what the next issue I should investigate is to resolve this. I took out the video card and it was quite dusty. I removed the dust, re-inserted the card, and booted up the machine, only to notice no improvement whatsoever. If we rule out the monitor (which I am prepared to do, given that the monitor looks sharp and "perfect" when the PC is off and the "Monitor Safe Mode" message is on the screen), then what are other issues that could cause this issue? I reverted my GeForce device drivers back to the version that shipped with my PC, but there was no difference there. I have a feeling this is more of a hardware issue that is causing the transmission of data from the PC to the monitor to be skewed, but I don't know enough about computers and the way they work to isolate the problem. I was hoping to find help here in that regard. I was hoping a new monitor would be all I needed, and while my other monitor was on its last legs, it's a little discouraging to spend $500 on a monitor, only to find the problem still partially exists after everything is hooked up and running. This PC is older (as I said, 866 MHz, 256 MB RAM), I ordered it in 2001 I believe, but I only use it for non-gaming activities and it does well, aside from this monitor/display issue. I have not tweaked the display settings, but after briefly tooling around in the display tab, I noticed my "refresh rate" is set to optimal. Hardware acceleration is set to "full" and I have not tweaked with any advanced settings or overclocking. Any help, suggestions, advice, or feedback of any kind would be greatly appreciated. I have an extended warranty on the monitor, but again, I highly doubt the monitor is the cause of the problem here, as the exact same issue I experienced (but worse) on my previous monitor also exists to a lesser extent here. __________________ Desperation is no excuse for lowering one's standards.