TFT going ape !

My TFT is going ape every minute now. It started a while back but now it's really bad. What happens is that the screen will freeze then the image will get all white finally turning to black. Now the actual screen is ok because if I unplug the VGA then stick it back in everything becomes normal again for a few minutes. The same thing happens if I turn the power off. If I put a load of preasure on the back of the TFT sometimes the picture will return for a short time (20 seconds). At first I thought it was the PC but it also does it on the Dreamcast. Any ideas?


First looks fine


30 seconds later turns all strange then finally becomes black.


Yakumo

 

Bad LCD chip.

 

It might be a problem with one of the VGA pins on either end of the cable/monitor/or PC.

Internet Explorer? Shame on you... :fresh:

 

I'm not made of money you know. Do have any idea how much this TFT cost? 68'000 yen !!! It's a high end one :nod:

The monitor seems ok now because I've left it off for a few hours but it will start playing up again soon so I think it could be a chip that's gone funny.

Yakumo

 

I'll second the possible cable problem. Try replacing the cable (much cheaper than the LCD at least) and see if that helps. You could have any number of things going wrong to cause that.

 

I've seen a similar problem on an old laptop - Its either a connection inside the monitor or (less likely) a pin or two thats not making a clean connection.

Do you have anything else int he way of inputs - on a monitor of that price I'd expect to see DVI - try connecting via this

 

Yes I have also seen this happen to laptop screens, and it is often caused by the continual flexing of the wires connecting the screen to the mobo. The flexing breaks the copper cores making an intermittent fault.

 

I tried different cables and different inputs but the same thing happens. So it's not a cable or input problem. It seems the longer I leave it off then switch it back on, the longer it will stay normal. Could it be a chip heating up that causes the problem? I also think it could be some faulty wire inside because if I sqeeze the top back of the monitor it will sort of fix the picture but as soon as I let go it buggers up again. It's been on 5 minutes now after beeing off all night and seems fine but I just know it's going to bugger up again very soon.

Yakumo

 

sadly no softmap around here I'll take it to applied which is sort of the same place. by the way it's now dead again It may be better to sell it as junk for a few 1000 yen and buy a new one. From past dealings with broken stuff that get repaired it's best not to bother because they just break again. I had to send my Stereo back to Kenwood 3 bloody times. 1st the MD broke, then the LED display, then the CD and now the LED is dead, the volume control is knackered (have to use the remote) and the worst thing is that I can't tell what the hell I'm doing because the LED display told you what was going on. The only thing that went back for repairs and still works 7 years later is the Dreamcast under my TV.

Yakumo

 

I'll second a bad capacitor. If you crack it open, you'll probably see one leaking goo. If you don't mind component level repairs, it shouldn't be too bad to replace.

 

sorry to hear, by any chance have older nec multisync monitors gone down in price in japan?, i got a multisync lcd 1765 and the quality is still very damn good, though even though its 3 years old, it fatches about $450 used half the time, not sure how much it fatches in japan, if worse comes to worse id say try ebay.

 

hmm, maybe the powersupply is overheating?

 

Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines - maybe something overheats, expands and loses contact? That also explains the squeezing...

 

Well, I took it to Applied today and was basically told that it's dead ! They said there's a problem with a chip that controls power to the screen which has also been damaged. They said the chip is repairable but the screen isn't so I bought a new one for only 33'000 yen which is much better than my old one. The price of TFTs in Japan has really dropped over the last few years ! I've posted a picture in the Trade thread.

Yakumo

 

There is the possiblility that it could just be your wiring, but you could also have internal electrical problems. My old laptop does the exact same thing and it's problem lies in the ribbon cable running to the LCD, you just gotta wiggle the hinge a little and it will start working again.

If you have a spare cable laying around, I'd try that out or if you have a computer shop around, you can always pick up a new VGA cable. If it doesn't fix the problem, just return the cable. From the sounds of it though, you are probably going to need a new monitor though, you are either overheating or you have some internal components on the fritz. I'd definitely give the cable a try first, you never know, it might just be something that simple.

 

It wasn't a cable problem but I see what you mean. The VGA input was fine. It was an internal chip problem. Inside the monitor there are no ribon cables. I still have the old one so I will see what I can get for it at Hard Off.

Yakumo

 

Knew it was a chip. Came across chip relatec problems before. Cable is unlikely if its on a desktop monitor compared to a laptop. The laptop I can imagine because of the constant moving, but for a stationary desktop monitor I wouldn't see why it could be a cable problem but it doesn't hurt to double check of course.

 

Good to hear you figured out what was going on with it, too bad it wasn't something simple (and cheap) though. By the cable I meant the VGA cable, I was just using the ribbon cable from my old laptop as a reference. The cable running from my desktop's LCD is a piece of crap too, every once in awhile the screen turns a shade of brown, just gotta jiggle the cable and then I'm good for awhile. Never has really annoyed me enough to replace it though.

[Edit] Now that I thought about my cable problem, I remembered that I've got a pile of monitors in my basement closest... I think I'll go harvest a "new" VGA cable. Don't know why I never did this before.